As the summer warmed up, there were daily discoveries in the backyard. In addition to goldfish in the pond, we found that it was also irresistible to mating toads. Every night for a week the toads were chirping as loud as they could...at one point we counted 10 toads, each one was paired up. The squirrels are also entertaining--as long as we can keep them out of the bird feeders...
As for Henry...he's been going through a bit of a train phase...What started out as a fascination with one wagon, grew into multiples as we did more and more yardwork. Finally, he started stringing things together...up to five at a time with bungee cords!
As for the house, we've chipping away at things.
On the inside, we have new curtains in Henry's room and playroom, new doors on the fireplace and a nicely finished mantle. The office has made it to the "damned close to being done" phase. We added some anti-heat film to the windows and have actually cleaned four! A bit more trim and 3 more windows...and it will be done!
Stacey has been working night and day to refinish the stairs, and both hall closets are "works in progress".
I have been up to the roof...seems that someone had the bright idea that the chimney was a good place to lash down a TV aerial--not so on a breezy day!
We've also been trying to get a handle on the yard...chopping out forests, hacking at stumps, digging holes...but now if you take a stroll--things look a little more tame.
The first obvious difference is that there are flowers EVERYWHERE! Then Stacey put in more! We've also started the process of reclaiming of the garden. Of course we had to remove the 3 story pile of brush first, but we've managed to put in a few tomatoes and peppers--and they're doing great.
Stacey has built not one, but two brick patios. One behind the garage and the other near the back door. The one near the back door is really a piece of work...complete with "stub" for the grill, it wraps around a couple of flower beds and is an awfully nice place to enjoy a burger after the sun has sunk behind the trees.
While we haven't made it too far on painting the rest of the house, we have re-painted the front porch. New paint over the flaking leaded paint...and a bright green floor. It's nice to spend some evenings in the cool air on the swing.
And...I finally tackled the garage. We dusted off a bunch of old storm windows, dead gutters, and spiders...and sent a few hundred pounds of debris to the dump. After "lightly" power washing down the inside, it looks much better...but we still can't park the car inside. That will have to wait until we can move the mitre saw somewhere else.
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