Projects between the raindrops...

Even though it rained a lot today, DH was able to get a lot done around the house.

The pool pump has worked wonderfully to remove the 2-3 feet of water from the pool cover and even ran all night without being plugged in. I didn't realize that the pump would continue to siphon off the water even after I pulled the plug. That was actually an ideal way for it to work however, as we didn't have to worry about whether the pump remained under the water. We were a bit worried that the pump would break if the water level dropped below the pump, so I went out every hour or two to make sure the pump was still submerged. With the pump unplugged though, if the water level went below the pump it wouldn't matter. The poor little tadpoles, however, were not so thrilled about the water being pumped out of the pool cover. Sorry little guys... :-( While I drove up to Slippery Rock University to pick up DS today, DH worked today on installing the outdoor shower by the pool. This is what it will look like when it is installed - it is a stainless steel thermostatic shower panel from Wind Bay...
This is the 8 gallon hot water tank that he mounted inside the garage to connect to the shower...
Here he is soldering the connectors onto the pipes where the shower will go. He loved the hammer drill that he bought (refurbished/reconditioned - are they the same thing?). It went through the brick like a knife through butter!
Underneath the shower, he plans to put a drip pan intended for a washing machine, covered with these snapping deck tiles. They will completely cover the top of the drip pan and allow the water to drip between the tiles into the drip pan which will be connected to the drainage system. He will put a wooden moulding of some kind around the edges to conceal the sides of the drip pan. The sample the company sent has 4 slats per tile, but we ordered ones with 6 slats. They are also available with 8 slats or diagonal slats. The slats are made of "pre-treated, expertly kiln-dried, extremely durable hardwood. Mold, mildew, fungi, termites, rot and decay resistant."
Here is what the back of the tiles look like - the "plastic feet elevate for drying airflow." The tiles just snap together. We ordered tiles made from eucalyptus for our outdoor shower. Stay tuned for photos of the finished shower...
Here are some more shots of some of the plants that we put out in front of the house...just don't ask me what they are. I saved the tags off them, so I might be able to figure it out, but certainly couldn't tell you off the top of my head (although I do know that the one on the back left is a rhododendron).
I believe the tall tree is a Japanese red maple and there are some butterfly bushes in front of it...
The 5 plants to the far right are dianthus. They were all marked alike on the tags, but 4 turned out to have red flowers and 1 has pink flowers. They are still very pretty, and luckily, the pink one ended up in the middle.
Our builder has started work on the punchlist for the house. It doesn't seem possible that we've been in the house almost a year (it will be a year at the end of July). Yesterday, today, and next Tuesday the drywall guy was/will be here to fix the places in the walls and ceilings that have settled or have nail pops. He is also fixing the area in the kitchen ceiling where we had the leak from the second floor furnace...
He informed me that he hates our stairs. He just knew that the way the stairs were open up to the top floor that the house would settle all around the stairs. There was a lot of repair work for him to do around the stairs... The other place he had a lot to do was in the great room. Some of the seams in the walls are very obvious, especially when the lights behind the valance shine up or down the wall and illuminate all the little imperfections. He suggested we just leave the lights off. :-D
It's pouring rain out now, with lots of thunder and lightening. I hope it stops before the plant sale that I was planning to go to in the morning...

A third pond?

My apologies for my long absence from my blog. There wasn't much going on with the house and I needed a break. So...let's see what I need to catch you up on...

DH has been busy around the house. He has been trying to come up with a design for an outdoor light fixture that will not be annoyingly bright. He wants the lights to be directed up and then reflected back down as indirect light. Here is the start of what he has in mind...

