the remaking of a kitchen

today is designated tree trimming day.....the one we pay for, not the one the utility company orders to protect the wires. it's funny....4 of the 14 houses on the court are involved and we all get a 10% discount because of the numbers. they first worked on diane's trees. they had a big tree by the lake that was infected with dutch elm disease. they had to cut it down and then carry it piece by piece up the stairs and up the further slope to the grinding machine parked in front of their house. quite a project. ours should be simpler.
they did a good job. it was great - we had a man in each of 3 trees in the front of the house at the same time. they had ropes around them and around branches and swung from branch to branch with amazing ease. they trimmed and removed branches and certainly let a lot more light get through. hopefully they also trimmed enough from the russian olive that we won't have all the myriad of leaves, blossoms etc that it sheds frequently caught up in the gutters.

Labels: tree trimming

we just got back from the official anniversary lunch. we ate at mccormick and schmick's on the mall. it was all quite nice, cool and quiet and nice service too. the food was good and all's right with the world.
we parked at the srnet building and then hiked our way to the restaurant.....a goodly hike when it is about 95+. i did not sign up for this weather! just so you know!!
now we are back home and settled in to be exquisitely lazy for the rest of the day. tomorrow the big event is the arrival of the tree trimmers. wahoo!
we agreed that we've been pretty lucky in choosing each other with whom to spend these FORTY-FIVE YEARS!!!

Labels: anniversaries, hot weather

don went out and made nice with the guy as he was finishing his tasks. the report is that there is little damage done.....don raked, watered and then mowed the area and it seems to be in good health!

Labels: good health, santa cruz shirt, tree trash

the clean-up guy really did come to do his duty today. we were expecting him to arrive late in the afternoon, just barely within the prescribed 72 hours after the trimming. he surprised us by getting here in the late morning! we didn't complain about that....not one tiny little bit! as the photos show, he used his clamshell to pick up most of the big stuff and then threw some into the truck and finally cleaned up the rest with his rake. hurrah.

Labels: cleaning, rake, tree trash

the tree guys hired by excel energy arrived on friday to do a bit of trimming. they climbed high into the trees in the back yard.....amazingly high! they chopped and sawed and threw giant and small limbs to the ground. they stomped all over the wee ground cover i am trying to get going in the terraced area above the shed. they dropped limbs into ferns and hosta and onto tomato cages. all this will hopefully recover. THEN they piled all the branches in the middle of the front yard. when questioned they claimed that they were not the ones to haul away or grind up these branches, those guys would appear in the next 72 hours. this would be monday i guess. don called the energy company and was referred to the vegetation manager, then he called the tree trimmers several times and finally talked to the manager there who said they would repair any damage and they'd never killed a lawn by piling crap on it. i think those were not his exact words.
i had planned to have things looking decent this weekend as one neighbor's son is getting married today and the guys across the street are having a dinner party. so here we sit with the gigantamous yard mess. boo hiss
to take care of some of the frustration i chopped up about 3/4 of a shrub by the newish maple tree and don finished the job and dug out the roots. tomorrow i will plant the hydrangea that has been in its nursery pot for a month or so. i think the other shrub out there needs to go also.

Labels: mess, trees, yard

when i was thinking about the reunion and what we could do together, i suddenly thought - - kazoos! we had a couple of large family kazoo sessions, but i videoed this special one on the morning we were leaving. one ruling was issued - kazoos will NOT work in the car. i think kari invented that one. :>)

Labels: kazoos

one of the really nice things that happened was the gatherings after dinner. we shared, well actually we each had a balcony, but ours and kari's were linked, so we could all sit on chairs, the floor or whatever and talk and share a few adult beverages that were of necessity to be enjoyed in private. no public booze.
that happened both friday and saturday evenings and were a definite highlight!

Labels: adult beverages, coolers

this has got to be one of my favorites. the sincerity, the honesty, the soul deep statement......pretty dang special.

