Family Mellmann

Things have been oddly busy around here, but framing of the deck continues.  The weather has been surprisingly cooperative, although a couple of the days got a little warm for comfortable work on the south side of the house. The yard looked more like a lumber yard than a garden for a few days there, but the guys have been working hard to keep things moving. Katherine models the 12 inch on center framing..she's the only one in the family who can fit her hips in between the floor joists. :) I can almost picture a dining table and umbrella sitting there. Getting our hands on the decking materials (not to be confused with the framing material, which is standard pressure treated wood) was a little touch-and-go this passed week, but we were able to make a final decision and find a supplier who can (hopefully) deliver by late next week (July 16 or 17).  That could work out nicely as there are a few more days of framing, and then we have some e...

Work on the deck continues. It's raining pretty hard today, but the guys keep going; they're wet, but not deterred. Yesterday's hiccup, an unexpected septic tank left over from many many years ago when this property was still on well and septic, slowed down progress temporarily, but it looks like they might put in the last footing today.   Monday - first three footings buried   Monday - last footing of the day...it's surprisingly exacting work, but the finished deck will be awesome!   Today - rain makes the work messy, but they forge on   I'm sure that they are pushing hard to get the last footing in today, but I may have to fire up that coffee maker pretty soon.

It has taken a few years, but we're finally getting a deck. Since building the house (eight years ago this summer) we have had other things to spend our money on (replacement vehicles, motorcycles, memory-making vacations, etc.).  Then, once we decided it was time for that deck, we started looking for contractors.  The first couple bids were so high that we thought they were just telling us they didn't want the work.  Several contractors never called us back.  And the one guy who came in with what we thought was a rational estimate...dropped off the face of the earth never to be heard from again.  A few others took one look at the job and said it was too big for them. So, we went back to the contractor-hunting drawing board and did some serious thinking about our deck.  We found a contractor who came well-recommended by a pretty picky customer (love you, Mom) and he was able to squeeze us into his summer schedule. This weekend we broke down the old bu...

Patrick and Katherine met with the orthodontist today to discuss teeth straightening. Patrick can start right away, but Katherine still has to wait a couple years.

The kids and I are getting ready for a road trip and there are a few things that need to be done before we go. After several days of rain, we could finally get out and take care of one of those things today...a little garden work.  Money and screen time are amazing motivators; Katherine helped me for two hours and Patrick for even more.  The garden looks great!

After a lovely morning with a warm summery breeze, the rain finally arrived.  The breeze died down and the rain fell hard, but a blue sky could still be seen, and the sun was still shining through.  Someone around here was seeing rainbows, it just wasn't us.  However, we still had a beautiful view. This is the view from my garage where I watched the rain pour down while I remained mostly dry (and swatting at the army of mosquitoes taking refuge from the rain in the same garage that I was).     And this is my happy garden all green and looking fresh from the rain.  This is the last picture I took before fleeing indoors to escape the 280% humidity and gargantuan mosquitoes who seem to know better than fly around my back yard where the Mosquito Magnet will suck them up!  

Spring is here, and the garden is looking wonderful with bright colors, growing plants, trees budding, and birds checking out our bird feeders. After so many years of no gardens (except for a few flower pots, we have had no gardens since we built the new house eight years ago), I am especially enjoying this spring season.  Highlighting the weekend is being able to cut lilacs from one of my lilac bushes.  They both need some really good pruning, but even the more desperate of the two produced enough blooms to bring cheer (and good smells) to my office.

Supposedly spring is here, so I decided to grill dinner tonight (it was overcast today, but not too cold, and no snow in the forecast). Shortly after I fired up the grill it started to snow. So, I'm...sing with me now! I'm grillin' in the snow Just grillin' in the snow What a goose-bumpin' feelin' I'm whining again I'm grumbling at flakes So cold upon my face The sun's in my heart And I'm ready for heat Let the stormy clouds chase Everyone from the place Come on with the sun I've a frown on my face I stand at the grill With snow on my toe, Just grillin', Grillin' in the snow

Patrick sang with the Junior and Senior High youth choir at church this morning. He really enjoyed being able to sing with other kids who enjoy (and have some talent) singing. And it was such a pleasure and privilege to be in the audience to hear them sing.