DOWN MONTH

FOR AUGUST

The house is finished. Nothing was pressing. Frank decided it was a good time to have bunion surgery on his right foot. This happened on the 27th of July. The first part of August he mostly sat in the recliner and watched ball games and movies. Because he didn't need to use his right foot, he did go down to the mailbox on the lawn tractor. Later in the month he worked on two of his Cub Cadet tractors. I kept on with the usual things--watching the girls, grubbing, meals, laundry, cleaning, etc.

We did go to see Daron and family at their new house near Green Castle. It is a nice looking ranch house on about an acre of land in the country. They have an eat-in country kitchen, living room, bath, and three bedrooms on the main floor. There is also a breezeway between the house and the garage, which is nice-sized. Both front and back entrances are located there. It is the full width of the house and maybe eight to ten feet wide.

The basement is finished. It has a laundry room, bathroom, extra bedroom, and a big main room with a free-standing, wood fireplace. They have put all the boys toys in this room, which works out nicely. It has a smaller space beside the stairs, where I think the office will be placed.

The house is a nice distance from the road, and has a front porch. It has bricks part way up the front. There is a big wooden deck in the back with a nice back yard and an apple tree. Denise has plans for a garden and more fruit trees next year.

We exchanged Cub Cadets because Daron's wasn't running. We met their new dog, Shadow, a black pit bull, whom they rescued. Christopher lost his very first tooth while we were there.

From there we went on out to Ephrata and Litiz to see Dad, other family, and friends. We stopped in at Daron's on our way home. We celebrated our anniversaries--#14 for them and#46 for us--by going out to eat.

Once home, Frank again worked on Cub Cadets--mostly Daron's. I had been having pain in my right knee, which led to orthoscopy for arthritis clean-up and a torn ligament. Then, I, too, was mostly sitting, watching movies with Frank when he took breaks, reading, and doing paper work.

August was not exciting, but the activities were necessary.

IT IS FINISHED!

FOR JULY

We have had what we call "spaghetti wires" around here for months. They are connected to the exploration of gas in the Marcellus Shale. They had taken them up once, but they put them back down. When they took them up this time, I talked with one of the workers. He gave me a phone number. They were to have given us one when the wires were installed, so we could call if/when we needed to mow, etc. They dropped bundles of sensors and other materials by helicopter. People would come on foot and string the wires according to grids, through the woods, lawns, across roads and driveways. Since we had no way of contact, when we did mow, the wires inadvertently were cut in several different places. The telephone number was useful for the removal of the last couple packages of materials, however.

We are displaying more clocks. Frank fixed my Humming Bird and Uncle Dan's Swinging Girl clocks. We also needed a clock in the bathroom. Of course, it had to agree with our theme in there. I think we now have 25 clocks around the house, plus eight on things from the weather station to the computer to the microwave, one in the basement, and two in the garage!

I keep the girls a couple times a week while Tonya works. After John's mother died, we kept Kali, their dog, while they went to the memorial service. They left after work on a day I had the girls, and Tonya dropped off Kali's things when she left for work that morning. This is the way I watched the girls that day! Actually, the girls love to play in Kali's cage.

Frank took out the fireplace and put the stones on the wall behind it. We have both man-made stones and some I've collected from here and there over the years. Do you like it?

With that project completed, our house is officially finished!!

FOR JUNE

JULY, 11, 2011

These are pictures of our "park." The first is looking toward our Poplar Ridge Lane. The second is toward the meadow. The last is in the middle. My row of trees and ornamental grass is just in front of the woods.

I have been weeding. The first picture shows my row of bushes and flowers to the south of the house by the meadow. The second picture shows about 10 feet of it mostly completed.

Frank moved our shed farther back from the house to be even with his row of bushes. He then rebuilt the floor and fixed the leaks in the roof. The second picture shows his leveling of the ground before he moved it.

We wanted to add a couple safety features, and Mom's coming put them on the front burner. Frank installed safety bars in the shower. (The front one is not yellow. That is reflection from our canary walls.) The other is a hand rail for the couple steps up to the main floor--under the carport.

Frank painted our three outside doors. He painted the outside Forest Green. He tried to match the inside with the color of our walls.

Frank used the pile of large rocks left over from building the base for our lower driveway, to make a stone wall between our lower driveway and one of my flower beds.

Last week Frank and I drove down to Philippi, WV, to pick up two used fuel tanks. Frank took one of these to make an incinerator for our (both families) use. He set it out by the compost bins.

Frank needed to replace/fix the south west post under the deck. This led to the beginning of steps from the bottom by the basement up to the deck.

OUTSIDE

JUNE 1, 2011

Frank consolidated our left over wood and recovered it.

The grass he planted there is up and green. Most of his bushes are growing. We do need to replace a few of them.

Something comes at night and roots through the hay Frank put on the area to help the grass sprout. Glenn K. thinks that it is probably skunks or 'possums. I don't know what it is, but I'm very unhappy with them. I had been using grass for mulch in my flower beds. Whatever it is roots there, too. They have rooted out some of my flowers. I have replanted them over and over and over, but I still find them rooted out. Of course, this is not good for plants, and several have died. I am working on weeding. It takes so long because I think that I have to replant the grass! However, some places are looking green that hadn't been. This is my shade bed by the lower drive way. See all the weeding I still need to do?

This is the area I added to this bed. My seeds are coming up by the wall and behind the main row.

This is my row of bushes and flowers to the south along our boundary.

Frank bought and installed an "air chair" in the gazebo.

Frank put tongue and groove in and on the carport.

He also stained it and under the deck.

This was to go with the last post. Since then, another of our "girls" died. We get six to eight, and occasionally nine eggs a day--one for each "girl".

PROJECTS

MAY 23, 2011

We finally finished the stairs to the basement.

John and Tonya bought an "Egg Carton" which we promptly filled with twelve "girls"--laying hens. One died the next day, so Tonya disinfected the coop right away. All the other hens have stayed well. I think they get 8 to ten eggs daily--and once or twice have gotten eleven! The roosts, nests, food, and water are "upstairs." They can go down and scratch in the grass. The whole thing is on wheels, so it gets moved every day. This way, the chickens are actually "free range," but also entirely protected.

Frank planted grass to the north and south of the shed. He also planted bushes to the south and around the gas tank. He planted raspberries to the north of the shed. The bushes are to mark the boundary between our lawn and the woods.

Frank took one of the first warm, clear days of the year to finish the roof. (The flashing hadn't been finished.)

He also finished around the garage door.

One day we went to the Pittsburgh Zoo with John, Tonya, and some of her friends. There were seven adults and nine children. That kept four mothers busy! The polar bear was in a playful mood, but the pea hen was camera shy.

Here is a project I started in 2002. We also worked on it in 2008 and in December 2010. We have mostly new plates from the grandchildren, although I kept an older one of Brandon's. They are now displayed over my sink and bar. (I never said that I was fast!) They are pictured here in family groups.

This is a picture that John took lately. We like it. I hope you do too.