Smoky picnic tables

I've noticed something interesting about myself lately.  There are times when a casual statement delivered in my direction is instantly transformed by my brain into an order, something that MUST be done, the sooner the better. 

Sadly, it happens more and more often with Sarah.  Just the other day all she said was, "I get splinters in my butt every time I sit on the picnic table." 

Well then.  That's simply unacceptable!  I must dismantle the picnic table!!

Fortunately a buddy saved me a bunch of money when I told him I was going to buy some cedar boards to redo it, he said, "why not just try to turn them over first?  They probably won't be bad on the other side."  Turns out he was right! 

After a bunch of sanding and then a good oiling, it doesn't look too darn bad!



Darn near new again!

And like everyone else, we've been having some pretty smoky days, weeks, what feels like months, around here.  Yesterday I was filling my "water transfer buckets" at the lake and this was the view.

After it cleared out a little bit..
 

It was DEAD calm

See the boat??

Look what I can do

Wow, perusing through the camera that I pack around everywhere got me here.  I need to start posting more often!

Okay, try and get past the "stupid" that was getting a cat off a flimsy branch in the middle of the night and look at the background behind the truck.

After a couple months of happy yet sporadic work involving clearing brush, pulling roots, digging out rocks, leveling the site with a Pulaski and a shovel, numerous trips to the hardware store, playing with concrete for the first time, and making sure components were even and level...that spot turned into something that looks like an exercise area.



Finally everything up and level and landscape fabric put down!

Yes, there is still a slight slope...especially in the corner closest here...don't like that one much, but the rest is for drainage.

This is only ONE yard of bark.  I have to drive the highway (didn't want it above the bed) so it took a total of two trips..

It finally got done!

Not too shabby!
 

 There is a granite slab also occupying this site.  It's about 19 - 21 inches down and covers the ENTIRE area because believe me, I checked.  Fortunately, I'm pretty sure these posts all have enough concrete to hold them in place until the treated wood rots out.  One hole got VERY large because of a misfortunately placed boulder that had to come out. That corner of the dip bar is, let's just say, SOLID.

I've learned quite a bit the last year of living here / owning a home.  Apparently, one thing I can now do is build my own window screens.  I guess they don't sell pre-built screens in the one big-box home improvement store up here...I think they should change their motto to, "YOU do this."  Again, all it took was a couple happy hours of work and two trips to town (screwed up the first screen material and didn't have enough) and we have two custom screens.  The windows are side by side, I don't understand how they aren't identical in size.

Yep, looks like a screen.

Another thing I was able to figure out is a drip line for the garden.  We've been having water issues on our shared well (running out when the dude down the hill waters his football field - sized garden all day) and I wanted to be able to use our rain barrel instead of relying on the spigot.  So that's what we use for the tomatoes and zucchini!  And all I have to do is keep the rain barrel filled using five gallon buckets out of the lake.  Not much of a problem around here.  It's a nice backup if nothing else.