orange juice

There was a little miscommunication on who was supposed to be buying the orange juice for the big family weekend. Needless to say we had plenty of juice for the one breakfast we had with 9 people. I thought of giving juice away as a door prize, but I didn't have any takers. Now everyone has returned to there respective homes and we are left with 4 cartons of juice with only one juice drinker in the house. Maybe we should set up an orange juice stand for the little boy next door to sit at and look cute. We could probably turn a profit.

yard sale

My brother-in-law found a few yard sale signs in my garage and thought of this cleaver way to display them. It was so very funny that I had to take a picture of it to share with my readers. We of course were not having a yard sale at the time. I am also not really sure on why we had yard sale signs still anyway. I remember just last year I said I would never EVER have another yard sale again. But, I guess that is another example of why I need to clean out the garage.

my new bird feeder

This is my new bird feeder. It was a gift from my friend Kate. I love it so very much. I went to the Old Tyme Pottery and purchased a Shepard's hook to hold it. I am waiting to see where I am going to put it in relation to the new patio. I am sure the birds will love it as much as I do.

my rain gauge

This is my rain gauge. I installed it on Saturday, May 26, 2007. I will keep you posted if we ever get rain.

patio update

Here is an update on the patio situation. This weekend we had many little elves to help us work. This is a picture of the ground after it was compacted by the plate compactor.

We put down the lighting wires. The lights are beautiful, I will have to take a picture of them. Then we started laying and leveling the bricks.

Now, thanks to the "elfin magic" all of the bricks are in the backyard. Now it is just a one brick at the time process. Maybe we will work a little all week and be finished be the end of next weekend.
I will keep you all posted. I can hardly wait to spend the whole summer enjoying the new patio. Thanks to all who helped.

The Patio

I am sure everyone has heard about the patio saga. If not, it all started 3 years ago when someone had an idea that we should put in a patio. Well, as things usually run in my house, here we are 3 years later getting started on the project. Here is the picture of the area before we started digging.

We needed to dig down 6 inches. Well after about 2 inches we hit solid clay. Therefore we had to rent a tiller and till the ground. Here is a picture of the ground once it was tilled.

Then we had to put in something called paver base, or 8910 as my friends at the landscaping place kept calling it. Anyway, it and the sand (oh and while I was there I got some mulch) came in a big truck and it was all dumped in my driveway. And yes, of course my car was inside the garage.

This, my friends is exactly why we had to buy the wheelbarrow. So anyway, we finished digging out the dirt and put down the 8910. Here is what that looks like.

Now we are in a holding pattern. My pavers are supposed to be delivered tomorrow or the next day. So, like most contractors, we are going to be delayed on finishing the job. Our goal was before Memorial Day weekend... but that is definitely not happening.

Things I never thought I would own

I am going to file this under things I never thought I would own. After this project, I am not sure what I will even use this for. It has been very helpful in the making of the patio.

The new chair

Here is the new chair. It is actually called a chair and a half... but it is just as big as my current love seat. It looked a lot smaller in the store, but I am not complaining. It is well on it's way to becoming my favorite spot in the house.

Why I can't get anything done

It is the end of the school year and my progress reports are due on Friday. I try and try but I can't seem to get anything accomplished. I have a huge distraction... my 87 pound Lab Brady. He is nudging my chair, bringing me toys and begging me to just procrastinate a little more. How can I say no to this happy sweet face?

Ziti

We had the neighbors over for dinner tonight. The dish was baked ziti. I tried a new recipe from allrecipes.com. This one had over 450 five star ratings. Everyone here thought it was pretty tasty.

my new window sills

Moving into a brand new house 3 years ago, I never thought I would need new window sills. Then, along came Brady.When the windowsills were at his eye level they were his favorite thing to chew on. Now, all of that is a thing of the past and the window sills currently are at the level of Brady's ankles. (OK that may be just a slight exaggeration). Luckily I have a carpenter on staff and he tackled the project. With a little hammering and cutting and only one trip to the Home Depot, we are back in business. We still have to Caulk and Paint, but already I think they look great. Maybe our next puppy won't be so destructive.