It was a plan, not a promise

I mentioned in an earlier post that we finally got our big room in the basement painted & carpeted, and Kev finished putting up all the baseboards & trim around the windows & doors. The ceiling will be next, when we get the moola to do it. I'll post photos sometime soon... when we get it arranged nicely. It's still kind of a mess right now.

To prepare for the carpet installation, everything in that big room (about 42' x 18') had to be removed... so we stuck it all into either my craft room or the utility room. We've moved out some of the big stuff, like the sofas and the TV... but for the rest of the stuff, I wanted to do some major sorting. There were some things I came across that I not only forgot I owned, but I wondered why I was keeping them. I'm such a packrat. So I decided to make a change...

Joyce and Mike both want to earn money this summer. I told them that if they set up and ran a garage sale, they could split the profits. I suggested this Memorial weekend would be a great time to have a sale, because of all the traffic there would be on M-20.

Truthfully, Joycie did most of the setting up work last week, because Mike was at school and over in Bay City. Kevin, Sammy and I helped her. It was a TON of work getting everything out, dusted off, set up and priced. Ugh. We came up with a bunch of stuff, and then Joycie's Gramma and Aunt Janet gave her a bunch of stuff to sell, too (and told her to keep the money).

We ran an ad in the local paper and put a sign out at M-20... & another sign at the end of our driveway. (We have a long driveway, and you can't see the house from the road.) We started the sale Friday morning with plans to run it through Monday.

I got up early Friday morning to go down to the corner (1/2 mile) and set the sign on the side of M-20. Kevin was leaving for work; the lucky boy got stuck with a 16-hour shift Friday. He stopped and chatted with me while I pounded into the ground the 2 hockey sticks I sawed up for sign posts (they were part of a group I bought way on sale, and who knew they made hockey sticks for lefties?!). While I was pounding, a white van turned onto our road. I told Kev to watch and see if he pulled into our drive, and Kev told me he didn't. But he did. He was driving back out our driveway as I was driving back in... with the garage doors and the house wide open and 2 sleeping kids upstairs. Kinda freaked me out. Also, the van's windows were so darkly tinted that I couldn't see into them. But, no drama. I think the guy saw the baby stuff and left. (Yes, baby stuff! With our baby being 13 years old... I finally agreed to get rid of some stuff.)

So Joycie and I did her garage sale Friday, and Mike arrived mid-afternoon.

Having a garage sale is a lot of work and really, really, really boring. My idea that Memorial weekend would be a good time to have one turns out to be a pretty crappy plan. Sure, we live out in the country, but we just haven't had many shoppers. So when Mike's mom called him Saturday afternoon and asked if they could skip the sale Sunday and join his family out at a lake on a pontoon for the day, I said go on ahead. I told them I'd watch their sale Sunday. Then I found out it would require my watching it Monday, too. What the heck.

So here I sit, comfortable at our picnic table with my laptop. Since I'm outside, I rigged up a box lid taped to my laptop cover to shade it, and I have to say... it works like a charm. They should make laptops with a slide out cover for working outside. (I'm guessing that's not an original thought, and the invention is likely already patented.)

I was up and opened yesterday by 7am and working on my laptop until about 6pm. I got so much work done (company work), and it felt good. Very few interruptions by shoppers, but those that came did some good shopping. Kevin suggested I bag the sale for today, but I told him that I not only kicked ass on work yesterday, but that I really enjoyed working outside doing it. It is gorgeous, partly sunny and breezy. Absolutely gorgeous. Getting some of my backlog of work done in this kind of setting... heaven!

The one thing I do regret is that I am kind of tied down... I wanted to paint a couple more coats on this old wood desk I started painting on Friday, but I can't because someone may show up. It's an old desk that I bought at a garage sale ages ago, and it was in pretty crappy shape then. I painted it a dark green and dark blue (body blue, desk top and drawer fronts green, & it looked really good), but those colors do not go well with our new basement walls of Apricot Butter. I keep an old Mac computer on this desk, and I want to continue to do so. The Mac is chock full of cool games. And I had this gallon of red paint... so I'm painting the desk red, and it's going to look great down in the basement. But red paint is difficult... I've got 2 coats on the desk now, and it will need at least another 2, maybe 3. That's red paint for ya.

I also wanted to do some weeding in my flower and herb gardens. But those are out back, and it's too much of a hassle... I could leave Sam in charge of the sale, but I don't think that's fair. He'd be a little out of his league, and being in charge of a garage sale with strangers coming up is just not something I'd do to him.

