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Gramma teaching Carus to paint.

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Gramma is here for a visit!

She was calling Poppy to let him know she got in safe and relaxing after 3 days on the road from New Mexico - and 12 hours driving today.

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Sunday evening it started sprinkling.  We didn't get much rain, but it was enough to bring in humidity and make it a little sticky.

And enough for us to wake Monday to fog.  The rain and fog, as well as the cooler night time temperatures, are proof (if I needed it) that fall is moving in on us very fast.  I love fall, but I'm not quite ready for summer to end. There was so much I wanted to do this summer that I haven't got around to yet.... darn work, getting in the way of doing fun stuff. And darn bills making the dark work necessary.  I should have found a career where I could have summers off.

Anyhoo.

Foggy morning.


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Early morning dew.


Dew on a green tomato.

Weekend stuff

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Friday

Just Robert holding the puggy.


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Saturday

We went back to school shopping and then came home and purged all the clothes the kids have outgrown.  Apparently I haven't done it in awhile.


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Sunday

I climbed the ladder to see the view from the roof of The Shed.  Quite nice.  This weekend Robert worked on reinforcing the roof, putting in soffits (click here for better explanation than I could give), and cutting out the window.


Roof.  (It got shingles put on yesterday and today. )


Window hole.

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Us girls doing our nails.


This photo cracks me up so much. I seriously could not have planned that look on her face any better.  Carus and I were hanging out watching a girly show (Drop Dead Diva) and doing our nails.  Leia came over and sat next to Carus, Carus told her to shake and then when she gave Carus her paw, Carus filed her toe nails a bit.  I grabbed my phone as fast as I could and I just happened to catch Leia mid blink which makes it look like she is really enjoying her pawicure.*

*Pawicure was the word Adam, Carus, and I decided on to define Leia's nail treatment.  

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It's good to have tall friends.  Thanks for the help David!


Positioning the plywood on the roof.


Nailing in plywood and talking.

Days 234 and 235

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08/20/2012 - Sweet Wilbur.


Now for the potato tower update.

We opened up the potato tower last night full of anticipation for how many potatoes we would get.

Robert just removed the screws from the wood that was holding the tower closed.


Removing straw and soil searching for potatoes - can you spot the first potato we found?  Just above the straw where Robert is pulling back are some potato vines, and just above/behind/attached to those is the first potato.


About halfway through, and it started getting hard to get the straw, soil, and potatoes out.  This was the last photo I got of the process.  The sun was setting fast and I needed to help more and take pictures less.  We used the tarp to help catch the debris from the tower so we didn't mess up the bark mulch we brought in last month.


Our potato harvest.


We are a little disappointed that we didn't get that much.  But I'm not giving up!  I have ideas forming and will have a new plan for how I'm going to grow potatoes next year, because I will be growing potatoes again.

Some things I learned, or think I learned:
1.  Too much straw lining the sides and not enough soil for the potatoes to grow.
2.  The bottom sprouted before the top, and the larger potatoes were on the bottom.
3.  Maybe covering with soil as they grow isn't a bad idea, and I might try that next year.
4.  I would like to try a smaller tower - about half the size.  The top half of the tower was dry and the bottom half was moist.  Plus - our bottom half was ready now but our top half probably could have gone another 2 weeks at least, maybe more.
5.  Only one kind of potato per tower/hill/what ever I decide.  The red potatoes were on the top and though I think they did well overall, I would have had more if they had more time to grow.  The starts I used from those were also ones I got from the grocery store that were in my cupboard a bit too long; which could be why they took so long to get growing compared to the yellow potato starts I bought that were on the bottom.  (Commercial sold potatoes are sprayed with a chemical that prevents/slows the potato sprouting eyes.)

The good/bad news is I don't have to figure out to store them long term since I only got a few meals worth of potatoes.

The Shed - long awaited update

Dun ta da dun!  (Otherwise known as Trumpet sounds.)

While I spent my day vacuuming and shampooing carpets (for 8 hours and I missed/skipped two rooms), Robert was working on putting up walls on The Shed.  Adam helped with a few walls, and I helped on one.  Robert discovered that cheap nails are not a good idea.  For every one nail he got in, at least 5 bent and broke on him.  He was very happy to use the last of that box and happily went and bought more expensive, better quality nails, and was rewarded with all of those nails going in as they were supposed to.

One wall up.


Putting up walls.




Getting ready to cut the door hole out on one side, then another sheet of T1-11 went up and he cut the other side.


Four walls.


Ready for a roof.  Too bad an open roof is not practical.


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08/19/2012 - The Shed has walls!  The window hole still needs to be cut out, but the next task is putting a roof on it before Oregon rainy season starts.

Ahh, end of summer, back to school, schedule changing, too much to do and not enough time CRAZINESS!

And that is how I get behind...again...on so many things.  This blog is just one.

But I've been able to keep up on 366s though, just not get them loaded and updated.

I've been hearing a lot of questions about how The Shed project is going so let's get this party started and get this shit up-to-date.  Sorry though, the next post will be about The Shed.

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08/16/12 - Pretty Leia


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08/17/12 - Wrong sized beds, silly doggies.


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08/18/12 - Potato tower update coming!  The vines were all dying back so I cut them all off, waited a couple of days like instructions I found online said to do (to help prevent rot) and then dug up potatoes today (08/21/12).

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Making a mess in the garage, building the trusses.


Working on The Shed in the heat.  It was hot today, near 100 degrees.


Outside/support trusses are up


Inside view.


Outside view with the T1-11.


Bringing in the ridge beam.


Getting the ridge beam placed in the brackets...


....and secured into place.


All ready for the rest of the trusses, and then the roof!

Saturday through Tuesday

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Saturday
Late night Timmy kitty.


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Sunday
Finally cool enough for a dog park visit - just in time to meet an adorable german shepherd puppy.


Sunset at the dog park.


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Monday
I waited to long to get my 366 yesterday, it was quite dark out in the yard but I took a few shots anyways.  I liked how this one turned out.


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I got a new vacuum!  Mine stopped sucking like it was supposed to.  I know everyone raves about their Dyson's but we can't bring ourselves to pay for it.  It's still plastic and has a beater bar and ugh.  Just seems like a lot of expensive plastic to us. This one is built similar to the Dyson with similar materials but less than a third of the price.  It also doesn't have a beater bar.   We did a quick vacuum this evening and it's nice to have clean floors.  It's a Hoover WindTunnel Pet Rewind Plus.

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I let her play games on my cell phone.  She might be addicted to it as much as I am.



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The garden haul today.  I got 12 peppers off my single little pepper plant.  I roasted them up on the grill, skinned them, and froze them separately on a Silpat.  I will put them in a freezer bag and use as needed - which isn't that often cause Robert and the kids aren't big pepper people. They smelled so good roasting on the grill.


MORE OF THE SHED!

For some reason I thought the shed would take longer to build.  I have NO idea why I thought that. And boy was I wrong, at this rate it will be done before the end of this month or something else just as crazy.

Yesterday, he got the third wall up.  The one with the window.


THREE WALLS!


The view from the window.


Then today, he got the fourth wall up.  The one with the door.


FOUR WALLS!  After getting this wall up Robert started working on the roof trusses, which will probably be up by the end of this weekend.