Howdy all! Since Ryan is gone for so long I thought I'd hijack his blog and give everyone an update while he's off trekking the globe.
Unfortunately, there hasn't been much going on at the house in Ryan's absence. The boys and I have plenty to take care of with school, but somehow we managed to head up to Richland the last two weekends.
The first weekend I had to go up and deal with our prima donna mailman. He didn't like our mailbox. It evidently wasn't adequate for holding all of the junk mail and catalogues the former owners still receive at our address. Regardless of the silly reason for being there we had a really enjoyable weekend in our new neighborhood. On Saturday morning I had to run to the store and grab some snacks and what-not for the boys. When I got home one of our neighbors, Michelle, ran down to make sure I got the message that that afternoon Mary in #74 was having a her 80th birthday party and we had to come down for cake an ice cream. You'd think having a stranger show up at your 80th birthday party would be weird...not for Mary. When I extended my hand to shake hello she by-passed it and swept me up in a warm hug and "welcome to the family", same for the boys. We were passed between all the neighbors we had not yet had the pleasure of meeting, and warm welcomes were everywhere. My favorite of the day was Deliah. She's 93 and lives 3 houses down from us. She moved to the neighborhood in 1952 or 53 (she couldn't remember). Before they moved to Richland, her husband returned to their home in Seattle, from is interview with what was then the secret gov't project, and all he could tell her was that all that was out there was "tumbleweeds and trashcans"...I think his observation then still holds true. She's a hoot and I can't wait to hear more of her stories.
While we were there I was also able to coordinate getting one item off our "to do" list. It was not anything that moves us forward on the house, or really helps our move in in anyway, but it had to be done and it could happen with no one there. I scheduled the removal of two big locusts trees between our house and the house south of us.
Trees on the right
While these trees were great trees and we hated to get rid of them. They hung right over our roof, and almost over our neighbors. There was no way to prune them back without them looking really strange. Given that and the fact that at some point we will likely put a garage behind the house and need a driveway there we agreed the trees should go. Ryan didn't expect me to coordinate this, so it was a surprise. I don't deal with contractors or service people. It's our unspoken agreement, I deal with teachers, doctors, dentists, banks, etc. he deals with car and home repairmen. I was willing to make a exception this time because I needed some sort of progress on the house while he was out. So this last Thursday the crew showed up and by sundown the trees were gone.
Topping them
WAY bigger than I thought (that front piece is currently only slightly shorter and still sitting in the front yard)
Gone baby gone
I don't have a picture of it (the neighbor sent these) but they also ground out the stumps and piled ALL of that wood in the front yard. Needless to say, the wood mess is why the boys and I returned this last weekend. Together Tav, the wheelbarrow, and I were able to move the wood to the backyard on Saturday. About 8 of the pieces were HUGE and I was prepared to leave them in the front yard until Ryan returned and could use the chainsaw to cut them into manageable pieces. Instead our neighbor came to the rescue. He and Bryer were able to get all but one on his dolly and haul them to the back. Our arms were toast on Sunday so I wasn't able to do anything with the two 2 foot high by 5 foot wide piles of chewed up tree root on Sunday...I'm hoping the other neighbor, down the street, will have it all scooped up and in her yard by the time I get back up there in a few weeks. She was VERY enthusiastic about wanting it for her garden. Hopefully we won't wear out our new neighbors before we get to really know them.
A bonus:
Since we lived in the little house on 2nd Ave in Durango I have wanted one thing back and could never manage it...until now.
It's a good one!!
When we bought the house we didn't really pay attention to the trees and shrubs around outside; other than noticing there were quite a few. When we were staying up there in December I finally saw this bush and I have been waiting to find out what color MY lilac was going to be. It's a basic purple and I'm happy with that. It's big enough to put some seats under it and breath deeply all bloom season. Bry loves it, too. (if you scroll up to the tree pictures you can see how big it is. It's just beyond the shed)
I also scored a Dogwood. It's not the pink I have been dreaming of, but it's pretty, and right out the kitchen window. It will do. Maybe, I'll put a pink one somewhere to make up for the missing locust trees.
Hopefully, in six more weeks there will be some more exciting pictures...and maybe there won't be. With us it's always a gamble. Hugs to all.
