Dreaming of Spring Gardening in the Middle of a Wisconsin winter part 2

[Callender Girl]

I intended to stain the remaining cedar boards yesterday but went in a different direction. I installed two of the boards that I had already stained, just so I could see if I would be happy with the result.

The BEST way to do it would have been to remove the existing lattice, build a new frame and attach the boards. That's not what I did. I just screwed the new boards over the lattice. Since I still wanted some air flow under the deck, I left used a chunk of cedar as a spacer between the boards. A tiny bit of lattice shows through, but I stained it, too, and I'm okay with the results.

Then, I spent more than six hours on the stuff in the garage. Some of it was useful, a lot of it was duplicates -- could practically start my own hardware store with all the screws, nails, washers, bolts and other fasteners that Jim bought. Some of it came from a store that's been closed for more than 20 years! Wish I could ask him what he was planning and why!

Found several useful tools and made space on the lumber shelf -- which was holding a collection of non-lumber -- to safely get all the good wood off the floor.

Looks like the last of the tomatoes is ready to pick. Pears are past ripe, and birds are ignoring the aronia berries this year. So am I; still have some in the freezer from last year.

Hope everybody has a productive day -- whatever that means for you!

 

[jvls1942]

Barb, your boards look great.
as long as the customer is satisfied the job is perfect.
we are close to having the storage area for lawnmowers ready.
Annie found yet another tee post driven into the ground . Nephew Dan pounded a few posts four feet
into the ground to tie guy wires on for his big tent. also some smooth pipes. they are/were all hidden in tall weeds.
I dreamt that somebody dug up my garlic and stole it.
Barb, Jim bought extra nuts and bolts. It's what we do.
there was one plum on the little tree. Annie has been watching it
ripen. I guess a bird was , too.
ETA:
I got out there and pulled that tee post. I didn't know he had it tied to the old chicken wire. So I ended up pulling out a wooden fence post with twelve feet of cyclone fence. another mess to clean up.
I uncovered a half dozen wire cages in the deep weeds. going to take a picture and put them on CList. cheap..
some of them are slightly bent but they can easily be straightened

 

[jvls1942]

going to be a busy weekend
this afternoon is the informal half of my 6oth high school reunion.
tomorrow is the big dinner etc.
in the invitation they said:
"this is your last reunion"
what do they know that I don't know ?
Sunday is my 8oth birthday.
Monday I go in for an EKG. only because it has been so long since I had one. I guess the Dr. is nervous.
I finally pulled most of the garlic.
only about two months late. It doesn't look like it did it any harm.
I will have to dig up the rest that the stems broke off of. Then Annie wants to use that bed for some chives. I will let her have one end of it. I have plans for that bed.

 

[WIchickMama]

HS Reunion and a birthday all in one weekend! Holy moly---and a big birthday to boot. Actually pretty exciting--I hope to make it that long and still be out doing stuff like you are Jim

Quiet weekend here, lots of rain today predicted, flu shots for me and the girls on Sat and then watching the Vikings/Packers game on Sunday!

 

[Callender Girl]

Hope the reunion is going well, Jim. And, that your quiet weekend is good, too, Anjanet.

I was pretty lazy yesterday, although I did get all the cedar boards installed on the east end of the deck. And, I picked a few more cherry tomatoes.

This morning, I am just listening to the rain. It happens so rarely here that I'm not even going to complain about muddy paws when the dogs track up the kitchen floor.

 

[jvls1942]

the first stage of the reunion went well. however the crowd was subdued compared to earlier years
nobody got drunk. lolol
we got nice booklets with our HS pictures and a little info like, email, phone address. If a name was underlined, it meant that they are deceased. lots of underlines. our class had 58o graduates in 1961
tonight will be a dinner and
short (I hope) speeches .

 

[Callender Girl]

Hope the speeches wee short and dinner was tasty! I haven't gone to my last couple of reunions. There were 144 in my graduating class, and too many of those are gone, too.

Happy birthday, Jim! All that celebrating in one weekend -- Whew!

My sister is coming up today. Her birthday is Friday, but she's heading back home Thursday. So we will celebrate early. In other words, I will just give her some presents.

More than an inch of rain fell yesterday -- which means I didn't water my two new apple trees. My dad taught me to water them once a week during their first year.

Anjanet, I hope the football game ends better for you than it did for Hawkeye fans this weekend. Their team lost to Iowa State for the first time in a great many years.

My Jim was a Vikings fan. Nonetheless, he liked to tease his Minnesota friends by asking if they knew why Iowa didn't have a professional football team. The answer, he said, was because then Minnesota would want one, too. BTW, he liked to tell the same jokes over and over again.

 

[jvls1942]

one more celebration to go. we are all going to the 2510 restaurant for supper. the birthday boy gets 80% knocked off his bill.
on the way home from the reunion last night, in honor of my birthday , I guess, Annie sacrificed a deer. little damage to the car, can't say the same for the deer.
our class was 580. about 1/3 of them have died. about 1/3 of us showed up.
a thought hit me during supper. I told Annie that the healthiest ones were present. not a good sign. lolol
at our table alone.Out of 8 people, there were two wheelchairs, four heart monitors,and three replaced hips and/or knees
sadly the food was not good. out of respect to Annie, I kept my mouth shut until we were driving home.
She felt the same.

 

[Callender Girl]

You really had a wild weekend, huh? Sorry about the deer, glad the car wasn't damaged too much. Hope the restaurant dinner was better than the one at the reunion.

Also, sorry about the Packers game!

At church I always sit behind a couple who, like me, migrated from Albia north to the Fort Dodge area many years ago. We are all graduates of Albia's only high school and swap tales about the old town -- which was just featured on a Des Moines TV segment.

They had returned from Branson, MO, where they celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary. I am younger than them, but older than their son, who worked with me at the newspaper for more than 26 years. We all wondered where the years had gone and who the old people are who show up for our class reunions. lol.

I almost didn't go the church yesterday because I had a stupid accident at home. I decided I could save a few seconds by plopping down on the edge of the bath tub as I was getting ready, instead of walking a couple feet to sit down properly. I misgauged either my own backside or the width of the tub. Next thing I knew, I was hurtling backwards into the tub. My shoulder and head hit the tiled wall. The resin barrette I was wearing shattered and the metal clasp broke. I had to pick chunks of white resin out of my hair. I felt a little banged up, but I really needed to pick up a few groceries, so I convinced myself I was fine.

It wasn't until afternoon that I realized I had dried blood in my hair. Now, I'm wondering if the folks who sat behind me saw that and wondered exactly what was wrong with me that I would go out while bleeding from the head.

On the plus side, my sister arrived safely and brought a huge box of beautiful, red, ripe tomatoes, about twice the size of anything I was able to grow this year.

 

[WIchickMama]

Jim, sorry to hear that the reunion food was a bust--hopefully you got some nice and good at the restaurant. So how does it feel to be 80? drat on the hitting the deer, glad you are both ok.

Barb, hope your head is feeling ok this morning-unexpected falls are the worst, I took a tumble down the stairs a couple months ago and still get a twinge in my ankle sometimes. Thanks for the thoughtful comment about the football game-but we are Vikings fans! So we were happy! I hope you have an amazing week with your sister.

Lisa, hope you are doing well, haven't heard from you in a while.

Work again this week, some days I wish I was retired but then I am not ready to be that old as it would mean my kids would be out of the house and I am definitely not ready for that. Looking for homes for two chicks that are roosters, hard to find homes even if you don't care if they keep or eat them.

Have a good day and Happy Monday