Those Lazy Hazy Days of Summer!

Wow, the days are flying by!  I have been so busy with little time to blog, I try to look at my favorite blogs when I have a spare second.  Since I have not blogged in awhile this post will be a jumble!

First, I had the work completed in the upstairs bath and the ceiling repaired in the downstairs half bath.  This fall I will have that bath painted.  Next project was the deck.  When the contractor showed up to being the work he said the entire deck had to be removed and rebuilt.  The boards under the deck were in bad shape. Of course, this added a lot of extra $$$ to the job, but in the end, the results were well worth it.  I LOVE the new deck, I had the steps moved to the area of the deck which leads directly into the yard, before they were taking you almost into the little deck that comes off the laundry room door.  This project took two weeks and he finished two days before my grandsons arrived for their summer visit.  My daughter and I hustled to get the yard back in order and while waiting for the deck to be finished she and I painted lawn furniture, shopped for two new umbrellas and I had started flower seeds to be planted and potted the flowers that would be on the deck.  Where he had removed grass to make a patio landing for the stairs (which, by the way, are much wider/longer and more of them. . .nice place to sit and watch the kids chase fireflies in the evening!) I was left with a big pile of dirt and rocks.  I sorted through the dirt, pulled out the rocks and bought topsoil and made a little cutting flower garden in the area, I love it.  I planted the plants which I started from seed and they are growing happily in their new “bed”.  I have a row of sun flowers and hope they will bloom before he boys go home in August. 

Without my daughter’s help I would never have been able to have it all done in time before the boys arrived.  She has even taken over helping me mow, she takes care of the back and I take care of the front!  My daughter who once ran away from earth worms is becoming quite the gardener!  She tells me pushing the lawn mower is a great way to exercise!

Now my days are filled keeping two little boys entertained, 10 and 7!  They help water the gardens and we started a pumpkin patch.  They each picked out pumpkin seeds to plant.  Yesterday I built a raised bed for them to plant their tiny pumpkin plants in, those seeds grew so fast that I had to have a place to put them!  Today off to get more topsoil for them and I may extend my little flower bed next to the deck.   We still have patches where the truck and workmen’s tool stomped my grass down, but it is slowly coming back. The boys working on the bed for their pumpkins.  It was sooooo very hot on Sunday when we started this project.  I thought we would melt!  They will not get to see the pumpkins mature, but I promised them photos of their progress.  The boys go home in August.

The little pumpkin plants planted, a view of the deck and little flower garden and the deck in the process of being built.  We went with the new composite material, I will never have to stain or water proof it again!  You can see how much the flowers have in the tiny garden have grown in the full photo of the deck and garden.  We are enjoying the summer days on the new deck, we have dinner outside, have been doing a lot of BBQ-ing and the days seem to fly by. 

My Girl,mowing the back yard and after, getting ready to go out later that evening, she cleans up nicely!

 

 

The end of May my #3 son moved out, he has his own place and he is getting to know his neighbors, he said his job is tiring but he loves it and on his one day off a week he enjoys the beauty of the state he is living in.

A few photos of his new home and one of the neighbors! He is living in Idaho, in a tent and working with wolves! He loves working with wildlife and living in the wilderness, he graduated college last May, a non-traditional student. . .he was the oldest student at the college he attended.  After his stay in Idaho he heads to Minnesota to work with bears, this will be his third year of doing that.  He and the animals seem to have an understanding and respect for one another!  He will then return back to a “house” with indoor plumbing sometime the middle or end of September but his heart will long for what he loves.  He hopes to find a full-time job working in his field of wildlife/environmental work. The inside of his “home”. . .I could never, ever live in a tent for a long period of time.

  A Neighbor!

Before he left, now I am sure he has a full beard and long hair and dressed in his favorite old pants and flannel shirts which I patch for him because he will NOT throw them out. 

As far as the inside goes I have not made any or should I say too many changes!  When the warm weather arrives I spend most of my time outside working with my flower gardens and doing stuff around the yard.

So, for now, as I tell my son, Happy Trails, I hope everyone is having a great summer and will have a wonderful July 4th! 

Bye for now,

Martha