A Beautiful Day

Since it was such a beautiful morning, John and I headed into town right after breakfast for a round of golf before the temps got too warm.  We both had some good holes and others that weren't.  Before we headed home, we stopped at the grocery store in town for a couple of items and then John drove by Matt's job site so we could wish him a happy birthday.  This is the job John was helping 
with yesterday.

Matt and Sam working on roof

This afternoon John got ambitious and got the entire lawn cut and trimmed. Thunderstorms are in the forecast so he wanted to get it under control before we get more rain.  I spent some time this afternoon baking bread and getting addresses in the Garmin for our trip.  Below is a photo of the finished drainage area in front of the shop.

 

Day of Errands

John was up and out the door early to meet up with Matt and Sam at the job site south of town.  They needed a third man to help with setting the rafters for the roof.  John was back home around 1 p.m., ate some lunch, and then headed up to JD's place to water their plants as they have been on vacation.  When he got there, he found that they returned home late last night.  John stayed long enough to help JD haul some pallets from town and then went and hauled some fertilizer for Matt to put on his food plots for deer.  He got back home just in time for supper.

Most of my day was spent running around taking care of errands.  I took the trash to the dump and then headed to the post office for some stamps.  Then it was off to Bemidji to drop off a package at UPS and a stop at the mall to return an item.  Next was Target to pick up a wedding gift and card.  One more stop at Wal Mart for a few groceries and then on the road back home.  I felt like all I did today was climb in and out of the car. 

Nice Weather and Quiet Days

Things have been pretty low-key around here for the past couple of days.  With the nicer weather, John was able to move the stones in place down by the shop.  We haven't had any hard rains since he got the job finished, so he's not sure if the flooding problem is fixed.  

Our garden has been in over a week and it's looking pretty good.  All the items planted from seeds have come up, the grape vine has returned to life, and the strawberry plants are beginning to blossom.

Grape vine with little grape clusters

 

Cucumbers from seeds

 

John doing a little cultivating

 

Hanging basket in front of house

Following church this morning, we took some time to relax and then headed into town to play a round of golf.  It was very pleasant being out on the course with partly cloudy skies and low humidity.  We actually had a break from the mosquitos.  I played much better today so for now I won't give up on golf.

 

50th Wedding Anniversary

Today was our 50th wedding anniversary and we celebrated by taking a trip out of town.  We spent the day over in Grand Forks doing some shopping for our California trip (our main anniversary celebration) and eating lunch at Red Lobster.  On the way home we made our usual stop at Dairy Queen for some ice cream to finish off the day.  After 50 years some things never change.

 

 

Roses from John

 

 

New Lights

Yesterday and today we have been busy putting up some new lights around the house.  John installed a rope light on our screened in porch so we won't have to sit out there in the dark.  We also took down our track lighting over the kitchen counter and put up a couple of hanging lights.

The weather was very nice Wednesday morning, so we decided to play a round of golf before it got too hot.  It still got pretty warm while we were playing, and I was glad when we reached the ninth hole and could be done.  

Today we had some rain showers, but it cleared a little this afternoon, so John went to play another round of golf.  I have come down with a little sore throat, so I didn't play.  When he got to the clubhouse, he ran into three guys he knows and was invited to play with them.  Tomorrow is our 50th wedding anniversary, so we are heading out of town for the day.  Our extended trip to CA in a couple of weeks is our big celebration.

Busy Day Breaking up Cement

On Monday we had a day of steady rain and with that rain came flooding in the old shop buildings.  There use to be a lean-to over the front door, but that collapsed a year ago under the weight of the winter snow.  With the front of the building completely exposed, the water just runs in under the doors and makes its way throughout the rooms.  Enough of this--time to try and alleviate the problem.  John's solution called for breaking up some of the concrete and putting in drain pipes and stone.  Acme Tools in Bemidji rents equipment, so off we went yesterday afternoon in the pouring rain and picked up a jackhammer. 

This morning dawned bright and sunny and promptly at 8 a.m. Matt, Sam, and Rachel arrived--Rae to visit with me and the guys to work with John.  Matt started right in busting up the cement while Sam and John dug out the big chunks.  They soon found they needed something heavier to move the concrete and dirt, so the guys went into town and rented a little skid-steer and purchased some pipe.  John also ordered a load of crushed rock to be delivered after lunch.  The guys put down the pipe, but it still needs to be covered with the stone.  Matt and Sam will be back tomorrow to shovel it in the ditch and get everything covered.  Matt has been at a stand still with work due to the road restrictions here in Clearwater Country.  He has been waiting for a slab to be poured and the cement trucks finally got rolling today.  The slab needs to sit for a day and then he can begin building walls.

 

Late Night Saturday

We had our first thunderstorms of the season overnight Friday which brought a pretty steady rain.  Saturday morning was overcast and very humid but without rain.  Matt can down and the guys went outside to start working on our pile of firewood, getting it cut up for next fall.  They worked for about half an hour when it started to pour--steady, and sometimes heavy rain, lasted well into the late night.  That put an end to wood cutting for the day.

I spent the entire morning mapping out our trip to California and making hotel reservations for the outbound portion of the trip.  We will stop in Wyoming first for a quick visit with Amy's family and go on to Salt Lake City next.  We thought to visit Crater Lake in Oregon, but after checking on the internet, found most of the activities there don't open until June 27th.  John and I have to be in Sacramento by the 30th, so we wouldn't have time for that side trip.  We will spend four to five days in northern CA and hit Crater Lake another time.

Saturday night we attended an arena football game in Bemidji.  It seems arena football came there over the winter and the town has it's own team--The Bemidji Ax Men. They have special events during halftime and this evening it was a quarterback competition between a couple of high school quarterbacks--Sam represented the Bears.  The boys had to pass for distance and hit targets.  Sam got beat, but not by much.  This was our first experience with arena football and we sure had a fun time.

Thank goodness WalMart is open 24/7 since it was pretty late when we got done watching the football game.  The one good thing about shopping after 10 p.m. at night is there is hardly anyone in the store.  The bad thing was they were restocking the shelves and you could barely get down some of the aisles. 

Today was pretty quiet--off to Sunday service this morning and then watching the PGA on TV.  The rain finally moved out late this afternoon with a little bit of sunshine peeking through the clouds.  Our weather is suppose to be cooler this week with one day on the cold side.  John checked his rain gauge and we received 2.5 inches of rain since Friday night.  That should get the grass growing.