Deck progress…

July 30, 2013 | Stacy

So – I have not posted on the deck in a LOOOOONG time.

John is making progress. But it is hard for him to get any real time to work on it.
He took a week off in the spring, and it rained almost everyday. There are so many details to the deck that go far beyond the boards you walk on or the railing you lean on. Add to that my desire to have the top boards on the diagonal (to match the house deck), and there is even more effort to it.

He is doing a great job. But it is going slowly. It’s not like he wants to use all his days off to construct. We want him available to play, go places, and otherwise enjoy summer with the family. And it is hard to get any done in the evenings, by the time you lug out all the equipment, etc. AND, there is all the normal yard maintenance that goes with this property.

But I think it is going to be beautiful when it is done. 🙂 And maybe next summer will be warm enough to actually enjoy the pool!

He made me a polished arrow

July 22, 2013 | Stacy

Isaiah 49:1-3 The Servant of the Lord

Listen to me, O coastlands, and give attention, you peoples from afar. The Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother He named my name. He made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand He hid me; He made me a polished arrow; in his quiver He hid me away. And He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”

7/4/13

July 6, 2013 | Stacy

Our July 4ths do not have a tradition…

2008
2009 – drove home from TN
2010 – no recollection what-so-ever
2011 – again – no clue… likely worked
2012 – impromptu picnic – our Brookses friends asked if they could pop over with their out-of-town guests to cook out and swim.

This last one was so much fun I asked Emily if she wanted to repeat & expand Her family was up for it & we forged ahead.

The forecast was grim and it poured buckets all morning. Half-an-hour before the picnic was slated to start the forecast abruptly and dramatically shifted; we were blessed with 85+ degrees, and there was not a raindrop to be seen.

We quickly assembled our party tent in our own yard for the first time in years. (We seem to lend it once a year.)

It was remarkable. I have not stopped praising God for His merciful timing. THE WEATHER WAS PICNIC-PERFECT!!!!!

I never pulled out the camera until dessert time. (Not to be confused with swimming-time, eating-time, talking-time, football-time, etc.)

Riffy had so much lemonade and her weight’s worth of chippy-chips.

My kids had a blast. In their minds there is NOTHING cooler than playing football or swimming with friends.

I love gatherings. I do, I do. We seem to have fewer and fewer each year which makes me sad. But when we do, boy, do I enjoy them. And let me tell you… many hands make light work! The food was amazing and you’d never know from looking that there were 28 of us here yesterday!!

Empty Nest

April 9, 2013 | Stacy

While I am pretty sure it will be a long time until I experience an empty nest of my own (Thank you, Jesus, for these great kids) my girls were excited about the empty nest they found under the deck.

Ahem – the story goes… that Tabitha SAW it on Easter Sunday, but didn’t touch it. So when Marie found it on Thursday it wasn’t REALLY her discovery…

Or something like that.

Deck update…

October 10, 2012 | Stacy

The deck progress is slow. So much of what had to be done early on was rather dull and hard to appreciate.

Last Wednesday Marie stayed home from CBS to help Daddy. Originally we’d intended for Stewart to stay home with him that morning. But Stewart fell apart at the prospect of missing CBS. Nigel chimed in immediately, too. Both boys begged, “Please, oh please, don’t make us miss CBS.” Marie loves CBS, too, but something made her speak up and offer to help her dad.

Their task for the morning was to measure the height at which each post needed to be cut off. They used string and levels and good old Sharpies. John reports she was a really good worker, but of course she did need a rest now and then. Being married to a blogger is rubbing off some; John stopped to get some photos.

That is the hot chocolate he made her in the cup on the left. He’s teaching her well.

Golly. I love love these pictures.

The work continued a little each day. There was SO much earth to be moved. SO.MUCH. That is hardly exciting, but it had to be done. The yard work suited Nigel very well. He couldn’t scurry away from the school table fast enough with each break in his work.

All the kids had to fill up the wheelbarrow over the weekend. They took turns. Even Tabitha did her share.

This is where we are at as of Tuesday at 5:00 P.M. Far from done, but well past 13 sticks in the ground.

