MOVIN THE STONES, DODGING THE RAIN, MOVIN THE STONES!!

LILACS IN A PINE FOREST

I knew I would have to be fast on my feet this morning when I checked the local weather on the computer. Lots of rain headed our way with short breaks between the showers. Had a lot of pea stone to move so played cat & mouse with the big rain monster. Sometimes the mouse managed to move 4 or 5 wheelbarrow loads before getting swamped on by the great waterfall in the sky. Despite a raincoat I still ended up changing to 3 dry shirts eventually. There was no rush to move the pea stones but I woke up with the bit in my teeth this morning & just wanted to get outside & get at it........rain or shine!! Between downpours I zipped into the house & dashed off a few emails until the rain quit again & then back outside shoveling furiously before the next deluge. Finished the carport & am now working on putting pea stone around the newly renovated firepit area. Managed to replant some ferns & help a friend out with his Picasa photo program for a couple hours along the way too. AND THIS IS PEA STONE

I came across Joe & Sherri's blog last night......Somewhere In Time http://speedysgreatadventure.blogspot.com/ I liked what Joe wrote about this past Monday when he expressed his thoughts & feelings about the problems of aging. The transition from younger man to older man that is being experienced by so many of us RV folks. The slow loss of independance & as Joe puts it, slipping down a rung of the ladder. NEED SOME HELP DAD?? YOUR LOOKING A LITTLE SOGGILY POOPED

Is anyone else out there as confused about garbage bag sizes as I am!!!! Ever since our local garbage collector made everyone change from green garbage bags to clear garbage bags awhile back we've had a heck of a time finding the right size to fit our garbage can. It's doubly confusing up here in Canada because of all this centimeter & liter stuff. For example what is this 66cm x 91cm or 26po x 36po stuff all about. I know what po is because that is what I am right now about all this!! And 133 liter bags. What are ya going to dump in that one, an old Volkswagon!! One lady wanted us to measure the width of our garbage can which was a nineteen & a half inches. She said a 26 inch bag would fit....it didn't!! We've got garbage bags coming out our ears & none of them fit. Whaddya do with 57,492 garbage bags ya can't use. Then we decided to get a bigger sized garbage can with a lock proof lid to keep the coons out. So what are we gonna use for bags in that one......parachutes, because we later find out the store that sold the garbage can doesn't have the bags to fit them now. "Awwww rubbish" I said to the clerk. "Isle 42 section A sir for the rubbish department" she said to me. Ya, just as I thought.....& exited the store!!OK GUYS LET'S GO GET SOME COFFEE & DOGGY BISCUITS

To-morrow morning I'm off to London's University Hospital with a lady in the mobilty van. That will give me a nice break from fencing & wheelbarrowing for a few hours & also give me a chance to see if the farmers are planting their crops right side up this year. Hey, don't laugh, last year I saw a farmer sticking car fenders in his field & it turns out he had a bumper crop:)) FINALLY GOT THE CARPORT DONE

And this traffic advisory just landed on my desktop. If your out in South Dakota at the moment & traveling on I-90 you had better listen up.......

Interstate 90 across the State of South Dakota will be closed from 0800 hrs until 1700 hours on the 28th of May 2009 while they will be attempting to haul a 60,000 ton lump of granite rock across the state so they can add President Obama to Mt Rushmore..... :))

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

YA JUST GOTTA LOVE THAT HINDSIGHT STUFF!!

