Fourth of July 2013 and Some Goofing Off

Our friends and neighbors, the Caddels, host a casual fourth of July up the street and this is the second year we've joined them. There were about 20 kids running around.

Our neighbor Dell is a car collector, and he had some of his collection parked along the street.  He was showing me his 1965 Pontiac Catalina convertible when half a dozen kids asked if they could crawl in the back. He generously let them do it, but I could tell it's wasn't easy for him to relax with all those grimy little hands and feet all over his classic.

One day as I worked in the front yard, Zaeda stood outside with a ukulele and jammed for a while. Quite a few cars stopped to watch her show.

Blowing bubbles after a hard bike ride

Jenny and Zaeda looking sharp in summer dresses

Oliver loves to play with the camera. I gave him the older one and let him go. These are some of the pictures he took:

Selfies

Dinosaur toys

Early Summer Fun and Projects

photo by Oliver

Here we are in the long days of summer, and it's a chance for both play and projects. Last weekend, I borrowed Dad's pressure washer to clean up the deck and the roof. I get up on the roof several times a year, and in the fall and early winter, I'm on a ladder cleaning out the gutters a couple times a month. But being under so many trees, the roof collects a great deal of debris, and if it sits long enough to develop moss or fungus, it spells trouble for the wooden shingles.

The older guys who have taught me so much about taking care of a home have also recently demonstrated, by example, how easy it can be to fall off a ladder or a roof. So I rigged a harness out of a utility belt, a  bicycle cable, and a few carabiners.  I tested my weight by hanging from a tree. I then tied up to a line on
the roof. At the end of the day, the job was done, the ground around the house was mess from the stuff I'd
washed off, but I managed to hang my hammock on the deck, and relax a bit.

The following weekend, I pruned and actually dropped a 40 foot tree in the street (firewood for 2014) and then took on the long overdue garage, where my tools were a mess. First, I finished adding a base to the wonderful hardwood worktop Darren built for me a few years ago, and then I built another table.

In between, Oliver helped me design a bat box, which was a project he saw on TV and has been talking about ever since. I put one together using scrap, and then the kids helped me plaster the cracks, sand it, and paint it.

Oliver decided to write"Welcome" to all batkind on the front.