Tree Removal

Due to the friendly critters wanting to move into our attic, Mike and I decided to cut down some trees next to the house.  The trees provided a convenient climbing tool for the critters.  Mike used the chainsaw, while the three younger girls and I pulled on the rope to make the trees fall in the right place. 

The picture is taken from the top of the terraces in the "Secret Garden" area of the yard.  The pine tree was about 20' tall.  This is after Mike cut it in two for easier hauling.  We also took a huge limb off of a maple in the area.  I hated to cut a maple tree at this time of year, but the thought of critters climbing it to try and gain access to our house was a greater evil.  The maple is pouring sugar water where the cut is so we now are collecting the water during the day to make maple syrup.

A few days later, Amy, the younger girls and I hauled all the branches and logs out near the wooded area. We have a wood burner out there and will enjoy an evening bonfire when the wood dries out.

A Wonderful Surprise

Last summer, my poor children spent many hours mowing our two properties.  The only mower we owned was a 10 year old push mower.  The push mower had seen much hard use over the years and had one tire that refused to hold air, a slightly bent mower blade and was difficult to start.  Madelyn, Paige, Steve and Joe helped mow the smaller yard which is approximately .45 acres.  The other property is almost one acre and is almost all incline.  It’s a difficult lawn to mow.  The two houses are only ½ a mile apart, so we walked the mower between the two houses.

By the end of the summer, Joe did almost all the mowing of the larger property.  Everyone was discouraged about the lawn situation.  The phrase, “We REALLY need to get a riding mower,” was heard frequently.

When we returned from vacation, my father-in-law called to say he had a surprise.  He had gotten an old riding mower from a neighbor (for free) and had purchased parts and got it going again.  My children were thrilled! 


The mower had a few break downs during the remainder of the summer, but we were able to use it several times.  Mike finished repairs on a few small fidgety  things last week and  Madelyn finished our final mowing at our current residence.  Not only is the grass cut, but most of the leaves are chopped up enough that they don’t need raking.

Thanks Grandpa!  You’re the best!

A Family Outing

My children were harassing me about how homeschool mom's are always looking for the educational merits of any activity.  In response to their thoughts, this was one of our recent education family outings.  Mike rented a trailer so we could haul away some of the trash from the project house in preparation for Steve's graduation open house. 

We took two loads to the dump and several trips to the yard waste collection site.

The first full trailer.  Notice all the old horse hair pew cushions on top.

Before we decided to dump the cushions we researched their filling.  Horse hair is black and pig hair is white.  Our cushions were filled with a small amount of pig hair which was wrapped in horse hair.  They stink.  Yuck! 

Paige, Mike, Steve and Joe grabbing more cushions to put into the dumpsters.

Paige and Allie were surprised that it didn't smell more at the dump.

Mike throwing cushions into the dumpster.

Paige was a trooper about unloading stuff.

Joe, Madelyn, and Paige hard at work.

We were also able to get rid of some tires that the former owners had left on the property in a tire disposal dumpster.

Paige closing the gate after the trailer was empty.

Citizens of our town are allowed one dump pass each year to dump non-normal trash.  The town also has free yard waste disposal.  The yard waste is composted and/or turned into wood chips which town residents may take for free.

As You Know

Yesterday, Mike was working on the plumbing at the project house.  There was a knock at the door.  A 9-year old boy, who was holding a rake asked if he could do some yard work to earn some money.  It was a little bit surprising to have someone come to the door, because the house looks empty.  Mike explained that he had children who would be helping with the yard work.  The boy tried to look around inside the house to see the children. 

Mike told us about the boy at dinner and mentioned that the boy had a great spiel.  The boy's first words were, " As you know Mother's Day is coming up."  I wish we could have hired him, because the boy really put some thought into how to get customers. 

Mowing the Lawn

Mike fixed the lawn mower and Joe was mowing our front yard, when someone (Rob) stopped his car and asked Joe if he would like to earn some money mowing Rob's yard.  The mower ran out of gas and Joe asked Mike to purchase some more gas for the mower.   Mike ran to the gas station while I got ready to go to Menard's with him to purchase some plumbing supplies.

When Mike and I drove off, Joe was pouring the gas into the lawn mower.  When  we returned from the store, the lawn was still 1/2 mowed.  While we were unloading the SUV, Joe came home from mowing Rob's lawn.  It's always nice to see a child have a strong desire to work, but I had hoped that he would finish our lawn first.

Joe worked on the front lawn for awhile, then Madelyn asked if she could have a turn mowing.  She just came to the door to ask Mike to come look at the mower.  She think she broke it.  I don't know if my lawn will ever get finished. :)

Yard Work

Our backyard looked pretty sad this summer. I didn't have the money to do some of the major projects that had been mentally earmarked to be completed. The stone seating area that was to encircle a huge maple tree will need to wait until next spring. The additional patio space didn't get installed either. I'm still hopeful that I will find the time, money and appropriate weather to paint the outdoor fireplace this fall.

We did manage to get two gardening spaces prepared last spring. We were able to put up some tomatoes, broccoli, herbs, green beans and onions.

