Updates

I hope you are all having a safe, peaceful, and happy Independence Day!  

We are having a quiet day here.  It's hot and humid and the heat index is moving to over 100 degrees.

The patio work is done.  Since I last posted about it, I have been out to scrub the siding and our chairs.  I bought three small gray side tables that go well with the chairs.  We plan to get a large umbrella and possibly another chair.  It would be nice to have something like a lounge chair, but unfortunately, those are all made too low.  We need something higher so we could actually get out of it! 😊

Then on another day, I went out and took care of the Hydrangeas.  They have been beautiful this year.  They needed to be dead-headed and cleaned up.  All the stone dust and then moisture was not good for them.  But they are still blooming and lovely.  I tidied up the mulch and moved a bit of the extra to another area where it was needed.  And then pulled weeds and tidied up in another area.  There is still yard work waiting to be done, but that is for another day.  When it is this hot, I do not do yard work unless it's early in the day.

And then another day, I cleaned all the windows.  The ones on the side of the house and across the back were especially nasty with stone dust that had turned to a clay-like substance with moisture. And there was some flung about mud, too.  But that is all cleaned up now.

Our girls and families are doing well.  Everyone is busy.  Jordan's job is going very well!

Here are pictures I took this morning of the patio so far. This is still a work in progress.

Take care of yourselves and stay safe.  Life is good.  And God Bless America!

Just Some Good Advice!

Tried a New Restaurant!

 

I had seen some good comments about 134 Grille online and recently we thought we'd try it for breakfast.  It is a small place that is owned by a retired couple who used to run the local Harley dealership that was owned by their family.  Les and I got there about twenty minutes after their listed opening time.  The man immediately apologized for running a little late. But he told us to sit wherever we wanted and gave us menus.  Told us his wife would be in later, she was with their grandkids.  And he had sent his  mother-in-law to the grocery.  The mother-in-law was soon back, and the man was busy cooking our orders. The wife soon arrived, too.  The place was clean, neat, quiet, the people friendly, and the food was good.  When our meals were brought out, the man immediately told Les he was not happy with the over-easy eggs and was cooking new ones.  They had split when flipped, I think.  And those second eggs came right out.  Les said after we left he wouldn't have sent the first ones back but he wasn't given a chance to say anything. 😊 So this was a good experience, and we'll go back.  

This sign was on the wall.  Over the years when I've been to craft fairs and sales, I have frequently thought "that's nice, but Pam could make that, or Jacquie could make that, and for sure Dad could have made it".  Now I can think "oh, Jordan could make that!".

Take care of yourselves and stay safe.  Life is good.  And God Bless America!

An Update

We had a BIG storm during the night.  It woke me up around 2:00 a.m.  Actually it was the very bright  lightening with no sound that was flashing that woke me up.  It rained really hard, and was very windy.  Eventually the storm got itself all together and the lightening connected to the thunder as it got closer.  Today it is hot and sunny, with more potential storms in the forecast. 

Yesterday was a lot of work on the patio.  Big trucks delivering things, many guys working.  They were here before 8:00 a.m. and didn't leave until around 4:00 p.m.  The stone work and the secure border was all done.  I had some discussions about various things with the supervisor and then discussed with Les.  We had been asked if we wanted to have them remove the existing small patio and replace it with the same stone as the new.  My first response was to ask for the estimate on that.  Turns out that was the same price as the work on removing the deck and installing the new patio, so we said no, just work the stones together.  I think it looks good and I know over time the color and stones will change a little.  

Today there are two workers who have been here for hours.  Their job was to pick up any debris and trash, put down some topsoil where it was needed around the patio, and then put down a little mulch where needed.  All the previous men who were here working were friendly, polite, and knew what they were doing.  The two men today are okay, but don't seem very motivated or energetic. Most of the time when I've looked out they've been on their phones.  They've been here almost  five hours and are not done.  And I've had to talk to them about covering up the clearly flagged sprinkler heads with damp dirt and then standing on them.  I had to explain that when they did that it packed mud down into the sprinkler head and it would not work.  Sigh.  Perhaps a little more training needed with these two.  But overall, the project has been okay.  We will be happy with the new patio and final pictures will be coming soon.  This was taken late yesterday afternoon.

Take care of yourselves and stay safe.  God Bless America!

The Mimosa Tree Is Blooming!

Our Mimosa tree started out as a very small rooted "stick" that our minister had given us years ago when I worked at the church.  The tree has grown and seems to like where it is and is now blooming again.  We love this tree!

Our Crape Myrtles are starting to bloom, too.

Yesterday and today we have actually seen the sun!  Although I just checked and thunderstorms are in the forecast for the rest of the day.  

No work done over the weekend on the new patio build.  But we sort of knew that.  

Take care of yourselves and stay safe.  Life is good.  And God Bless America!

Happy Anniversary, Honey!

I love you always and forever.  XOXOXOXOXO

Some Progress Pictures

The work on our new patio has been happening between rain, lightning warnings, and downpours.  Yesterday a few guys came and started to remove roots.  I took this picture last evening.

A bunch showed up this morning and worked until the thunder and rain started again and this is what it looked like right before the rain started.

We also had a couple conversations with one of the supervisors and we made a final choice on the patio stones.  I did not care for the first ones he showed me and didn't even call Les out to look at those.  The man said he had other samples he could bring.  We both went out and looked at those and picked some that will blend in with the current patio stone.  So progress is being made even if it is in "fits and starts".

I hope everyone is well.  Our family is all good as far as I know.  Jordan is doing very well with her new job.  Life is good, even when it is matter of accepting things.  Take care of yourselves and stay safe.  And God Bless America!