Weekend Projects

This past weekend was quite the oddity in that we were at home with no major events or deadlines to worry about. We decided to make use of our down time to get some work done around the yard.

We have been having some great weather, so we decided it was time to plant some fruit bushes, which we planted along the back of the house.

We also got a blueberry bush, but it needs full sun, which we don't have much of in our yard, so we decided to plant it in place of a bush we weren't very fond of having along our driveway. We had a good time ripping it out.

After we got our planting done, we decided to attempt the death-defying chore of putting up a swing for Jackie. We had been kicking around this idea for a while, but when Rach saw the ladder it would take to accomplish the task, her resolve wavered. Susie, though, would not be dissuaded, so we started the process.

First we had to throw a rope over a very high tree limb. This was not as easy as we anticipated. Susie tried to tie a brick to the end of the rope and Rach laughed because there was no way she was going to throw it over the limb. Rach offered to use her sporting skills and use a baseball, which showed potential in that the ball went right over, but the rope fell off. At this point we were laughing so hard at ourselves and the fact that we looked like dummies chucking things around in the backyard, but on the second attempt the baseball got the rope over the limb before falling off the rope. We were able to grab the rope with a rake and get it tied to the ladder.

Rach hoisted the ladder up to the limb while Susie directed it into position. Susie then tucked the drill, the bolts, the hooks, and the chains into various parts of her pants and started up while Rach held the ladder steady and muttered fervent prayers. Susie worked efficiently and only took two trips up to secure the ladder, drill the holes, screw in the eye bolts, hang the chains and untie the ladder. It was quite the impressive feat, and when it was all over Rachel had a few more gray hairs and Jackie had a new swing.

For our final project, we decided to do something significantly less dangerous and hang a new shelf in Jackson's room.

The shelf was Jackie's choice. We went to home depot and held out a few decorative braces, and Jackson showed us his preference by grabbing one of them and not letting go. How can you argue with that?Jackson supervised the entire operation. He sat in his crib and let us know where he wanted the shelf to go.

The final product is a lovely addition to Jackson's room, and is now home to his baptism collection, consisting of his baptism photo, some water from his baptism, and the cross Aunt Nikki and Uncle Brian got him.

It was nice to have some time to spend at home, especially since that will be a rare occurrence over the next few months. We'll keep you all posted at we move into our travel heavy part of the summer.