CHAPTER THIRTY TWO .. ODDS AND ENDS!!!

This chapter is going to be full of odds and ends of things we're accomplishing here at Sawyers Ridge .. the first of which is .. Kenny's hat racks in the master closet!!  We got them up yesterday and they look just great .. 

Sad to say my project with putting our wedding pictures in the long collage frame isn't doing so great!!  Those frames have 11 vertical slots to put pics in and 10 horizontal .. we only have 6 pics that will go in a vertical spot and bunches and bunches of pics for horizontal spots .. soooooooo ... we will be taking that frame back and searching for some other way of framing all those pictures!!!  

Meanwhile .. I did put 4 of the pictures in the smaller frame that I got when my daughters and I were in Illinois "treasure hunting" .. 

 

That's it for now ..

FRIDAY, AUGUST 21 ..

Ken has his new  Delta Thickness Planer!!!    That was quick .. he ordered it online from CPO (???? don't ask me .. LOL)  Tuesday and UPS delivered it today!!!  We got lucky .. we had just gotten home from our day's running around when the UPS truck pulled up to deliver it .. so they didn't have to leave it on the porch!!  



Can you believe it .. he is actually reading the instructions for how to put it together!!!  

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27

They told us they would be grading and sodding our lots mid-September but this morning we noticed they were sodding one of the lots out across the area between our villa and Caroline's .. and now they are out working on the dirt in our lot and Bill and Anita's .. Ken is out in the yard keeping an eye on what they're doing ..

I stepped out on the deck a while ago to see how things were going and Bill and Anita were out on their deck watching too but by the time I got inside to get the camera and got back outside they had gone inside .. darn the luck!!!  However, I took a closer up pic of their place so you could see how nice their patio looks .. 

 She potted a bunch of her plants from her flower garden at the home they sold and brought with her .. she is planning to plant them next Spring!!  

A funny story .. remember I was going to put our wedding pictures in a long collage frame to put on the wall with the 2 frames of family pictures???  As I was thinking on doing this I was thinking there should be an album of wedding pictures some place .. but I looked and looked and couldn't find them.  I found an album of pictures from a surprise shower the Bread Company Bunch had for us .. and an album with pictures from our Honeymoon .. but no Wedding album!!  I finally gave up and found the pictures on my computer and sent them off to Walgreens to be printed .. still dumbfounded .. Ken and I both found it hard to believe that I would get copies of all those other pictures and put them in an album but not the wedding pictures!!!  Got the pictures .. put a few in the small frame as I showed you .. got a collage frame but it wouldn't work because we didn't have enough vertical pictures for the vertical spots .. took the frame back .. have been trying ever since to decide what we wanted to do with all those wedding pictures we now have.  Still saying every now and then "I'm sure we had copies made of the wedding pictures and did an album"  still keeping an eye out for a wedding album somewhere.  

We finally decided that Ken would create one of those chickenwire frames to put family pictures on to add to the "family wall" and we would get a nice album to put the wedding pictures in.  While we were out and about Monday we went to Hobby Lobby in Arnold and got the chicken wire .. and bought a scrapbook and scrap booking paper and double-sided tape to create an album for the wedding pictures.  We hadn't any more than gotten home than it hit me .. OMG .. I know where that wedding album is .. it has been right in front of us all this time .. in the old black curio cabinet we call our "Memories Cabinet" ..

 

 Isn't it amazing how blind you can be?????  Not to mention how forgetful!!! Anyway .. there it is .. our Wedding Album .. right there in plain sight!!!  We have been driving ourselves bonkers about this thing .. looking and looking .. and amazed at ourselves that we did NOT create an album of pictures .. thinking that surely we did but convincing ourselves we must not have .. and right there it is .. LOL!!!  Soooooo .. we have some scrap booking things to take back .. but we're keeping the chicken wire .. I like the chicken wire frames and we have a big empty spot on that wall we need to fill  .. so we will put more up to date family pictures in it if we decide not to put the wedding pictures in it!!!  WOWSY .. how goofy the Novak's are .. LOL!!! 

FRIDAY, AUGUST 28

The noise makers are out working on our lot again this morning .. they started about 6:30!!!  They're "playing" in Bill and Anita's yard too.   

The rolls of Sod across the way .. the green grass you see in the yard of the villa right behind the yellow tractor is the Sod that was put down yesterday morning!! 

 We're thinking we just might get the Sod in our yard a whole lot sooner than they said!!!!  Yayyyyyyy!!!!

Yep .. sure 'nough .. looked out a little while later and they had rolls of Sod lined up on the hill behind Bill and Anita's place ... 

Snapped the pictures of the rolls of Sod behind Bill and Anita's at 8:54  AM

Rolling the Sod in the back yard of the villa attached to ours .. 10:43 am 

 11:16 am .. Sod has been laid in our back yard and the guys are "fluffing" it!!!   Looks like they're laying carpet!!! 

 

Click on the link below to watch them lay the Sod .. 

