The Outside Shower Moves

Kenny got into the spirit of things and moved our temporary outdoor shower and added a special feature just for Princess Morgen. It is now nestled into the bamboo grove with a wooden platform. The special feature?... HOT water! It is still 2008, right?

Our Tulip Tree Shower

Another home owner's hurdle presented itself this week. The septic pump, after 21 years of faithful service, slowed down to a little less than a crawl. We are going to try our hand at the budget route and replace it ourselves, so the weekend is being spent in conservation mode. Hand washing dishes and dumping the water outside, selective "camping" powder room visits, and of all things... a make-shift outdoor shower from the Tulip tree. We had some assistance with the super heavy rains and Dr. Bronners Peppermint soap. Afterwards, since we were already soaking wet, some stayed out for a heated game of "Hurricane Horseshoes".

Celebrating Evidences of Creation

We delight in the little things that can so easily be taken for granted. A child's discovery of a snake skin that has been shed at just the right time, and a humble little harvest from our tiny orchard. It is a joy to take pause in a busy day to celebrate such things!

Adding and Fixing

This summer, the trailer was slowly resurrected to be street-worthy (yes, it has occasionally been on the road without proper registration). So it underwent a face-lift and is almost complete. Here is a before and after of making the most of the old wheels.


Work was also done on the beams that divide the driveway and the lawn/pond areas. I especially like how Ken cut the end of one to merge with the boulder at the corner. It works well with the grasses and doesn't feel as "boxy".

An Apology Post

OK, so I am wondering.... is there a limit to how many times one is allowed to use the word "SLACKER" on a blog? Several have nicely reminded that the last post was on Father's Day. And now summer is behind us. To make up for lost time, I'll put up a few image posts of some of just a few things that have happened around the meadow recently.

Celebrating Dads

Another home improvement diversion. This time it is to honor all of our earthly Fathers and Grandfathers! All of the "kids" in our house were asked to write down 3 words/phrases that describe their Dad. Here are the survey results:

Ken says his Dad is: "Quiet, Kind and Interesting".

Suzan says her Dad is: "Patient, Inventive and Wonderfully Witty".

Morgen says her Dad is: "Fair, Caring and Brave".

Hayden says his Dad is: "Snuggly, Fun and Loving".

*photo credit: This interesting shot of a leaf (above), and the turtle in the last post were taken by Morgen. She is a natural behind a lens, just like her Dad.

Meadow Happenings

The last few weeks have been super busy with end-of-year school events and life in general. We did manage to get in Shore Acres grasses (thanks mom and dad!) and started to paint the pond chairs. We also had a few visitors; a 3.5 foot garter snake and a young (3") wood turtle, who spent the night at CLUB KNOTT in the foyer eating chicken and willow leaves before continuing on with his journey the next day.




This week we also had a big storm and lost our electricity for 24 hours, which always means family game night with candles. We bathed in the pond with the Dr. Bronners Peppermint Soap. The thought of it wrinkled the nose of 12yr. old Morgen, saying, "Wait just a minute!... Don't we usually take a shower AFTER we swim in the pond?". The parental, generational mantra followed: "we need to be thankful for what we have and make the most of it...blah blah blah". Before long, everyone was having fun and we actually smelled "SPA-LICIOUS" when we got out!

Celebrating and being Celebrated

Once in a while, our posts veer off of the home improvement path. Today is such a day. All of the "kids" in our house were asked to write down 3 words/phrases that describe their mom. Here are the survey results:

Ken says his mom is: "Loving, Caring, Generous".

Suzan says her mom is: "Optimistic, A Kid at Heart, Inspiring".

Morgen says her mom is: "Caring, Funky, Always There for Me".

Hayden says his mom is: "Fun, Loving, Awesome".

Another Great Outside Day

Today's predicted rain came only as clouds in the a.m. and then pushed aside to sunny skies, making way for more outside improvements. After a few more fish and plants were added to the pond, the remaining zebra grasses were planted on either side of the pond spillway, and the new little mystery ornamental grasses from Martin were planted by the boulders between the drive and pond.

Ken rough-placed the support beams for the bridge that will be built over the spillway. It only took minutes before the boys got all ninja-like (see photo).

This is a bit late, but THANKS mom and dad for all the Chester clay pots!

Zebra Grass finds a new home

Thank you Dean and Pam for sharing your Zebra grass!
Ken separated and planted it along the edge of the drive by the turn-around (temporary boat and trailer home). Hopefully, within a year or two it will make a nice border.

Out Of Blog Hibernation

Yes indeed, the slackers are back. Blog post slacking that is. With an AMAZING, relaxing vacation behind us (Thank you Wilkersons!!!), a NEW foot on the mend, longer daylight hours and the fact that everything seems to be coming alive out there... we have been delving back into outside improvements.

