We now have three large capacity rain water tanks. Two of our tanks are 9′ x 3′ and one is 8′ x 4′. We managed to stand the tanks up and then we got the downspouts hooked up just in time for April showers that actually came in May this year.  We are hoping to soon be able to replace the pvc pipe downspouts and guttering that we inherited when we bought the building.

Water Storage Tank and Permeable Paver Parking Area

West Side of Greene and Berkey

After completing our two pervious parking areas, we took a month long break.  In October we began work on building a gallery within my studio. Our goal was to have the gallery completed by December 3.

Randy Working on the Gallery November 2009

East Wall - December 3, 2009

North Wall - Winter Trees

South Wall - Seasonal Paintings Lake Grange

In the Spring of 2010, we will be part of the Northern Indiana Art and Earth Tour.  My studio and gallery will be open Wednesday - Friday 1:00 - 6:00 and Saturday from 10:00 - 4:00.

We finished laying all the pavers on Wednesday and we did some landscaping on Friday and Saturday.  I can’t believe it.

From the West Looking East

We planted three Carolina Allspice, two Flowering Almonds and two Moses Fire Daylilies.  Later this week we will plant a few more Carolina Allspice.  This is the part that is hard, waiting for things to grow and fill in the empy space.

Completed West Parking Area

This is a view from the detention pond looking at our new parking area and where all the cubes of pavers were originally placed.  See previous posts.

The Planting Area to the West of Our Loading Dock

We planted 2 Blue Muffin Viburnum, 1 Emerald Lustre Viburnum, a Flowering Almond and a sea of Anemones.

West Parking Area

From Greene Looking at the Parking Area, Loading Dock

Now we are wondering how soon can we brick around the loading dock/balcony/back porch  area and put in new steps and a railing.

From the School Parking Lot Looking Across the Detention Pond

The paving project is finished.  We did a lot of landscaping on Friday and Saturday.  We even did a little contouring of the hill around the detention pond. We are really pleased with the way everything looks.  The pitfall with completing a project and being excited about how things are going is that it makes us want to do more.  We are thinking how soon can we get all the windows done on the north wall? (Photo below)

10 Windows That Need Our Attention!

I figured we (once again the collective we) had 293 hours into the project, but that is only the hours I remembered to write down.  I want to thank everyone who helped out - Matt, Thor, Mike and of course Ruth for that one paver she put down.  Without their hard work and encouragement I don’t know if we would have made it.  I also want to thank the  Elkhart River Alliance for the grant that made this possible.

To see the beginning of the project click on the link “Pattern 103 Small Parking Lots”

Next weekend we plan to put up the bike rack.  After that it is on to building our rain water collection system.

We didn’t get all the pavers down today.  We had a little battery problem with our truck and it delayed our progress.

One Cube Left, 29 Gone

Who would have ever thought that one lone cube of pavers would look so good.

The Pile of Pallets Just Keeps Getting Bigger

We should know tomorrow if we have enough pavers to fill in that bare spot in the picture above.  If we don’t we will just have to make a planter I guess.

Okay, so Labor Day is suppose to be a holiday, a day off.  We honored the spirit of Labor Day and worked all weekend.  The end result was a sense of accomplishment.  We are down to the last of our pavers and might get them all down tomorrow.

Only Two Cubes Left

The parking area is finished and the only area left to lay is by the loading dock.  Notice the two lone cubes of pavers in the background.

Look At All the Empty Pallets

The End of the Day

Pavers Ready to Go for Tomorrow

We have a cube of pavers laid out ready to put in place and then only two cubes left to lay.  The final step will be spreading the layer of torpedo sand or pea gravel to fill in the joints.

We are still on target to do a little landscaping next Saturday. We will be working on the area around the Service Berry  tree above.  I think we will be planting Blue Muffin and Emerald Luster Viburnum, Anemones and maybe a Carolina Allspice.

It has been a lot of work but well worth it.  Tomorrow we are suppose to have rain and we will see how the pavers work.  Also tomorrow we are picking up our bike rack.  Yeh!

We just completed a four day paving marathon.  We had Thor, Matt, our friend and board member Mike, and even Ruth came by to lend a hand.  We laid down 20 pallets of pavers, only 10 more pallets to go.

Eastside Parking Area

Empty Pallets in the Background-Yeh!

Matt walking across our new parking lot and in the background are all the empty pallets representing 13 cubes of pavers.

Breaktime on the Back Porch

Lunch time on the back porch.  One day this will be a landscaped patio area and the loading dock will be a small balcony.  It is a great place to sit a view our hard work.

Just How Heavy Are They?

Ruth at Work

Ruth wanted to try her hand at laying the pavers.

The West Parking Area

By the end of Sunday we had 10 cubes of pavers left to lay.  I couldn’t pick up one more block and we called it a day.  We are all very impressed with what we accomplished.  It was a great feeling!

I wanted to add some pictures of our front patio after a year.  It is far from being cozy and hidden but our plants are growing and blooming.  Also we have ordered our bike rack and it should be here soon.  We were able to find someone in  our community to make it.

Patio Looking West

I am planting a lot of lavender around the patio and it smells wonderful.

Patio from My Studio

Looking East

Entry with Summer Camp Banner

Will the Plants Every Get Big?

August 2008 Looking West

August 2008 From Studio Window

Okay this is when incremental growth seems to be not fast enough.  We have three dogwood, 3 kinds of viburnum, a variety of hydrangeas, lavender and mock orange. We are still waiting for “dirt to grow” and are thinking about what kind of ground cover we want.  We know we don’t want grass and it is too sunny for pachysandra. Someday it will all be so lovely, I can’t wait!

The top picture was taken out my studio window.  It is too hot out there now, if only those dogwood and the maple were a little bigger.

It Is Amazing What a Package of Morning Glory Seeds Will Do

The Front Elevation Looking West September 7, 2008

We are looking for park benches and a bike rack.  To help fund our garden at the Lily Art Center we have created an online social business all the income generated from the site will be invested in projects like our neighborhood green spot.  Visit our online store at www.cafepress.com/TheEdges

Bike racks encourage bike usage and benches are an invitation for people to gather.

This site is about our experiments in creating a community around an old abandoned school.  I will post pictures and updates on how we are doing, our failures and successes.  Please read our pages and comment.

Greene and Berkey with Banners Early May 2008

In early March the Lily Art Center held a banner workshop led by Keith Romaine.  Each participant made several colorful banners and then everyone donated 2 of their banners to Greene and Berkey.  We now have 30 banners to display at our events. The banners are a great beacon, like colorful greeters waving at people passing by.