Sunday evening

Today was without a doubt the most depressing day of fireplace destruction. Not only did we find more rotten wood on the sides of the fireplace, but we also found mold behind the drywall and TERMITE damage! :( Now the drywall on both sides has to come down and be replaced as well as the support structure. This is not what we bargained for when purchasing our "dream" home! We now have holes to the outside all along the outside fireplace walls. We have stuffed fiberglass in temporarily until we can figure out what to do next. It is supposed to rain more this week which is not a good sign. I guess this is just another test! Sabina once said that we were the King and Queen of perseverance....until now, I would have agreed. I just look at the mess now and want to give up.

Holly Bush Removal

Late Saturday afternoon our good neighbor, the original owner/builder of our house, Dr. Sundstrom, whom I will from now on refer to as "Farmer Frank", came to help remove two overgrown old Holly bushes from our walkway by the front door. Since it had rained most of the day they just pulled right out with the aid of a chain and his trusty John Deere! We are going to plant Elephand Ears in their place.

Getting the firebox out of the house took some of Ron's genius techniques! It was extremely heavy and just fit through the doors. The clean-up from this disaster will last for months. :(

Most of the rest of the afternoon was spent hauling concrete blocks out to the truck and shoveling up ash and debree.

Fireplace destruction!

No, nothing was wrong with the camera! This is the cloud of dust that swept through our house when Ron dumped the firebox out of the wall and onto the floor! I'm sure the cough I now have is all cement dust and ash!

Sat. April 24th 2010

The rain started early this morning so the garden work came to a screeching halt! We worked inside all day on the fireplace destruction and managed to accomplish quite a bit. The big ugly rotted out firebox is outside now and most of the surrounding concrete block is gone. WHAT A MESS! I will be so glad when this project is over.

April 22, 2010

Today we woke to the sound of much needed rain! Yesterday I mowed most of the day and Ron worked on the patch of ground behind the barn where we are going to plant corn. He did have to enlist my help to remove the stump of an old cedar tree which was in the way. It was quite a job, requiring the aid of chains, picks, shovels and the Suburban in 4 wheel drive to get it out. Hopefully the rototiller man will be able to come with his tractor and tiller next week.
I swept up the grass from mowing (with my lawn sweeper, not a broom!) and dumped it in piles in the future corn patch and Ron spread it around with a pitch fork. He was nearly dead from exhaustion last night. Once again, I must say, "getting old is not much fun"!
Now I am listening to the sound of rain dripping into the bucket in the fireplace! I guess we'll get back to that project someday.

April 20, 2010

Our garden is finally starting to grow! We planted 9 tomato plants on Sunday, with many more to go. We are trying several new varieties this year, one of which I'm hoping will be of great benefit to us..."The Mortgage Lifter"! Lifting our mortgage would be a dream come true!

We saw our first Humming Bird on Sunday morning too! That is always a happy sign of Spring and warmer days ahead to me. I put a feeder on our bedroom window and they have managed to drink half of the food already. They seem to like the lemon tree out there too.

Scarecrow

This is the scariest Scarecrow I've ever seen! This should keep EVERYTHING out of the garden!

April 17,2010

Saturday was another long day in the garden. Ron cultivated around all the rapidly growing plants while I shoveled mulch into the wheel barrow and dumped it around the plants. Then raked it smooth and level. We took turns doing this until we were both almost dead! The pile of mulch doesn't even look as though we've put a dent in it! We planted 3 different kinds of bell peppers in the new boxes with the trees. They should be happy there!

Resident Pole Dancer

This morning I discovered we have a "resident pole dancer" at the "funny farm"! After she was finished with her exhibition she came right to the windows by the front door to torture Max. Wish I could have captured that picture...Max on the inside, tail all puffed up and the squirel on the outside chattering through the glass. I have named her "Kristina", kind of an inside joke from Ron's job last year!

Wisteria

Nothing was done in the garden yesterday, instead we went to Cape Fair to our friends house to help install an HVAC system for their new addition. However, when we got home I went out to check things out and all looked well. I could smell the Wisteria when I walked out the door. It is in full bloom and we have not had the priviledge of seeing it like this before. I picked a few to bring in the house they smell so amazing. I wish I could capture the smell and send it over the internet so everyone else could enjoy it too! What a beautiful creation, a special gift from God I'm sure!

April 14

Today Ron worked in the garden and sprayed weeds with Round-up while I did a couple errands, some grocery shopping, and TRIED to clean the spilled Round-up out of the carpet in the back of the Suburban :( What a mess. I sure wish my personal detailers were here to help! However they were a big help over the phone with suggestions of things to try. Nothing seemed to work though. When I finished that project I went back to the garden and planted some cucumber and zucchini seeds. Can't wait for fresh veggies! All the lettuce, Swiss Chard and spinach I planted yesterday is alive and well! I had my doubts. Ron planted some Sunflowers and pole beans and added another fence for them to climb on.
Just another typical day at the "funny farm"!! My heart was really in South Carolina with the Wallaces, touring the Citadel. Can't wait to see it in June.

20 yards of mulch is a lot! So thankful we don't have to unload it by hand this time! YEAH!

Here I am seperating all the lettuce plants we started from seed in our sun room. I have seperated and untwisted many skeins of yarn and thread in my lifetime, but never had to untwist lettuce! What a job! I had to be so careful to not uproot them, they are very fragile. BIG JOB and my poor hands are feeling it tonight!

Tuesday April 13,2010

Today was another long day in the garden! It doesn't look like much but we did accomplish a lot. Ron finished unloading the compost that was on the trailer while I planted lettuce, swiss chard and spinach. LOTS OF IT!! Being married to a perfectionist sometimes has it's draw backs....like when you have to measure between all the plants and make sure the rows are straight! I am always pleased with the results and happy that I went to all the trouble, but I am really tired now. This afternoon we had 20 yards of mulch delivered so that we didn't have to unload it by hand. What a blessing that is! While I finished planting, Ron went to the horse farm and got another trailer load of composted horse manure. I met him at the driveway and covered the flower bed by the mailbox with compost so the flowers have something to grow in. This year it will be beautiful too.

Fireplace

As you can see, we've stopped work on the fireplace for the never ending work outside! Hopefully we'll get back to it once the trees are all planted and the garden is finished!

Progress in the garden

Our days have been spent outside in the beautiful weather for the past week or so. We managed to get cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower & more blackberries planted as well as 4 fruit trees. (Many more to plant !) Ron is building cedar boxes for the fruit trees and it is a JOB to get them from the shop to the orchard then leveled and filled with top soil and compost. After discovering that the place we chose for the orchard is solid rock, this was the only solution we could come up with. I think it will be beautiful when it's finished, if we're both not dead! I'm sure finding that I am not as young as I used to be and I sure feel it by the end of the day. Night time can't come early enough for me!