There's a moat

Your home is supposed to be your castle.
It is to be a place of refuge and solace. A place where you can relax and and enjoy life. Somewhere you can go to escape the raw ugliness of the world.
Right now, the only thing about my home that resembles a castle is the moat three-quarters of the way around the exterior.
A week and a half ago, everything was normal. I had a front lawn. A sidewalk. A front stoop.
Then the "project" began.
The Ump has been talking about taking on this issue for - well, since we've been married. We had the buckling basement wall assessed last year and we were told that it could be 25 years before anything needed to be done about it.
That was all I needed to hear. On to more important things like new kitchen cabinets and refinishing the wood floors and pulling up carpeting. Immediate peril was erased with those words as far as I was concerned.
What I didn't know was that each time the Ump went downstairs and confronted the cracks on the front wall, it made him more determined to do something about it.
So, when I told him now would be a good time to refinance the mortgage and consolidate some bills, he said he would do it only if we fixed the basement wall.
OK. OK.
I gave in. Even though I hated the thought of shelling out that kind of money and having nothing really to show for it. I can't imagine going downstairs to show people my lovely straight wall.
BUT, I did come up with an addition to the plan. We wanted to replace the old sidewalk, but I decided I didn't just want the same old cement sidewalk back. I love the look of stamped concrete because it can be molded to resemble everything from wood to brick.
My choice is random slate in a dark gray. It will cost a little more, but now is the time to do it - I reasoned with the Ump who was loathe to spend one more dime on the project.
We haven't gotten the bid on the sidewalk, but barring something unforeseen, I believe the Ump will sign on the dotted line.
Truth be told, in the spring, when our yard looks better than it ever has because of this attractive sidewalk, he will be taking credit for the whole thing.
Fine by me.
But first we have to get through the wall straightening which is now on day seven due to some inclement weather that settled in last week and has continued into this week.
My yard is a sea of clay mud, tools, gravel and cigarette butts. I was tempted to put a butt bucket out there to try to curb the littering, but I'm sure I would be labeled fussy or something, so I guess I'll just use my stick with the nail on the end to collect them out of the yard once this is all over.
Somehow I did not realize that clay dirt - when mixed with water - becomes PlayDoh and sticks everywhere and to everything, including dog feet, people feet - even cat feet.
The contractor assured me today that when everything is finished I will be amazed by how great the yard is going to look.
I try to conjure that image in my mind as I chip the clay off my dog's tail, but all I keep seeing in my mind are the 30 or so people coming to my house the first weekend in November who will see a nice brick house without a sidewalk.
And Halloween. What about Halloween? I have always enjoyed distributing treats to the kiddies. This year I guess I will have to stand at the front door and pitch candy out to the street since not only will I not have a sidewalk, I will not have a stoop. No jack-o-lantern resting place. No place for candles. Maybe I'll put a chair on the curb by the street...
I could just turn the lights out and hide inside like an old lady who doesn't want to be bothered.
It will all be over soon.
Then I can look back at those days when it was pouring rain and I had to slosh from my car on the street to my back door through a yard full of tools, tubes, dirt and rocks.
I'm sure it will seem funny then.
Sure it will.
But it is just the start of other stuff. Like landscaping the area that has been disturbed and reseeding the grass and replacing the giant holly trees that were excavated.
Thank goodness the Ump had that great idea about the slate sidewalk...