Today's Harvest

SHelling Beans

I don't know if there is a better way to get the beans out, but Z and Joe really enjoyed shelling beans. Too bad I didn't have more. This could have kept them busy for a least an hour.

From The Roof Top

Strapped into the rappeling gear with my trusty drill hook on one hip and bag of screws clipped on the other, 95% of the screws on that roof were put in place by yours truly. Can you tell the novelty has worn off?

Another day in the sun. Most of the work up top is done: all panels are up, valleys finished, and most of the ridge cap finished. Now is the time for soffit and trim work.

Like cats on a hot tin roof...

Today, Chris and I managed to finish the panels on the dormer... Tricky, since we had to measure and cut the angles for the valley. Then we started to put the ridge caps up. We started on the dormer, with the sun beating down. The steep, slippery roof was made all the more uncomfortable by the stinging heat. It left me wondering WHY in the world I wanted the dormer roof to have such a steep pitch. Oh, yeah... I thought a lesser pitch "looked too flat". Sometimes I'd like to kick myself in the rear end being so concerned about aesthetics. But I guess as long as we come out of this alive and never have to go up there again, I will have thought it worth the trouble.

We started to put one more piece of cap up on the main ridge, and then it started to rain... Sliding down a wet, metal roof might be fun if we had a deep pool at the bottom to plunge into, but we don't, so we called it quits for the day. The rest of the roof will have to wait. Chris needs to go back to work tomorrow.

Today we got our first green egg from one of the Ameraucana hens! It was a nice surprise after a long, hot (miserable) day working on the roof.

Thankfully, today we had help on the roof. Dave and Chris were able to hoist the sheets up, so I donned the rappeling gear and did the screwing.
It didn't take long to get the main portion of the front roof done.

And once Terry showed up, we really got rolling on the back, as Dave was able to stay up on the roof and pull up the sheets up that Terry and Chris handed up. I didn't get it completely screwed down before quitting time, but it shouldn't take long to finish it up.

Tomorrow we tackle the dormer. That will take a little more brain power and planning.

The roof saga drags on.

We started working at 7 a.m. and by 9 a.m we had the tarps off and the underlayment on most of the front side of the roof...
and from there, things slowed down... drastically. We got a couple pieces up on the porch roof, fiddled with some of the trim pieces, then Chris wanted to put up one of the long pieces on the main roof. But I wasn't sure I could help Chris muscle it up there; and not wanting to risk damaging anything, we switched gears. We ended up cleaning off the old rumply felt and will put the new blue stuff on tomorrow...

Hopefully we can find some one to help us and get this thing licked.

Refrigerator Dill Pickles

Finally making use of some of the cucumbers growing in the garden and trying some fridge pickles. We'll see how they turn out.

Happy 7th Birthday, Finley!

Today Finley is seven. This morning, she came out dressed in an ill-fitting sundress (too short, and too wide). I had planned to stop at a store on the way to a friend's house to let Finley pick out a toy for her birthday. But seeing the dress she had on, I suggested that we go pick out a new dress. She jumped at the chance. In the store, she immediately focused in on a paisley-flower-print sundress and convince Zivah that she, too, should get one. Great. You know how I LOVE to dress my kids in matching outfits. But that is Finley, and really, it shows how sweet she is.

When Zivah was born, I was a little worried that Finley might not appreciate the fact that she nearly shared a birthday with her little sister, but I needn't have worried. Finley loves the fact that their birthdays are so close and can have a combined party.

Finley is a giver. Finley is a thoughtful giver. I love that about her. She draws pictures of racecars for Joe and pictures with lots of green for me. She gave away a Disney princess nightgown to a little girl she knew loved princesses.

On the 4th of July, my mom asked who wanted to say the blessing for the food. I was a little surprised when Finley raised her hand. Along with the typical 'thank you for this day', without prompting, she asked Jesus to help Uncle Mike, who was miserable with a sore throat, to feel better. Later when her cousin Laurel burned her foot, she stuck right by her side, offering her lemonade and little drawings to cheer her up until she felt better.