Labels: honesty, sincerity, soul

these are just some pictures of rels having fun. in the animal house, there's me - too far back to be in the photo, brennan, kelsey and jewlee. kelsey and zach are showing off their rock balancing skills, david is making bennet feel very tall, and bennet is getting similar treatment from zach.

Labels: family reunion

one of the great photo ops i missed along the way was the friday afternoon miniature golf session. most everyone was there, and the kids OLD and young loved it. we agreed that keeping score was silly, and then proceeded to just be basically silly and have a great time! brennan was the only one getting a hole in one and he was pretty excited! patrick carried griffin in the back pack and griff really had fun. we took over about 3 holes for most of the game....some running ahead and others dragging a bit behind. it was fun in any case!

Labels: family reunion, miniature golf

we just returned from the family reunion in estes park at the ymca camp. lots of driving to and from, but it was worth the resulting weariness......we had a grand time! once again i didn't do a great job on the photo taking.....guess that means i was involved in the stuff instead of snapping shots. that's my excuse and i stand by it!!
the first photos i have were taken as we walked around bear lake in rocky mountain national park. everyone made it all the way around! david found a great little spot for lunch....and kudos to the food committee for getting the right stuff and getting it all organized. we had sammiches, chips, fruit and water. very healthy stuff!!
those in attendance were brother jack and liz, megan, zach and griffin, aaron and ashley; sister marilyn, kari, kelsey, brennan and bennet, me and don, sarah and david, patrick, jewlee and sam. a good gang all around!

Labels: colorado, family reunion

paul and the boys finished painting our house at a bit after noon today. woohoo. it feels good to have it done, but it looks a lot better too. the siding is still old, but i guess it will stay that way.....warts and all just like us. :)
tomorrow it's off to colorado for the family reunion.....sounds good to me.

Labels: family reunion, house paint

progress is happening. i am very pleased with the look of the new siding in front. paneling vs diamonds: the former wins hands down!

Labels: painting, paneling

project of the week: house painting, by someone other than ourselves. what a great idea! we spent a week or so muttering about colors, had input from brian and continued to mutter, but by gosh we made a timely decision. that would be once. the main color is similar to the existing, and we are using a lighter value for the soffit. we are tres cool! :)
two marvelous things are the removal of the DIAMONDS that are not this girl's best friend, and the removal of the tacky trellisy thing on the front porch. as we speak they are both absent, and you can plainly see that at one point the poor house was a brilliant turquoise. elvis would have loved it. we are undecided as to whether we want to put a post from soffit to planter or leave it as is. paul the painter suggested we leave it for a couple of weeks and if we want the post, he'll come back. works for me.
i'm looking forward to seeing the panels in place replacing diamonds....should be a nice update. hopefully. the painting should be completed before we leave for colorado. YES!
i am thinking i may want tree removal as an anniversary present. we are on a roll here! ohhhh....the nice inspector gave us the seal of approval on the furnace install after the pvc pipes became the 3 inch variety. sigh.

Labels: diamonds, furnace and a/c, house paint, tree, trellis

this was a fun few days for don and i. we drove to indianola, ia, and gave sandy a ride to minneapolis with us on sunday. she headed straight to bed after we arrived as she'd been up both early and late so as not to miss a thing!
the next two days were a delight as we spent time visiting and did a bit of sightseeing and a lot of eating. (of course) lunch on monday was at pier 500 in hudson, wi, so that she could return to her roots. just barely, but at least on the home soil even if it was just across the border.
our touring was pretty minimal, but we managed to trail through the walker sculpture garden, but took the rest of the city by car. it was hot and humid, described as sticky warm in the paper. yuck. we drove by the guthrie and the mill museum, through downtown and uptown and around the 3 city lakes. then it was home to air conditioning and a little r and r before dinner.
now we will have to plan another get together.....i think we all enjoyed it!

Labels: guthrie and lakes, sandy, walker