With temperatures rising into the 90’s, it has been a hot week. High and low temps have been around 20 degrees higher than average. Time to run the central air and turn on the bedroom window A/C at night. The heat has put a limit on our outside tasks as well; we try to plan exterior projects for the shady side of the house — west in the AM and east in the PM.
Over the Memorial Day weekend we visited a couple of graveyards, one here in Elma and a new one, the Bohemian National Cemetery that Pam had read about. Pam’s ancestry includes a Bohemian link and this was the impetus to visit this site. The cemetery is small and very well kept, about a 35-40 minute drive (one way) from Elma and out in the farm countryside.
We found that many of the stones had marriage dates on them, and a few had genealogical information listed on the back side of the markers (such as Mother of, Daughter of, Parents of, and Grandparents of). Not only interesting but a boon to anyone doing family history research.
Just as we were about to leave, a mother and son arrived at the cemetery and, being the only people at the cemetery when they arrived, we struck up a conversation. The lady had grown up in the area and was able to give us some information on growing up in a mix of Norwegians, Bohemians, and Germans as well as Catholic and Lutheran religions. We enjoyed the conversation and left with a better understanding of life near the small town of Protivin, Iowa in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
Back home, a couple projects occupied our time. Pam is nearly done with the snug and here is how it looks now:
Pam moved in the furniture, floor lamp, side table and other decorative items. The room is now “snug” and we are enjoying the fruit of her labors. The dogs and cats really appreciate having the sofa available to nap on. 🙂
I worked on two main projects, one was the install of a new dish washer. The old one had died last year and it was time to replace it. A trip to Lowe’s, in Rochester, yielded a Bosch unit in white to match the other appliances. Here are a couple shots of the install in process.
The dishwasher is now installed and in service. Not only does it clean the dishes well but we no longer have to hand-wash all the plates, pots, and pans. That was OK during the winter but now time is at more of a premium and better spent on other tasks.
The second project was to finish painting the siding that will be used on the south side of the house when Builder Bob arrives to install it and replace the kitchen window. We don’t have a time line yet but hope this work occurs sometime in the next month. The delay is dependent on delivery of the new window; building products have been experiencing long lead times.
This is my first week since completion of my radiation treatments, although I did have my second hormone therapy shot on June 1st. I am doing OK although my stamina is quite low. By 3:00 or 4:00 in the afternoon I am about done with project work for the day and turn to projects that take less effort (such as scanning slides). I did manage to get my pumpkins and watermelon seeds planted in the garden one cooler evening.
Also in the garden, potted pepper plants are doing well. Seeds from last year’s sunflowers have germinated in the line Pam planted. Rhubarb was allowed to go to seed at the beginning of the summer, with increased rhubarb production to look forward to in the future (hopefully). The blackberry bushes planted earlier this year are getting ready to flower. The Grandpa Ott morning glory starts appear to have been “frosted” one of the cooler evenings in late May, but are now making a gradual recovery. In the east side flower bed the geraniums [from the Mennonite greenhouse] are adding their red coloration. Numerous toads, of various sizes, have been spotted in the flowerbeds.
I will be on the road this next week. (Pam will be home with the cats and dogs.) As a result, my next post will be somewhat delayed. I am going to visit The Lot and see if The Box and other equipment survived the winter. Given my low energy levels I doubt much clearing work will be done, but it will be good for me to be in the mountains again. I’m taking the ATV and will purchase the annual CO license for off-road vehicles, allowing me to enjoy a few back country mountain field trips.
Photo Archive
I scanned a few more slides from the late 80’s featuring Pam , Felicity and Toby as well as a couple “artsy” shots.
That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!
Pam’s Penny
It’s just a few weeks now until Summer Solstice. Kinda hard to wrap my mind around the longest daylight in the year occurring a short time from now. The current long-lasting twilight [until almost 9:00 p.m.] is such a delight.
Happy Trails.
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