Mid September Walk…

Yesterday I was sitting reading blogs and visiting Pom Pom’s Ponderings and she said ” I’ve decided to walk more and do it in the morning before it gets too warm. ” I left a comment about the fact that I should be walking but was sitting and then low and behold, I got up, put on my walking shoes and made it around my circuit before the rains came! I’ve been talking and talking about making exercise more of a daily thing. I was happy to have gotten off my duff and here’s some things that I saw.

Look at all these ducks in this neighbor’s back yard! I’m glad they haven’t chosen my yard for squatting!

Across the path they squat regularly at this home, too.

My route is not long. I read recently that walking just 25 minutes a day will add 14 years to your heart life. Or something like that. My walk around the bend and up the hill and along the busy road and down the steep descent to home takes me about 30 minutes. Of course it take a little longer if I stop and smell the roses take the photos!

On the home stretch I enjoyed this view of “this old house” through a couple of our neighbor’s landscaping.

It really has come a long way these last few years. A new roof and new siding really make a difference. We hired a company to do the roof but Dear did all the siding himself. He’s a keeper! Our house is the oldest house in the neighborhood by many years!

That huge maple behind our house and in another neighbor’s yard will keep us busy this fall raking leaves! We talked to the neighbor about getting an Arborist out to check the tree to see what it’s condition is. We wouldn’t want it coming down on our house or anyone’s house for that matter. Our recent wind storm is what motivated us to ask.

This new hydrangea I planted this year is still pink and getting it’s fallish tint. I’m curious to see if it will come up pink next year or if it will change to blue or purple like our other hydrangea did in our soil.

I’m headed up to get my walking shoes on again and see if I can beat the rain. We are moving right along through September. What’s new in your neck of the woods?

Before and After – Back of the House

Just to forewarn y’all, this is a photo overload post.

This photo was taken in 2000 and it was before we replaced all our windows.

This post is full of photos that are interesting for Dear and me in documenting the progression of our home improvements.

This is the finished product with the trim painted around the upper level of our home which is our master suite. The bottom narrow window is our laundry room.

Now for the process step by step…somewhat.

This rosemary bush was out of control and we ended up taking it out completely. It not only got in the way of the work but it’s fragrance when disturbed was so strong that Dear and I would get nauseated working around it.

This photo shows the planter (rosemary bush) cleared out and ready for new plantings.

Dear has done the siding and improving the “look” of our home I wanted to post the photos of  all the hard work he has put into this old house! Along the way he has had some help from our boys. Dear is taking full advantage of his “temporary retirement”. For the record, before Dear was a Pharmacist he had very different jobs as a Loader Operator in a Quarry, a repairman/welder, and a painting contractor with his father. He inherited some ladders from his father and has purchased some of his own and is comfortable on a low and high ladder. This next out of sequence photos shows his prowess.

Putting the new windows in the garage.

Yikes! That’s high!

We are considering putting up a Barn Quilt between the upper window in the loft and the middle window of our garage/shop. The lower level with the single garage door is the shop. Our garage is the middle level with a double garage door on the opposite side of the building. We might enlist our daughter’s skills in designing and painting a Celtic Cross design for our “barn quilt”.

Back in 1999…

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Spring of this year.

And this is the upper entrance to the garage today with our new privacy fence showing on the right. Maybe we should put a barn quilt on this side, too.

Dear is working hard to finish up his projects on this old house because soon he’ll be working on a renovation at our son’s home. Today and tomorrow he is finishing up the trim on the garage/shop in between fast moving storms. No ladder work if there is lightning!

Do you have any projects progressing on your home?

Before & After- Deck Side

This is what the deck side of our house looked like when we moved here in 1998.

First change out was the stairwell window. The porch you see to the right in this photo has been enclosed and is now our family room with french doors onto the deck.

Dear built a temporary platform to be able to hoist the window up and get it set into the opening.

Next he built the deck in anticipation of Josh and Laura’s rehearsal dinner in August of 2001.

