My Little Garden Helper

When the kids were down to visit us in California, Brooke liked to go up to the little patio and dig with my garden scoop. After that got old she moved on down to another digging spot but the bucket was still up on top so she had to traverse the step with a full scoop. It wasn't easy to do...and Mor mor Carol didn't complain about the dirt falling at all!!! That's what being a grandparent is all about...
 

Caulking

After 30 + years we are getting the beam caulked. I worked on the section in the bathroom and the lower end with a tall ladder. After I ran out of height, John brought in the extension ladder and took over. He forbid me to climb it!!!

 After caulking, it takes a bit of fiddling with the edges...here the artist is fine tuning his work.

 Finished one side, now around to the other...

 Oops! Flying caulk hit the wall...

John felt hot air drifting into the gaps at the highest points. We are hoping that it will help somewhat with our second energy audit in December. Our upgrades have to show a savings of energy to get some reimbursement.

Trials and Tribulations of Leaks

Today we were making rain on top of the roof! John has been trying to find the source of a leak that has been occasionally dripping through the ceiling in the garage. He has been at this for over a week! We have been blessed with rainy weather, making it easy to uncover sections of tarp and watch for drips.                            


Today it wasn't raining...so up on the roof we went. After getting over my fear of being close to the edge, even though I wasn't very close, I used the garden hose to water the composition roofing. Since that didn't produce any leaking, John moved the tarp back passed the corner.   

Shuffling the rocks and various 2x4's around to move the tarp has been entertainment for the Wolfs. Sandy has been watching the changing arrangements.

       

This corner spot is where we think the trouble may lie...

The flashing next to John's tummy is suspicious. It was added by a carpenter a few years ago to solve the problem, but I think it caused another one...

John is removing the tacked-down strip holding the tarp.

 Time for some rain showers!

 Do you think we could get the leak to begin...NO! We'll have to wait for Mother Nature to help out; the forecast is for rain.

Mother Nature was busy painting trees!

Vine Maple leaves still clinging to the vine.

Paperbark Maple, (Acer griseum) looking up

is one of the later turning maple trees. It's color has been changing daily.

Cranberry Time

We packed up the new Honda and headed out the road to harvest cranberries...

Heading into the muskeg to find the elusive berry.
Sometimes the patch is so sparse you lean over for a quick pick...

  Sometimes you have to kneel in the soft, spongy muskeg to pick a large patch...

 Sometimes you have to tromp around to find patches...

After picking for awhile, it was lunchtime and we had a tailgate picnic. Then the rain blew in from the south and we donned rain gear and picked some more. Finally, the skies were so dark it was difficult to see the tiny berries so we packed up and drove home. We picked 12 cups between the three of us...
Wally cleaned them and we're looking forward to sauce at Thanksgiving and Christmas!

 Before leaving I snapped a photo of the devil's club in the back yard...

 and the Curly Bark Maple in the front yard.

September Picnic

John wanted to go out the road and have a picnic. Since the weather was rainy it was decided to find a fire pit under a shelter. We ended up at Blind Slough and enjoyed the new upgraded shelters.

 

 Usually we use 5 gallon buckets, turned on end, for seats but they were forgotten. We turned a chunk of wood on end with a cross piece to sit on. We made do with some NA beer and  chips.

Out it comes! Back in it goes...

We decided to order new windows after the seals had broken down...over 30 years of use. The energy audit pointed to them as a source of heat loss and caused us to "bite the bullet" and get the job done. This video shows the last of the big six being taken out. Dale Drllevich and his helper, Brian Richards, had John's help with this huge undertaking.

 
When viewing this last video, if the quality is bad adjust it at the bottom of this window. You will see the number 360 that can be clicked on and switched to 480.

We're Goin' to the Fair, Fair, Fair

We were early birds, thanks to Annie getting the gang going Saturday morning. She had been out at garage sales and stopped by with donuts to pry Caitlin and I out of bed. We all piled into the Pilot and headed for the Chelan County Fair. The fair grounds are about five minutes away from their house. We had a great parking spot on this man's lawn...$2 for the day! I had to take a photo of the easy chairs out under the plum tree.

They were having a parking war on this street...I was headed into the $3 yard until "Eagle Eye Annie" spotted this spot.

We headed in to my first fair!

The girls let me wear Oliver!

Brooke and Kent loved the farm equipment - she sat and "drove" just about every one on display.

Chickens of all sorts...

Goats that were treated just like pet dogs...

Heading down the goat aisle.

An auction was being called - here a 4 H-er was showing a goat during the bidding.

It seemed that the hogs all came in pairs...I thought this was priceless and had Annie snap this photo! I learned that some farmers notch the ears for identification. Some of the poor pigs had ruffled ears!

Walking behind a food concessions I spotted this table of older gents shucking corn and shooting the breeze. This photo doesn't show much, but they were priceless!

 After some time in the Ergo Front Pack Oliver lazed in the stroller...not a fussy peep out of him all day!

Pile on Grandma!

One day when the kids were visiting I stretched out on the floor...probably to play with Oliver. Brooke decided she needed to have a snuggle and then we thought Oliver should join in on the fun.

Oliver is a tough little cookie and likes to be right in the middle of all the action. He loves his sister and wants to nibble on her!

A Brooke Sandwich!

What a Girl!

This is the sight that hit my eyes as I entered the house just minutes ago!!! I had to do a double take and blink twice before understanding... ONIONS!

Second Birthday Present

Cement continued

The truck was backed into Caitlin's yard.

Her garage is dwarfed by the truck.

It was a tight fit with the wheels just missing the roof.

Pouring Cement

They removed the cracked sidewalk and widened it at our request. Here the forms are going in.

Next we had the cracked cement cut back on the side of the house. This leads to the kitchen door that Maisy uses all the time.

By this time the pile of debris was growing. The neighbors next door wanted to salvage some of the sod.

We were able to salvage some of that good dirt. Caitlin and I went into Wenatchee and picked up four new planter barrels for the dirt. We also stashed some in an empty garbage can.

The cement driver came down the back alley with this huge mixer. It was a narrow squeeze but he managed it well.

One of the contractors climbed up on top and held the neighbor's wires as the mixer maneuvered to get the correct angle to off-load cement.

The driver and contractor get their hand signals and plan of attack understood.

The first wheelbarrows went into the front corner.