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June 2, 2017
IT'S FRIDAY, MY FAVORITE DAY!!
We finally finished with our project of getting the house next door ready to be put on the market. Our goal was to get it on the market by Memorial Day and while we didn't quite make that deadline, we didn't miss by much. The "for-sale" sign goes up today. We worked so hard clearing the property from debris and getting gravel dumped and spread. I also got the pathway to the front door done. It has been hard work and I hope it sells fast. We have become so used to working over there, that it hit home that there was no more we had to do and we were asking ourselves, "What do we do now?" It didn't take us long to figure out that there is plenty to do on our own place! I want to clear out a slope that runs between the house and the road. It's something I have to keep working at and it's time to tackle that project again. The weather has been a bit cool and misty the past couple of days so I'm waiting for warmer weather this weekend before I tackle that job. Dave has been clearing out space around the steamboat so that he can start to work on it. We missed having it in the Independence Day parade last year when he shattered his wrist and now he's trying to do two years of maintenance on it to get it ready for this year's parade. Stuff tends to pile up on it when he's not working on it and that's what he's trying to clear out right now. Hopefully he can get to that project soon so that he isn't trying to get it done at the last minute. The issue is safety. It's been a couple of years since he's been able to steam it up and he has to check everything to make sure it's all okay. We steam it up while it's on the trailer and tow it along the parade route - tooting the whistle all the way. That's why we need the steam - for the whistle! We have a lot of activities this next week - things that will take us to the valley and slow the progress on things like getting the boat ready. Still, I think we'll be ready for the parade.
We had a couple of Cubans help us with clearing the property. They are hard workers and when they spotted Dave working on the Kubota, they wanted to pitch right in. Of course, Dave let one of them drive the tractor and the other one cut down the brush with the pole saw. He was like Tom Sawyer and the whitewashed fence - letting them do all the work! The Cubans had dinner with us and although they spoke no English and we no Spanish, we got our translator app from our phones and carried on a great conversation. They came for work and are only here for a short while and then will go back to Cuba. They showed us pictures of their families back home. They loved seeing the Pacific Ocean but we were trying to explain to them that the water is not like it is in the Caribbean Sea back home! They want to go fishing and we had to explain to them that fishing season is not open yet.
Lara had to deliver Jordyn to Seaside over the weekend so she could attend a friend's birthday party. It took them forever to get to the party because of traffic. During the summer, traffic coming from Portland has to merge with the Oregon Coast Highway (Highway 101) and the system is just overwhelmed, especially on holiday weekends. That was the case for them as traffic came to a stop trying to merge with 101. So, they just stopped and played in Seaside for a while until things started moving again. After the party, Lara, Jaysa and Jordyn dropped in to spend some time with us. Jadyn had another event to attend and missed this trip. To occupy the girls, Dave helped them make a bird house and gave them a ride in the tractor. They left Monday morning to see if they could beat the Memorial Day traffic back home. That worked, because they were able to make it back to West Linn in about the usual time.
On Tuesday we ordered a couple of loads of gravel and Dave used the tractor to spread it out evenly. I got to rake it to the edges and made a gravel/stepping stone path to the front door. It was a lot of work lifting the stepping stones and placing them on the path, but it turned out pretty good. While I was struggling with the heavy stones, I was sure wishing the Cubans were around to help me with that job!
While the sun was shining, I got busy and planted my vegetable garden. I had already put in cucumbers and snow peas, so just green beans, carrots, lettuce and beets were all that was left. I have harvested some snow peas already. We had them in our salads the other night.
We finally had sun on Wednesday so a bunch of us from the city's Park and Recreation committee gathered at the Waterfront Park with shovels and rakes and got some weeding done. It was hard work as the weeds had really taken over the place and - in spite of having a few dry days - the ground was still pretty wet. But eventually we should have it under control. All it's going to take is a few dry Wednesdays.
We are going to a big celebration Saturday afternoon. Ashtin - who graduates from Silverton High - is have a graduation party. She actually graduates on Thursday, June 8th and we will attend that as well. It is sure hard to believe that our first granddaughter is all grown up. She will be headed for Western Oregon University in the Fall. Late last night, she called us - very excited to report that she had just received a $5000 scholarship. The selection was announced at the school's awards banquet. As I understand it, that award is usually split between agriculture and academics but it all went to her this time. The only thing we can figure is that all her years in 4-H counted toward the ag part of the scholarship. Either way, it's wonderful that she getting this scholarship. Also at the banquet, she was recognized for being a three-sport athlete: basketball, soccer and golf as well as being honored by her coaches for her hard work and winning attitude throughout each sport's seasons. We are so proud of her and can't wait to see her this weekend to congratulate her in person.
