Let Summer Begin

My friend Rob believes that summer truly begins the moment he hears “Centerfield” by John Fogarty on the car radio and he can roll down his windows and jam to it. For me, summer begins with the first stone of the season being plunked into the lake by my beautiful, beautiful boy. This weekend, summer arrived.

And so did the allergies. Hayes has really been struggling this weekend with all sorts of pollen flying, visibly and invisibly, through the air. The cottonwood seems to be the worst culprit, covering the hills at the golf course with seeds that look like snow. He is so congested it sounds like he’s got mucus all the way down to his toes. And his poor little eyes are completely bloodshot by the end of the day. And as if that’s not enough, he’s developed a fever too, which he wouldn’t allow to slow him down yesterday, but required a two-hour nap this morning to get rejuvenated. It seems to have worked.

Right now we are enjoying being out by the lake, he throwing rocks, and I reflecting on the beauty of the lake, the generations of Gilberts that have come and gone, the passing on of the traditions and great loves of this place. I can’t imagine not coming here. I can’t imagine watching summer arrive and not heading to this personal paradise. I am so glad to have it. I am so lucky to have been born into this tradition.

Living the Whippet Life

It's still too soggy to dig. Jez and I are going to lay around all day. Tomorrow we are off to the lake.

The Rain Rain Rain Came Down Down Down...

Well, I suppose two work days are better than none. We got more rain yesterday and more is possibly forecast for today. We are back to looking at standing water. I am so impatient!

Slow & Steady Wins The Race

So we finally got a respite from the rain. Enough to get going on the patio, anyway. And we had some time to figure out the retaining/terracing system we needed in place for the patio to be at the correct level with the height of the pergola and the slope of the land. I swear, I haven't done this much math since high school!

We were able to get three railroad ties in this weekend, as a retaining system. The slope off the back of the house is fairly significant and with the pergola already in place, we had to be careful not to raise the patio so high that my extremely tall husband would bang his head on it. You can see the two steps we already have in place. I am loving this stone! It's going to be so beautiful when we are finished.

We also borrowed a tiller from our friends so we could actually dig the soil out; this was a godsend!

You can see what sort of gravelly clay mess we are dealing with here. Surprisingly, we removed 6 wheelbarrows full of this stuff today. We have a lot more work ahead of us.

The Pond In Our Backyard

Just when you think things are on the upswing -- the rain comes. Literally. We have been trying to get this patio area dug out for the last week. But it takes 2 days for the clay to dry out, and then it is raining again. I am trying not to be frustrated, but the longer I have to look at it, the worse I feel. And the wetter the soil is, the heavier and harder it is to move. We have a plan, we have the building materials, we have the gumption -- we just need a small dry spell. I know, I know, be careful what you wish for.

At least the new garden is thriving. I haven't had to water it for two weeks!

The New Patio

For a very long time I have been hoping against hope that we could install a new patio under the pergola. I am pleased to say, that time is now. We asked our family expert, my father-in-law, to come out and help us install it. After all, we don't need to make all the same mistakes he did if we can help it!

Naturally, after asking my father-in-law to come out and help us, it rained. I don't mean it sprinkled, or showered. Nope. It rained. I know sheer determination to get the project going made them do it... this is what Ed and Richard spent the day doing yesterday:



The more they dug, the larger the pool of water became. They eventually tried to siphon off some of the water, but it was coming down so much that it was not very helpful. They called off at about 3:30 yesterday afternoon -- wringing wet! I love these guys. We're hoping for better weather today.

The Harrison Irises

About three years ago, Richard brought home some iris bulbs that had originally been planted by his grandma Harrison. I love this sort of thing, planting at our house the same flowers that have been part of Richard's life for so long. They have never been big bloomers, always very green and healthy, but not many actual flowers; until this year. They are glorious this spring. I have never seen such a gorgeous stand of irises! Thought I'd share a glimpse or two with you.

Playing with Bokeh

I have learned a new term in photography: bokeh. According to Wikipedia, Bokeh (from the Japanese boke ボケ, "blur") is a photographic term referring to the appearance of out-of-focus areas in an image produced by a camera lens. I am realizing that I am a HUGE fan of this effect. And I am not alone. There are several groups on flickr devoted solely to this effect. So it being a beautiful morning, I took the camera out and played with my Macro lens attachment and aperture. Not being a professional, I am happy with these results.