It’s Almost Time

As we wind down the summer here, we start to think about our trip south to our winter perch in LA. This is the first year we are doing it without pulling our home behind us, like when we came north, what to take and what to leave behind questions are in the backs of our minds. After being on the road for 15 years and homeless, it is new to us on what we need to do as far as fridge on or off, what tools do I need to take with me and of course, what clothes can we leave behind. Now that question could be more difficult to answer as I can’t remember what clothes I left behind when we came north! Anyway, enough of this for now, let’s see what we have been doing.

If you recall, we have sever wetness here with a high water table and as you may remember, I mentioned that we get standing water in the garage after a moderately heavy rain. Putting drainage in the driveway has helped and now we are adding an eave trough to the garage to help drain that water into the driveway drainage getting it away from the foundation of the garage. It appears to be working good and all the bit and pieces are adding up to a dryer garage floor making it usable for creating a small workshop.

 

We found time to attend a quilt show in a nearby burb, lunch on the patio of He’s Not Here and picked up more compost and sod for the side yard. But one of the more noticeable improvements is the installation of aluminum capping of the window and door frames plus the addition of storm doors on the front and back of the house. We had a crew come in to do this work as Barb & I sat back and watched! We didn’t plan on a storm door on the back until the installer said that he couldn't really cap the back door until he knew the size of the storm door so off we went to pick up and identical storm as the one on the front. After all the work was done – 2 full days – the exterior of the house looks fantastic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bill and Ann, our good friends at the Plantation stopped by for the day on their way through from Yellowstone to the Plantation via the Finger Lakes. It was a wonderful day/visit as we chit chatted on the deck and then had lunch ‘on the patio’ at our favourite spot here in Fort Erie. But all good things come to and end and they headed off back to their rig and then off to the Plantation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That’s all for now, we hope all is good where you are….

Some Finishing Touches….

It has been a long time since we published an entry so I hope I didn’t lose too many loyal readers.

After Larry & Marti departed, we took a few days off to catch our breath. It was a busy week going here and there and helping them enjoy their trip so maybe they’ll come back again.

But we still have things to do around here before the cold weather sets in. We decided that facia and soffits on the garage before we painted it would improve the looks. We also wanted to cover up the gravelled drainage trench around the house. In order to continue to drain the perimeter, we chose small river rock and used small block to separate the grass from the rock. It worked out and looks pretty good too.

After all that slugg’n, it was time for a break. We took a trip to Owego, NY to visit friends from the Plantation for a few days. Owego is a cute village and Tom & Cheryl are wonderful hosts in their beautiful hillside home above Owego. They took us here and there, through the shops in Owego – yes, there is a quilt shop there! We viewed some waterfalls, some of the the beautiful finger lakes region and even did a wine tasting.

 

Tom is an excellent wood craftsman – he built their kitchen cabinets and they look outstanding. In our ‘spare’ time, Tom & I ‘played’ in his workshop. He has a wood lathe and he taught me how turn a block of wood into a honey dipper. He also made Barb a cutting board from some of his ‘scraps’ of hardwood. It was finished and ready for use by the time we left. The ladies? Well they had some quality time together, chatting about what ladies chat about with a glass of wine or tea in hand. We had a great time.

 

Once back, we still have a few outdoor items to complete before the cold weather arrives. Painting the garage was pretty easy as we covered the old siding last year. We had enough paint left over from the house painting to gett’r done. The weatherman worked with us and we were able to finish it in 3 days.

 

 

To finish off the side yard that we have been working on, we need topsoil and sod. A little more slugg’n but when it is all done, it looks great. We can’t believe the progress we have made on our little hobby house and yard from a year ago to now. It’s getting time to put our feet up and we’re counting the days we turn the truck south and head on down to the Plantation.

 

 

Hope all is good where you are….