Springing Back to Life
Our patio has gone through many iterations over the past 29 years. When we first moved in, we were poor. Our budget was tight so we had to be content with the grass and shadowbox fences with the neighbors. We knew we always wanted a patio and saved up for it. I want to say we paid $1200 for a paver patio. We picked out the huge 18"x18" slate look pavers from Lowe's and got a patio set that was an ambitious size. It was nice to have a space to relax outside and have a little flower bed where our pooch would happily walk up to smell the flowers. After a year or two of constantly having people catch our eye as they walked their dogs or themselves, we said it was time for a fence with a gate. I think it was around $700 back then. Damn those prices make me nostalgic! Over the years, we had various outdoor area rugs, curtains on the fences to cover gaps, tropical hibiscus trees during our Hawaii years to remind us of our second home. ...
On top of our project I also have been spending summer studying for a test that I take in 10 days. Talk about the worst ways to spend summer. The kid in me is disappointed that I would waste a perfectly good summer studying for a test, but I really had no choice.
ReplyDeleteI love summer! This summer was floating in my pool, Cubbie games, walking the dogger, my veggie garden, flower garden, iowa sweetcorn, weekend visitors, road trips to iowa, bike rides, barbeques, weddings, patio lounging, graduation parties, bridal showers, baby showers, I live all the gatherings! I have one more wedding this year, looking forward to fall bonfires, football games and the leaves turning. Thanks for making me look back, it was a great summer!
ReplyDeleteI feel like I didn't do much, but when I list it out it sounds like a lot more than it really is. A couple overnight get-aways with the kiddo, two long weekends in the mountains, one big trip to South Dakota, deep cleaned/decluttered the house top to bottom, some days at the pool, and lots of lazing around resting and resetting my patience for the new school year.
ReplyDeleteI kind of hate fall because it means going back to work. I can love my job, and still dread going back. Once I'm back in the routine though, I can admit to enjoying the cooler weather - but that doesn't really happen here until October or so. It's still in the upper 90s this week, predicted to be 100 today. I am planning an overnight getaway to see the leaves changing in the mountains in early October, so there's that to look forward to.
Wishing your Mr. good luck on his test.
We didn't do much other than house stuff. The hubs has been working so much that he basically gets up, goes to work, comes home and eats dinner and is in bed within 2 hours of getting home and then starts it all over again six days a week. And I've had a series of medical appointments virtually every week this summer, with more to go next week and several next month. So I've mostly done a lot of cleaning out and getting rid of stuff, which is surprising with just how much time that takes. I did make it a point to get out with friends and do some visiting more than I normally would, so that's helped to break things up a bit.
ReplyDeleteI feel like I didn't do much but when I start listing things I realize it was pretty packed: took some trips, got a pair or rescue dogs, bought a new car (after 15 yrs). The highlight was spending the first day of summer watching the snow fall in the mountains outside of Denver with my immediate family, including my little niece and nephew. Nothing like welcoming the solstice by making snow men!
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