We ate tons for fresh peppers, lettuce, radishes, beets, and peas. The other large project that we accomplished was to haul in three trailers full of compost. It was back-breaking work, but well worth the effort.

This afternoon, Steve raked the soil out for the final time and planted shade, high-traffic grass seeds. Joe watered the seeds well and I'm hopeful that we will have grass later this fall. I find patches of bare dirt in the middle of lawns depressing. You would think that I would be used to it by now, but it still remains a constant battle to have a thick lawn.

The city is supposed to cut down two of our smaller trees and trim the branches on one of our 150 year old maple trees. The tree trimming truck came through last week and cut two branches off of one of the smaller trees. I'm hoping that they will return soon to finish the job, before all the leaves fall. Our leaves are already changing colors and we have a light dusting of covering all the grass.
It will be interesting to see if we can find enough time to keep up with the fallen leaves this year. Last fall, we took a few days off of school and dealt with blowing and raking.

Peace and Harmony

It's happened. I've entered the crabby/critical zone. Poor Mike was trimming bushes in the front yard and I wasn't polite in my critique of his efforts. Granted the bushes were becoming eyesores, BUT he was out there working and sweating to trim the large quantity of bushes that needed some TLC. I was sitting on the lawn chair reading a biography of Ben Franklin to Paige and Allie, not breaking a sweat. He didn't need my unhelpful comments. Sometimes, I want to cut out my tongue. I am a bad wife. Fortunately, Mike is a wonderful man who forgives my infrequent shrewish streak. I need to bake oatmeal cookies as a peace offering.

Backyard projects

In between bouts of racking coughs, we have been working on some of our outdoor projects. The list is long and will not be completed before Joe's Confirmation Open House next weekend. It would be wonderful to have everything completed, but it isn't realistic. Here's what we have accomplished:

* Hung tire swing on large tree and placed playground mulch underneath.

* Installed tile sidewalk from driveway to back patio

* Painted flagpole that hangs from porch.

* Painted second coat of paint on front and back doors.

* Filled 10 pots with flowers to place on front steps and on patio.

* Replaced a Rose of Sharon bush that Mike accidently chopped down.

* Attached slide to swingset.

* Moved swingset to better location.

*Installed fence posts on portion of property. We still need to purchase more fencing, but will get most of one side of the property fenced before next weekend.

* Treated lawn to remove dandelions.

* Trimmed tree limbs that hung over roof.

This was done over the last 4-6 weeks. Mike has been really good about working on projects on his days off from work.

Spring Weather

Once again, the sun is shining and the temperatures are in the 60's. Hurray! Mike and I spent some time walking around the yard and mapping out the things we would like to do this summer. The raised garden beds will need to wait until next summer. We're going to expand the size of the privacy fence. Here's our "To Do" list for this year.

* Install privacy fence in back and side yard
* Build fire pit
* Build storage shed
* Lay railroad ties to surround parking area
* Bring in more gravel for parking area
* Install fireplace on patio (we already own this, so the expense will be limited)
* Purchase and put together new trampoline
* Purchase sandbox
* Build sidewalk from parking area to back patio
* Power wash and stain deck
* Repair pump in hot tub (Unless the money runs out)
* Build and install bench around one large maple
* Bring in mulch
* Purchase and install clothes line and poles

Boy, the list seems a lot longer when it's written out. It should be fun getting everything accomplished. The older children will use the yard a lot more when some of these projects get done.

Procrastination

Why is it that I always find excuses to not do the jobs that I don't feel like doing? For the last week, I've been trying to fool myself into believing that I will wash all the windows and install the storm windows at our current home. My plan of attack is carefully made the evening before. The plan is to wash and install two windows right after I drop Steve off at college and Kate off at work. The windows will be done in small amounts in between trips to drop off and pick up various children throughout the day. After the first taxi-run, other things begin to interfere with my good intentions. Occasionally, the delay will be for something worthwhile...like teaching Paige reading or helping Joe with math. Usually though, the delay is that I find something I'd rather do. Today's delay was caused by packing up school books that we won't be using until after we move. I also spent some time running the vacuum around the living room. Another "important" task that had to be done today was to watch two episodes of Dr. Who before the DVDs needed to be returned to the library. Even though I polished furniture and washed woodwork while watching Dr. Who, those jobs weren't necessary today.

All the leaves have fallen off the trees at our current home. The days are shorter and the evenings are cool. Soon the sub-freezing temperatures will be here and my leaves will still be scattered all over the back yard and our house will be cold and drafty. Money will be wasted trying to heat our home. It's time to stop procrastinating and begin completing the unpalatable tasks that need to be done here. Tomorrow.

Fall Days

The leaves are falling at a good pace. Yesterday was a warm 60 degrees and sunny. So the afternoon session of "school" was canceled. Everyone went outside to soak up the sun, rake leaves, and enjoy one of the last nice days of the year. The kids and I used the leaf blower to make piles of leaves. My older kids wanted to immediately bag them up, but I wanted the younger kids to have the opportunity to jump in the leaves. After the older children complained about the piles getting strewn around the yard, they decided to join in on the fun.




