As The Mess Turns

Well, we are still in a mess here and it is starting to MAKE ME CRAZY!

See the wall on the other side of the tree.  That is progress, as are the2-1/2 columns that are done. 

Now they have started the other side of the tree, where the new fire pit will be. 

And it is where the "Kendall" sign will sit, behind the pit.  We will be able to see it through the french doors that are still not finished inside or out.   

I'm just tired of not being able to sit in my yard or let little Clayton run.  

Oh well, soon, very soon!

Wordless Wednesday

Headaches Of All Kinds

Late in writing this morning.  I have been waking up for the past four days with a sinus headache.  Ever since I had the sinus infection, which is gone, I wake up with a headache, mostly in the middle of the night.  I haven't had that problem in years.  I guess I need to be more diligent in taking the allergy med's that are no longer paid for by prescription.  Last night I woke up at 2:35 a.m. and just had to get up.  Which meant that by the time I finally was able to go back to sleep it was close to time to get up.  I called Wade and told him I just couldn't make it to workout and drifted back to sleep while The Hubby got up, fed the dog, fixed his oatmeal and grumbled because we didn't have milk.  I texted him a message on Sunday that he needed to get some milk.  He said he didn't get the text but the one I sent seconds later about having chicken gizzards for dinner, he got.  I don't drink milk and rarely use it for anything so I fail, often to notice it being used up.  Sorry guy.  Anyway, back to the head throb.  I did successfully go back to sleep and slept quietly till 8 when the hammering started, not in my head but outside.  The bricklayers are here.  They have worked everyday since Friday, and that includes Saturday and Sunday.  I'm glad they are working hard to finish, in fact I wished they worked faster but I will take what I can get.  We found a trim carpenter to trim out the inside where we put in the new window.  We have to replace some of the wood on the walls and trim around the door.  He will work at 8 Saturday morning.  UGH.  That means another weekend in town, away from our cabin.  We are also keeping the granddog this weekend which Clayton will love.  I worry that he might find a nail out in our bombed out backyard with no fence.  Have to be very careful.  Also, we found a landscaper that I think will be able to get our flowerbeds and the grass in shape when all the construction mess is gone.  On one side of the yard where the workers bring everything and walk over it is nothing but a hard dirt mound.  We also will have to replace the entire fence as it is now falling down on all sides.  Might as well get it all right the first time around so we can stop the money flow and the constant flow of strange men in my yard.  

With all this going on we also have a flip house we have been working on, actually, The Hubby has been working on.  I have done a bit of cleanup and decision making and writing checks, but that is about it. 

Hopefully I will get some inside of before and after pictures.  The Hubby has done an amazing job and the landscape guy put in some new stuff yesterday that is not pictured here.  Today we officially put it on the market with a reality company.

Construction Twilight Zone

This is going to be one of those days when I let my fingers do the talking here.  I've been relying a lot on my photos to drive my train of thought, but the camera sits today, empty of images.  

This construction stuff is starting to get me down.  I'm tired of having my living room in the dining room.  I'm tired of the mess inside of the house when the majority of the work is on the outside.  I'm tired of having male people traipsing around in my backyard, EVERY DAY of the week.  Yes, they were there on Saturday morning at 7 am and Sunday morning at 7am.  And since the bricklayers are working on the wall with the windows and doors they are constantly looking into my house.  Luckily they have visqueen on the window and door in the kitchen but that cuts out my favorite view of the back yard.  I am looking at plastic now.  I think today they will start on the brick pillars in the middle of the patio and hopefully will take the plastic down.  Plus, it is a pain to let the dog out.  Poor Clayton can't just run out the door on his own.  We have to take him to a door that we can get through, and tentatively walk on the gravel, nails, bricks, and boards that are strewn around the yard.  Plus we have to watch him like a hawk because again, we have no side fence.  I love doing construction but after a while it gets to be more of a pain in the ASS!  I think today I've hit that wall of STOP!  I know it is closer to the end than I know, but it is slow.  We need a trim carpenter inside now so we can have the painter to fix the new areas around the french doors before I can re-assemble the living room.  Next week I'm having ladies over and I would really like to have some semblance of a living room by then.  I don't see that happening.  

