Guns

As I am having my morning coffee and orange juice, I hear this soft thud sound. The wind is blowing gently. I look on the deck to see if something is blowing or falling down.  As I look through the trees I see a car in the back.  Oh, it is target practice again. Our neighbor's sons and his friends are having their target practice.  The shooting range fortunately is not directed toward our house.  Actually they are great neighbors. I don't mind the poof, poof sound.  But they have put together several bullets that make such a loud noise that I jump.  Men and their toys. Once a neighbor called to ask if our house had exploded. 

The only time I fired a gun was on the farm when I was a teenager.  For some reason I wanted to challenge my brother as to who had the best aim. We went out in the woods and I aimed a a squirrel  and killed it.  I still remember its cry.  I have never shot a gun since.  Don't remember if I had the better aim.  The death of the squirrel is what I recall.  I don't what that to be dramatic. just tell about an experience I had. 

Clear eyesight and slow driving

A week ago I had minor surgery on my eyes.  The surgery wasn't so bad.  What followed was a bit worse.  I was supposed to put ice packs on my eyes, 20 minutes on and 20 minutes off for three days.  I skipped nights when I was sleeping.  I slept in a recliner because I was not to lie flat.  Four times a day, Gerry put medicine in my eyes.  We called it "goop" because that was the texture.  My experience of  not be able to see well is only for a week. I am thankful that is not my everyday eyesight. When the "goop" was in everything was a blur.  I could not read or watch TV. 

 After we had the tiling done on our lawn it was full of deep ruts. Gerry has spent at least two days tilling it smooth so we can plant grass.  He has to drive very slowly with the tractor and tiller.  I wonder if it reminds him of working on the farm until he left at 18. 

Saying "Bon Voyage"

July 16 thru 24,G and I, along with the other grandparents, helped our son and family pack up all of their belongings and store it in a 10 x 10 x 10 foot storage unit.  They did sell or give away many items.

Building a shelf for the unit.

One strong and determined girl.

Loading the moving truck.

Packing dishes, very carefully.

Someone has to drive the truck.

A week later, they embarked on their "round the world" trip. 
You can follow them at goertzensonthego.com 

Visitors from CA

The grandchildren are visiting for a week.  One might guess as to what they might be doing here.

A tradition at our home is to make waffles.  Old waffle iron and my famous recipe.

K and B planned and served a dinner to eight adults.  G and I, their other grandparents and two couples we know.  They planned the menu, K went grocery shopping with me.  She was the chef and B the server. K made a menu that put to shame many a restaurant's.   

Then the riding of a variety of vehicles.  This is called an ELF.  It is G's newest toy.  It is a three wheeled bike (two wheels in the front and one in the back)

Getting a ride on the dirt bike.  In this case Grandpa  G was in control.

As usual driving the four wheeler. 

K riding in the Spitfire with the top down.  She was a passenger this time but soon will be driving it herself.

Wake up call

I have been fascinated by mockingbirds. I don't recall every seeing (or hearing) one when I was growing up in Minnesota.  We have several around our house this year.  It is fun to listen to their repertoire of various other bird's songs. But I  am becoming annoyed.  They sing all day long with a loud, almost screeching  sound. I cannot  sleep with the window open because they start at the break of day.

This morning I walked in one of our great county parks.  The park has both paved and natural paths.  I walked around this lake on the paved path as well as one and a half miles in the woods. The parks are truly a treasure and all are within 30 minutes driving distance from home.

Tutorial on field tiling.

Alexis asked about how this worked.  I had to do some research to understand it myself.  The tile underground is on a small decline that ends up at the ditch then into a runway. It does not take surface water, instead what is lower in the ground.

When the tile is blocked or breaks the water has nowhere to go, so the force pushes it up to the surface, taking soil with it.  That is what makes the big hole in the lawn.

This is how our lawn looked before the project started.

When the grass and soil was dug out on the area across the road where all the water would eventually run, it was so blocked up that this how much water ran out after they dug out the soil and grass. 

The above pictures show some of the areas where the tile needed to be laid.

Please note the person in the red shirt.  That is Gerry who was out there supervising for three days.  So that he did need to walk the area, he has the four-wheeler to get around.

A closer view of how it is done. 

The tile has little slits in it for the water to get in.  Could not find a picture of that.

Another before/after

I knew it would't be a pretty sight, but was not prepared for this.  Our house was built on a piece of farm land.  It was tiled with the old clay tiles which have failed. That resulted in sink holes five feet deep and many areas that remain so wet that we cannot mow there.

Lawn doesn't look too bad in the before picture.

  The tiling crew is here for the second day resulting in this. It goes across the lawn in many places. The sad part is that it will look pretty much like that for a couple of years.  It takes that long for the soil to fill in.  

FYI the man in the red shirt is Hubby supervising!

I will try to not complain since we did not have a choice unless we wanted sink holes.

 Oh, the joy of owning your own home.