Madelyn and Joe climbed the scruffy evergreen in our back yard. The tree really should be cut down. It is located on the fence line. We have privacy fence, so the tree has had a lot of pruning. After this picture was taken, a wasp was annoying the kids. They decided to jump down. Joe got his foot caught between the tree and the fence. He fell head first. The ground was fairly soft because he left a 3 inch hole where his head struck the dirt. I was concerned about concussion, but the only consequence was a headache.



The kids spent some time on the trampoline after we had finished working on the leaves. We'll be taking the trampoline down soon to move to the new house. I'm trying to wait as long as possible because it's used frequently by all the kids. This is Steve getting ready to do some flips.



Monday was such a beautiful day! I'm so thankful that we were able to slow down and spend the afternoon enjoying nature. We're supposed to have another nice day today, so maybe we'll play hooky again.

New House Check Off List

I'm beginning to feel overwhelmed with all the things that I need to get done. Especially at the new house. Even though we don't plan to move until February, I still want to get some of the rooms in move-in condition. We will be responsible for keeping the sidewalks clear of snow. There are 264 feet of sidewalk that will need to be cleared before 8:00 am. The house is 2 blocks from an elementary school. I'm thinking that there may be days when we will want to camp out at the other house. Here's what we've accomplished so far.

Removed carpet from family room.
Removed 1/2 the paneling from the family room walls.
Hire contractor to fix roof over family room (he begins in 2 weeks.)
Washed walls, cabinets, ceiling of kitchen.
Primed kitchen walls and ceiling.
Painted exterior doors.
Washed walls and ceiling of dining room.
Primed walls and ceiling of dining room.
Washed living room walls.
Primed living room walls.
Removed living room carpeting.
Removed carpeting from upstairs hallway and stairs.
Removed carpet from all upstairs bedrooms.
Primed ceiling and walls of 1 upstairs bedroom.
Primed 1/2 of ceiling in another upstairs bedroom (we ran out of primer.)
Hauled all carpet to dump.
Removed wallpaper from one upstairs bedroom.
Washed all windows.
Trimmed bushes.
Planted 4 Rose of Sharon bushes.
Planted 5 mounds of ornamental grasses.
Cleared off cement foundation for shed to be built later this fall.
Installed new kitchen faucet.
Cleaned and bleached basement walls.
Removed weird structures in basement.

We still have a ton of painting and priming to do in the remaining rooms. All the flooring needs to be installed. I need to make curtains and purchase blinds for all the rooms. I have a lot more plants that I want to bring over to the new house, but I'm afraid that I have missed my opportunity. Mike still needs to install the privacy fencing for the areas that we need to enclose. Our dog will need a place to run around and I want the pool area to be private. And there are too many huge maple trees that are dropping their leaves. We need to get them raked and bagged before snow arrives or we'll lose the grass.

I keep hoping that we can get a few more weeks of warmish temperatures. So much to do......way to little time!

It's Garage Sale Time

Tomorrow is the big day. We will be having our garage sale. This is the third weekend that we have planned to hold our sale, and once again rain is forecast. The garage sale happens even if it rains. I want my clean garage back. It will also be nice to have a little extra money. I've already sold my old dishes and two tricycles. Hopefully, a huge dent will be made in the remaining items tomorrow or Friday. On Saturday, everything remaining will be delivered to Good Will.

The kids and I made tons of progress on organizing and decluttering items over the last couple of weeks. Our garbage has been around 3 full garbage cans each week. Even with 9 people in our household, it's waaaay too much trash. On the positive side, the exercise room has been completely cleaned. All toys have been sorted out and placed in the appropriate storage container. The walls have been washed. The carpet has been cleaned. The treadmill, bike, exercise steps, weight bench, television, DVD player, and exercise DVD's are all ready for use. I gave them a short workout yesterday.

Here are some of the other "big" jobs that were completed. The canning jar storage area is organized, dusted and ready for the remaining jars to be filled with goodies for the winter. My laundry room is immaculate. All the laundry and ironing is caught up. That will only last until bedtime tonight. The youngest girls' bedroom is organized and thoroughly cleaned. All the windows were washed. All the flower beds and the vegetable garden is free of weeds.

The only nasty jobs still remaining on my list are painting the house exterior, painting the youngest girls' bedroom, touching up the paint in the family room, and painting my bedroom ceiling. My bedroom ceiling hasn't been repainted since we bought this house 17 years ago.

Yard Work

I ran over to my mom's house today to mow. My two boys went along to pick up sticks and do the mowing in areas where I can't use the riding mower. We worked for about 7 hours. Being in the fresh air and sunshine was invigorating. The temperature was in the high 60's, so over-heating wasn't an issue. We managed to get all the area around her house done and 2/3 of her fields. My nephew told my mom that he was planning on mowing at her house later this week, so all of her acreage should get mowed.

While we were gone, my older daughters mowed our lawn, weeded next to the house, and swept off the driveway, patio, and deck. It's been so cool that I haven't set up the pool yet. Maybe later this week, now that we're caught up on lawn chores.