A good weekend all around...

Since I have run out of windows, I have to find something else to do with my springtime than cut holes in the walls of my house.

It seems like the best way that projects get done around Osage is when, without thinking about it too much, I just "throw my hat over the fence" and start on something. Since we're not quite ready to start tearing down the front porch yet, that project became a small patio space next to the deck in the back yard.

It's a vaguely trapezoidal area roughly seventy-seven square feet to the right of the deck (and under the satellite dish) where the charcoal grill and hose reel sit that does little except grow weeds and, because of it's odd shape and the stuff piled in there, cannot easily be mowed. We bought ten bags of sand and sixteen 16" square pavers. I knew that wouldn't be enough, but it's as much as our minivan can hold in one trip without grinding the muffler on the pavement. I got all but four pavers laid in - at about 1 bag of sand per paver, for my future reference - and my back and legs haven't stopped complaining about all of the digging, lifting, twisting*. It will look nice when it's done - hell, even as an area of blank, lifeless dirt half-covered and with sand spilled about it looks better than it did.

Sunday was a relaxed day - a good chunk of the afternoon spent napping - and we went out to Lake Jacomo to feed fish at the marina and picnic by the lake. The fish weren't eating though, apparently having had their fill of the kibble sold in the bait house long before we arrived. The picnic was nice, if very chilly from the breeze. We were just a few feet from the lake's edge, and got to listen to the small waves lapping at the rocks. There were other families there - including one who brought a child-sized motorcycle for their kid - but the noise never got bad.

We drove completely around the lake looking for little fishing spots we could take the kids to. I think the best spots were in the handicapped fishing area - easy access, smooth surfaces.

In other news, it's peony time at Osage, at least for the next week or so. I love the flowers, and it's too bad that they are so short-lived. Our particular plants, for those of you just tuning in, came from plants that are still growing in Weeping Water, Nebraska.  My aunt Lois brought them from her father's house - my paternal grandfather John Elmer - in 1954. I had opportunity to visit with the woman who owns the property now. The house is long gone, but she remembers my other grandfather, a fixture in the town for many, many years.

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* I can lift fifty pounds without much effort. Doing that multiple times in and out of a minivan, wheelbarrow, and hole in the ground wears on a body. Same with the pavers, which weren't much lighter...or at least, they seemed that way.

Author's Note. The second picture, of the back of our house and the deck, is actually rather old. Since that photo was taken, the door has been moved, and the three upstairs windows replaced - the first picture shows that in process. I really ought to take a new picture, and just might this evening.

A good weekend all around...

Since I have run out of windows, I have to find something else to do with my springtime than cut holes in the walls of my house.

It seems like the best way that projects get done around Osage is when, without thinking about it too much, I just "throw my hat over the fence" and start on something. Since we're not quite ready to start tearing down the front porch yet, that project became a small patio space next to the deck in the back yard.

It's a vaguely trapezoidal area roughly seventy-seven square feet to the right of the deck (and under the satellite dish) where the charcoal grill and hose reel sit that does little except grow weeds and, because of it's odd shape and the stuff piled in there, cannot easily be mowed. We bought ten bags of sand and sixteen 16" square pavers. I knew that wouldn't be enough, but it's as much as our minivan can hold in one trip without grinding the muffler on the pavement. I got all but four pavers laid in - at about 1 bag of sand per paver, for my future reference - and my back and legs haven't stopped complaining about all of the digging, lifting, twisting*. It will look nice when it's done - hell, even as an area of blank, lifeless dirt half-covered and with sand spilled about it looks better than it did.

Sunday was a relaxed day - a good chunk of the afternoon spent napping - and we went out to Lake Jacomo to feed fish at the marina and picnic by the lake. The fish weren't eating though, apparently having had their fill of the kibble sold in the bait house long before we arrived. The picnic was nice, if very chilly from the breeze. We were just a few feet from the lake's edge, and got to listen to the small waves lapping at the rocks. There were other families there - including one who brought a child-sized motorcycle for their kid - but the noise never got bad.

We drove completely around the lake looking for little fishing spots we could take the kids to. I think the best spots were in the handicapped fishing area - easy access, smooth surfaces.

In other news, it's peony time at Osage, at least for the next week or so. I love the flowers, and it's too bad that they are so short-lived. Our particular plants, for those of you just tuning in, came from plants that are still growing in Weeping Water, Nebraska.  My aunt Lois brought them from her father's house - my paternal grandfather John Elmer - in 1954. I had opportunity to visit with the woman who owns the property now. The house is long gone, but she remembers my other grandfather, a fixture in the town for many, many years.

---

* I can lift fifty pounds without much effort. Doing that multiple times in and out of a minivan, wheelbarrow, and hole in the ground wears on a body. Same with the pavers, which weren't much lighter...or at least, they seemed that way.

Author's Note. The second picture, of the back of our house and the deck, is actually rather old. Since that photo was taken, the door has been moved, and the three upstairs windows replaced - the first picture shows that in process. I really ought to take a new picture, and just might this evening.