Summer Happenings

Well, between the heat, the rain, work and everything going on in the family, not a lot has been done outside at the house. Yesterday was nice and I managed to get the lawn mowed. Brought Ginger outside for a little grasshopper hunting. She had fun and didn't want to go back inside. 

She also managed to chase a few of these butterflies.

Here's the view out our living room window. We have some bird feeders up, including a couple hummingbird feeders. This was the best photo I was able to get.

Dale made Gary a squirrel feeder. We have also found that the blue jays like to eat from it. The lighting was horrible for this picture but you get the idea.

We managed to get a few things planted in the raised beds. We now have three 4'x4' raised beds. It provides enough for us. Or it they would if the plants were just given enough sun to do anything. We had so much rain that I didn't get somethings planted that I wanted to. It seemed like every day off I had, it rained. 

Trip to Boston

While mom, dad and I were waiting for Gary's surgery back in September, we spent a lot of time in the dining room, looking out at this view. It gave us something to do. We watched the boats and Duck Tours go by.

This was a beautiful sunset while we were eating dinner.

The Shed is Here

Here are pictures of the shed that was put up today. 

This is the little solar panel that runs the light inside the shed.

Underneath the door and under the window is the light. Hard to see it. Guess I should have put up a 

close-up of it.

And finally, a picture of Riley in one of his favorite places to sleep - the back of the couch. He blends in so well that some times we don't even see him up there.

This flock of turkeys has been hanging out around our house. The dogs get really excited when they realize they are out in the yard. They both try to look out the windows.

Here's the long overdue picture of the generator and the outlet for it at the left front corner of the front of the house.

Not sure what this is called. It allows the generator to run the lights, fridge, heat, etc. 

This shows it under the fuse box. I know, not real technical. You'll have to talk with Gary to explain it! I just know it works!

Finished Porch

Not much to say today. Just wanted to get the pictures up of the finished porch. Well, almost finished. We will need to do some touch up in a few areas but if that doesn't get done till next spring, at least we have the wood protected from the weather.

The fun part is, we're not supposed to walk on it for 48 hours. That means going in and out through the bulk head. Riley is no problem he just jumps in and out. Ginger can get out fine, she just doesn't like jumping back in onto the stairs. 

Here's the view looking out the front door. You can see where the shed will be in the background.

Now to go see if I can get any more of the stain off my hands!!!

End of Summer Updates

Lot of stuff going on so haven't had much time to post anything. Kara has gone back to Houghton to start her senior year. She will finish a semester early. Alex has started his senior year of High School and seems to be enjoying all his classes. Before Kara left for school, I made the kids sit for some pictures (all 4 kids). Here is a group picture and then we have the girls and then the boys.

There is a wind farm going up in Groton, which is just over the mountain from us. On the ridge above our house, they are putting in 5 windmills. This is the one that you can see from our yard. I sure we will see more of them when the leaves are gone. We watched them put this arm into place. The crane moved so slowly that it was hard to tell if it was moving at all. I think there is a total of 24 windmills in all in the whole project. 

Here is what the shed site looks like now. It is almost ready for the shed. I think the delivery date is October 22 or sometime near there.

Today Gary and I painted the railings and post of the porch. Gary was getting very frustrated having to paint left handed and I did a lot of the painting between the rails. We will need to put on 1 more coat. We have stain for the stairs and deck. It is called Boston Brick by Benjamin Moore. It really makes a big difference having the the railings and post painted white!! Hopefully we will have enough good weather to get this finished before winter hits.

More Site Work

Been meaning to put up some pictures of the work everyone has been doing to get the site ready for the shed. Here are some pictures of Kara and Alex doing some digging. I think the pick ax was Alex's favorite tool. He pried out many rocks with it. I did my share of digging too. You will just have to take my word on that since no one else takes pictures. I had blisters to prove it. In front you can see just part of the pile of rocks we dug up.

Here is what the area looks like now. The landscape timbers are here and we are just waiting for the gravel to be delivered so we can get the site leveled out and ready for the Reeds Ferry Shed people to come and set the shed up. They were supposed to deliver on 9/11 but Gary pushed it back to make sure we would have the site ready.

This picture was taken from the driveway.  This is where the door will be.