This is another 2-Post Day - but I'll put it in one

This morning while Glynda was at Bible study I spent a hour or so at the Tree House reading. It was the first time I've spent some relaxing time there alone. It was a great morning weather-wise with a temp in the lower 70's. We had about an inch of rain last night so the creek was up and the sound of the flowing water was added to the all of the other nature sounds and it was a really enjoyable and relaxing time.

The second post would have been titled "Aren't They CUUUUUUTE!!!!"

The two outside cats that have decided to call our place home have little ones! They came out from under the house today. We had suspected kittens but had seen no evidence. Now we have. Glynda, of course, fed them right away - and I'm sure the mother will appreciate that. She's been looking a bit under nourished. (Aren't they cuuuute!) But how are we going to solve the problem of having five outside cats? FREE KITTENS if anyone wants one. We've already petted them so they're sorta trained.

"Decorating" the Treehouse

OK - the rug may get nixed and removed! But it was on it's way from the dining room to storage in the shop and I thought we'd try it out. Before even considering this, Glynda and I were sitting in the treehouse having coffee and I said "I've got an idea!" and Glynda said "Don't bring that rug down here." Scary! See Bev - when you run off to PA, things can get out of hand!

Also, I put a very little book shelf in there. Paperbook size only. It could use a few more short read books - such as a Bible or Testament, poetry, famous or inspirational quotes, short story collection, etc. If you have a good book, bring it the next time you come.

Oops - one more thing. I took the deer antlers/skull out of the garden shed and put it in the treehouse too! Pretty treehousie looking if you ask me.

Somebody stop her!

On second thought - maybe not! The top one is coconut. It's for me. The next one is cherry I believe. It left the house so I didn't get a chance to find out. The next one was for Mason for his 18th birthday (chocolate I think) and the bottom one wasn't finished when I took the picture. It got topped off with strawberries, blueberries, grapes, & kiwi. Like La Madeliene makes.

Deck Make-Over

We combined the want-to of a deck make-over with a little bit of insurance money and a birthday for Glynda with the discovery of just what we needed at Lowes for a reasonable price to re-do the deck. We added matching cushions to the three levels of the deck, bought two matching umbrellas, and added a second table that, while not matching, does go well with the existing table. We're painting the wood furniture black and making a seating area under the deck gazebo and putting the existing table and chairs on the open part of the deck. There's still some painting and minor construction work to do but, overall, it's feeling pretty good!

I didn't post this when it happened

That was about 9-10 days ago. The top of the big sweet gum tree at the corner of the deck came down during a heavy wind. We were really pretty lucky. If it was going to fall, it couldn't have found a better place or time. Glynda had been on the deck 2-3 minutes before it fell. It landed right between the deck gazebo (not a scratch there) and the breakfast nook. It drove a deck post into the ground and put three holes in the roof. It also broke a couple pieces of deck furniture. With the insurance we'll come out OK. Alex and Daniel are working on the last of it today and we're taking the opportunity to put a skylight in the nook which is something we've wanted to do for a while.

Gotta Get a Rain Guage

The closest thing I had to one last night was a bucket sitting under the tree house tree. It was under the tree but still had over 8 inches of water in it this morning. Discovering that was not an easy thing to do. I first tried the east end of the Orange Trail but that was not passable at all. Jacob's Creek is about 40-50 feet wide at this point and I couldn't even get close to the ford.





So I tried the other end by the pond. Looking
down the zip line, it was covered with water from the pond to the creek. No way to get there! But then I saw movement over there - it was Bev and Alex. They had found a way. I should have known that Bev, after being away from the site for over a week, would find a way! They're right in the center of the picture. (She had to try three different roads to get home this morning because of flooding.)









This is Alex leading the way along the creek. The water has been at least two feet, probably three, deeper then it is here.


















We found this guitar shaped piece of wood when we were getting the cedar for the gables last week.


And here's Bev and Alex on our way back to the house. One end of the bridge behind them is no longer in place and we'll have to fix that!

Treehouse is done! Well - almost.

Alex says it will never be done. But, right now, there are no tools on the site and no materials on the site. Exceptions - drill for whatevers and ladders for staining. We enjoyed a few minutes rest on the treehouse deck today before moving out the last of the tools. Here's Alex working on the last of the deck rails - they look really good! Daniel and Aaron were both putting in time on this last day of work!