Tuesday

 I picked these last night and some of them are just dead looking because of our drought. These flowers should look good throughout the fall but they are not.

We had two good rounds of rain now and the rain gauge shows that I don't have a deep enough bowl. The first round of rain was like a car wash event.  The wind from the northeast was strong and it caused the rain to blast against the house.  I intend to buy a real rain gauge today when I make a pharmacy run today. 

Heavy rain and winds really doesn't cause much damage but my poinsettia took a hit. The water filled vase in the back ground shows a lo of water from the overflowing eave trough.  If I were more energetic I would repot that plant in a larger pot. 

My one canna plant in front surprised me with new blooms.  The rain in the past must have revived it. Everything in that garden looks pretty burned up.

I had a shepherds hook that I didn't put out this year so I used it to put the sunflower straight again. The flowers are smaller but if you get close you can get a big picture. 

We are having a gray day as the front moves out of the area.  We will warm up this afternoon but we are pleasantly cool this morning.  Thanks for stopping in today........

Monday is Here....

 

Friendly clouds to the northwest. The yellow peak is my neighbor's house. When you live in rows of little boxes the neighbor's house will always show up in the photos.  

The clouds to the southeast don't look so friendly but they did go away.  The sun is in there somewhere partially up on the horizon.

 

 

The guy who gifted me this chest did not make me feel  guilty about having it.  I just flet guily that he didn't take it. Eric is one of my former students from 15 years ago.  He and his sister and one brother were closing down their dad's farm place last year.  The father has been an antique fanatic collecting all sorts of old cabinets and tables at auction. The three kids were now readying all his stuff to take to an auction at a larger city, Winterset.  

 Eric had followed me on facebook and would see the rustic dumpy things that I would rescue from dirt and disrepair when I posted the finish things on fb. So this dresser was in a shed and was in pieces with drawers falling apart and the base of the dresser held together with cord because all of the joints of the frame were not connected.  The top of it was just hanging on with a couple of nails.  He wrote me a note and told me he had something for me but would not tell me what it was.  When I saw the walnut carved handles I was so impressed that I didn't care what shape it was in.  They just loaded all the parts into the truck. They certainly could not take it to an auction in that shape.

 

 

A year later after all my health problems I did start working on the drawers.  When I got it all done I was feeling guilty that I had such a wonderful piece and I felt badly that Eric had to give it up.  In facebook the other day he wrote that he was so glad that I had it because they were going to put it into the burn pile.  All the stuff they had to deal with was too much and burning it up was the only solution.  Now I don't feel so guilty. We are really enjoying it in our dining room and I keep marveling at how historic and wonderful it looks.  I found chests like this with the dates starting at 1860s. 

 

 

We are having a warm day but it isn't in the extreme as of yet.  I have done some things outside like trimming back two rose bushes and spraying for a creeping charlie patch in my one corner of the yard. I hope all are doing well today. Thanks for stopping by today.

Sunday Sun......

 

 

Stuff for Saturday....

 

It is Saturday morning and one can hear the neighbor mowing his yard.  Another neighbor is cutting back his asparagus foliage. A third guy is weed eating around his mailbox posts.  It is hot already so most of them are getting the work done early in the morning.

The sedum is setting buds and getting ready to bloom.  It seems to be developing at different rates on each side.

I like Russian sage but it does not grow correctly for me.  I see people who have symmetrical plants with blooms and I do not have that.   It seems to put out stray branches and is lopsided. 

My seed from last year did grow this year at this end of the flower bed.  I saved the color from last  year and it really did grow for me.  I did see an article on the net on how to collect the seed.  I guess I should read it as I usually do by trial and error. 

The monarch also likes this color of zinnia. The Japanese beetles are only interested in my roses this year and are leaving the zinnias alone.  I spray every day to kill off the next batch of beetles. 

It is a quiet day here today as the swimming pool installation next door must be done.  We have heard machinery noises every day for five days.  Today it is quiet.  The trees block our view but I am assuming the concrete has been poured and they are waiting for it to dry.  

Thanks for stopping by today.

The Friday Report.....

 It is a cozy place for me to sit when I need a rest from working outside. The squares are fun to see and they seem to have settled in more as the time has gone by. This area has the deck above it so there is some light that comes through from that.  Also when it rains everything gets wet. 

The bird seed that falls to the patio area does grow up in the cracks.  I thought this was like a corn plant but it has a funny tassel on it.

The commode was sitting in the place where we put the chest of drawers.  This is a temporary placement .  The angle is not quite cricket and yet maybe we can get use to it being there. 'The chest is done and it is time to look for a new project.  

Thanks for stopping by today.

Butterflies and Drawers.......

 

I went out to photograph a monarch butterfly that I had seen at a distance.  When I arrived two monarchs were having a disagreement, which I have never witnessed before.  Eventually the fighting two flew off and two larger ones showed up on the scene.  

 

 Once I had tried to get some side viewed shots of the monarchs one of them started to show off. They normally eat with their wings closed but sometimes they open and close their wings while eating. 

