Rhonda

Uncles

Along with all the work we tried to get done over the weekend we were able to take a break and run out to Belva Deer and visit. Dad and Mom were camping again this weekend and Mom’s brothers drove up from Burlington for the afternoon to visit. It’s always fun when we get together with family and Uncle Donnie and Aunt Susan and Uncle Terry and Aunt Judy are no exception. As they get older they tend to reminisce more and more and I just enjoy sitting and listening to them talk about their time growing up and hearing about Grandpa and Grandma. I’m so glad we ran out to see them for a little while. This time we got to hear Uncle Terry tell about his escapade with his buddies when they were seniors in high school – they decided to head to California and get jobs and be on their own. They made it as far as Colorado!

Another First and Another Project Started

I don’t mow. And we have a pretty large yard. This picture is only showing a small small portion. And after all the rain last weekend the grass had grown so tall and thick, it doesn’t look the greatest. I really needs to be swept. Anyway, I used to mow when Joe and I first got married but I could never mow to suit him. He would complain every time I tried. He would always tell me I mowed like a farm girl. Well – since I did grow up in the country on 40 acres, I guess I was kind of a farm girl so why would I not mow like one??!! So, there finally came a point where I said I was done. No more mowing for me. It wasn’t my favorite thing to do anyway so I really didn’t mind not doing it. I didn’t like how many hours it took Joe weekly to get it done though. Now through the years we have had various mowers and when we got the John Deer I tried again thinking this mower would be easier for me to handle. Nope – still couldn’t mow to suit Joe. But yesterday, I really wanted to get started on our newest project but the yard needed mowed. We now have a zero-turn mower and I asked if I could try it out. This was definitely a first for me and it took a little practice. I was certainly glad I started up in back where I couldn’t really be seen because I know it had to have been quite a sight but I did, finally, get the hang of it! I mowed until it was time to run to town to pick up Drew while Joe trimmed. When I got home he had the trim done, finished mowing and we had lots of time to get started on the next project. So, maybe I will have to mow the yard once in awhile now. After all Joe didn’t say a word about my mowing like a farm girl! It was nice to have the job done and out of the way. And I kind of enjoyed this zero-turn thing – once I got the hang of it!

We didn’t get as much done on this project as I was hoping but we did get a good start on it. Unfortunately, as is usually the case, we decided we needed to add treated board to the back of this and we could only scrounge up one around here so we had to cover everything up for the night and we’ll start again tonight after we get a board. Now – we live in a very old home – built in 1900 so everything we have to work with is old. Nothing nice and new and easy here! When we bought this place, this was a flower bed full of beautiful red geraniums. It didn’t take long to discover that the cats also liked to use it as a litter box. And since this leads right up to the back door – it was not the ideal placement for a litter box. So, eventually we decided to fill it in with decorative rock.

That worked for awhile, until Drew got old enough to start using it as his personal dirt/rock playground. Needless to say – it was definitely not a pretty sight. We decided to fill it in with landscape blocks and I can set pretties out there or flower pots if I want. Of course nothing is square or even or whatever but I think it’s going to look just fine. I can sweep off the twigs and stuff that fall off the tree, it can no longer be used as a litter box and Drew will have to dig in the dirt somewhere else. And I’m sure it will also be used as it has always been used – a place to sit and relax – only now it will be a nice tidy place to sit and relax!

Randomness

I love finding these random notes from Drew. You never know when or where you will find one. I found this one posted on the refrigerator door – he knew I would definitely find it there!

Last night we ran to Menards to get supplies for our next outdoor project. I really hate spending the money but we have put these things off for too long and it’s time to get them done. Since Menards is self-serve we rarely have anybody offer to help us and last night was no exception. I’m sure those young male workers got a kick out of watching a 51 year old overweight lady help load up the trailer with 10′ pieces of lumber, 40 pound bags of sand and 53 landscaping blocks. By the time we were done I was dripping with sweat and could hardly move – now that is a workout! And yes, the trailer is sitting beside another project for this summer – one of two buildings that have to come down. The work just never ends!

Making Progress

Yesterday I worked outside – all afternoon and evening. I was sweaty and dirty and absolutely exhausted by the time I came in – but it was a good exhausted! We are finally making progress around here. I should have taken before pictures to show just how bad things were looking. I did just go out and take before pictures of our next project – I’m just not sure that I want them to be seen!

I spent the afternoon working on our little deck that is right off the dining room. I rearranged, planted flowers, swept, and tried to make it a place you would want to go to and enjoy. It didn’t see much use last year due to it being so darn dry and the dust off the gravel road being so bad. Since we’re having the road sprayed next week and we’ve actually had some rain this spring I thought it would be safe to try and spruce things up out there!

Then when Joe got home we worked on putting down landscaping and mulch. Lots and lots of mulch! I still hate that the chickens can’t free range (although it’s a huge relief not worrying about them being on the gravel road or the highway) but these beds looked soooo bad. Not a drop of mulch was left and the black paper we had put down was showing all over the place. It just looked so awful. Then we had never put down anything to contain the mulch around these two sides of the house and we decided it was just time. We used a recycled product that was lightweight and easy to install and is so easy to mow around. We’d used it elsewhere and Joe loved it so we finally finished the rest of the house with it. I love the way everything looks now.

I still have a lot to do – lots of weeding and making things look nice. We need to put a new door on the basement. The house needs power washed and the decks need re-stained. But it’s so nice to have the hard part done. Now it actually looks like the people who live here care – well, that they are finally starting to care! It will really look like we care once we get everything done we have on our to-do list!

