A Little Nature and alot of Odds & Ends

 

Wow, the Hydrangea's we planted last year are so beautiful.

 

This is a very poor picture of a Woodpecker. He was huge, right down low in the tree by the fence line. I first saw him sitting on the garage roof (with a Robin), I don't know, maybe they were having a meeting or something. When I grabbed the camera, he flitted down on the lawn, and then up onto this tree. One pic, that's all folks, off he flew. They have shown that they hate to have their picture taken. We have a family of them, little babies (so cute), but they dart away when the camera comes out. 

 

In less happy backyard news, these are leaves from an obviously diseased old Elm that sits behind our neighbor's property. After the last big rain, this is what the entire backyard looked like, covered with these icky, chewed up, rotten leaves.

 

There she is, that giant old Elm tree. It is not in our neighbor's yard, it actually sits on the city property, and I am real curious if the city would do anything about it... Hmmmmm.......

 

The garden, looking great. Already reaping lettuce and radishes and chives. The cukes are starting to climb the trellis, baby tomatoes are sprouting, peppers are coming, and pumpkins, zucchini, and acorn squash are spreading. Also plenty of fresh herbs; Sage, Oregano, Thyme, Parsley, Basil, and Rosemary...

 

and the one thing we have never tried yet... Celery !!! 

 

Back inside the house...

 

Some days, Terry and I look like nursing home patients, wandering like zombies, complaining, tired, and zero energy.

 

Some days, we zip around like we just ate a fistful of sugar cubes. Today, we had sugar...

 

When he came home from work, we just got going.

 

Mopped the basement, vacuumed the whole house, washed rugs and curtains, cleaned floors, finally hung a shelf for Kevin, and...

 

pulled a couple of new light fixtures out of the closet (bought them months ago, just never got around to them).

 

 A couple of chores that have been waiting for months.

 

Sometimes, the simplest of chores get put on the back burner. Today, the hallway in the bedroom area and the hallway by the front door got their new lights.

 

Nice.

 

and since Terry's neck would already be sore, he decided to finish the kitchen ceiling fan.

 

This old "Nutone" fan needed some cleaning and adjustments. It's a great original feature in this old house. I might even use it now...

 

Carry on.

Thank You Honey

 

There's the $269 dollar table we saw at the garden center yesterday...

 

and here's my new patio table, Terry whipped up from scrap wood.

 

He's a genius.

 

 

Second dinner on the new grill. Yum.

 

This grill is a winner.

 

The garden path is finished. It looks so cool.

 

Still working on the new patio, The area off the front is going to be extended with stones to include a fire-pit. This is going to require more excavation of grass, and some bright ideas (for cheap).

 

Here are the two Juneberry trees we planted next to the patio. They are going to make some nice shade someday.

 

I made the following joke at our last house, when we planted some evergreens next to the fence, and it fits here...

 

"The next owners are going to enjoy the shade from these trees in fifteen years".

First Day of Summer

 

Here's my new grill... oh man, lot's of little parts, and pieces, and hardware...

 

and an instruction booklet with pictures and no words. Normally, that would be good, but we really needed some words here. Two different times during the assembley we had to take it apart and start again. But, we did it, we always do.

 

This morning, I woke up to scraping noises. Terry was up early, working on the stone garden path...

 

Mixing cement in a tub.

 

He is a true weekend warrior.

 

Looks pretty cool.

 

Went to the garden store to pick up a couple of trees (more on that below), and saw this table, which is exactly what I want for the patio. $269... Terry ran home and started working up the plans to build it for free with scraps in his wood pile. Love him.

 

Here she is... Ready for her first run.

 She's a Char-Broil Tru Infrared gas grill.

I had to search for this one, because I had very specific wants.

Slim design (I'm not cooking for an army)

Four wheels (not the stupid 2 wheels & 2 legs design)

A door to hide the propane tank,

and stainless steel. 

 

Made shish-kebab, veggies, naan bread, and Farro.

 

Love it.

