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.

 

   

Graduation Day

Took a break from our yardwork to watch our last child graduate from high school.
Terry and I have four kids; two his, two mine.
Kevin (mine) graduated in 2008.
Nick (Terry's) graduated in 2009.
Sandy (mine) graduated in 2011.
And finally Lucas (Terry's) graduated today 2014.

Happy, proud, and done... with the natural part of parenting, and the formal societal driven rules of raising of children...
Birthday parties, kindergarten, doctor appointments, imagined (or real) psychological roadblocks, worries and fears, driving like a taxi-cab driver, football, soccer, baseball, sleepovers, drivers-ed, and school pick-ups and drop-offs that never seemed to end.

We've gradually entered a new phase...

Kevin's Asperger's worsenes over time and he stays home, working on computers.
Nick will marry his sweetheart in the fall, and is getting ready to take his dental school entrance exams.
Sandy is taking graphic design courses at the community college, and
Lucas is planning to attend culinary arts school in the fall.

These kids are so busy now...

Tomorrow we'll be back in the yard, working on our own projects, and waiting for them to need us.

Carry on.

We Need More Grass Seed !

 

Spot in the front yard where Terry pulled out the largest stump ever recorded.

 

There was a giant evergreen shrub here, which had to be removed for the privacy fence.

 

More grass seed needed.

 

Now we're working on this section of the yard; front yard, and side yard. Took out two giant old evergreens in the front, and lot's of scrub material in the side yard. Timbers, bricks, asphalt shingles, and rocks !!!

 

So many rocks. We're going to straighten this area up, keep some rocks here (low maintenance), and already planted a Crepe Myrtle in the corner.

 

Then more grass seed...

 

Out in the front yard, we spent the entire evening fighting English Ivy. About a 12 x 12 sq. ft. area of stubborn, deeply rooted ivy. The surface shoots are gone, and now comes the digging out of the root systems.

 

This isn't like on TV, where the magic crew comes out during the commercial, and when they come back, it's all beautifully landscaped... 

 

This is the real, and painful deal.

 

Once we get all of the ivy out, I will small up the garden area, plant a Dappled Willow on the corner, and a Butterfly Bush next to the brick. Then fill in with grass...

 

More grass seed !!!