The sounds of water

Hello my friends. The temperature cooled a day or two .  It was only in the mid 100s. There was rain but not here in The Valley, it was East of us. Murphy goes out to deposit then usually right back in and tries to remain in the shade out in the garden. The bricks are very hot.

  I ordered some salve for his feet...Musher... which was developed for the Alaskan dogs to soothe their feet. So far we have only been able to put it on Murphy's front paws...he detests having his back feet touched! He is still  a work in progress.

Alan has made another change to the garden and front area....

A new fountain for the garden. The sound is wonderful. Each of the 3 bottom bowls have a light and nighttime is a soft glow. The top bowl needs a rock for the hummers to sit on to bathe. the fountain from here has been moved

To the front of our porch area. The hummers have already returned to drink from the top bubble. Now when sitting on the porch we have the sounds of gurgling water. Very relaxing.

 

Soon Daisy the heating pad Llama and her pillowcase will be flying to her new home. I have been slow to get this all together. This time the box will be registered and signed for.

I enjoy baking and have for years baked at least once a week. This is a lemon cake...Alan likes lemon cake...me, not so much. I use box mixes for cakes and from scratch other baked goods. It is quick and easy. Later today I will be making Prosciutto Bread and Italian stuffed artichokes for our dinner tonight. 

Swishing is ready for fluffing in the laundry area. Happy to have you visit with me. Thank you for your kind words and for your friendship.

Happy Canada Day to my Canadian friends....Debbie Burke and Lynda Ruth Bowers.

This and that

Went out shopping yesterday and for lunch with Dianna

found this cute wood bench...it has the words Boyds Bears burnt into the back and is about 14x12x15 and has the Fox couple sitting on it

So far it has moved to several locations..... These are the Foxes that we bought last Christmas and they have been cuddling ever since. At least moving this furniture is less painful than my regular furniture. Let's hope I am finally finished with that.
Today I really get to enjoy my new front porch.

That is if by the time I finish in the yard the temps are comfortable. One of these days these 2 Adirondack will be replaced. For now, they are comfortable and will do nicely. I will be adding a few pots of annuals soon.
Now about my writing class...

As you can see, my writing will be in long-hand in class as I do not have a lap top. Then I will put into the computer for editing and or corrections. On the hand out is a quote: "Whenever and old person dies, a small library burns."--Alex Haley. We will start with a life list.....and to wrote a food memory. As I had to leave early this is it for now. During the week I will work on this. Also thanks to or curse friend Debbi Burke for letting me know of an online class, "Into the light" an art workshop, I will have something else to occupy my time. Maybe this will eliminate the furniture moving business. I should mention something here about Debbie. Everyday since the first posting about Dennis' diagnosis and continuing now, she emails me everyday. At first it was total encouragement to deal with the day to day dealing of the eminent prognosis for Denny. Now, our emails share the day to day happenings of what we are doing. Debbie has been a caring friends and a life line for me. Yes, there are others who have encouraged and offered the virtual hugs and I am grateful to them also.
Today I will dig up the grass plant to investigate the leak with the irrigation system. I am not sure if I can fix it myself, but the landscaper has not gotten back to me and this is something I do not want  to let linger. I will get out there early as once the sun rises above my wall it will be very warm. Yesterday the temp reached 100 and today they predict high 90s. I am hoping to pick up Alice today or even my tatting.
Bet you are surprised to see an early post...well, I have been up since 2:30 and I am sure the irrigation issue has something to do with it. I hate to not have a fix to a problem-- right now. So, glad you visited and thank you for your kind words and most of all your friendship. Let's have a good day.

The finish

Went to the writing class but left early. It was just to get started with introductions of who we are and where we are from and why we are there. I probably will email the instructor to see what I miss for the last hour.
It was important that I be here to meet with the crew doing the porch/walkway. We talked about the color the day before and I asked him to tone down the green which was looking tooo bright. And it is exactly as I like it now.

This is how it looked while drying. Again, all is hand mixed and applied. The colors are changeable at the very start but not once the work progresses.

Once dry they wash off the dry haze and then began to add the grout. A crew is usually the leader and one or 2 guys. I had 3 crews and what guys.

When that phase dries the sealant is applied then dry time again. I had them sprinkle some Fairy dust (fine grit) to prevent it from being slippery when wet.

This is how it looks this morning. I was hoping for a not new look and it is just that. I will be able to walk on it later this morning but as I am meeting a friend for lunch it will be later today. I am so pleased with the crew and the company and already sent an email off to them.

Before they left I asked them if I could take a picture and of course they obliged. These guys were polite and fun and very professional. They work well together and their work is only perfect. They set standards and met them.
Tomorrow morning I will enjoy sitting in my Adirondack with a cup of coffee. Now if this weather would only start to cool even more....today is expected to be in the high 90s again. the landscaper was unable to check the irrigation but I suspect he will soon. In the meantime, tomorrow I will dig up the small grass and look to see what is going on. I am becoming adventurous.
Must have my morning coffee and then get a few things done before leaving the house for a few hours. Thank you for chatting with me today and for your kind words. thank you for your friendship.

Part one finished

The irrigation issue is almost solved. I do know where it is but because I have the class to go to this morning, I am not going to dig up the plant to investigate. Rather, I will ask the landscaper to check it maybe later today or tomorrow.
Yesterday the first part of the porch/walkway was started

The guys showed up and went right to work prepping the area. Then another truck came by then a third stopped by. I had quite the workforce.

They were a fun group of guys...this one posed for me while I was taking pictures. There is the supervisor, then the one who puts down the texture and

Because it is all done by hand no two jobs could look the same. They used a special fan to speed up the drying and then it was the design time

Using a tool much like what you would use in pottery, he cuts the pattern of the flagstone. Carefully deciding where to draw the lines and again no two jobs would be the same.

Voila! The flagstone is taking shape. Today they will do a clean up and prep and add the color of the stones. The color is hand mixed to the chosen shades  and then applied and the grout lines will also be added. Once again this will be my unique flagstone because doing it all by hand means no job is duplicated. I hope to be here in time to see some of the work being done. Class is 10 to 12 but I will leave early.....I do have to pay for this job! I think the first meeting will be to explain the program so I should not miss too much. And I do have to talk with the landscaper.
That is about it. Tomorrow I will share the finish and try to be patient before I can actually walk on the flagstone walkway. Thank you for taking the time to visit and for the kind words. Most of all thank you for the friendship.