TAKING A 10 SECOND BREAK

Went to sleep wondering why part of my fence fell down yesterday & woke up with the same thought. I must have been doing a lot of fence sitting in the night. Slipped outside early to have a look around before any of the neighbors gathered for their morning chuckle. ONE OF THE LILAC BUSHES IN OUR BACK YARD

I knew the last 8 foot section was wobbly yesterday but just figured it would be alright until to-day when I could secure it better. I'm still not clear on why it tipped over because it wasn't windy. Could be a small sparrow tried landing on it. I suppose I should have done the deck blocks & poles differently now that I think of it but it's too late for that so I just spent the morning adding supports along the fence. Isn't hindsight a wonderful thing!! I'll put a couple more braces in to-morrow & call it a day on the fence project. Spent the afternoon working on re-landscaping that section of the backyard. I like that part:)) I MUCH PREFER SHOVELS & RAKES TO HAMMERS & SAWS

A neighbor & I decided to split on a load of pea gravel. He was needing some for his backyard paths & I was needing some for our car port plus a section of the driveway where the RV sits. Minimum load without a $55 delivery charge is 10 tons so late this afternoon the big dump truck rolled in with a big honking load of pea gravel. He dumped about 6 tons in our driveway & 4 tons in our neighbors. Now I've got to get busy with my little shovel & wheelbarrow & move 6 tons of pea gravel. (sometimes called pea stone because of it's size) I figure my neighbor & I will have arms like Popeye by the end of the week. Actually it will be good exercise & I don't mind it. And besides, with my neighbor's 4 tons against my 6 tons I should be able to out- Popeye him to bits:)) IT WAS COOL ENOUGH THIS MORNING TO GET A FIRE GOING

Like I was saying just a few blogs ago...."I am at my best when I have some kind of challenge in front me." This fence project & upcoming gravel disbursement is just what the doctor ordered & despite some aches & pains I'm feeling not so quite bored this week. Just gotta figure out a way to keep the momentum going...........:)) OK, SO IT'S ANOTHER 10 SECOND BREAK!!

I'm going to add a few more pics to the web album to-night.
OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

COWP......CREATIVE OUTSIDE WOOD PROJECT

REFLECTIONS

Couldn't have asked for a better weather day to start my back yard privacy fence project. We're not supposed to put up fences here in the park so I had better get used to calling this a creative outside wood project. It isn't actually a fence anyway. Figured it would not only be nice for us but the neighbors as well giving everyone a quiet privacy factor. DANDELION

Hooked up the utility trailer & slipped over to the lumber store in Clinton about 10 this morning. Five deck posts, 5 cement deck blocks, 4 privacy lattice 4x8 sheets, 8 2x4's, 16 brackets, & a pound of wood screws. Yep, that oughta do er!! Probably took me the best part of an hour just to get the first 8 foot section set up. Hadn't done anything like this for quite awhile so I seemed to be making a lot of measuring mistakes, fumbling with screws, dropping things, & just kind of making a big muddle of everything. By the time I was ready to tackle the second section, I had managed to gather to-gether enough smarts to actually get in the swing of things & from then on the project went smoother. MY PROJECT BEGINS

We have a lot of greenery in our backyard & that made working very difficult because I was trying to be careful & not break down any young trees or plants. Had to get myself into some pretty awkward positions getting the deck blocks on cement patio stones, etc. Plus trying to get the brackets screwed on while sitting on the ground wedged between Sumacs, wild raspberries, poplar trees, a willow bush, & a Gingko Biloba tree that was trying it's darndest to skewer me with it's branches. But, the hardest part is always.......getting up. It seems that at this age & stage of the game once I've got my 212 pounds down on the ground it's no easy matter getting myself up into the vertical position again. I should probably have a cell phone tied around my neck in case I have to call for a front end loader to come in & hoist me back up with it's bucket. Being entangled in all the branches around me didn't make things any easier either. Good thing nobody was around with a video camera or I could have ended up on You Tube as the laugh of the month!! IT'S THAT LAST SECTION ON THE LEFT THAT HAS APPARENTLY FALLEN OVER

Well wouldn't ya know it.......Kelly just came in the computer room with the news that part of my project has fallen over. Well, that's normal. I was a little worried when I had finished up the last section to-day & it was looking tooooooo good. Not normal. I'll deal with the problem in the morning. I"m too embarrassed to go out of the house right now. Oh dear...............................:((

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/