One of the bags in the batch turned out to be paving repair tar/coal, similar to the stuff we see used for patching holes in the street. This stuff is a mixture of sticky tar with bits of coal. Since this stuff couldn't be used with concrete, I had to find a suitable spot to use this stuff. The most suitable spot I found was around the stairs to the Storage Trailer. After moving a few things from around the stairs, some of which was stored in the Shed, I spread the tar coal around the base and under the stairs. At least this stuff will help keep any grass or weeds from growing around the stairs. At least this little session of work allowed us to take care of some small tasks around the yard/compound that will go a long way towards the completion of other projects. We will need more concrete to fully fill in the trench around the driveway to make it fully ready for us being able to swing wide to enter the gate area. The shed still needs caulk and even the leftover sheet metal has some plans. I plan on starting the construction of a car port/awning sort of structure that would be based against the fence line, creating a cover to allow for the parking of small vehicles like the John Deere Utility Tractor or the go karts. Rather than clutter the Shed with any one of these vehicles, much less two or more, they can be parked like cars under this makeshift garage structure. This will of course go a long way to organizing the yard since these vehicles will be staged in a centra spot versus all over the yard. I will more than likely get rid of some more of the scrap items that currently inhabit the area I plan to build this structure. As stated before, these things go a long way towards the completion of other greater projects, one of which is cleaning up the grounds by organizing things, using things up and getting rid of things. Stay tuned for more on these tasks and projects. With this little bit of cleanup work taken care of around the shed, it was time to use one of the tools in the shed. The cement mixer that we stored within was pulled out to mix up a batch of "recovery bags" of concrete that was purchased from Lowe's. These bags were busted open and a little lighter due to the loss of some of the bag's contents, so they mark down the cost just to get something back from the damaged product. The plan that we had for this concrete was to start filling in the trench on the main driveway on the opposite side of the driveway from the fence line. This is to widen the usable area of the main driveway, letting us be able to swing out away from the fence to turn straight into the gate. When we do build a sliding gate, it will be narrow compared to the opening currently in place so to be able to turn into the narrower opening, the driveway needs to be wider, and this is where the concrete comes in. After mixing up the stuff and pouring it into a bucket to move it to the spot several times, we poured a decent amount of concrete into the trench, getting a head start on that little project. With the latest large project pretty much done, save for some small bits and pieces, there are still other things to take care of around the compound that are small but still important. On the Storage Shed, I still have to do some caulking to make sure I have all the small areas and seams sealed up. Even after using up the caulk I had on hand, there was still the matter of some cleanup work around the shed. I had a large pile of scrap sheet metal pieces that were left over from the cuts made to the panels. Some of these cuts were large enough to warrant saving them for other uses later on, while others were straight scrap. After separating the still usable pieces of sheet metal and moving them over to a pile with other even larger sections and even four full panels, I had to fold up the smaller pieces so they could be stored in the scrap metal drum. With the smaller pieces stored in the drum and the larger pieces staged out of the way, the area in front of the shed was cleared, which was necessary since the pile of scrap was actually dangerous. Chickens and even the dogs running through the area could've cut themselves if they ran across the edges of the metal pile so this stuff had to go.
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