WANT'A WATCH THEM LAY THE SOD????
 

12:17 pm .. we are headed for Lowe's and Bob Evans and they are working their way up the hill between our houses into the front yard ....

3:49pm .. I could hardly wait to get back home to see how the yard looked .. we will have grass at last!!!!  We were shopping at Wally World and got a call from the guy who works with the company who put the lawn sprinklers in .. he was on our front porch and needed to get into the garage so he could use the sprinkler controls and check out the sprinkler system!!!   It's a good thing I had given them my cell phone number!!!  We hurried right home .. and look what we saw .. GRASS .. Yaaayyyyy!!!!

And the sprinklers ARE working!!!  

 

You have to keep the Sod wet but not too wet .. so the sprinklers are set to come on 3 times a day for 20 minutes each time .. for the next 2 weeks!!  Our next water bill is going to be a dandy!!!! 

 TO BE CONTINUED!!!!

CHAPTER THIRTY ONE .. EASY DAYS AT LAST!!!

Finally the hard work is done and we have gotten to the "easy" days of getting ourselves settled in here at Sawyers Ridge!!!!  Now it's mostly a matter of "organizing" .. finishing up the decorating .. we actually have time to play on the computers and sit back with our feet up read books and watch TV again!!!  

 Ken has been working at getting things organized and set up the way he wants them in his workshop .. and he's doing a great job!! 

It still looks a bit cluttered in these pictures but it sooooo much better than it was!!!  And he is able to find MOST of what he's looking for now .. LOL!!! 

 While Ken has been organizing his workshop  I have been organizing In the computer and TV areas .. my genealogy stuff and the filing cabinet .. and straightening the bookshelves up a bit .. and even set up a Microwave / Coffee Pot area so we can make Coffee / Microwave Popcorn / whatever when we're spending our afternoons down here!! 

If you want to watch some old movies come on over .. the DVD's on the top shelf are fairly up to date .. but the VHS tapes are mostly the oldie but goodies movies .. Gone With The Wind, Wizard of Oz, Holiday Inn, White Christmas, Miracle on 34th Street .. can't remember them all!!  And a whole shelf of Shirley Temple movies!!! 

This is how we've spent the last couple of days .. "finishing up" projects!!  Of course the day is going to come when we are working hard again for we're going to build a wall across the basement between the workshop area and the computer room / TV room area and put vinyl or tile down .. but we're going to wait a little while on that to give our bodies a rest.  

Now that the hard work is done and things have slowed down a bit Ken and I have both come up with a "project" to work on.   Yesterday we got out bright and early and headed to Denny's in Arnold for Breakfast .. after  our delicious Breakfast we headed for "Michaels" Hobby Store in Fenton .. on the hunt for another long black collage frame like the 2 we have on the wall in the living room with family pics in them and wooden pegs.  I am planning to put pictures from our wedding in the frame and hang it with the other 2 frames of pictures .. it will be in the center between the "my family" frame and the "Ken's family" frame.  The whole thing will be rearranged actually .. lots of little holes for Ken to fill .. LOL!! 

 We found the black collage frame that I wanted at Michael's but alack and alas .. no wooden pegs!!!  So we ventured on to Schafer's .. another store that carries hobby and craft supplies.  Ken has LOTS and LOTS of ball caps .. right now they are in a couple of boxes .. he is in the process of creating peg racks to put in our closet to hang them on.  I'm happy to say we found the pegs at Schafer's!!  Funny thing is .. he needs 26 pegs .. in looking at the package later he realized there are only 25 in the package .. LOL!!  Soooooo .. this morning we made another run to Schafer's after visiting with "the Bunch" at the Bread Company!!!  Thank Goodness he didn't have to buy another bag of 25 pegs .. they also had bags of just 4 of them!!! 

We got the 10 foot long boards he needed for his hat racks Saturday at Lowe's so he started working on his project shortly after we got home yesterday .. notice 1 little hole that didn't get a peg .. LOL!!   Needless to say he is very happy to have his work shop put together at last and be able to work on some projects!!!

As soon as we got back from "the big city" this afternoon he put a little glue in the hole .. popped the peg in .. gave it some time to dry .. then went to work staining them ..

Tomorrow the stain will be dry and they will go up on the walls .. and his hat collection will be out of the boxes and on display once again!!  And YES .. are you kidding .. of course I will post a picture!!!  You gotta see the hat collection!!  See you then!!! 

 

CHAPTER THIRTY .. TIME FOR SOME FUN!!!!

Thursday, August 6 .. We have been working so hard turning our house into a home that we decided to take last night off and join some of our friends from the Bread Company Bunch and have some fun!!!  We met up with Rich n Pat, Carl N Sylvia and Bill n Shirley at "Rizzo's" for a delicious Supper .. and then we were off to the Botanical Gardens to take in this year's Chinese Lantern Festival!! They had been forecasting rain for these last few days of the week and we had rain about 4:30 yesterday morning but it stopped after a couple of hours and we were in hopes of no rain for our visit to the festival .. and the rain did hold off until after we left the restaurant .. but then it started!!! 

