Counting Down

Things have been particularly busy around here because Marc drew the line in the sand for the appraiser’s visit on August 10^th. We’re woefully lacking on time to finish I feel, but he has made progress since my last update. The siding is finished; save for a couple pieces short on the front end gable which he hopes to procure without having to order an entire box. He’s also been working on the tedious job of installing the tongue and groove wood ceiling on the porch, which is really a two person job. He’s also in the middle of staining the door casings and interior doors—another job making slow progress. 

One sunny day before the fascia was installed and he could still drill holes where he needed, he prepped the roof for our “antenna farm”. With my heart in my throat I watched my aging, now less than agile husband “walk the line” so far above the ground. The job got done and now looks like we’re trying to communicate with aliens but hey; it’s free TV and radio! Our cell phone booster is also up there as our property sits in a dead zone for towers.

I’ve been doing lots of yard work but only to see my efforts to grow a nice carpet of lawn totally taken over by weeds and crabgrass. I threw in the towel and just started mowing it as though it is part of the rest of our lawn. I did get the magnificent and large copper pop planted with some perennials and annuals and it will have a permanent home on our front porch. One of our apple trees is just loaded with apples this year even though we totally ignored them all and didn’t have time to prune or spray. They are small but are good for baking since they are very aromatic and tartly flavorful. You can smell their freshness just walking by the tree!

Mostly though, I’ve been working at the rummage sale for the shelter which just wrapped up this past Sunday. That occupied my time for the better part of two weeks but was a rousing success and we increased our profit by 25% over what we took in last year. I served as co-director and was in charge of researching pricing and setting up the “collectibles” area, a first for us to try. The sale was well attended even though we had some particularly hot and humid days and we got lots of nice compliments on how well organized it all was. Of course, I myself walked out with a few goodies, one of which is the cutest small vintage birdcage already painted the perfect blue for my bedroom.

It’s hard to believe we may be on the downhill slide into home base, but we’ve locked our loan and need to close by late August or no later than the first days in September. The race is on and it’s taking our every waking moment. Summer’s been nice though and we’ve missed a lot of the brutal weather other parts of the Midwest and south are getting. We have yet to see a 90 degree day this year but one may be coming Saturday. Temps primarily in the 70’s and 80’s have been the perfect summer we think.

Ever Hear of...

Clouds with silver linings? We had several glorious moments of them during sunset the other night.

Happy Times

We just had an outstanding visit with daughter Rachael and I think she had an equally good time. Despite the weather not being the best, we did find pockets of sunshine and drier weather to get out and about locally. We started off last Friday night with one of Wisconsin’s favorite pub fish fries where the crowds were noisy but not raucous. A new found interest of hers is growing plants so we had great fun visiting some of the farm markets/gardens in the area, one of which has the most incredible gift shop and items of garden whimsy; it was great fun!

Of course we couldn’t miss the Stoneridge smokehouse and cheese store in Wautoma, a 22 mile jaunt through the pretty green countryside. We also managed to hit my favorite antique/consignment store in Stevens Point where Rachael was fascinated by the three floors of vintage items, especially clothing and jewelry which she was snapping up left and right. I take it that stuff is all terribly on trend right now in Portland and she indicated that things are extremely picked over and hard to find, whereas here not only are they plentiful but also “cheap” in comparison. We finished our shopping day with a picnic in the park along the WI River joined by the baby ducks.

We enjoyed some good food and drink, watched Marc install more siding and I drove her to the airport yesterday to return to her life and boyfriend in Portlandia. I sure miss her already! Marc is away as well for the next week but I have lots of stuff to get caught up on as well as Strawberry Fest on Saturday.

Small Accomplishments

The above shot is one of Spirit when she was little that we now have up on our smart thermostat. I’m loving this thing; one touch brings me to the weather forecast for the week or it will broadcast current conditions of temps and humidity and weather chances, like today’s 60% chance of thunderstorms. Since it digitally controls the gas heater, it is precise to the degree of heat we want and can be set from afar with a smart phone. It’s a pretty slick little gadget. 

Between his work schedule and the spring rains, which have been ample, Marc has not made a lot of progress on the siding so has turned his attention to some inside tasks. The laundry room is now completed, save for trim; after needing to make a detour to purchase a new gas dryer after the old Maytag bit the dust. I think storage in the Yuma heat for years was just too much and it simply got fried. Desperate for a way to dry clothes, I bought the only model Lowe’s had in stock that was natural gas, not wanting to wait for a special order to arrive. I was thrilled to get back the lovely coat rack Marc built me when we lived in Bend and it will come in very handy this winter!

He’s back to working on installing cabinet hardware, which is a welcomed convenience, but even better he completed the plug and mounted our neon sign! It’s as spectacular as I imagined it would be. He also got the dining table light completely mounted and we cleared out and cleaned the hobby room in anticipation of daughter Rachael’s first visit this Friday for five days. Rachael recently lost her real father so decided to take advantage of her employer’s bereavement leave by coming to visit. Since I haven’t seen her in two years I await her arrival with much anticipation. Since Marc will be leaving for another week out west just about the time she also leaves, he is trading some weekend days to try and get Monday and Tuesday off to better be able to spend more time with her. We plan to really enjoy some porch time and barbeques!

In amongst the rainy days, I worked hard to prep the soil and get more seeded lawn planted and watered. It’s quite an arduous process requiring hand raking the section three separate times. There is still a lot to go but we are doing it in phases. On dry days now it takes much of my time to keep up with the watering and I also have to mow about every six to seven days. I’ve got some functions coming up for the Humane Society this month and then will devote 11 days to their rummage sale coming in mid July so I’m having no problem filling my summer.