Finley sees things that other people miss. She loves to pick flowers, finding the tiniest wild flowers and appreciating even common 'weeds'. And frequently, she'll suddenly stop and snatch up a frog that I wouldn't have seen until it jumped.

And this is just a little glimpse of the wonderful person Finley is ... I love you, Fin!

Well. It's been an exciting week. Sunday, GrandDad took Chris's grandmother and us to see Cars 2. The kids were thrilled. Sunday afternoon, I spent some time bush hogging until the water pump on the tractor broke, which sent the fan into the radiator, knocking a hole in the radiator. Not good. I'm hoping we can find someone to fix the radiator, because those thing are not cheap.

Monday, the 4th, we went down to Lewisburg to see the parade. I don't remember the last time I was with my mother at a parade, but it sure was funny. She would wave her little flag, smile enthusiastically, shout 'Woohoo for the fire department!' or what have you then complain to me under her breath 'I hate when they turn their sirens on during the parade' ... all the while still waving her flag and smiling. The kids racked up on candy, and I joked that next year, we ought to have our own float so that we could give the candy away. Mom got really excited about the possibility of having a Funny Farm float and told Molly that we should do it next year 'before [she] die[s]'. Whatever, Mom. It might be fun, but I don't know that I'd want to wave at all those people.

Later, we took the kids over to the neighbors' to explore their sinkholes and 'caves', then let them play in the pool. Then it was over to Mom and Dad's for a cookout. My brother, per my request, brought a bowl of summer beet soup that made my day... but that wasn't enough. He also brought some of his famous home-made ice cream, flavored with molasses. Amazing. Then the fireworks. My brothers had bought a ton of fireworks on discount a while back, and I'm sure our show was the envy of the neighborhood.

I also pulled out the can-and-firecracker trick my dad had taught us when I was a kid. Poke a hole in the bottom of a tin can, preferably with a Craftsman philip's head screw driver as it is the perfect size for Black Cat firecrackers. Then get a larger container and fill it with water so that the can will sit down in the water, bottom side up with enough air above the water in the can so that the firecracker won't get wet. Push a firecracker into the hole until the top is flush with the can. Then light... The can shoots up into the air. (See pic.) I am always amazed the first time how high that can will shoot up. It's a good way to combine a little physics lesson with the fun of the 4th.

In spite of the fact that the kids didn't get to bed until after 10 that night, they were up the next morning about the regular time, which made for an interesting (read emotionally-charged) day...
In order to escape from the grumpy kids a bit, I cleaned out the chicken coop, turned the compost, and cleaned up a few other things around the yard.

Today is a little calmer. So I figured it was high time to harvest some carrots.

This picture I took in between rain showers. All together, I have a gallon-bag full of carrots. I see some more roasted veggies in our future.

We Have A Porch Slab!

Yesterday, Chris was off work and went to order the materials for our roof. (woohoo!) As he was going over the materials, the sales guy said, "Please don't tell me you used that thin USB for your decking." Well, yes, we did. Apparently, screws have a tendency to back out of the thin, flimsier material... So we might be tacking some sort of wood strip to the underside of the decking to provide more solid of a backing for the screws. It will be a pain, but we really don't want to risk a leaky roof.

About 2 p.m. , the cement truck showed up to deliver the load for the front porch. Terry, our fantastic neighbor, was over to help, inspite of the fact that he was suffering from some sort of virus. I was thankful,when most of the cement was poured, Grant showed up to help. Grant has more concrete experience than Chris, so he knew a few tricks to help with the finishing.
Chris let the kids put their handprints in a corner of the slab. Maybe some day, years down the road, we will have grandkids over, comparing their hands to Mom or Dad's from back in the day...

Later, Grant's wife (my friend Connie) and their kids showed up for some pot roast and veggies...

So because of all the excitement of yesterday and the fact that I still haven't completely recovered from last week's health funk, I am taking it easy today, letting the dishes pile up and the laundry remain unfolded in the dryer. If it wasn't for the fact that the concrete still seems a wee bit soft, I'd be sitting on a lawn chair on the new porch, sipping ice water and staring at the clouds. But there's always tomorrow...