It’s coming. Not sure how far it will come before the snow finds us, but John still has 7 vacation days plus an hour or two each evening before it gets too dark to work.

Deck work

October 1, 2012 | Stacy

This will not be a quick process. And considering I never posted the “after” pictures for our beautiful new dining room, I can’t promise you’ll ever see the deck again. 😉

But last week we had 13 post-holes drilled out. On the weekend the store delivered gobs and gobs of supplies. And today they start.

*My* dream is to see it framed in the next few weeks. Floor and rails could wait until next Spring in my planning; I’m not expecting too much. Just a good solid start. We can finish next year.

a room with a view

March 10, 2012 | Stacy

As I was doing my Bible reading this morning I couldn’t help but be distracted by the moon God hung.

I slipped [literally] onto the icy deck to grab a few shots.

Then, as I was working in the kitchen to make breakfast and pack lunch for co-op, I suddenly noticed some kind of ANIMALS up in the big tree straight back from the window.

I called out to John and ran to get binoculars. We guessed it was a cat and a raccoon up in the tree, quarreling. Once I had the binoculars it proved to be two very large raccoons. The larger of the two teetered and tottered on very THIN branch.

They spent almost an hour sunning themselves out there as we took turns with the binoculars and went on to eat and continue to get ready for co-op.

It’s such a “pool” story

July 18, 2011 | Stacy

I grew up in a home with an above-ground pool.

JB grew up in a home with an above-ground pool.

When we got married we bought a house without an above-ground pool and promptly had one installed.

When we bought this house, without a pool, in 2007, we said, “We will go one summer without a pool.”

We went without in 2007 – as expected.
We went without in 2008.
We went without in 2009.
We went without in 2010.

At this point my mom, Nan, offered to purchase us one. We refused! Nan is not well-to-do. She is a widow on a fixed income. Besides, our yard is on a hill and it would require a lot of work. We have a new baby and no time to do it ourselves [as we prefer], and we have no $$$ to hire someone to do the work!

In spring 2011 Nan offered again. She insisted that she would take it from her 401K gladly, offering, “I know I will have everything I need.” We prayerfully accepted her offer.

Installation began 7/11. Because of our septic system and lines, we had exactly one place it could go in our back yard.

The first day we watch a Bobcat work 2 hours to just get an area level enough to start the assembly.
By dinner time it was starting to fill.
And the yard work began.

Tuesday, 7/12, at 7 AM when Home Depot opened, JB was at the door to buy the required black silt fence.
You can see here at the back of the pool just how high they had to build it up! It is taller than me!
He also made the decision to hire out the electric. This was a hard choice for JB. He is really good at electric and it was VERY expensive to have it done for us. But the town’s code has gotten much more complicated than it was 13 years ago, and the yard is very large.

On Wednesday, 7/13, a 5-man team of electricians worked 6 hours to do the electric.
We went to Seabreeze…

On Thursday 7/14, while the girls and I ate at Pizza Hut, JB and the boys worked at home on the landscaping.
As the parents came to pick up their daughters, they picked up their tools and jumped in to help us complete all we needed to complete in order to pass the inspection Friday for our C of C.

As we went to bed Thursday night John said, “Isn’t it just like God to send us help like that?” ♥

On Friday, 7/15, after passing inspection, I let the kids go in for about 20 minutes before I went to work.
Champ had the Inaugural Splash.

On Saturday, 7/16, I finally got in.
Scooter, although smiling in this photo, is not all that sure about the big-chilly-bathtub!

More friends freely offered up their help. As kids swam and played the dads built a French drain.

And we had our first “pool party” afterward for our friend, L.

Hunting for black raspberries and bunnies…

July 7, 2011 | Stacy

They didn’t find bunnies today, but they did find black raspberries.

Angel and I had gone out the evening before and saw that the black raspberries were starting to ripen. She escorted Skeezix out to show her. They noticed me with my camera and headed up to share their bounty.

See all the bushes on either side of them back there?
That only represents about 30% of the bushes!!!

Here they are at another patch…

God-willing, these should be ready by the end of next week. YUM!
I still get giddy when we pick the berries. I can’t help but think in amazement, “God gave US all this free food!” It always blows my mind. Why would He be so generous??? Why? ♥