The view from the car window as we're approaching the Gardens ..

Tickets are paid for .. we're not letting a little rain stop us .. at this point it wasn't coming down tooooo hard ..

This display of dancing Elephants  is made of china cups and saucers!!! 

We got here about 6:30 and it wasn't dark yet .. I'm sure these displays will be much prettier when they're all lit up!! 

We're headed for the outdoor Ampitheater to watch the Chinese Acrobats performance .. and the rain is coming down harder and harder  .. OH MY!!!

We got under the roof over the Ampitheater's stage to get out of the rain .. Ken, Sylvia and Bill found themselves a seat .. LOL!! 

How about joining us in the rain .. just click on the link below .. 

RAIN RAIN GO AWAY!!!! 

 

The performance was supposed to start at 7:00 .. the rain just kept coming down and we were all going to have to leave the stage when the acrobats came out to perform and stand out in the rain to watch the show when it started!!!   Finally about 20 after 7 an announcer came over the speaker system and told us that the performance was being moved to an indoor auditorium and would start at 8:00 .. we weren't looking forward to the trek through the park to the auditorium but it was great to know we would NOT have to stand in the rain to watch it!!! 

We got to see some of the beautiful sights along the way ..

Finally we made it to the auditorium .. how nice it was to get inside where it was DRY!!!!! 

The first to perform were these young ladies balancing their plates on the sticks as they "danced" ..  

Click on the link below to see their performance .. 

 

WHOOPS .. DON'T DROP THEM!!!

I taped all the performances .. click on each link to watch them perform ..

OH MY!!!!

CONTORTIONISTS!!!!

HMMMMMMM!!!

MORE HMMMMMM!!!

I messed up on these guys and didn't get the whole performance taped .. but I got a great pic of the end of it .. WOW!!!

 

HOW DO THEY DO THAT?????

LOVELY GIRLS WITH LOVELY LIGHTS!!

GRAND FINALE!!!

What a great performance these young people put on  .. of course they received a standing ovation .. a much deserved standing ovation!!!  

And now back outside .. the rain has slowed down a lot .. and we bagan once again with the Dancing Elephants for it is right outside the Auditorium ..

The Dragon can be found in this part of the display ..

The Lotus Girl ..

The Dragon King I presume ..

I missed getting a picture of the sign for this one ..

Many of these displays were animated .. with this one music was playing and you could hear the horses galloping and whinnying and smoke would rise representing dust coming up from the "trail" they were pounding along.  I wanted to take a video but was afraid my battery would soon go dead for I had taken so many videos of the acrobats and .. alack and alas .. I had brought my spare battery and chip along but had left them in the car .. Duhhhhhh!!!! 

These flowers are so much more beautiful than they look here .. my pictures don's do them justice!!!

The Butterflies wings were flapping up and down !!!

A field of giant Pufferbellies!!! 

Pufferbellies and Pandas!!!

The Birds wings were going up and down ..

The Fairies ..

A walk under giant beautiful lanterns ..

2015 is the "Year of the Sheep" .. this one represents that ..

There were more displays left to see but Ken and I were both having problems with our aching feet and limbs .. and as he held the umbrella to keep it over both our heads his left shirt sleeve was pretty much out in the rain and had gotten very wet .. he was quite uncomfortable .. so we were party poopers and gave it up and headed for the parking lot .. which seemed about a hundred miles away .. at least!!!! 

At last we made it back to the front gate .. and out the gateway!!! 

Our last view from the parking lot .. this giant Chicken was belching fire .. smoke actually .. and the area of the parking lot was filled with smoke .. quite an ending to our adventure!!!!  

When we left the Botanical Gardens the rain was coming down but not toooooo hard .. by the time we got a couple miles away it was pouring down and Ken was having a hard time seeing to drive .. with all the lights along the highway .. and the cars around us .. and the rain!!  Wanta' see how bad it was????  Click on the link below .. 

I'M GLAD I'M NOT DRIVING!!! 

That was as we were leaving the city .. after we left the city the rain started slowing down until it was just a drizzle .. and then along about the town of Arnold .. the highway was completely DRY .. 

 

You know what I'm going to say .. YEP .. click on the link below .. LOL!!!  

ARNOLD AND THE HIGHWAY IS DRY!!! 

I'm happy to say the road continued to stay dry .. we got back to Sawyer's Ridge and it was dry as could be!!!  Hard to believe they were getting all that rain in the city and not a bit outside the city!!!    We had a great time in spite of the rain .. but we sure were glad to get home and get out of those wet clothes and shoes and socks and into the shower .. and that hot cup of Coffee afterwards was heavenly!!!! 

If you'd like to see more about the Chinese Lantern Festival click on the link below .. 

CHINESE LANTERN FESTIVAL 2015

ENJOY!!!