Photobucket has now made me pay for pictures to show up. So as far as catching up it will take a while because I don't know what I'm going to do . My pictures are all on Photobucket so I did not lose them but I don't know if I want to pay third-party . At least they have not deleted my  blog for lack of use

Lots and lots of rain!  I am glad we bought new brown tarps to hang on the porch.  It sure brought out all the leaves and made things green right up.   Also left puddles.  You can see the front pasture is mud, the back sprouting grass.

It doesn't take much to overload water in the trees.  Most of the maples have fungus growing on them.

Some things like the rain.  Like the blueberries.  They are loaded!

Grandma Talbot's tree sprouted leaves too!

How much neater the end of the driveway looks without all the scrap metal and rotting wood!

Chickens don't like the wet ground

and neither did the old barn. 

We are tearing it down soon, but the OSB decided to come down sooner.  I went and pulled off most of the front.  Now it looks more like a shed than an abandoned building.
After the dreary morning, I came in and did the laundry, made bread, and made another batch of OOpsiE  bread.  No carb fluff matter.

It doesn't taste to bad and you can make sandwiches with it.  I tried putting tuna in between and it was tasty.
I hit my goal of losing 15 pounds Saturday and want to keep it off!

All that work and we ended up with frost to go to church on Sunday morning .

I did manage to get a lot more done on my list throughout the week. It is getting smaller!

despite the frost, the daylilies are perking up. I was happy to see the weeds are staying down in the well garden.

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The front is just about done. I have started around to the east side of the house. I was so proud of myself moving the elevator and not hitting the tree.

But everything comes with a consequence.  I managed to bend the exhaust on the tractor pulling out of the old barn.  I was watching the roll bar so it didn't catch the door frame and dragged the other.   He fixed it quick thought  I worked on hoeing the garden, fixing the fencing on the blueberries, weeding out any areas that looked really bad. I also fixed my clothes line so that now I can actually hang out the laundry without it sagging.The garden looks soaked now, but it really isn't as bad as it looks.

I am still waiting for the raised beds. I worked my way around the backyard towards the end of the week. Tom had to go back to Columbus for work and I wanted to get as much done as possible that day . I managed to work on the chicken coop's, back of the barn, all the garden utensils, and move a lot of junk into a pile. Saturday was trash collection day up at the township building. Tom and I gathered stuff out of the old barn end some things piled in the yard to take up there. So much better ! After that he went over his bills and must have felt pretty good. In the late afternoon, he and I went on a little excursion to big town. He had been wanting a UTV for a long time. Well, we bought one . If we would have taken the truck instead of the big shark, he could have brought it home that day. But now he had to wait until Monday. The next day after church he took the Chevy and the Cadillac in and worked on them. He finally has them both running great. When he came home, as he read the paper I had him also watch the dogs while I went out to the new barn. I completely redid the inside storage areas and the horse tack area .

Now all I have to do is go out and sort through each stall area. That will be easy to do now. On another exciting note, Tommy is starting a new job today ! He has a job where his brother can works. It is an out right hiring job not from a temp agency. We all hope this will help turn things around for him. I am sure he is ready to move on ! He is not the only one to start a new job. Becky is going to get a new job as a CNA at Edinburgh University. It will be such a great step for she and Jake. She is very excited about the change. Much younger people and she likes the hours. Oh , and I forgot to mention that when Tom and I were out looking at you TVs , Jessalyn was making dinner. She also was preventing herself from burning up the kitchen! Apparently, she used a very small pan to heat oil. It caught on fire and when she went to remove it from the stove, she threw it in the sink end since it was on fire it caught my perpetual Bible verse calendar on fire and melted the artificial leaves that were decorating it.

Thank goodness it was small and nothing else happened. I told her never to cook again!

Happy Birthday Dad! 
Dad is 72 today. 

I sent him a birthday package in the mail with two gift certificates that (hopefully) he can use towards his train set up.  Sent along a T shirt too with old cans on the front...he will always be a mechanic first to me!

Well, I got the chance to go to mom and dads and do the mowing in the yard before the rain came. The plan was for Tom to bring the mower in, let me mow, then he would take it back home again. I didn't want to leave the mower there. Even in the garage. When he got to the house I had already picked up a lot of big sticks and branches that had fallen over the winter. While I mowed, he went and picked up wood for a chicken plucker he was making for a friend. He also bought wood to replace the mudroom flooring, and wood to make raised beds for my garden. He was gone longer than I thought so I kept mowing.  I even finished the back yard.

I was so glad to get the mowing done. I saw many leaves that needed raked, but that will be for another day. I tried to get on the riding mower here at home, but a few swipes around the yard and the blade bent! I did manage to get the front yard mowed . It looked much better. Now I am starting on my list I made of things that needed done all over the yard. The days are flying by. I almost forgot that dad's cousin Jack was coming in for a funeral on the weekend . I had offered to take him to dinner the night before the funeral. We went to Serifinis, an Italian restaurant that Jack really likes. I hadn't been there for about 30 years . Tom had never been there. It was so much food, I could hardly eat the whole meal. Tom even took home the side of spaghetti! Jack didn't have a problem at all! The next day I drove back into big town end went to the funeral. There were only a handful of people there. I'm glad that I had the chance to go. On the way there, I stopped and saw Tommy's new efficiency. It was really nice! I didn't realize how handy that would be later in the day. Jack wanted to change out of his suit from the funeral into driving clothes. He had a 5 hour drive home that day. I was so glad that Tommy was handy enough that Jack could stop in and change before his long road trip. Thanks Tommy! Back to the night before, after Tom and I left the restaurant, Ken had called and asked if he could use the trailer. He was taking his free truck and driving down to Meadville. He had sold it end the man offered him a little more cash to take it down to him. Luckily, Tom stopped at work to help Ken. It was quite an entertaining site . The truck was being backed on to the trailer which I think was the exact same width as a trailer .

