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Getting Caught Up

Gosh, I can’t believe it has been a month since my last post. So much has happened.

The house has kept us busy, what with all the rain we’ve been having here in south central Pennsylvania, and all the water we’ve had in the house. Much in the basement, some on the second floor, from the chimney. I’ve even dreamed about floods, and I don’t sleep well when it is raining. Not because I am afraid of storms, but I’m so worried about water in the house.

We finally got the sidewalk poured, so that is all done. Wait, did I forget to tell you all about that? Okay, I’ve got pictures, so that post will be coming soon. But we had hoped the large gaping pit that was the dug-out section of sidewalk was the reason for the excessive amount of water in the basement. Unfortunately not. I can go into more detail later.

And remind me to show you my giant rock pile. I have yet to figure out where to store these nice field stones. I’ve used a small amount as flower bed edging, but there’s plenty more. For now they are taking up half of the front walk!

Hmm, what else… Oh, yeah. I left my old job three weeks ago to accept new employment. Where I will get a paycheck in a timely manner. I won’t see my last three week’s pay from the Commonwealth until the budget is passed. When ever that may be. I’m not holding my breath.

The paycheck is most certainly not the [only] reason I took a new job, but the fact that my position will be eliminated when this budget is finally passed, that was the deciding factor.

So. Quick recap of this summer so far. Dig, dig, rocks, rubble, concrete, rain, rain, rain, basement stream, dry before mold takes hold, interview, rocks, rocks, dig, veg garden, offer and accept new job, rain, rain, rain, more water in basement, sad goodbye to old job and friends, rain, rain, rain, water in basement, sick from nerves, start new job, bargain on Oli food!, rain, rain, rain, water in attic, West Nile carrying mosquitoes in York County, dump standing water daily, rain, rain, rain, giant veg and flower plants, damp basement, rain, rain, rain…
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Happy Fourth, Oliver!

Oliver is four years old today. Unfortunately for Oli, both Mommy and Daddy had to work today, so it was a pretty uneventful birthday. But don’t worry, he had a busy holiday weekend, and we will make it up to him later this week. I’m thinking, maybe a trip to P-e-t-S-m-a-r-t or L-o-w-e-s or B-a-s-s-P-r-o-S-h-o-p…See, here is Oliver helping me with the garden and the landscaping. Doesn’t he look like he’s ready to spin some tunes? D.J. Oli Doggie!

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Fern-y Scroll-y

I just love the look of this simple pattern. So earthy and natural.

I used only one color of floss, since it was variegated: DMC variegated green #94.
I did the entire pattern in stem stitch, which I am now pretty good at! But it did get a little boring. I think if I hadn’t been trying to get these done for Christmas, I would have worked on a different set at the same time, one with a different stitch to keep things interesting. I wish I could remember where I found this motif. Somewhere out there on the web.

All wrapped up for presents!

I think Tallen chose this one from the basket.
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Garden Supervisor

We’ve been very busy in the yard the past week or so. That is, in between rain storms and trying to dry out the basement!

I’ll have more details and pictures soon, but for now, I’ll just leave you with a picture of my gardening companion and vigilant supervisor:

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Something Else Happened the Day of the Oliver Crop Circles

Remember all those heavy stones I said I was carrying? Well they formed this:A nice mowing edge / path to divide the very back of the yard from the rest of the lawn.

Two reasons for this:
One, the 100′ extension cord on the electric mower doesn’t reach much farther than this, and, two, it is a pain to get under the apple trees to mow the weeds, ’cause nothing else wants to grow under there.

So the plan is to lay a mowing strip for a clear division (done), kill the weeds, and plant ground cover that will thrive in those conditions and not require much maintenance.

My little path starts near the fence at the spirea and crosses the main backyard path, past the apple trees, and ends at the retaining wall on the other side of the yard.