The lessons of the Bandera Stones

Two summers ago in July, I decided to make a parking area using Bandera stones from three different old foundations around Bourbon County. In less than one year, I had learned some sad lessons:

Number one: Don't use stones that have been in a fire because they tend to break.

Number two: Make sure that the downhill side of your parking area has sufficient drainage.

Number three: When it comes to having help on this project, all your friends are suddenly busy.

Since it is fair week and miserably hot once again, it must be time to renovate this project.

I'll begin by taking out the bad stones, loading them up in the old pickup, and dropping them in a ditch at the farm.

Next, it is back to the Bandera quarry at Redfield to pick out some replacement stones that won't crumble when you drive over them.

Finally, we will rearrange the base in an effort to get the stones to lay flat, so that driving through the driveway doesn't feel like you are in an off-road vehicle at the rocks course in northern Bourbon County.

Come to think about it, all the people that complain about driving on the brick streets might fall quiet if they had to drive on this every day.

On the other hand, if I had been a stonemason or a brick layer my family would have gone hungry.