Oh, goodness, I could go on and on with the insane ramble on the woes of construction/remodel hell, but I must stop.  It's only Monday and I have a lot more days of it to go.  I do want it done by the time our little granddaughter is born in September.  I want to concentrate on the joy of SweetPea coming into our lives.  

This-n-That Saturday

I had forgotten how beautiful the white crepe myrtle is outside the window of our new bathroom.  Last year it took my breath away and again this year it brings the same response.

I have a bird feeder there too but the darned squirrel can't keep his mitts off of it, depleting the seed, from the squirrel-proof feeder, in less than 30 minutes. 

Paper thin flower petals, just lovely.

Friday night The Hubby insisted we attend a get together way out in the "boondocks" of a former neighbor and junior high classmate.  He had not seen her and her sister in how many years, over 40.  Her hubby rebuilds classic cars so The Hubby had to get his '49 Dodge pickup out of storage to attend.

We climbed in, and thank goodness he had A/C installed, to tool down the road south of Tulsa to meet up for chat, food and meet new and old friends! 

I thought I might take a few pic's but really didn't find anything that spoke to me, "take a picture."  I settled on the nasty wasp nest up in the corner of the garage we sat out by.  EEK...gives me the shivers.  

Window or Not to Window

Look at that big hole!  There were once windows there.

There, it is To Window!

Wait a minute, whose butt is that...I see two butts...Ah, it's the brick layers this fine Saturday morning.  They didn't get much started yesterday as the bricks didn't arrive till late so they opted to work this morning, at 7 am.  Glad I got to sleep in a bit.

Paintings Update

I've been busy and finished a few paintings, the first three here are sold and the last one of A's sweet kitty Zig  is hers.  

"Annie"

"Kuki"

"Zinnia Garden"

"Turtle"

"Zig"

Hopefully I will finish the three still lifes, the commission and another one I hope to have for Christmas cards.  

Marriage - The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Mama's Losin' It's writing prompts this week are interesting but the one I chose is:

How long have you been married, and which years were the best and hardest?

This, I think I can answer that question with some authority.  The Hubby and I have been married 36 years now.  It's hard to imagine that, 36 years, living with the same person.  I don't feel that old and I don't feel like that much time has passed.  The Hubby and I met on a blind date.  I've written about our meeting, engagement and even our 25th anniversary that was so special here.  The first year was probably the best, but it was also the hardest.  We didn't have a lot of stuff or money, but we had a great apartment and each other.  Songs on the radio can transport me to that year in 1976, a cool breeze through an open window in the spring, certain smells, that year was the best, but for me it was also the hardest.  

I was 19 years old and had never been away from my family for any length of time.  Here I was, married to the guy that swept me off my feet, living in a different town so unknown to me.  I know it was only from Broken Arrow to Tulsa, but at the time that was so far away.  Growing up in a small town, which Broken Arrow was at that time, we rarely went to Tulsa.  I did not know how to get around in Tulsa, and felt so alone and lost, yet I had to be with my husband, the man that I loved dearly.  There were a lot of tears and a lot of laughter that first year.  Again we were mere babes.  We had to learn how to budget our money, manage our household, pay our bills, do our own laundry, cook our meals, grocery shop...the list was endless and never ending.  

We still drive by the apartment building and remember, and that is where we renewed our vows (here).  That was the year we began the foundation of a lifetime together. 

I don't think I could be specific on a "hardest" year.  We've had ups and downs but not necessarily in the marriage.  I'm not to be so naive to say we haven't had some bad fights but they don't last and they don't make our marriage.  Somewhere back in my memory I can remember hearing about the "7 year itch" but we didn't have that.  Actually, by that time we had one child, business was booming, I was going to school, life was good.  Another seven years and we were still trucking along in business and another kiddo.  Probably our roughest years have been when there were hiccups in the business and it made us stronger and more united.  