The Memories!

I’ve been watching Little Women on PBS. It’s been years since I’ve read the book – although I’ve read it numerous times – and it amazes me how it all comes back! I wish I had time to sit and watch it all at once but I have too many chores and nobody wants to watch it with me in the evening so – during my “lunch break” I watch a little at a time and I’m enjoying it so. And oh how I wish I had their house and everything in it. I’m so drawn to that era. It looks so comfy and cozy. I think it’s time to dig out my old copy and read it again – movies are fun but they just can’t compare to a good book!

Oh The Smells!

I keep seeing all these beautiful spring flower pictures all over the internet and I’ve just been so busy I haven’t thought about bringing any flowers in the house. But today, I ran out and picked some lilacs and some lily of the valley. And Drew picked me a beautiful bouquet of wildflowers yesterday while at Belva Deer. My front rooms smell so wonderful!

Mother’s Day Camping

This came home Wednesday. Joe totally surprised me. I was subbing at school when he texted and said he was on his way home with the camper. For some reason I got a burst of energy that evening and I cleaned it all up – bleached, dusted, vacuumed, washed the bedding. Then Mom texted and said they had their camper set up at Belva Deer. We ran out there for a little bit and I guess the camping bug got us.

This is what happened Thursday night. Totally unplanned and spur of the moment. I raided the freezer for meat, the refrigerator for eggs, made a quick stop at the grocery store and we were off.

It rained and rained some more. Saturday was spent in the camper for the most part due to rain. Sunday the kids and Aunt Beth came out and we were able to eat lunch outside and then back to the camper to sit out a storm and lots of rain. We did get to sit around the campfire each night – it was chilly and the blankets came out – perfect campfire weather. We had a great first trip and we have the next one planned for June. We have lots of work to get done between now and then!

Just Because

I’m finally getting caught up on orders. I love this time of year because it’s so nice to finally get to be outside and out of the house but we get so busy that I don’t get to stitch as much as I’d like. I told Joe I’m going to have to stop taking orders for now becuase I just can’t dedicate the time to stitching like I would like. It’s hard to not stitch. But by the time we get into the house of an evening and settled in for the night, it’s getting late and I’m just plain exhausted and too tired to stitch. This time will pass and we’ll get settled into our summer routine and I’ll be able to bring stitching back into my days but for now, I’ll just have to grab a few minutes here and there when I can to keep me grounded. Stitching is my relaxation, my calm during a storm, it’s just what I do. I think maybe my next project will be something for me. Something I won’t feel pressured to finish. It’s been too long since I’ve stitched just because. Now to pick the perfect pattern from my every growing stash!

A First For Me

After four kids you would think I would have it down. But apparently not – although I could chalk it up to old age! Yesterday I got Drew up for school like every Monday morning. We got around and headed to town to drop him off at school. When we got there I noticed there wasn’t anybody around. I looked at the clock and saw we were about five minutes earlier than normal so told Drew we would drive around for a few minutes and then come back. As I was driving away I realized – there was no school. It was a teacher in-service day. I had just written it down on the calendar last week and had looked at the calendar over the weekend and – I forgot. Thank goodness I didn’t drop him off and head home. That would have been a disaster. Four kids and all these years of dropping them off and this was a first. And hopefully a last! Drew thought it was so funny and couldn’t wait to tell his dad! I am just thankful my mother’s intuition kicked in and I sensed somehing wasn’t right before I just left him there. So we decided to run to Osky and run errands and Drew got a new Lego set – a Minecraft set. We love Lego!

Another Busy Weekend

Another busy weekend is in the books. And we didn’t get near as much accomplished as we would have liked. We did, finally, get the chicken run completely done. Yeah! The babies are now in with the older girls. That’s not going as smoothly as I would have hoped. I really hope they make friends with each other soon so I can quit worrying. We are constantly going out and checking on them, afraid we’re going to find one of the babies dead. Those older girls can be mean.

We started out Saturday checking things off our to-do list. Joe got the mowing done, I got the tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers planted and the rest of the my flowers. As we were getting ready to start on the mulch Joe got a phone call. Quick change of plans. Friends we hadn’t seen for ages called and asked if we wanted to meet in the Amanas for the afternoon. Of course we said yes! I wish I had taken pictures but I totally forgot. We had so much fun getting caught up with our friends Fred and Denise. They moved here from Texas 13 years ago and we met them right after they moved. Fred’s sister was with them visiting. This was her first time visiting here and she loved it. It was a great afternoon and evening catching up with old friends and making a new one. Definitely worth the break from getting projects done at home!

Sunday we thought we were going to work on getting the mulch put down but once we started we realized that to do the job right we really needed to get some landscaping materials to keep the mulch in around the last two sides of the house. Otherwise it just keeps washing away. And we want to finish a deck we started a few years back because it just looks awful right now the way things are. So we did a lot of measuring and talking and figuring out and measuring and writing things down and we have a list so we can go back to Menards, again, and get more supplies. This is the year of getting things done around here and I’m so excited! One night this week we’ll run to Menards and then we’ll have everything we need to get two more projects finished. Yeah!

Later we met Dad and Mom at Belva Deer for our first picnic of the season. The weather was absolutely beautiful. Drew took his new scooter and had fun on it. We walked around the campground and stopped and talked to the Sigourney campers that were there. Our camper is still in storage. We’ve decided to get our projects done before we think about camping – but after being out there and talking to friends, Joe was talking about bringing it home this week. I’m not ready to camp but it’s always nice to have it home!