So I should have guessed it wasn't going to be this easy. I had ordered a new pad for the boys' trampoline weeks ago. The old one was literally flaking apart! And I had tried to fix one part of it and then more of the other sides were not holding up anymore, so I figured it was time we did invest in a new replacement pad.
Before:
Looking pretty sad! Before replacing the pad, I had to first trim off the fig tree that was getting too close to the trampoline. As I had mentioned in my previous post, the figs are dropping and the juices are dripping and it is making a mess everywhere!
Before tree trim:
After tree trim:
I actually trimmed off a big chunk of a tree limb on this same tree today. I will be re-purposing the massive branch for something else. Will keep you posted. He he...
And oh, in desperation I also have cut up garbage bags and put it along the cement wall on the other side of the fig tree. Not looking the best but for now, it will at least keep the juices and figs away from the water sprinkler faucets!
And then, I had to pull out the blue tarp that we had used underneath the trampoline as weed control. It actually worked really well! The ground was really bare with hardly any growth of anything. The tarp was nasty with figs too so I had to throw that one away. I did get the idea of putting plants underneath the trampoline instead of just mulch. Looks prettier :-)
Thank goodness for an old pair of knee pads which helped a little bit. As you can see, it's not even on my knees! The knee pads kept slipping and it was also quite tricky carrying large bags of mulch underneath a trampoline:
And speaking of mulch, looks like I will need more of it! And Graham suggested I put pavers and gravel down as well, just like on the other side of the yard. Phew! Looks like I am not quite 100% done yet with this project! But in the meantime, I did have Graham paint a few slices of tree bark as stepping stones. We picked these up from the lady whom we picked up fire wood from this past summer. Might have to go back and get some more!
So finally, I am able to get to the trampoline pad. I cut off one side and just started rolling it up. Thankfully it fit in a large black garbage bag with no issues:
The new replacement pad is just one big circle and I thought I could try and get it on without removing the safety net. I had Graham help me in getting it on from the bottom of the trampoline. A bit tricky with the new plants in place and after a couple of minutes, I realized it wasn't going to work. Bummer!
The next day... I had to remove the safety net of the trampoline. And while removing the net, I dropped some nuts that had to go back onto the screws at the top of the poles, so that was another delay in the project:
And of course, the triangle shade came down as well. But at least the new pad is on now and it looks great!!! Love the bright colors - thought it would be something different for the boys. Supposedly they can play games too using the different colors:
And I found a tear in the safety net so I had to get that repaired. The orange netting is actually from my bags of mandarin oranges from the supermarket. Re-using and re-cycling! I tried to use a black marker so it wouldn't be so orange but nope, no workie! I'm sure eventually we will be replacing this netting too in the near future so not going to worry about it too much:
I also bought a new step which was not included when we bought the house. Hopefully that will help the kids get up and down the trampoline more easily and not rip up the new pad too quickly!
And finally after another day (today)... Ta da!!!
Looking pretty sharp! Not sure if I am going to put the triangle shade back yet. One of the poles is actually slanting pretty badly. I discovered that the previous owners had repaired it with a tree branch! I might have to do the same. LOL!!!
I am just really happy that I didn't fall off the ladder or electrocute myself during this whole ordeal. There was a wire quite close to my head by one of the trampoline poles. Obviously I wasn't going to try and figure out if it was a live wire or just the telephone wire. No injuries and one more thing that I can cross off the to-do list. Yay!!! :-D
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