Last Job before Winter??

I received a call from a customer, two weeks ago to move some sprinkler heads I had put in his backyard. When I got there the whole yard was a mess! He had extended his deck and wanted to move heads and get rid of drip line I had put in. So, seeing the lawn go from a beautiful green, to a red clay was aweful. Well I had told him that I can bring in 9 yards of top soil to fill in his yard and sod it. It took two days to put down 9 yards of top soil, 6 yards of compost and 205 yards of tall fescue! The pictures are of the work I did.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Winter?!

Well it has been 7 months since I have last updated. In the last 7 months I have been busy installing irrigation systems, of course. Now I am busy winterizing the irrigation systems; which is good. I am also trying to inform our customers about the new ET controller (no it does not phone home!), and yes it saves a ton of water and money! I have installed one already and hope to do even more in the spring. With all of the regulations here, I have been certified as an irrigation contractor and getting CEU'S, to maintain my license. Nathan has been a big help this year. He has helped with covering the trenches and putting seed down. A few more weeks of work and we'll close shop for the winter.

Has Spring Really Sprung???

At McClard & Son Irrigation we (I) have been enjoying the nice weather we have had lately. I have installed 3 systems from Feb.12-March 9.
I am now in the midst of Spring Start-ups for existing customers. Then I have a few add-ons to do. Since I was doing a job close to the house, I decided to extend the irrigation to the back of the garden, so it can be thoroughly watered for all the seeds to come up. I decided to recruit the help of my favorite helper as shown below.

Have a great spring!!

Luxury Box Seats at NC State!!

This past weekend Nathan and I were blessed to get two tickets to the NC State game. We had no idea at the time that they were Luxury Box Seats. Below is a picture from the end zone looking up to where our seats are. It was nice to be inside with the wind blowing, misting rain and 50*. We walked down to the tunnel where the football players come out and took a pic. of Mr. Wolf.

A view from inside our box. The seats were nice, but the free catered food was even better.

Another pic. from the endzone just after halftime and the Wolfpack are driving down the field.

Back in our seats, nice and warm!

Nathan had a great time going to his first football game, and wants to go again next year. Only if we can get the Luxury Box again. It was great spending time with Nathan and I'm sure he enjoyed hanging out with his dad.

Is it Winter Already???

For the past week I have been steadily shutting down irrigation systems. I have about 2 more weeks of the shut downs then I'm done for the year. That means that winter is here and I will soon be hibernating. I love winter, but I do not like that there is nothing going on work related. I guess Jen loves having me home every day for 3 months, because she doesn't complain much, if at all.
Check back in a few days for more posts'.

How can you help???

I am writing this post to say that we are still waiting on our baby. I know that a couple of people have stated that they would help if the could, but just cannot afford to right now. That is very understandable, considering the economy, the job market and its instability, and trying to just pay the bills that you already have. Jen and I thank everyone that has been able to contribute, and freely give as God has given you the ability.
This post is not a plea for money or donations, rather an informational post. We have signed up for AdSense by Google (which explains the ads on the sides of our blogs). The way it works is for every ad that you visit or click on, google pays us for the visits, as advertisers pays google for the traffic to their site. We try to monitor the sites so that there is not any advertisement listed that we would not look at ourselves. So you are helping us by looking and not actually giving of your own money.
On a side note; we pray that everyone will get out on Nov. 4th and vote for the President and local offices in your state. We unashamedly will be voting a Conservative ticket, (McCain-Palin) for a free America. You may not agree, that is your right to do so. I could say alot more but my ads may turn into public service ads (which I do not want).
Thank you for your support and prayers as we are eagerly awaiting our baby.

Another Water Garden!

Some how the pictures loaded in reverse order...oh well. I have been busy with maintenance calls in the past two weeks. Fortunately, these are not my customers, so that means extra $$.. A builder had installed this water garden, but the homeowner has been unhappy with it since he completed it. They had gotten my number from a flyer that had "blown" into their yard.... and people say that God does not provide for His children :) Well I had talked to them about fixing their algae problem and recommended a few changes. These changes included installing a cavern for the new fish. Below is a picture of some comet fish I put in. Refilled and flowing!

A beautiful verigated water lilly.
I reworked the rocks on the waterfall since the guy who put them on there originally just "threw" them on there and foamed it with expansion joint foam (bright orange) and stuck out like a sore thumb.

This lilly plant is sitting on the cavern I installed for the fish to escape to when predators threaten. It is dug out about 6" deep and covered with a Tennessee Flagstone.
Starting to refill!
I love a challenge to make the homeowner happy...and for them to finally be pleased with the water garden and not see it as an algae and mosquito breeding ground.