The final coat is on and has dried for a whole day. I am ready to bring it upstairs.  I discussed it with my wife asking if I were going to be able to bring it upstairs and she was surprised I had not asked sooner. 

Since you can't use water to clean wood I have hand rubbed these drawers oh so many time to be sure they are cleaned up. 

This will be the last view you of a partial unassembled chest. The next shot will be of it all together in the upstairs living area.  Because our upstairs is one big room we might be putting it in the dining room area.  It could also just end up in the entryway. 

 

We are getting good rains this Thursday.  It is going to be so good to catch up on some of our moisture.  This dahlia is doing well now because of the rains.  

Thanks for stopping by today.

And Now it is Gone!!!!!

 

We have always like that tree.  It was a mature tree that probably was growing there when the development was created back in 2003.  It took them all day yesterday to bring it down.  I hated to see it go but I guess I didn't have to rake up any of the leaves each fall.  It was on one person's property but it overshadowed onto four different properties. 

With the noise of the workmen and machinery of the one's installing a swimming pool and the chain saw noise all day yesterday I will be glad when all the jobs are done. 

Thanks for stopping by today.

Tuesday.....

 All the same colors in one area. The heat isn't bothering things too much with these flowers but maybe by Friday it will harm them.

 

The dahlias look better with me dead heading all the shriveled up blooms.  I have watered them and may do so again soon. 

 

 

The patch is bringing in the bees but there just isn't that many butterflies out there.  It is a good spot of color though.

I spent the morning applying the first coat of finish on this.  It will take a day to dry and then I will steel wool it off and put on the second coat.  I spent time trying to figure out why the top drawer won't push shut like it is suppose to.  I quit messing with that and just started applying finish. It took a while as there are more surface areas on this than it looks. 

Thanks for stopping by today.

Hot and Humid Day....

 I rushed out to get this shot when I saw the great clouds out the bedroom window.  What had me looking out the window was the sound of earth moving equipment. It wasn't such a peaceful scene. with the digging sounds.

They had cut down their wonderful flowering trees a week or so ago. The reality of the pool is happening as I see this large machine dig in the ground.  Later in the afternoon I could see men down in a hole walking around. 

 

 

Worked on the chest of drawers this morning getting the top of it reattached to the base.  It was an easier job that I thought it was going to be.  I placed the top on the floor good side down and put the base on top of it upside down.  I was able to attach the two together with screws and also a few blocks of wood with Gorilla Glue.  I need to flip it back over now and see how it all looks.  

We are having a very hot and humid day today. It sounds like the whole week will be the same. Thanks for stopping by today.

Sunday Times.....

 A perfect full moon was there for the taking.  I wasn't planning to photograph but when I was out taking down the flag, there it was.  It was a clear night so I didn't have to shoot only one visual.

The yellow rose is a climber but I try to keep it trimmed down.  The setting isn't such that I could put a tall trellis next to it.  The railing does offer good opening for it to sprout through.

The morning glories do like this weather.  The rain really perked up the number of blooms that were happening.

The hibiscus is slowing down in its number of blooms but there are still a few more buds on it.  I try to keep it watered with it growing up against the house.

Another bee photo is shown with all the zinnias.  The bees jump back and forth to all the flowers to see what has the best nectar.

One more spot that needed to be glued and clamped to put it back together. There are some areas where things will not be repaired as you can see in the crack in the front left of the piece.  I am devising a way to attach the top back on to the base. Once I get the based attached I will be start the final finish on the chest of drawers.  

It is going to be a warm day today.  This is the last day of the Iowa State Fair and next week public schools will start up sometime during the week.  It feels like fall somewhat and yet we are still having a hot summer.  The rain did brighten up our dormant grass. That was good.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Sat's Stuff......

 Early in the night we had thunder and lightning.  This proved to also give us rain as is evidenced in the bird seed tray.  It was much needed and the flower gardens all looked better this morning.

 

The morning glories were blooming after such a great rain.  I am sure the tomato plants were doing better with that added moisture.  I had been hand watering them. 

We had a tough wind yesterday so I had to stake up the sunflower.  I have steel fence poles and tapped one into the ground.  I had to dig through the shop to find some twine.  It is a good thing that I did because the rain would have dampened the ground and it would have been laying on the ground this morning. 

I have been too busy to put much time on this project but I did get the staining done after a few short work sessions. The light reflects off of the one piece in front.  It really is darker and it is a nice piece of walnut. 

The stain ran down when I was staining the side so I went ahead and stained the front corners of the chest. I really like old furniture because of the simple but well designed accent pieces.

I worked on the top this morning for a half an hour. I am happier with it as I used some artist oil paint to cover up the gouges that the previous owner had filled with filler.  The filler would not take a stain. I keep saying that this piece must have been used as a machine shop bench or maybe they threw it out of a two story window.  It was in such a mess construction wise. 

We went out to breakfast this morning to The Original Pancake Place to celebrated the sale of the old place.  It was not an easy sale and things just kept happening to hold up the sale.  It is now finished and we have utilities business to yet deal with and it will be finished.  We are out lock, stock and barrel.  

Thanks for stopping by today.