But I get to work on my laptop. Thank goodness I sprung for that wireless router.

I also get to watch a lot of bird action. I have some photos I'll have to post later. Right away on Friday morning when we opened the garage doors, we had some Swallows that kept flying in and out of the garage. I haven't seen Swallows around our house before, so I was thrilled. They would land in the garage, and I was so happy... tried several times to get photos before I finally was able to do so. But then the bird shit on the stemware we have for sale was kind of a downer. Now I chase the little buggers out as soon as they come in.

Mike and I watched a couple of Robins going at it for a while on Saturday. They were seriously scrapping. Flying at each other and making a racket big time. The 2 of them were like a ball of furious feathers. Then they'd separate and land on the ground a few feet away from each other, wait a bit and go at it again. I was like, "holy cow!" Mike said, "Robins do like to fight each other; they must talk a lot of trash." Cracked me up.

Goose, goose, duck

The Canada geese parents and their goslings have left our pond and not returned. I saw them the day after Mother's Day, all of them swimming in a row in the pond. The mom was in front, then all 6 babies following following her, with dad bringing up the rear. I found out that this formation, goose, goslings & gander in a row, is called a crèche (which is how I know for sure it was the mom in the front).

I tried to get a good photograph of the crèche, but this is what I ended up with...





I was hurrying and didn't have my glasses on... *sigh* They crossed the pond quickly and went up onto the far bank.

I love our pond. It's brought in a lot of wildlife to us that we wouldn't otherwise get to see. With all the critters, there's been some interesting scenarios played out for our enjoyment. Like the other morning, when Kev noticed a lone duck on the pond. It was at the shallow end, near our sandy drive. It was a type of duck I couldn't identify. So of course, I grabbed my camera. I was afraid to go outside and take a photo for fear it'd fly off, so I took some photos through our windows. Photos through our house windows usually don't turn out well...





The duck was swimming back and forth and towards the bank. Then Kev and I both noticed N.C. sitting in the middle of the drive, just watching the duck...



The duck didn't appear at all concerned about N.C., in fact, it seemed like the duck was trying to get N.C.'s attention. Then N.C. stood, stretched and walked a little further up the drive... and the duck followed him, swimming along with him to the edge of the pond! N.C. dug a little hole in the drive and did his morning business. (Kev was so happy about that... He's spent so much time and effort making that drive out to the back little barn, then N.C. craps in it. Nice.)

Then N.C. casually walks down to the edge of the pond, more towards the middle of this shallow end where there's a gentle slope into the water. And again, the duck follows him! N.C. stays there drinking for a while and the whole time, the duck is swimming back and forth a short distance in front of N.C. It was like the duck was saying Hi! Hi! Hi! Hey, Hi! Hi!

N.C. walks off, and a while later, the duck flew away.

N.C. is quite the hunter, and we appreciate his efforts in keeping the chipmunks away from the house. Also, the occasional mole or mouse. And yes, sometimes, rarely, a bird. But N.C. is no dummy... no way could he get a duck for dinner. This he knows.

So, anyway... back to the duck. This is the best photo close-up I got of her...



My trusty "The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds Eastern Region" wasn't really that much help in definitively identifying the duck, though it led me in the right direction. Some Google image searching revealed the duck to be a female Hooded Merganser. Which is a new one on me; I've never heard of them. I sure hope there is a male around, and that the pair of them arrive at our pond because I'd like to see him... he's a beaut. Good information and photos about Hooded Mergansers can be found at this site.

What did you think I meant? That wasn't it.

Now that Kevin is on the lab tech job he's had since last October & he isn't working any weekends (thank goodness!), he and I have our weekend early morning routine. Coffee.

Sometimes we sit together and go through a pot or two while we talk, other times, we may decide to watch a recorded episode of Lost or CSI while we drink our coffee together. Or, Kev will have some hunting or sports show on the TV, and we'll both semi-watch it while we talk. Sometimes, like this morning, Kev will watch a recorded game (Tigers vs. AZ from last night), and I'll get on my computer.

I'm kinda sorta listening to the game, but also doing some research... last night I had a dream that wasn't about the movie "Twister" nor was it about a scary tornado, but whatever I was dreaming about included those beautiful wind lawn sculptures from "Twister". I've had a thing for those ever since I saw that movie. So this morning I was itching to get on the 'net and see what I could find out. Turned out to be not a whole lot, other than the artist is Evan Lewis and his web site is sorely lacking in photos of his pieces that were in the movie. I tried to find our copy of the DVD, which I believe was downstairs near the TV last time I saw it... but since we moved all the stuff out of that big room for the carpet installation and haven't yet moved and sorted everything back... it was a pointless search. Especially on only one-half cup of coffee. And then I got distracted trying to take photos of the turkeys tearing up the mulch and making a big mess beneath our bird feeders. I want a close-up of one of their heads, because the turkey's head... it's ugly. So ugly, it's very, very interesting to me. They move so quickly, however, and they're smart, so they're leery... I've had no luck on that photo yet.