Ken with a little help from friends and Tom, got the truck on.

It was just about the same length too!

We worried the whole time he was driving down there. We couldn't even call him because his phone battery was dead. I was glad when he did call and say he made it. Jessalyn had to work at the track Saturday night . It was practice night for the drivers. Tom had been on her to fix that car of hers for a long time. But, wouldn't you know, 10:30 at night the car decided it was going to go caput. It seems the ball bearings had completely turned to dust and something was bent into the rims so bad that when she pressed on the gas the car wouldn't even move . On Sunday after church, Tom had to take her over to the parking lot and fix the car. Thankfully, it wasn't too hard  just very inconvenient for him. Kenny came out to shoot his new bow. Tom and I were working in the yard a little more. I needed his help in moving big tree logs that were out front. We put them on the trailer and took them out back. Then the guys took off to go down to the boat. Tom was going to teach can how to run the boat. I kept working around the yard. Working on that little list. I did manage to get a lot done before he came home. He helped me finish up the logs that were too big for me to move. As we were pulling them out in the back woods, the trailer must have been too heavy. The tractor started to sink. And then here we go. Back and forth, back and forth. We were but a few hundred feet off the path. Finally I'll get came. What a mess! The good news is 99% of the logs are gone. Now to start burning . If it will just drive up enough and not be windy. I also raked the back of the house from all the leaves from fall. Those were taken out and spread throughout the trees in the woods. Now time to check the list for more springtime adventures . . . .

I know Tom was excited to get out on the water. But the weather was wonderful! Too good to just play on the boat. In the morning time we went and did our shopping. He had to get some better clips and ties for the boat. When we got home, we went out back and started burning all the pines that were cut. By dinner time the fire still did not burn down enough to leave it. So, Tom went down to check on the boat himself . He wanted to be sure it was tied up good because we did not have enough clips for the front to hook on securely. Of course, the next day we could get out on the boat. Ken and Sabrina wanted to go out fishing Sunday. So they were to meet us here and go down. In the meantime, Becky called and she had come home from big date night with Jake. They went to the ballet and stayed the night in town. We didn't think they would be home so we did not ask them. But when she called I told her if they had life jackets they could come too. We have not bought enough for so many guests. After we all got down to the dock , did the check points, put on proper navigating attire,

out we went for a few hours so the fishermen could drop their lines.

No luck!

Are you sure there are fish in there?

A lot of patience!

But it was fun.

The Captain just relaxing on board.

First mate felt secure on the floor of the boat.

 Poor Jess put on sunscreen and it was very strong to protect her.

But apparently, it wasn't strong enough. She still burned terribly! For Dad I want to be sure to take a picture of the motor! The gas tank sits on the side.  The other side Tom is thinking of building a lock box for the battery.  It sits on the boat in a storage box.

And I can't believe the islands and how many trees are on them.

It's nice because one area has a place you can dock and use the restroom. That's important! I had packed a lot of stuff to take. I made sure we had paper towels, hand soap, and a small first aid kit. The most important was the picnic food! Some of us ate but most just enjoy the sun and fishing.

Oh, and of course we have our redneck seating which is lawn chairs until we decide what we want to do.

We were surprised to see a woodpecker at our suet feeder!  The cat loved watching it eat.   It's come back a few times now.

 

Last night Tom worked at sealing off the old well. Last fall, Tommy noticed that the lid disappeared , and a big hole was there.  We made a temporary cover, but finally Tom made a nice sized save one.

.Then while watching TV last night he worked on a finger plate for a whiz bang he is making in exchange for some beef.

But TODAY....
We went down to the boat.  Tom worked at fixing the door latches and railings.

I worked on getting the old numbers and letters off and helped get the new ones on.  Then they brought out the lid.  Tom and I worked at it and got it there and on.

  It is just a simple homemade frame with metal, but it looks ok for this year. 
"

We pulled the carpet a little smoother, and I went around the outside and got off all the "greenery" from last year. We took a time out to come home and take care of a few things, get some lunch, and then back to the lake.  They were ready to take it down to the dock.

In it goes

Life jackets, whistle, flotation device, and a fire extinguisher. Tom got a few instructions and hints on driving the boat, and off we went!

When the preliminary test came to an end, tied up, removed the necessities, pack up and go home until we bring more gas tomorrow!

 When it was time to feed the cats, I had chubby come up to the porch.  I was saddened to see that his face wasn't better. 

Not worse, but not better.  I put neosporin on it last night but it was still really bloody tonight.

I had to clean it all up again and put more medicine on it.  I am hoping it will keep the bugs away too.