new baby pictures

How adorable!

Wow!

I just marvel at how good the patio area looks now. Jack came this morning and cut a cross into the cement so that if it does happen to crack in the future it will crack along those lines. Then he powerwashed the whole area. Tomorrow he will come and seal it up. It looks absolutely beautiful! I'm already decorating it in my head. We can't wait for our first party.

When the stamps were picked up the pattern emerged. It looks like real stone. How beautiful. I was so happy! It looks gray now but tomorrow Jack will come back and power wash the release agent off to leave darker in the cracks and on the tops of the rocks. Then he will seal it with a shiny sealer. I know it is going to look great!

The concrete poured from the truck onto wheelbarrows and the guys filled the area. They did a lot of work evening the concrete and getting the water out. It looked a lot browner than the tan that I had chosen, but it will be lighter when it is dried. Then the stamping began. First the release coat, which is a fine gray powder was dusted on the stamps and then on the concrete area. what a mess! Then Jack put the stamps in place and began to patiently place them in a pattern and stamp on them.

STAMPED CONCRETE PART ONE

Here is the area ready for the concrete and the various stamps that they will use.

They taped up plastic over the addition and the brick. I was to find out why later.

The cement truck is here!

For once, Don just had to stand there while a job was being done...a very different role for him. He did do a lot of the work himself framing and preping the area with gravel.

What a red letter day for us! AT 3:30 the concrete truck was coming to begin the project. At 2:30 dark clouds were overhead and it started to sprinkle. We rushed to the tv only to see storm warnings coming across the bottom of the screen. oh NO! We can't stamp in the rain. Thank goodness for doppler radar..the storm blew quickly over with just a few raindrops and the pour was on.

What do you do with strawberries?

On Wednesday we brought 8 quarts of strawberries home from the patch in Warren.

Last night I took a quart to Kay and a quart to Yrsa for their enjoyment. Today I made 2 strawberry pies and chocolate covered strawberries. The rest I froze. It's important to enjoy the short strawberry season while it's here.

A JUne Day

Can you see the wire in the gravel in the above picture? The area is all ready for the cement which will be here on Saturday. I'm so glad it is finally getting done, it's been a long time coming. We don't do anything quickly it seems.

How about these strawberries..bought at a field in Warren.

The lavender is in bloom.

I went to the dentist in Warren today and he gave me a good report about my gum graft. Everything is fine and healing well. I don't go back for three weeks now. Hopefully the roof of my mouth will heal so I can chew. I'm very tired of eating mashed potatoes!

Summertime projects

Here is a shot of the house showing the new flower bed that we redid this year. We had to cut down two dead birch trees and then remove miles of roots from some wandering weed.

The peonies aren't just lowering their blooms because of gravity. I think they are reaching for the sun. (This is Bradford, you know)

Here is (I hope) a before shot of our patio area. This Saturday we are having concrete poured and stamped.

These bags of mulch are still waiting for me. Now that I'm starting to feel better I hope that I can get out and weed and mulch.

Playing around with Photoshop

This image of a peony was taken from a photo of my beautiful peony bush. I enhanced it with Photoshop.

With this picture of Sean I enhanced the actual photo to make it softer.


Today I've been using the computer more than usual because I'm just bored with being at home and sitting around. Since my gum surgery I haven't felt like doing much..too much pain for the last two days. Now today I seem fairly pain free as long as I don't chew or use my mouth so I've been trying to entertain myself.

New baby pictures

Jenny posted some new pictures of Sean on her website. I was so glad to see how much he is growing. I used the website picnik to change the pics a little. This was just what I needed to cheer me up. I've been down the last few days since having gum surgery on Wednesday. My mouth feels like I've been socked in the jaw by a robot. I'm living on pain meds and it makes me very drowsy.

tHE SAGA OF THE BABY SQUIRREL

Yesterday when Don was taking the tractor up back he saw a movement on the ground. It was a baby squirrel that couldn't exactly walk. He knew that there was a nest high up in the maple tree because he had seen the mother squirrel cutting leaves and putting them in the hole in the tree. This little fellow had evidently fallen down from the high nest. Don thought that a nearby Hemlock tree branch must have broken his fall because he appear unharmed, just dazed. He was adorable and we would have loved to keep him as a pet, but with the almightly hunter, Top Gun, it would have been impossible. Top Gun would have thought we brought him for dinner. So Don put him under the tree. Don sat with his binoculars on a stand and watched to see if mommy would rescue the helpless baby. She was very curious and came down the tree and jumped onto the Hemlock tree branch, but wouldn't come to the ground. Maybe she had a run in with Top Gun before. So Don took the baby squirrel and placed it on the tree as far up as he could reach. It wasn't long before the mommy made her way down to the squeaking squirrel. She picked him up by the neck and proceeded to carry him up the tree stopping to rest every few feet until they were back safely into the nest. We were delighted with this outcome and hope all is well.

before and after

This is the after shot. I feel a lot safer now that the huge tree behind the house is gone.

Whoops! I accidentally got two before shots.

a hard day's work

NOTHING BUT STUMP

Almighty shredder

Here is a picture of the shredder. I've never seen one in action. It takes very large branches and snatches them out of your hands and chews them up and spits the shavings into the truck. Amazing!

Quite a process

Aaron really knows what he is doing. He didn't hesitate at all climbing up that large Elm tree and cutting the limbs. They lowered the branches in such a controlled way down to the ground and carried them over to the shredder. Don's friend Bill was there to help too.