Work, Work, Work,,,

It seems when ever we are having a cocktail or two and start discussing something,,, things happen and we make these great plans. That is how we wound up buying a boat back in 2007 and now are creating a "mud room" out of what once was our front porch.

It started out one very stormy afternoon, when the downspout for the front gutter got clogged and then the gutter overflowed and we had our own personal waterfall right onto our front porch, which quickly became a small, shallow lake. During lulls in the storm Richard would run out and try to sweep the water off the porch before it seeped through the cracks in the grout and leaked into the garage below, dripping on his tool boxes and an old 1934 Ford Sedan Delivery. However the water won, again.

When I came home from work on Monday he had started working on our new mud room. To start he had to cut away some of the siding, remove the porch railing and one of the stair railings then cut and chip away all the slate that was where the new wall would be. What I saw was an already framed out mud room and he proudly told me how he bought us two huge windows for it so it would be very light, even in the winter.





On Tuesday he did some more work and when I got home I had the pleasure (lol) of helping him install the new windows. These windows are 5 feet long and 3 feet tall. Trust me when I say they are not light. So, how does one install a window from the outside on a wall, over a garage door? Its obvious, you use a tractor!

Don't laugh, it worked. We put the window in the bucket of the tractor, raised the bucket up about as high as it would go. Then we climbed up a ladder and stepped into the bucket where the window was waiting. We then team lifted the windows into place and Richard nailed them so they will not come out.




Richard prepping the wall for the second window

Mary, Mary Quite Contrary,,,,,

I am not sure how her garden is going but my is FINALLY taking off. Of my three hanging tomato plants one died, I am not sure why. The other two are really doing well.



My strawberries are starting to grow as are the green beans.









While I have been playing in the dirt on a regular basis, Richard has been playing with his greasy, old, 1969 right hand drive Land Rover. This picture was taken a few days ago. As of now the entire thing has been stripped and the old, rusted out frame is gone. He has two piles of parts in the driveway. One will go to the local machine shop for some welding repairs and the other pile will go to be galvanized. Once those two steps are done he will start to rebuild the vehicle on a brand new galvanized frame.



I finally got my new range the other day. It does almost everything: regular bake & broil, convection bake, dehydrate, defrost, slow cook, multi-stage cooking and bread proofing. It has 2 ovens and one very high powered burner which will be great for all my canning at the end of the summer.

Sioux Falls, June 3-7, 2010

I had the opportunity to head out to Sioux Falls, South Dakota for a weekend with my mother.

My first full day there we headed over to the annual "Rib Fest". There were about 8 vendors all of whom had won many competitions. We bought our lunch from this vendor.



The one to the left of the Aussie vendor has won first and second place at contests in St. Augustine, FL. I don't remember things like this going on down there.



Everyday, sometimes twice, we would drive out to the stable where her adopted horse Kona is kept. We would give him treats.



My last day there we went to Sioux Falls Park. It is a lovely place in the early summer.



I would imagine in the spring when all the snow melts the falls really run fast.



Maybe one day I will be able to go back for another visit.

Memorial Weekend, 2010

On Memorial Day weekend we took advantage of some very nice weather and headed over to our boat. We connected with our friends Walter and Brenda who are from Port Stanley, Ontario, Canada. They needed to get some work done on their boat and we told them to contact a place where we get our work done.

On Friday, very late in the afternoon, actually early evening, we all got together for sundowners in our cockpit.






Saturday Brenda, Richard and I all headed over to the local Farmer's Market where we bought some bread and then went to the local seafood store and picked up some huge shrimp which Richard would later cook on the grill.

After a couple of cocktails Richard went out and gave assistance to a man whose rudder had broken.



When Richard got back he cooked the shrimp and we ate dinner and then drank 4 bottles of wine. When the wine was gone Richard had me pull out a bottle of Earl Grey Liquor. This stuff is not made anymore but we enjoyed it, the entire bottle.




On Sunday we were all invited over to Harry & Melanie's house a/k/a Base Camp for an Ice Cream Social. I don't care what people say, ice cream does help ease a hangover.



Richard had a nice chat with Jesse and Cindy about a lot of nautical stuff.



On Monday morning we waved goodbye to Walter & Brenda aboard Brandarus as they left Oriental bound for points much further north.



We left Oriental about 9 a.m. on Monday and after several stops we managed to take a 6 hour ride and turn it into a 10 hour adventure. But it did include stopping at Chili's for some great burgers for dinner.

Where's the Warm Weather?

I must admit that after such a long, cold and incredibly snowy winter I am very anxious for long, sunny and warm days. What we have been getting is a series of cool, rainy days.

Now on the bright side I have not had to water my garden plants in the last week, on the down side they are not getting as much sun as I would like them to right now.

But the days are getting longer. Today sunrise was at 6:15 and sunset will be at 8:32. I slept through the sunrise due to overcast skies and drizzle.

The rhododendrons are in full bloom, well certain varieties, the one by the front door will not bloom for a few weeks yet. Almost all the leaves are out on the trees and the weeds have taken off.

The picture of the house below was taken one day after work when the rain had stopped and the clouds were breaking up.



This is our spring house, water comes out from here that feeds the large pond.



So as Mother Nature rewards us in many ways for the hell she put us through this winter I enjoy all the pleasures and gently remind myself that rain is a whole lot better than the almost 11 feet of snow that fell only a few short months ago.

Aw, Hail!!

Yesterday was a gorgeous day, at least during the morning and early afternoon. I went to work on the back deck planting my tomatoes, cucumbers, Dahlias and strawberries. I knew there was a chance for afternoon showers and thunderstorms but I did not expect 3 separate rounds of hail. Damn!!



Above is what the back deck looked like after round one.



I am not sure if the poor Dahlia pictured above will survive.



The cucumber plants pictured above suffered also. Most lost their top leaves and almost all the stems were crushed or severed. Luckily I still had some seeds left and planted about 16 seeds in each of the three planters like the one shown.



The tomatoes also took a beating but they fared better than the cucumbers. Most plants lost some leaves but the stems look to be intact and undamaged. Whew.



This Hosta in the front yard looks like it got hit with a shotgun. I did not take a picture of the driveway but it rained so hard we have gullies. Richard will have to go out on the tractor later on and replace the gravel that washed away.

After I replanted the cucumbers I moved them, the Dahlias and the tomatoes under some cover. They will still get some sun but if it hails again this afternoon at least they will be protected. Hopefully today's round of rain and t-storms will not bring more hail.

It's Spring, But Not Warm

In my garden world some things are going great. Like the cucumbers pictured below. I am perplexed as to why the sunflowers are not growing up, but over. Very strange. Pictured below on the left are my petunias in the two front boxes. They are just NOT growing even though they are getting a lot of sunlight every day. My tomatoes are doing the best and will be ready to make the move outside by this weekend or next at the latest.

In my first blog entry I said I would be happy to see the Frog Fountain running again. Richard drained the pond and got the Frog working again. It is nice to come home after work and hear the soothing sound of the fountain.

All of our Azaleas are in bloom. Considering that it was 31 degrees on Mother's Day when we woke up things are doing well.

What has impressed me the most this spring are the Daffodils, Tulips and Garlic we planted here last fall. We planted them very late and I was not sure if anything would come up this spring but as you can see the Daffodils and Tulips are doing great. The Garlic has started to come up and I am looking forward to being able to harvest it in the fall.