Gardening with the Other Grandpa

Three generations planted the wee garden at The Lake on Sunday:

And I only got 15 black fly bites.   It was a great day.

Upstairs Floor, Part II

You remember the pix of the totally AWESOME floor upstairs, right?  The floor boards made by Bob's own two hands?  Well, now they're smooth as glass.  Or, well, I guess... smooth as smooth... wood. 

For the past two days, The Husband has been sanding the upstairs floor.  I'm *still* hacking up dust after helping him two days ago... I'm pretty sure he has sawdust pores now.  If he starts to resemble an Ent, I'll let you know.

Come to think of it.....

Anyway, now that the floor is complete and sanded, it can be stained and the remainder of the partition walls can be built.  Partition walls = electrical wiring.  Quite exciting progress, yes, but do you know what a finished upstairs floor also means?  Hmmmm?    STAIRS.  Yup - beautiful, walk-able STAIRS.  *sigh*  No more clumsy Anne risking her life cllimbing the blasted ladder.  I've been promised stairs in the next wee while.  (Which, in Ent-timing, may be next year, but I'm cultivating patience.)

In the meantime,

is there a chiropractor in the house?  Homeboy did a number on his neck operating that beast of a floor sander. 

Spring View

This is the view from the upper windows (looking down toward The Lake) now that it's Spring!  

Remember the view this winter?   When the trees are fully in leaf I don't think we'll be able to even see the lake from this angle.  But, since my increasingly hermit-like self is already planning to plant huge hedges to hide behind, it's just fine with me. 

Oh, and in unrelated news:   guess who shaved his "hockey beard."

No, it wasn't a "hermit beard."  That's what I'm growing. 

Har-dee-har-har! 

Mother's Day Hike

We (Bob, me, The Boy, and Baby M) went on a hike today with my folks.  The river was high, the falls roaring, and the trail a tad muddy, but we had a great time.

The boys all enjoyed popping sap bubbles on Balsalm Firs.  Try it sometime -- just don't be on the wrong side of the bubble, or whoever does your laundry won't thank you. 

This easy wee hiking trail in Titusville Mountain State Forest is one of the reasons I love living in rural Northern New York.  While it is a managed forest and the trail is maintained by the DEC (Dept. of Environ. Conserv.), it does not have picnic tables or pavillions, no port-a-potties or paved trails... not even a paved road in, and no parking lot.  It's a trail through the woods.  Period.  No jog strollers, no cell service, no trash cans.  Just a path with some log foot bridges, and plenty of balsalms to pop. 

Low-maintenance.  Just like folks here. 

Our backyard