Clouds

All in a day's work

Summer seems to be the time to either do the projects that we can't do or put off all winter, or else the time to make some up. I'm wondering WHAT we're getting ourselves into with our latest project.We had to cut down the willow tree that was in the back corner of our lot. It was huge, gave a lot of shade, but had a lot of dead branches. I'm sure we would have lost much of it this spring anyway with all the bad storms we've had. We're trying to level this spot, build a two foot retaining wall and landscape it. We want to be able to sit around the firepit, so we needed enough level space for that. Our soil is clay, clay clay, so when it's wet it's heavy and when it's dry it's rock hard. Den works hard at this! The stone, all 10,000 pounds of it, gets delivered on Wednesday. We dug up a lilac that we had behind the back fence and planted it in that back corner. Actually, it was several bushes, so we divided it into two bushes. Hopefully, they will survive. I'm always sad to see my plants die, especially big ones. It rained last night and is supposed to continue off and on until Saturday, so at least they won't dry out!

The other project is one it seems we need to do every year, and that's painting the pool deck. I also bought new cusions for the recliner and "swing". The latter we bought in Italy in 1994. Guess it was time for a switch! Pool's open every day! Come on over!!! Pretty private back here, too.

Pictures on Picasa

Did you know that all the pictures we upload to blogger are stored in a Picasa Web Album? I just saw that note and went to it. There they are! All the photos from the very first blogs on. It's so cool, just like a photo trip of my life since I started blogging! Fun!

Uploading video

OK, I've been working on this for awhile. Any hints from the rest of you who do this on how to get videos to upload on to the blog? Not that what I have to upload is all that amazing, but I thought it would be fun.
I started out and it was taking FOREVER, like 10 minutes, so I canceled it and thought I'd read how to do it and start again. Well, I was doing it all right, but the next two times I tried I got an error message from Blogger. Do you think it's blogger or is it me?

The Empty Nest

"Officially" our nest was empty since last Friday. Sounds like it isn't going to be empty for too long, though. Will is going to be working out of Council Bluffs after this week. It doesn't feel like an empty nest until a week day comes along. Andrew was always in and out on weekends, sometimes just spending the night with a friend on the spur of the minute. (You can do that when you're a big kid!) But Monday evening arrived and no one came home from work but Den. I have to say, we really enjoyed our evening! We ate dinner out by the pool then worked on our landscape project until dark, which is about 9:45 these days! Andrew did show up while we were eating dinner, though. I can't remember what he was looking for, but he was in and out in a flash. He wanted College World Series tickets and couldn't find them at the grocery store where they usually sell them. The base had some, so he just stopped by to pick up the booklet. Boy, is his life easy!

I FINALLY got to paint the pool deck today. With rain and more rain I haven't been able to get it dried out enough to paint. I'll have to finish it tomorrow, so hopefully the weather will hold! I bought the paint guessing at the matching color while at Menards. I guessed a little brighter than actual, so we really need to wear sunglasses when out there now!

Yesterday was so gorgeous! And today too. We have sun, 70's and no wind!!! I sat out by the gurgling "pond" for two hours yesterday afternoon.

Den and I have been wracking our brains for ideas to landscape our backyard. When we cut down the willow, it left a gaping hole. We also want a spot for a firepit. With such a sloping yard, it is a bit challenging to fit a firepit AND places to sit without tipping into the fire! We're thinking maybe boulders or stumps at this point. We're going to plant lilacs along the neighbor's fence to add some privacy eventually, then put down mostly rocks since where the willow was is all roots. It's an ongoing project! We had such a lovely evening yesterday, I never wanted to go into the house. Then the moon was so bright I could've camped out in my backyard. However, we have mosquitoes now.... Not hard to believe, is it? There are fireflies, though, too!!!

Pomp and Circumstance 30 years on

Thirty years ago today I graduated from college! I'll have to scan a photo to put in here. I loved college. "Pomp and Circumstance" was one of the saddest songs ever because the sound always made me think of saying good bye to friends. Of course we thought it was funny to sing the words, "I want to get married, I want to have kids. I'm tired of dorm life, I want a home of my own!" Try that with that first line!

We have a reunion in September; I think I'll go. Meet up with the other "empty-nesters" and see what every one else is up to these days. One of my friends has a lovely grandson who can be seen at "The Gentino Family". Check him out. You'll want to pinch his cheeks!

Slow train comin'

That's what they say a tornado sounds like, a train. We had a tornado here in the big O. last night. The siren woke me up about 2:20. Pitch black, wind blowing. The wind had been blowing a gale all day, so that wasn't any different. It wasn't raining yet, then the front hit the house WHAM! and we couldn't see anything out the window. Will and I walked around the living room in the pitch dark wondering what to do. The TV had nothing on but the streaming info line saying there was a tornado warning here and three surrounding counties. But one had NO idea where it was, how far away, if it was headed our way. Nothing. Will gave up and went back to bed; Den never got up. I sat in the closet under the stairs and listened to the sirens go off again. About 25 minutes later Andrew called and said his friend's dad had just called and said the tornado hit the Target across the street from them. We talked for awhile since he was sitting in his basement and I in the closet. It's a little more comforting in a storm to have company! He said it was really loud when it hit over there. They wouldn't have heard a siren going off if there had been one, but the storm hit before any warning sirens went off. (He lives west of us.) Then I went upstairs, and the TV was on with the good ol' comforting weatherman telling us that the storm was over Iowa, so I could go back to bed. By this time it was after 3. It took me quite awhile to unwind and get back to sleep.

Andrew was going to have Sunday dinner with us, so when he didn't show up and didn't answer his cell phone, I figured he hadn't gone to church and was around helping the neighbors clean up. Sure enough, he showed up about 2:30. He and his friend had gotten a chain saw and they went around the neighborhood sawing up fallen branches. He had a few fall in his backyard, too. We just were over there, and there are piles of branches piled along the street. (Darn, I forgot the camera!) We stopped and picked up a load of logs for the fire pit later! *smile* Andrew was pretty tired. He said they didn't get to bed until 5. They went out last night to get the chain saw at W's dad's, and then looked around to see if anyone needed help last night. He said everyone was out at 3:30am all over the neighborhood looking around. They got to know the "old ladies" who live across the street and on either side. Those ladies are going to be happy for two strong handsome boys in the neighborhood! Andrew said he and W. are having a wiener roast tonight! (They had dry wood in the garage.) I told him to tell his friends to bring a rake. They could have all those leaves in the backyard cleaned up in no time!