Today we continued with the mass shrub clipping, staking up the willow trees to improve posture, and power washed the pond chairs. While the power washer was out, Ken decided to push the application envelope and had a bit of fun trying to blast the tent caterpillar nests out of the trees by the deck. It seemed to do the trick on the lower branches. Success report to come.

With a little extra time and the blessing of found scraps, Ken and Hayden built a quick set of stilts. Definitely an acquired walking skill. Success report to come on that as well.
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Happy Spring Everyone!!

The Studio Moves South

To prepare for Suzan's long recovery, this past weekend began the big change of moving the studio down to the first floor. HUGE thanks to John and Brandon for taking the time to come over and muscle against the awkward pieces and treatcherous open staircase. Victoria and Aaron came over to give the crazy-heavy white wall units that were in the den a new home. And thanks to Scott for picking up the sleeper sofa and delivering it to Wade and Anna. Yesterday, Kenny put together the 2 new wall units from Ikea and Suzan painted the walls artichoke heart and espresso – fun! Tonight, was the "stuff" move-in. Summary: The den became the new studio. The old studio will become the guest bedroom/craft room. The old den went away (sorry Kenny!!) but we hope it will return again some day when we can grow the studio to its own building or addition.
Here's a photo of Ken anchoring the units. 3 more days until surgery... YIKES!

We Have Shingles

On Wednesday and Thursday of this week, Atlee put in some long hours to shingle our roof. This of course was started after he replaced ALL of the Ice and Water sheets on the upper roof after the crazy wind on Tuesday ripped it all off. He did a wonderful job! We really appreciate his excellent craftsmanship, great attitude and for fitting us into his busy schedule.

The Roof Angels Came!

On friday, after 2 previous attempts were dashed by rain, the roof underwent the anticipated SHINGLE-RIP-OFF under sunny (but chilly) skies. Pastor Larry and the team he rallied came out to the house and donated their time and gusto to help Ken with the roof project. They tore off the old shingles and paper and sent them down on a home made shoot (which Hayden has now claimed for a bike ramp). Then they covered the whole roof with Ice and Water Sheild to prep it for Atlee, who will be shingling later this week. THANK YOU so much to Larry, Brian, Rob and Scott. Your thoughtfulness in helping a brother and sacrificing your precious time is a HUGE blessing to our family! And thanks Scott for coming out the next day and putting in more time to finish out the prep work with Ken. The only bummer was that something happened to the camera's media card and the nice shot of the happy team got corrupt and was unretrievable. And they even struck a pose!

Wow. Weather.

It has been so long since we have had a good rain. After the happy cheering subsided, we hydroplaned home this evening to see if the living room had been converted to a swimming pool. Hayden (who was getting ready for bed) scaled the scaffolding in his briefs, and dubbed himself in an almost eight-year old booming voice, "UNDIE MAN!!!!". He reached the top, did a brief scan for water and declared it dry. Suzan followed up with a flashlight and did a double-check to find that although it sounded bad (wind and rain on the plastic), it was, in fact, dry. So..... let it rain!!!!!

Roof : Closing out a productive week

Today Ken and Fred completed the sheathing, drip-edge, sofit vent installation, ice+weather shield and the cedar fascia board. The windows have been ordered and should come in late next week. A call was put in to the fashion police headquarters to report Ken's scary, high socks but the moment they found out about his other wardrobe malfunction (major undie-revealing rip in the back of his pants) they took pity and did not file a report. Seriously, they have done an amazing job and have accomplished so much this week.
PS: It has also been documented that we have the coolest indoor jungle gym in the county. Do not send safety emails. They're only kids once.

Roof Project : Excellent Progress

Charles joined the team with his framing experience today and worked with Ken and Fred in the [hot] October sun to make significant progress on the roof dormer. It's getting easier to visualize things now. Thanks for your friendship, sharing your valuable time and bringing your willing spirit Charles!!

Framing Begins

So much was accomplished today, including the beginning stages of the dormer and new window framing. Awesome job guys!!

Roof Peak Rip-Out

Well friends, what we have here is a COMMITMENT!
Ken and Fred were busy beavers this morning. And they revealed good new. Turns out, the structural limitations we thought we had were in fact, not limitations at all. The horizontal beam and cross braces were just for the skylight framing, so only ONE mid support will be needed. The main beams are mammoth (thanks to the Canadian specs). All of this will help simplify things, making it easier to work with and giving us the simplistic architecture we really wanted. What a blessing! It will be swell to not have a leaky roof any more.

Team Roof-Raff

Tonight, Scott graciously donated his time, sense of balance and a bit of elbow grease to team up with Ken to rip off the roofing materials in preparation for tomorrow's framing. They were promptly dubbed "Rooff-Raff". Now we have a custom moon roof. OH.... my poor living room!!!!