Tantivy

Yesterday we had thunderstorms all afternoon. Sharp streaks of light followed by crashes or sometimes long rolls of thunder. All that storming brought on lots of rain. Out the front door In the back yard.  I love summer storms but Jackson surely does not. He trembled for hours and hid behind doors. I am sure that he would get under the bed if only he would fit.  This was taken Friday out my kitchen window. Two sets of legs as they worked on the area over the window. I thought it was interesting.  Today is beautiful. I hope that lots of work gets done! Maybe even some inside the house. Done by me. Called housecleaning .  All is well,  XOXOXO Caroline

Yikes! Termites! I think that it is an old colony, but when the guys started working on the side of the house to replace the vinyl siding on the gable ends, some of the boards underneath were barely still there. Gulp! The South is noted for termites and this house was built before termite treatments were common, so we probably could have expected it.  Doesn't the color of the Redbud (Cercis canadensis) look pretty against the wood? The green is a lovely counter point.  This picture shows the upstairs; the damage was on the wall of the kitchen, below and to the left. It is a bricked wall, so we will have to wait until they start working inside the house and then tear down that wall to be sure of the extent of the damage. Can you say "ChaChing?" Still not sorry we began, though. I love having the laundry upstairs, even in an unfinished room.   Here is some work I have been doing on a painting. I am working in green and orange, right now, seeing what all I ca...

When I walked out the door this morning I saw this truck parked in the grass of the front yard, a ladder going up to the roof, and other trucks everywhere.   Walking down the drive, I saw Drew conferring with someone on the roof.   There was a bucket truck in the back yard and this guy was connecting the just-moved electric service outside the new room.    Dean went up on the roof to check out what needs to be done. I left to walk to Vicki's house for a visit and a cup of coffee. Our power was off. And this scaffold goes up right beside both bathrooms. Vicki has a new bathroom. Very pretty.   Lots of pretty flowers on the way to V's house and some in her yard.   Later in the afternoon I found that the kitchen was brighter - possibly because of this opening to the outside! It is where the leaks have been.  When work on the roof started it was discovered that there is no ridge beam, and th...

A very short post. This, boys and girls, is the dryer, hooked  up and running. Beyond it is the washer, hooked up and running (well, not just when this was taken, but capable of running). I can do laundry on the same floor of the house and it is the main floor. Things are still a little rough and when the worker bee guys need power tools they use the long extension cord (it is theirs, after all) and I can't wash. The electrician will be here (this week, I hope) and wire it all in, but at least in the late afternoons and early evenings I can do laundry right now. No electricity except the extension cords means that a flashlight is required if I launder at night, but that is minor after all that went before! I am working on another painting; this time it is orange and green, which sounds rather unusual but I hope that it will work out well. If it doesn't, there is always gesso to wash over it and begin again. It wouldn't be the first time for me and probably not for man...

 The latest. The shingles are going up just under the roof. The opening under the ridge of the roof will be louvered as the fan is behind it; the door will have a window (it had to be ordered). Do you see the temporary steps? Soon the deck will have a real floor, too, and a rail around it. Can you tell that I am pleased and excited? Below is a little painting that began as a large piece which I did not like and cut up. It is small but happy now.  I am still working on this piece. It, too, has been cut down. Sometimes you have to have tough love! I might be the only one who likes this and sometimes I am not sure that I do! This began as part of the other happy one. Each of them is better than they were as one piece.  This is a close-up of the one below.  This is rather dusty, filmy looking in the pic, but when I put on the final coat of finish it will be clearer. I do not know how it should be classified - it is rather abstract, rather ab...

Most important, Dean has taken the last of the steroids and his blood sugar is back to a reasonable (non-insulin requiring) range. He goes to kidney doctor tomorrow for blood work; I think it will show improvement.   Sometimes the weeds are as pretty as the flowers. Isn't this one sweet? The siding is going up and will be finished this week. The final paint color will be a little lighter than this - more like the mortar color ;" buff," I guess it would be called.   The decking has been ordered and is in and the fasteners are on the way. There will be a rail and, on the far side, there will be steps. The hostas have taken a beating but I think that they will survive and be beautiful under the big tree. Once the outside is finished we have lots to do inside. I am calling tomorrow about the flooring. We are considering marmoleum - red! There is no dealer here so we will have to work with someone in Knoxville about an hour up the interstate.  ...

A break in the rain and I was able to see what had been done to the house. The windows have been trimmed, there are strips to which the siding will be nailed and the deck has been begun. Do you see that lovely copper flashing? Of course it will turn brown and eventually it might turn green but now it is bright and shiny. Our deck will be small - just large enough for a morning coffee or a lunch before the mosquitos get too bad.   This little green shrub is in the wrong place and will have to be moved but I love its bright new growth against the old bricks.   As I came back to the front of the house I noticed the reflection of the trees in the water on the bottom step of the flight to our porch. There were still drops of rain and the camera and I kept seeing different things.  Below is what the camera wanted to see.   I am fairly happy with this. Artistic, don't you think? I was the lector at the early service this morning. The ...

Or as we said as children, "rollie coaster". That has been this past week. Monday night at the hospital. Tuesday at the internist and then the orthopedist. Wednesday, after a quick trip to the internist and his first injection of insulin, Dean stayed home and I went to art class. Today back to the orthopedist. After all the prodding, sample taking and culturing, it turns out to be gout. The trick now is to blend the diets required for the kidney, the gout and the diabetes. It is rather like working a puzzle and one that we haven't completed yet. We are learning about chart keeping, though. Meanwhile, the trim is up on the windows and we have a back door. Demo of the interior walls is coming soon and there will be pictures. For now, spring continues and beauty surrounds us. The bridal wreath is in full bloom.    These dogwood petals, knocked down by the rain earlier this week, look like silk confetti in my neighbor's yard.   The Crepe Myrtle, always a...