The past week was a mixed bag of weather events, visits, a dental issue, and project work. Not as much painting was accomplished as we had hoped.
Sunday saw us visiting Becky in her home in Greene, Iowa. Becky has done a lot of work since moving in, with a continuing list of projects yet to accomplish. Her new washer and dryer were delivered and installed but the dryer door swung right instead of left. This made it awkward to transfer wet clothes into the dryer. Becky was not aware the dryer door could be configured to open left or right, so I re-configured the door to swing left, much more convenient for her.
Pam did some outside work on Becky’s heritage yellow rose bush, trying an idea she had seen online. This involved tying a few of the rose branches together to form an arch. In time the branches will intertwine forming a good-looking flowering arch that doubles as a way to control the branches.
We had taken the dogs along with us and they enjoyed the ride, seeing Becky again, and lounging around the deck. It was a pleasant way to spend a chunk of the afternoon.
Monday was very hot, which limited our outside activities. Tuesday was lawn maintenance day. Wednesday it rained, cancelling any outdoor work. Thursday I did some painting. Friday I had a dental appointment to have a tooth extracted and we began our visit with good Colorado friend Kathy Powers. Saturday was spent in recovering from the tooth extraction and doing more lawn work.
I managed to get another section of the garage wall painted, working from our 6-foot aluminum ladder. Next time I will get out the extension ladder and try to finish the peak.
I had been having a few issues with one of my wisdom teeth and it started to bother me again. An appointment with the dentist on Wednesday confirmed the tooth could not be saved and needed to be extracted. It was either extract the tooth this Friday or wait until July 5th, so I oped to get it done even though we were expecting a guest that day. The extraction went OK but my jaw is sore and will be for several days.
Our good friend Kathy Powers from Rifle, Colorado, joined us on Friday. Kathy was born in Iowa, lived here until the age of 10, and has relatives in the area that she was visiting. We really enjoyed her time with us, even though it was only an overnight stop.
One bright spot is the changing of the flowering plants as the peonies and lilies are starting to come into their own, replacing the honeysuckle and lilacs.
I thought I would include this photo of Pam and myself taken last week, location is our east porch.
Pam worked on creating skirting for the laundry room table and job sink (in progress) and I scanned more negatives, so our “inside” time during the hot and rainy days was put to good use. We also received a ray of hope when a painter (the one with the outrageous quote previously) indicated his company might be able to do just the gables of the house and leave the red sections of the second floor exterior to us. Obviously this would be a $$$ savings, but mostly the company would be doing the work we most dread–painting the highest portions of the house reachable by a bucket lift. Sure hope this offer comes through, details are not yet settled.
The week was really a mixed bag of weather and socializing. We enjoyed visiting Becky and with Kathy, but we’re not moving ahead significantly with the house painting. Next weekend we will try to paint from a bucket lift for the first time, working on the north side of the house. That should be an experience!
Photo Archive
I took black & white photos of many subjects including family, old equipment, animals, and landscapes. Typically I had one camera loaded with slide film, one with black and white film, and Pam had her camera loaded with print film so some subjects were covered in multiple formats. Here is a sampling of my black and white shots.
That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!
Pam’s Penny
Hard to believe the Summer Solstice is next week already. Bittersweet. I am totally enjoying twilight until 9:00 p.m. and will monitor increasingly-earlier darkness with great sadness.
Happy Trails.
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