First the birthday…
We enjoyed a great weekend in Evansville celebrating my
youngest sister Angie’s 50th birthday. Her husband Eric put on a great party for
friends and family. We spent many hours
under the pergola drinking beer, laughing and telling stories. Nothing better on a hot summer day!
And then the bench…
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| Rescued bench |
Which was a curbside rescue on trash pickup day earlier this summer. Again, what can I say? Clearly Mike's influence on me. It was surely a beautiful bench in its' day, but it needs some work.
So we have another project underway, first
removing the bad boards and rusty screws.
Then we trekked over to the nearest lumber company to buy 12 feet of red
cedar for the new boards. Mike did the
saw work, ripping the boards and beveling the edges. Next up is sanding the boards, painting the
wrought iron and putting it back together.
I’m sure it will find a treasured spot somewhere in the yard or garden.
I’ll share a picture of the finished project next time.
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| Mike trimming boards to proper length |
And berries…
We’re on our second crop of raspberries this year. The first
one was mainly enjoyed by the birds, but I harvested a great second crop
earlier this week. You can’t beat fresh
sweet raspberries from your own yard!
And I wish I didn’t
have stories of branches…
Imagine my surprise when I opened the front door Tuesday
morning and saw a HUGE branch beside the Bradford Pear tree. Unprovoked by storms
or wind, this branch just broke off the tree for no apparent reason.
And $650 later, the tree limb was removed,
the tree was reshaped and we have a tree that will probably last another 1-2
years. Though the cost was tough to swallow, we feel good about saving the
tree, and it gives us time to determine what tree will replace it.
And then Saturday morning I was looking out the kitchen
window and saw another huge branch beside the Honey Locust tree. Yes, the tree we were married under! Fortunately Mike were able to manhandle it and
move it to the curb for “limb pickup”.
I guess I'm NOT destined for a job removing trees as one of the branches fell on my shoulder on its' way down to the ground. Ouch! Nothing major, I'm just a bit stiff and sore.
So, not a good week for trees. Our tree service (we are putting the owner’s
kids through college with all of our tree work this year) indicates that last
year’s drought will continue to inflict damage on trees for several years to come. Lovely. May just want to put a line item in the annual budget for the tree service!
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| Mike, Kevin and Kathy and their family |
We enjoyed the Labor Day weekend with friends. We originally planned for a quiet weekend at home doing projects, but when friends call...
Chuck and Melanie stopped by for dinner on
Friday night. We had a great breakfast
with John on Sunday. And we enjoyed a
visit with Kevin and Kathy and their family.
Sadly, it was probably the last pool day of the summer.
And with Labor Day as the official end to summer, it seems
appropriate for Mike to start teaching again this week. He’s excited but somewhat lamenting the home projects that weren’t completed this summer.
I tell him not to worry about things that didn’t get done, there’s
always tomorrow. And I know what you
are saying, “who stole the Diane we used to know? The Diane who pushed people for a living to
complete projects by a deadline. “ I don't know, but maybe retirement is erasing that heavy focus on deadlines...
I’ll leave you with a lovely picture from a visit with my niece and great niece last week. I’m so happy that they live
close by, and I get to see them often.
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| Alice and Diane |
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