 

This was our bargain purchase at the garden store... two Serviceberry trees.

 Also known as "Juneberry".

 

A combo shrub/tree that grows 20 feet, blooms white in Spring, and develops edible purple berries in June. Perfect natural privacy for our new patio.

 

Hope they grow fast...

 

 

Summertime, Summertime, Sum, Sum, Summertime

 

Went out to Fowlerville this weekend to see my bro, and take in some garage sales in the city. Every time we drive through the city I want to take a picture of this bar. This time, I finally did. Next visit, I'm going in to check it out, I swear.

Back roads, Stowe Road, to be exact. The greenery growing out of the old silo caught my eye, but so did the Pink, Blue, and Yellow house.

Got to see the address sign I made for my brother, it looks beautiful...

and Bella.

Bobby lent us a cement patio block form, and Terry got right to it.

 

Looks pretty cool.

I made leaves with left over concrete.

 

More on that later, I guess...

A little garden walkway starting to take shape.

 

and, my first crop of lettuce for the season.

 

Summer is definitely here, and it is time to delight in the little things.

 

 

Fireplace... Done.

 

There's the fire place "before" picture...

 

 

Here's the fireplace "after" picture.

 

So happy with the results, and we saved thousands of dollars by refurbishing the old glass door cover and screen. Now, it's clean and modern, but still fits in with the style of the home.

 

Walked outside tonight and saw the strangest sight. It's only June and those trees are Green !

 

But the setting sun was shining so intently on the treeline, it made them look Golden.

 

Pictures are never as good as the real thing...

Patio

 

There's Joe. He's going to lay our 12 x 14 slab of cement patio. The cement truck just got here, and they're ready to roll.

 

I walked out back and there's the cement truck hanging half on the back easement and half into the street. Whatever means necessary, right?

 

Joe is doing this all by himself, pretty amazing...

 

and... he chatted with me the whole time.

 

He was great, professional, and friendly. Don't see that very often.

 

He didn't even care if I sat there and took pictures.

 

Here it is, leveled, and ready for seam cutting.

 

Beautiful job. Couldn't be happier,

 

 and I can't wait to fall asleep out here on my chaise lounge.

 

Good day !

I Need a 25 Hour Day

 

We finally addressed this area of the backyard, where there used to be a giant pine tree.

It was so full of pine bark, it took a long time to clean it all out.

 

Layed down some grass seed, roped it off from the dogs, and now we wait for grass to grow...

 

This is the area in the front yard where we dug out a giant evergreen bush. I am tired of grass seed, so I decided to make it a "Hosta" garden. Although the picture looks sunny, this spot is actually shady most of the day.

 

More work on the front garden beds; tore out old evergreens, planted grasses, and dappled willow, and coneflowers. More rock border, and more grass seed, and done.

 

Finally found a reasonable contractor to make us a deck, actually, it turns out to be a cement slab... When the estimate for a wood deck came in at $3500, we opted for a $1600 cement slab.

 

This is Joe, setting up the level...

 

Then he put down the forms and leveled, ready for cement.

 

He is coming back tomorrow, to pour the cement. I can't wait to finally have a place for a barbeque and some chairs. First I have to buy a barbeque ???

 

Special thank you to "my Kevin" for loaning us his money to get this done.

 

Remember the fireplace project? We're almost there...

 

Screen is ready to mount.

 

The log crib... oops, Shorty in the way...

 

There it is... Tomorrow, we'll put it all together.

 

All in a day...

 

I don't know how all of this happens in one day, but I made banana bread, sprayed the plants for aphids, dealt with the cement guy, called divorce lawyers, wrote out bills, watched police in front of my house, break up a fight between two kids, made chicken and mashed potatoes with gravy for dinner, watched baseball, and the O.J. Simpson special, and Moody Blues concert on PBS (simultaneously), chatted with my neighbor (who gave me some hostas), AND, made soup, while I waited for Sandy to come home at midnight.

 

Not enough hours in the day.