Day Two Hundred Two

Random pictures from today...


Shelby's trampoline action this morning...

Elijah's jumping high...

The flower and the bee...

Forever blowing bubbles...

Day Two Hundred One

It's A Boy!

After two weeks of thinking this kitty cat is a girl, it turns out
that she is actually a HE. Took him to the vet this afternoon
to have him checked out. The vet nurse turned him over and
said "Boy!" So Sally will have to be renamed something else
more manly, I suppose. I imagine Shelby will want to
call him Sammy after an identical cat she had when she was a
toddler. I'm thinking Sandy is a cute name. Stay tuned. His
little leg was shaved and the doc drew blood to test for feline
leukemia and heart worms--both negative, thank God! And he
got some worm medicine and orders to return in twelve weeks
to begin vaccinations and later on neutering. (ouch!)


Buddy cat did not want to leave the safety of his carrier. He knows
what's coming--shots in the bottom. But he took it well. He also got
worm medicine--this gel stuff they put on the top of his head. The
doc says it covers every kind of worm infestation. That's very cool.
Buddy is mad at me anyway, I think, because of the new kitty at the
house. On the way home from the vet, he was riding next to me in
the front seat in his carrier, and I looked at him and asked, "Buddy,
are you mad at me?" He just closed his eyes and turned his head
away. I think I got my answer. Like a knife right through the heart!
And now he's got another male to compete with. Bad karma all the
way around.


And last but not least, the installers made their final appearance
at the house this afternoon and finished off the siding along the
back porch and trimmed around the new door. We're so happy
with the results. Still got to paint some stuff. Neil put up a new
motion sensor front porch light and a new back porch light by
the kitchen door. Things are shaping up!

Day Two Hundred

My Big Backyard
Sunday Afternoon
Felt Like Fall Today
Sat On The Back Porch With Kelly
Played With Sally Cat
Snapped Some Pictures
One Of Those Afternoons You Wish
Would Never End

Day One Hundred Ninety Nine

Happy 8th Birthday, Shelby!

Shelby celebrated her eighth birthday today with her family

and friends at her home. She had a luau theme. Even though

it's the middle of July, the temperature here today was around

70 degrees and cloudy with a northerly wind. But that didn't

stop the kids from playing on the giant water slide her dad

set up. Here she is about to blow out her candles.

She received lots of great gifts and cards and loved every

minute of it. She is always thrilled when her day of days

comes each year. My precious grand daughter is growing

up way too fast. Happy Birthday, Shelby! I love you so much!!

Day One Hundred Ninety Eight

Renovation Chronicles.....almost there.......

The cedar (vinyl) shakes on the dormer turned out so nice,

the picture doesn't do it justice, so you'll have to come see it

for yourself. We're glad we did this. And I never thought I'd

gush over new gutters, but these are totally wonderful!

The hole in the wall. Double windows were removed to make

way for the patio door in our dining room. Sounds weird, but

there is method to our madness....down the road....eventually.

The mess that the hole in the wall made. Luckily, these guys

are also electricians. They spent most of the installation of

the door having to re route a few key wires from under the

window to over the door.

The hole in the wall gang. Once they got the wall cut down

to floor level, they checked out why our dining room floor

is so spongy in that area. Turns out the joist holding up the

wall here was totally eaten away by termites at some point

between 1927 and now. The damage was very old. The joist

looked like a piece of driftwood. They had to shore up the floor

before they could set the door into place.

The new door lets in a lot of light which is great since the

back porch is covered and tends to make the house dark.

Neil is standing there, staring at the wall he's going to have

to repair. They had to cut away a lot of wall where the door

had to be set. So there went our vintage wallpaper. Well,

it was new when we put it up. It's vintage now. We'll never

be able to replace it. They patched in sheet rock. Just

something else we'll have to figure out how to deal with.

It's going to take some getting use to having a door here now.

There's still a lot of work to be finished on this side

of the house. The door has to be painted (ugh!) and

the siding guys will return on Monday to complete the

siding and trim around the door. Still have to paint the

porch ceiling and posts. We're so happy with

the way the house is shaping up. It's long overdue.

And we'll be thrilled when it's all done!