More Rain!

Yesterday it rained nearly all day, this morning before dawn the thunder storms moved in and it began raining, again.  Rained most of the morning.  You know that hole in the ground where the pavers go, full of water again!  The ground is so saturated it's not soaking in, sigh.  I took the snow shovel and pulled water towards me onto the drive but there's still an inch or so.  Tomorrow I'll get out the small fountain pump and pump it out in the fond hopes that it will dry enough to work on it, if I can just get the dirt level and the sand in then the pavers can go in even if it rains.

I have blocks up on my design wall again!  I intended to include a photo but the battery's dead and the memory card is somewhere on this desk!  It's another Irish chain, it's been cut out for at least two years so it's time to get it finished.

Well, I'm going to go get Miss Quinn and shower off her belly and feet now so she'll dry before bedtime!  There's so much mud on her it looks like chocolate syrup going down the drain!  Then I'll put a movie on downstairs and at least look at my projects down there!

Let's catch up!

Finally, I can say that all the plants are in the ground!  A lot of weeding (gotta pull out the Creeping Jenny and over-large violets as well as plantain, dandylions, wild strawberry, etc) and some hardscaping to do.  I began the redo of the air conditioner pavers-not level, held water, weeds etc- and then the heavens opened up and forgot to turn off the spicket!  It rained most of the day on Monday and began again last night and didn't stop until about 4pm today!  It may have rained in between-I forget.  That's a LOT of rain.  So the space now empty of pavers is full of water for the second time, as there is no way for the water to get out I have to wait for it to soak into the ground and dry out.  That may take days and there is rain in the forecast for tonight and tomorrow then next week, sigh.  Oh well, at least I'm not having to water!  I'll take new photos on Sunday as that will be just at two weeks since the last, there's been a great deal of growing going on!

All the rain today did give me the chance to clean house-oh joy.  It looks better even if I didn't finish.  It's hard to keep clean when I have all the windows open and the breeze (read wind) carries in dust!  Not to mention the dirt Quinn and I bring in-Simba too now that I think of it as he's taken to going out in the yard daily rolling about in the grass and dirt!

It also let me finish cutting the strip sets for Hill Country Spring!  I've been cutting them a little at a time but I finished up today.  I may even sew a block or two together this evening!  What a shocker.  It'll be too wet to do anything in the yard tomorrow even if it doesn't rain anymore so I'll finish up in the house and sew some more.

I went with Tanya today to put deposits in for the venues for the big wedding next May.  They finally found something reasonable and relatively close together, now we have to brain storm the decor!  So the really big things are done!  Dress-check, Venues-check, Guys suits-check.  There's a long list yet but we're working on it!  She is understandably excited!  I have more to do on this wedding than any of the others.  Even though I am technically the Mother of the Groom (no 3) this Bride is really an adult orphan and has lived with me for 7 years and calls me Mom (thinks of me as Mom too) so I'm doing some of the Mother of the Bride things.  (Beth and Lucas met us all at a Bed and breakfast where everything was provided, so the most I did was pick out a dress for me!)  It will be fun, I think!

The Vegetable gardens!

It feels like all I've done since I've been home from Denver is work in the yard and gardens!  The oh so late spring really set me back so I've been trying to catch up on two months of gardening in May!  There is, finally, some light showing at the end of the tunnel.  The Dandylions are under control-mostly.  The veggies and flowers are planted-at least the ones I've bought.  On top of that I took everything out of the garage on Saturday, last, and hosed it out returning things in a more orderly fashion.  While that was in progress I also cleaned out my yard storage shed as I discovered things in the garage that went to the shed and vice versa! The garage isn't quite back in order but I'm making a bit of progress each day.

I'm not finished in the garden but here are some photos:

The vegetable beds.  The one you can barely see is tomatoes, peppers and marigolds.  The near one is peas, lettuce and bush beans.  I have 10 tomato plants total-maybe I over did it?

The sunflower bed.  There are four varieties of sunflowers, heights from 4 feet to 12 feet!  As well as some pole beans.  They are barely up-look close!

The flower and herb bed!

I'm not finished, sigh.  There is some hardscaping to be done, short walls, edging and a walk to be built.  The rest of the vegetable gardens need fenced as Quinn likes to take short cuts through them!  Also, the little Skinks (lizards) like to hide in the rocks and they drive her nuts! The pad in the front that I built in 2009 for the bench Larry made for me is being taken out.  Sadly, the bench has deteriorated to the point that it must be retired and rather than replace it I've decided to take out the pavers and reuse them elsewhere.  Then that area I'll fill with plants-which I must first go buy.