So anyway, for our weekend mornings, the two most important components are coffee and talk. Kev and I usually take turns filling up our coffee cups. To be honest, Kev has done a helluva lot more filling up turns than I have so far this year...

Just a bit ago, I was standing at my desk trying to take a photo through the window of the damn turkeys, and I finally gave up. Decided it was my turn to fill up...

me: Honey, you ready for a refill?

as I walked over to get his cup...

Kev, with very cute exaggerated enthusiasm: Yes, I am!

as I was heading toward the kitchen...

Kev: And I expect it to be delivered topless.

in kitchen, pouring coffee...

me: No top on your coffee cup. Got it.

Hubby has a stiff one...

Bet that got your attention... Stiff neck, that is.

Kev took another fall, only this one didn't get his butt wet, and it wasn't so funny...

Kev and I took a walk the other morning, with the 3 dogs. As we walked by this big pile of logs he has waiting to be split, Kev decided to climb to the top.



Then he called Reilly up to him, and of course, Reilly could make it up to the top...



Meanwhile, Barney and Betty were running around and around the base of the log pile. Betty was huffing away, which she always does when she runs, but since she was excited, she was really huffing. Barney wasn't real sure what all was going on, but since Betty was so excited, he was following her lead and was equally wound up. No way could those 2 climb up that pile of logs, though. Betty's too old, and Barney's too blind.

Reilly picked his way carefully back down the log pile, and so did Kevin, where Barney and Betty were happy to greet him...



It's those last few steps, y'know...



At first I wasn't sure what had happened, so I just kept taking photos...



And then I realized Kev was on the ground not moving. On his last step, a log rolled out and he lost his balance and went down, but then Barney jumped on top of him. Bad enough to fall, by then having a 90+ pound dog land on your chest and slam you against a bunch of logs... um... not so fun...



Up and walking again, a little slowly at first...



He's ok, but now his shoulders and neck have needed the heating pad every evening. And when he turns his head to look at you during a conversation, he pretty much has to turn the top half of his body to do so, since his neck is so stiff. Age: 47, last attempt at log pile climbing. Duly noted.

Strategically placed leaves

The marsh out back

Kevin and I have been taking as many walks together as we can. He's really encouraged me a few days when I haven't felt like getting out, and as usual, my man's right on... I always feel better after a walk. Since my first surgery on my neck in January, I've tried to get in as much walking as I can. Once the weather turned nice, it was wonderful to once again take a walk in the woods. The past couple of years, our walks together had ceased because every time I looked down, my left shoulder and arm would go painfully numb... and you cannot walk through the woods, or anywhere really, without looking down. At least I can't; my clumsy gene is quite prevalent. If there is one thing I appreciate the most after this surgery, it's being able to walk in the woods again with my husband. And our dogs... those 3 love it more than any human possibly could.

A while back in April, we ended up at a marsh that's located off our northern property line on state-owned land. It was brown and wet and I was wearing sneakers. But we crossed it and came to one of the branches of the Carroll Creek drain (part of which also runs behind our house; it's man-made but now looks just like any ol' creek). We found a bridge someone had made, and we crossed over the creek, ending up walking back to our house by way of the road.

Sometimes I take my camera with me on our walks, but most often not. I didn't have it that day, and I sorely wished I had. The marsh was beautiful, as was that branch of the creek, which looks very different from ours. Our creek is overgrown and well, creeky... this was more like a small river, clean sides and swift. There were small lily pads in the creek and marsh grass just starting to turn green, and the sky was a beautiful gray. A perfect April day.

This weekend, Kev and I took a short ride on our old four-wheeler back to where the bridge is located. This time I took my camera.





Kev and I could hear water running, gushing... so we walked upstream a ways. There were several little tributaries running into the creek from the swamp. We've had quite a bit of rain lately, so it was really, really wet out there. But we could still hear loud water. We soon came upon this beaver dam...



This was the beavers' level 2... the first dam was further ahead, and you can see it in the photo above. Kev decided to go check it out. I stayed put, once again wearing sneakers. And also, everything is growing like mad out there, and frankly, all the grass mounds and water and massive growth was kind of creeping me out... I didn't feel like getting a full-on soaker. I decided to turn my camera on my hubby, and I'm so glad I did...





























