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June 28, 2019
IT'S FRIDAY, MY FAVORITE DAY!!
Another work week around the ranch!
The debris pile that I started last fall was getting pretty big with all the leaf raking, weed pulling and brush cutting that I had been collecting, so we decided to haul it off. The Department of Forestry through the Manzanita Transfer Station is accepting yard debris for free during the summer months and we couldn't pass up "free". It took us 5 small trailer loads and several trips before we got that completed - about 15 cubic yards total. Now Dave has taken the tractor to the spot where the debris was and smoothed it all out. We got some really nice soil from what had composted over the winter.
Our dear friend, Luis and his small crew dropped by to start the deck project. The beams that support the deck also support the main floor of the house - they run clear through. Unfortunately, most of beam that was exposed to the weather on the outside of the house had rotted to the point that the deck was extremely unstable and very dangerous. The exposed ends of all of the beams had to be replaced and Luis ended up cutting off the rotten part of the beam, fashioning a matching piece like a jigsaw puzzle and then sistering the beam together with new material. Then when he gets that done, he will replace and paint all the deck boards. He brought a Cuban couple down to do the painting of the deck boards. They first put on a primer and then there will be two coats of deck paint. Luis was supposed to start this job sooner, but he took some time off to visit his relatives in L.A. He plans to return to L.A. next week so he won't complete the job for a couple of weeks. Meanwhile, the crew has been staying here and so I have been busy cooking for all of them.
We caught a sight the other day at the bird feeder. A mother woodpecker was working on the suet and feeding her offspring. The offspring was just about as big as she was and this was the first time to the feeder. I think she was hoping that he would learn to feed himself! From this photo, it looks like he has!
Speaking of the yard, everything is blooming right now - the Honeysuckle, the Potato Vine, Ornamental and the Day Lilys are showing their colors too. We are getting lettuce out of our garden and the deer took care of my snow peas. Except for the deer, I love this time of year!
We have been having pretty good weather which has given us a chance to get a lot done outside. And with that, some beautiful sunsets have been enjoyed. We can't quit taking pictures of them because each of them is a little different and spectacular it its own way.
We got a text from Leslie the other day. She was at the Emergency Room with Paige. Apparently during a soccer game one of the players stepped on her foot and at that time they were calling it a broken a bone. Later this week, she texted again and said the doctor now thinks the break on the X-Ray was an old injury and so now they are calling it a sprain. Still, she will be out of action of a couple of weeks, but that's better than the six weeks they said it would be at first.
Next week, the family will be down. We will be celebrating my birthday on Tuesday and having our family picture taken. This time it will be outside, down on the beach. It has been awhile since our group had a family picture and the girls have all gotten older (along with us too). Then the 4th of July is here and I don't know if we are going to have to steamboat in the parade or not this year as Dave is still having trouble with the burner. He bought a commercial burner and it worked once, and didn't work again. He is stumped with what to do next. He still has the better part of a week and says he's not going to give up until he knows it won't work on the fourth! Anyway, it might be Saturday before I get my journal written next week.