The 4 lights will shine up and bounce light off a reflective surface that will be attached to the upper frame. Stay tuned for the end result...
A trench has been dug in the side yard from the end of the garage to the trees outside the pool fence. DH plans to run electrical wire to the trees and string up some decorative lights out there.
The Saturday before last we had a huge bonfire going. There were several trees that were taken down when the house was built that were left lying in the field behind the pool, plus some trees that fell in the remnants of a hurricane that passed through last September. We worked for 5-6 hours cutting up the trees and brush and burning it.
There are still a lot of trees that need to be cut up and burned, but at least we made some progress...
This past weekend (starting on Friday), we purchased and planted what seemed like a gazillion plants and trees. DH brought home a van load of plants on Wednesday and we brought home another van load on Friday. By Sunday evening, thanks to DH, they were all in the ground. I kept him supplied with diet Pepsi, removed all the tags from the plants, and watered them each day. Most of the plants went in the front of the house. We still need to buy and plant things near the pool and on the edges of the long section of our driveway.
When we moved last year, we got rid of our gas grill that was no longer in good shape. We decided to replace it with a charcoal grill and Saturday night we put it together...
It has a small propane tank that is used to ignite the charcoal. Once the charcoal is burning, the propane is turned off and the charcoal continues to burn. We cooked hamburgers on the grill last night and they were delicious! We haven't cooked over charcoal in so long, we'd forgotten how much better the food tastes! The container on the right side of the grill tilts out and holds a bag of charcoal...
So, this weekend we discovered a third "pond" on our property. The melted snow/rain that collected in the pool cover over the winter is about 2-3 feet deep and the bottom is covered in leaves. On Saturday I was out by the pool checking out the planter boxes...
and discovered all these TADPOLES in the water! There must be thousands of them! I also found 6 toads around the edge of the pool cover, popping their heads up out of the water every now and then for some air. DH is getting ready to drain the pool cover. I think I'll try to catch some of the tadpoles and transport them down to one of the ponds, otherwise they'll get pumped out with the pool cover water and die.
So, Tortellini had a great time outside while we were planting and watering the new trees and bushes. He wandered all around the front of the house and seemed to be having a wonderful time...
He didn't stay in the dirt and grass - he climbed up on the sidewalk and wandered around the driveway too...
Here is one of the flowers that I splurged on at Lowes this weekend. It is called a Lollipop Gerbera and the color is Watermelon. The actual colors are a bit deeper than the photo shows...
I wandered down by the ponds a couple of weeks ago and found some crocus, and some daffodils like this one...
And this butterfly...
And, wonder of wonders (!!!), I actually found the koi that we were told were in the ponds. We've never seen them in the two years that we've owned the property. There are both black and orange koi. Supposedly, the ponds were stocked with 1000 koi several years ago. I'm not sure how they survived after what I've read about the specialized care they need. The ponds don't even have a filtration system. You'll need to click on the photo to see the koi...
OK, on to the craft projects I've been working on...I embroidered this little dress for a friend's daughter...
And this little top with the furry bunny...
For a bridal shower, I embroidered napkins...
And made some placemats and napkins...
I made this necklace and earrings set...
And this one took forever to make!...
It was time for a new purse, so I made a Springtime one...
With lots of pockets on the inside...
Back in February I found a really good deal on a slightly used Pazzles Inspiration machine and have been experimenting with it. This was a card that I made for DD...
And I made cards like this for my mom and my MIL...
This is the inside of the Easter card...
And I learned how to make overlays - cutouts for photos. This one is for DD's fraternity, Kappa Kappa Psi...
This is an overlay that I made for my BIL. He hasn't seen it yet. My sister will be up visiting from TX next month and will take it back with her. The overlay is 12x12...
At the end of March, DH and I drove to Winchester, VA to hear DD play Bohuslav Martinu's Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra with the Shenandoah Conservatory's Symphony Orchestra. She was one of the "2009 Student Soloists Competition Winners"...
I had a run-in with a very large, very sharp knife just before Easter and ended up with 6 stitches, and a splint to keep me from bending my knuckle. This photo was taken several days after it happened, when the wound was to be left uncovered but I still needed the bandages to hold the splint on my finger. After almost 2 weeks the stitches came out, and it is now healing up well.
I leave you today with this sign which I see whenever I drive up to Slippery Rock University to pick up our DS - it makes me laugh...

Scrappers' Give-away

So, head over to Wendy's Paper Therapy blog and leave a comment for a chance to win a Scor-pal (yeah, I'd never heard of one either, but it looks like it will come in handy for making cards and scrapbooking).

Mystery of the hunter solved!

So, DH had a call on Friday...it was from the "kid" (not sure how old he is) that had asked (back in October?) permission to bow hunt deer in the ravine on our property. At the time DH had said it was fine. This time he was calling to see if we might have his hunting blind. I don't know why he set it up down by our pond back in November, as it wasn't anywhere near the ravine and I don't think a blind is particularly good for bow hunting anyway, but at least now we know who it belongs to. He hasn't come by to pick it up yet, but plans to. DD and I should have left it in the pond and let him fish it out himself!

So, DH's latest project has been on-going for a while now. He is installing computer monitors and electronic photo frames on the wall in the great room. Here are the first 3 boxes to go in the wall...

He added 2 more openings for the smaller frames...
Here, the 3 monitors are up...
All of the monitors and frames are up on the wall...one of the small frames actually has a photo showing on it! Progress!
All 6 monitors/frames were up and working on Superbowl Sunday...
Speaking of the Superbowl, I had to make a quilt to hang in the entryway by the front door...
And here is a photo of our projector screen when Santonio Holmes caught the football near the end of the game to put the Steelers ahead again!
And the look of disbelief on the face of the Cardinal when Holmes made the touchdown... :-D
And the final score - Go Steelers!!!!

This is the box that arrived on my doorstep yesterday - could it be my birthday present??? I want to play with it (but I have to wait until the 12th)! :-(
Here is Tortellini - out for a walk in the kitchen...
And here is Tortellini trying to bite into a grape tomato. It kept rolling away from him.

After he gave up, I held onto the tomato so he could bite into it. He gobbled it all up after that!