The deck got an extension sometime after 2001 so we could reach the garage from the house on decking. The house got a facelift with new horizontal siding.

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Our deck covers changed over the years, too. These two are serving us very well currently. This photo shows the extended deck and the difference between the horizontal siding and vertical siding to the left of the deck.

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Here’s a shot that shows the house with the completed horizontal siding.

One more addition this summer is this privacy fence we put in.

Here’s a view from our house without the privacy fence.

And this is the view with the privacy fence.

We really are enjoying this new privacy fence. It gives this whole area a more finished feel and we aren’t totally open to the surrounding neighbors anymore.

Some reflections…

Our two sons born almost exactly 2 years apart were married 14 years apart, one in 2001 and the other in 2015. So our 3 kids were married in 2001, 2011, and 2015.

July 2015 was a tough month for me. It was as if someone had let the air out of my tires. I’m happy to say that I’m getting back to my old self now in August!

I also have to admit that summer is probably one of my least favorite seasons. Even though I was born and raised in Southern California enjoying the beaches and spreading coco butter on my body to sunburn tan, sitting in the sun does not give me pleasure anymore. I enjoy the sunshine while sitting in the shade or under an umbrella. These days my favorite time at the beach is in the winter.

How’s your summer going?

Mister B.

M is for Mister B., the marvelous man I’m married to.

Joining in with ABC Wednesday that was begun by Mrs. Nesbitt and is carried on by the ABC team!

My Dear is quite the man. Not only is he a professional in the workplace, giving out medical information but he’s the most handy of men in the home.

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He’s outstanding in his field.

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Dear with our oldest son.

Here is a photo series of one of his latest home projects. It’s taken months to get close to the end of this project but other projects and weather took precedence during this time period.

Before he started on the siding on this end of the house we decided to take down this tree that was serving as a ladder for varmints to get onto our roof.

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He replaced the attic window.

With this old house there is always another project ready to start. The back side of the house will be the final side to get horizontal siding. We are hoping to get that done by July. The tar paper is up and ready for the first half of that project to start.

I will leave you with my Bible Verse Card for the letter M!

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter and Passover. We had a marvelous celebration. Have a good week!

Working Together…

…was a great gift Dear got for his birthday this year.

Dear has been working on a portion of this old house replacing the siding. He has found many interesting flaws in previous work that he had to repair.

Every job can go a lot easier with the right tools. This handy dandy tool called Gecko makes it simple to space each row of siding perfectly.

Sunday on Dear’s birthday Josh and Laura came over for the afternoon. Josh helped his dad with the siding. Laura and I worked on the meal we would have together when the work was done. The work went quickly with two workers.

A few more rows to go and this side of the house will be all done.

We are pleased with the horizontal siding compared to the vertical. It will be a while before it’s completely done and painted.

After the work was done for the day we had a meal together and this Pear Tart was Dear’s birthday cake this year. Everyone gave it a thumbs up. I’ll be posting the recipe on the Mennonite Girls Can Cook blog in October. The kids all got together and gave Dear a generous gift card to Cabella’s. He’ll be spending it soon.

The birthday dinner setting.

Thank you Josh and Laura for the gift of “help” that you shared with us.

I’m happy to report that all my pears have been taken care of. I washed and cut the final bunch today. I made 3 pear desserts, some pear sauce, a pear topping for pancakes, a batch of sugared pears went into my Smirntopf. Dear took a couple dozen to work to share. Josh and Laura took a dozen home to use. I still need to come up with one more recipe to use up the prepared sliced pears. And yes, I’m still restraining myself! Fall Women’s Bible Study starts today and I’m looking forward to it.

Today is 9/11 and I’m still remembering that day. I’ll leave you with this photo from the Sounders game on Saturday…

Praying for our nation and for our Armed Forces with a shout out to our Marine son-in-law, our Border Patrol Agents, and all our first responders. May God protect you all from evil.