It’s hot and humid, and we are at the “almosts” as far as construction: almost done with the siding, trim, interior finish work, deck railings, front stairs.
Mark and Ryan worked their tails off yesterday in spite of the heat. They got in the three new windows as well as all but the topmost course of the back siding: just as well, we’ve had off and on torrential rain since 4:30 this morning.
I’m glad Robert and I cleaned up the big cardboard siding boxes last evening. He did most of the work.
Gardener’s Diary
I’m tired. Not the walking-under-water kind, but just enough that loud noises are really, REALLY annoying.
A lot has gone on this past week. We now have a floor and one window in the attic, and the siding from the right side and back of the house has been stripped.
The landscape designer and I picked out the perennials and shrubs, which will be planted on Monday afternoon.
The grading will be done tomorrow, and the deck will be in place on Monday morning.
Gardener’s Diary
James stayed over last week, which meant that Peter only had to deal with two kids while Bonnie was away for training.
He was a big help, washed the floors one day, cleaned the windows, and helped me clear the South corner of the lot.
Work on the new deck was sporadic, partly because of the weather and partly because the carpenter had other jobs.
Same deal with spreading the remaining 20 yards of loam.
Post Office Thinks of Everything
Yesterday, good neighbor Joe put up the mailbox that was part of Peter’s Father’s Day present. It replaced the sorry, beat up container that made the whole front yard look tacky.
The installation kit included post office requirements that outline the size and placement of house numbers on the box, plus the following specific instructions for the post:
The post or support for the box should be of neat design, adequate size and strength, and must be designed to not represent effigies or caricatures that would tend to disparage or ridicule any person.
There’s got to be an interesting story behind that.
Overnight
This is the first year for our timeshare week at Sea Mist, and I promised James he could invite some friends for an overnight party.
LinkedIn Dialog
A member of one of the LinkedIn groups I subscribed to asked her fellow entrepreneurs to list the top 3 factors that interfere with their success. I listed MCP-ism as the top 3.
Here is our dialog.
Gardener’s Diary
Ed and Mike paid a surprise visit yesterday to start work on a new wraparound deck.
They tore down the old deck and put in cement posts for the new one.
The loam will be arriving in about an hour and a half for the back yard reconstruction project.
It’s Not the Age, It’s the Attitude
88 (or 89) year old Canton woman Ilse Horn was charged in the death of 4 year old Diya Patel.
Horn has an abominable driving record apparently unrelated to her age: 5 chargeable car crashes – crashes, not speeding tickets, although she has at least one of those as well – since 1982, when she was 61 or 62.
Gardener’s Diary
Lots of seedlings, threw some ancient (2000) calendula seeds in the garden.
Nice plant sale yesterday in Marstons Mills. Picked up 2 Chameleon ivy, 2 Forget Me Nots, a Rudbeckia that blossoms in the late summer/early fall, mint, a strawberry plant.
James and I won $15 with a couple of scratch tickets, so we went to ToysRUs to get an accessory kit he’s been wanting for his DS.
Finicky
I’m told cats are finicky.
My grandkids have, at times in their development, been finicky. My cat is something else. He has refined passive aggression around eating to a savage art.
This should be my cat’s food anthem.