 Now, I'll have to get caught up on the house work and the million and one things that need to be repaired!

I'm so tired at night I don't dare stitch for fear of just having to pull it all out!  Soon though, it will be really hot and Quinn and I will be inside in the air conditioning.  Right now we are both enjoying the nice weather and being outside.

A great day.

I had a fabulous Mother's Day!  I spent most of the day Saturday working in the yard but Mother's Day flowers arrived from Steve-such lovely pink and red roses, sigh.  I could just sit and look at them!  Then Sunday the Missouri family (that's everyone but Steve, Candice and Nora, 10 people and 4 dogs) came here for dinner.  Which I cooked.  Because I wanted to.  They offered and even had the menu worked out (steak and shrimp-or surf and turf as we like to call it.)  I made Mexican instead, because I rarely have the opportunity to cook a "real" meal these days and I like to cook. Anyway, I  received some lovely new beads for my Pandora bracelet and the best gift ever---two dirty, nasty ashtrays and a partial pack of Malboros!  Why would that be the best gift ever?  Because it means that Rob and Tanya have quit smoking!  I've said for years that the best gift they could give me was to quit smoking and this year they have!  I'm so proud of them, so very pleased I can't even express it!

I'm off to clean myself up.  I really hope the big push of yard work is finished by this weekend, but. . . I don't have a single full day at home until Saturday!  I'm a busy girl.  I did get the garden spot for the tomatoes and peppers tilled and planted tonight,  everyday I make progress I just can't see the light at the end of the tunnel yet!

Oh MY, It's been a very long time between posts!

I've been missing from blogland long enough that one of my "blogging Buddies' emailed me to be sure I was ok!  (Thanks Ann!)  I'm fine, except for a very bad case of the April Blues due to rain, rain and more rain! There was also snow-on May 2, 1/2 inch officially at the airport but someone reported 2 inches here in Independence.  I'm sure it melted almost as soon as it hit the ground because the 29th and 30th of April is was in the 80's!

Because of the extremely late coming of spring I am severely behind on the yard work!  I hope to be more caught up by the 15th, everything is so wet still it's hard to dig.  BUT, my lettuce and peas are up!  

I didn't quite finish the deep cleaning in April-the blues got me-so I'll have to get in and finish that and the garage is a total disaster!  It will all get done, by me, and I will be tired every night.

Not much sewing done.  I did send three tops off to be quilted, getting them back tomorrow!  So there is binding in my future.  When they are finished I'll post photos.  Two of them are for my granddaughter, Nora, so those will also get packed up and shipped out to California when they are done.  

I spent part of one weekend with Scot and Bri in Columbia- had a great time putting together a "floating credenza" from IKEA parts, and hanging the mirror in the remodeled bath.  By the way, Bri, you still haven't blogged about that!

Last week, I left on Thursday (before the snow) for my brother's home in Denver.  Quinn and I hit a bad patch of snow early on but the weather cleared out and we enjoyed a long but easy drive over the plains!  (Stopped and bought some fabric in Hays-always stop there.)  We came back on Monday after enjoying the time spent, chatting and going to IKEA!  I had a list, having been to Ikea stores before but they had never gone!  I've never heard so much oohing and aahing-along with several comments about the time commitment involved.  It was fun!!!  Coupled with the fact that I showed Jessie something about her Iphone that she didn't know--she who lives with another Geek Boy.  I always get a kick out of doing that, it happens so rarely!  Quinn loved playing with Molly-it was very interesting watching two herding dogs trying to herd one another.  I am so glad I went, have to get the bike out and begin getting ready for the Buffalo Classic Ride in September.

Knees are still not 100% got another round of cortisone injections 10 days ago.  Seems to have helped the right one-although the pain is lurking.  The left one is still hurting, must call the knee doc tomorrow,  it comes and goes but seems to get more everyday.  It may be that the meniscus still has issues.

I guess the biggest news I have is that the court date for finalizing the baby's adoption has been set!  He will then be an official member of the clan, get a new name and everything!  This has been a long, trying process for my daughter and her husband so I am glad it is nearly over.  Now when Brayden asks "Are we going to get to keep him?"  The answer is a resounding "YES!"