Marriage is not a bed of roses sometimes, but it is also where I want to stay.  I LOVE MY LIFE!  It's very hard work and if I let the first fight scare me off we would't be here today, 36 years later, two beautiful daughters, a granddaughter on the way, a successful business, etc.  It is endless.  

Wordless Wednesday

Happy 4th of July

Construction - Phase Whatever

Yesterday we had to completely clear out the living room for the next part of out outdoor kitchen.  You ask, "Why do you have to clear out the living room?"  I will explain.  See that window with the shutters.  That is going bye-bye.  We are putting in french doors, like the master bathroom.  

So to limit the dust problems everything must go.   

This is my dining room and front room, where the living stuff has gone to stay for a bit. 

We have a path cleared out as the living room is completely visqueened off so I don't have to dust the entire house.  

Last night when I got home I was faced with this scaffolding in front of the door to the back yard.  Well, how am I to take Clayton out!  The Hubby told me I just have to crawl through.  EXCUSE ME!  I don't crawl through anything.  But, I had to face the fact that it was the only way to potty the dog.  So at 5 am, I crawled out through the scaffolding.   

Fun note, last night about 5 we had a deluge of a rainstorm.  It didn't last long but dropped 8 tenths of rain on our visqueened new roof.  Thank goodness it was stuck good.  We only had a few drips.   

Visqueen! 

I told The Hubby last night that this has GOT to be close to be done, or at least able to put our stuff back because I'm having about 10 ladies here July 18 for the new book club I'm starting.  Get busy guys!

Bunnies and Flowers and CLAYTON

The weekend at the cabin was the annual 4th of July celebration that I DON'T participate in.  Actually, I sat inside most of the time and read.  I finished yet another book and am 35 books into my 60 read goal.  I finished Summer People, by Elin Hilderbrand.  She has become one of my favorite authors and I can't seem to get enough of her stuff right now, helps that she writes about the beach, my favorite kind of place, and Nantucket, where I have never been.

Yesterday I woke up early thanks to little Mr. Clayton, 5 a.m. thank you, his usual time and try as I might I could not go back to sleep.  When I let him out to do his business the air was fairly nice, not like the usual heat wave that early, so I grabbed my Kindle and headed to the screened porch to finish the book with my coffee.  It was so quiet, but about 8:19, the low drone of the cicadas started their sing-song, "It's gonna be another hot day" song.  Great.  Soon The Hubby was up and being the kind of guy that can't sit still long when he sees something that needs to be done, he's up to clip grass around the fence row and our new plants.  I was, but it's just too hot and since I'm on this medication I'm not supposed to be in the sun.  (Good excuse.)  

He started clipping and soon discovered a tiny little bunny that Mr. Clayton had a bead on.

Not one bunny but two.  There is a tall wall that separates the yard and the drive and one of the little buggers just jumped down, straight onto the concrete.  I cried out and raced down to find it staggering around.  Oh gosh, I scooped it up and took it to a nearby side of grass where it promptly jumped out of my hands.  Poor little baby, but Clayton had it in his sights.   

Soon Clayton jumped the second one out of its hiding place and was after it like nobody's business.  He watched them through the fence after that.   

At least in this heat my pretty hardy hibiscus are blooming. 

How was your hot weekend!

Tomatoes

See that blush back there.  

I've been watching two HUGE beefsteak tomatoes slowly grow and ripen.

I've lost so many to the dang squirrels and critters.  

But, I'm bound and determined to hang onto these two beauties.

One of them is as big around as my hand and bigger.

I've done everything from netting, blow up snakes and owls.  

Yesterday morning I could not stand the thought of going out to find them on the ground, eaten.  The last huge one was munched on a bit but I cut the eaten part and fried up a good green tomato.  I'm not going to wait...I picked them and now they sit on my kitchen counter to finish ripening.

Backyard Update

Things are progressing on the new patio and outdoor kitchen.

Before...

Before...

The beginning... 

Clayton and The Hubby inspecting... 

Lots and lots of dirt moving...

then the gravel went in to prevent a washout when it rained...as if...

We now have steel beams that will be covered with brick and a new roof... 

I can already feel the cool in the kitchen...