Still smiling! Wet butt and all...



I enjoyed seeing all that marsh again and finding the beaver dams. I would have liked to have walked up near the bigger dam, because Kev said it wrapped around and was holding a lot of water. Beautiful. Next time I'll wear boots and thicker jeans, because that marsh area is truly not very hospitable... between the thousands of nettles coming up...



the briers and also the pickers everywhere...



and the many, many tent worm nests (yuk)...



it's kind of creepy... Right where the bridge is located, there is a big, gray mound of an anthill. I mean, that thing is HUGE; it must be years and years old. I got Kev to stand near the base of it to show the size of it...



Which wasn't really that great of an idea, since just before that he couldn't resist poking his beaver dam stick into it and stirring up a little part of it... put the ants in a frenzy...



That photo does not do any justice to what it looked like... instantly there were thousands of ants scurrying around. Kev joked that he gave them something to do that day. They retaliated by climbing all over him while he posed for my photos. Yuck. (But also quite funny from my perspective, which was quite far back actually. Thank goodness for my 12x zoom on my old Sony.)

And since I refuse to end this post with all those gross photos (hope you're not eating breakfast or lunch while you're reading this!), here's one of my favorite shots of that walk... Kev showing off his cute wet ass...

Happy Mother's Day!

Early this morning, Kev and I sat down in front of the computer, with our cups of coffee nice and hot. We were settling in to look at all the many, many photos I took yesterday of Mike and Joyce. Then Kev noticed something out the window. Near the pond were 2 Canada geese. He brought them to my attention. We've seen them before, sometimes just 1, sometimes both.

Then something small moved near them...



We thought it was pretty special they would choose Mother's Day to bring their baby goslings to our pond for the first time.



We watched them throughout the morning, and we're looking forward to their future visits. The goslings will change so quickly.

Kev saw which way they headed back into the woods, and he's pretty sure of the vicinity of their nest. It's likely back by his front field, where's it's really wet, and there is a border of big stumps and brush surrounding the field. It'd be a perfect home for them. This is way cool!

Prettier... Prom!

Mike's Senior Prom was last night, and so Kevin, Sammy and I drove over to Bay City to take some photos of Joycie and Mike in their prom finery. They both looked so very nice! We took some photos inside of Mike's house... doing the boutonniere and corsage...



Standing together for several photos, still smiling...



Don't they make a beautiful couple! The next 2 photos are not very well in focus, but they made me laugh when I saw them, so I'm including them anyway, poor photography skills and all...





This photo was in the driveway, and notice the awesome, shiny Chevy Blazer... if you can draw your eye away from the awesome, beautiful couple...



And then of course, more goofing around... those 2 do that so well...



So darn cute! Then we all drove over near the river near old downtown Bay City, where Mike and Joyce met up with a bunch of Mike's friends for some photos.



The kids then went on their way over to a friends house for a steak barbecue dinner before the dance. Izzy had made a huge bowl of guacamole and homemade corn chips for them to take over, and after their dinner, Joycie and Mike stopped back by to drop off the leftovers. Mickey, Izzy, Angel, Tony, Stacy, Kevin, Sammy and I were all sitting at the table filling up on the same, along with some amazing homemade chicken flautas. Oh my heck! Joycie has mentioned time and time again what a great cook Izzy is, and she's right. That meal was wonderful. I ate like a pig. And woke up this morning wanting more. I learned how to make them, though, so now I have to get myself something to deep fry them in. Mmmm... Izzy sent us home with some guacamole and chips, and I'm ashamed to report that I ate most of them about an hour after we got home last night. I don't know where I put it, but I figured it out... Yum! Also, I learned another thing from Izzy... she had left the avocado pits in the guacamole, and I had noticed that. She explained they keep the guacamole from turning brown. Cool! Plus they look pretty in the dish.

We had a really great time at Mickey and Izzy's. Their home is the type where you instantly feel welcomed, comfortable and right at home. Tony, Mike's older brother, and Mickey were very entertaining at the dinner table. Lots of stories and laughter. Very fun.

I texted Joycie late last night, and she said they had fun at the prom, and they were on their way to the after-prom-party. She called this morning just a short time ago to wish me a Happy Mother's Day, and she sounded very happy. Sounds like a really nice last high school prom.

One last photo... this of Kevin and Kevin, Jr. down at the riverside...



What a beautiful pair!

Pretty