Back at it with Luke.
Luke woke up pretty early this morning and we all focused on getting ready for his occupational therapy at 8:15 up in Franklin. After breakfast Liz took him up there while I hauled trash to the dump and went to Kroger. When he returned we read books, played with Legos, and had a snack. After lunch I napped a little during his nap time, and then we played some more. After dinner I worked on our posting for a new nanny and the project list for finishing up the house.
Making some progress.
This morning I called the plumber as directed and he didn’t answer so I left a message. I drove over to he house and loaded up my army trailer with doors, frames, window sashes, and other trash and headed to the dump. Unfortunately the dumpster was full but I was able to put my bags into the compactor. I spent more time organizing and installing bathroom trim before I decided to go look for the plumber. I found him at the supply yard and after he ran another errand he came by the house. We went over everything that he needs to do and he answered several of my questions. I went to the cottage for lunch, then returned and did a few more things. My dad came around three and together we walked the new property and kind of marked off some lots. It was fun to explore everything and the land is really even bigger than I had thought. It needs a lot of work, but that will be fun once I get my tractor up there. My dad returned to the cottage and I spent a lot of time organizing the house and pretty much putting all of the tools and materials into one room. I returned to the cottage to shower and wash clothes, then hooked up my flatbed trailer and drove home. It was nice to do that mostly during daylight. Luke had gone to bed but Liz was still awake, so we chatted for a while.
A little work, a little fire.
I woke up super early this morning but kind of went back to sleep for a while longer. Upon getting up I did an exercise video. I’m not sure if that is the start of something or just a one time thing. I’ll know more tomorrow. After doing a bit of reading I went to the house. I continued loading up the trailer with left over materials and trash. I also unboxed most of the appliances in preparation for the plumber/electrician’s return. It feels pretty good to be getting the site cleaned up and organized. Tomorrow I will try to remove all unnecessary tools so that there is even less clutter inside.
Later this afternoon I burned the pile of brush that my dad had stacked behind the cottage. I added a bunch of scrap wood and cardboard to the blaze, which was more convenient than carting it away. It has pretty much all burned down to ash now. I didn’t go out and photograph this evening due to the fire still going and also me feeling a bit lazy. It looked like it might rain for a while but never did. Hopefully tomorrow will be a productive day.
Fourth on the Mountain.
I didn’t get up too early again this morning. After breakfast my dad and I went to the house where we worked for a little while. He caulked around the doors and put in the last of the bathtub surround tiles while I continued to clean up the site, mostly by loading cedar boards onto the trailer. We left and returned to the cottage, where Liz and Luke had just arrived.
It was great to see them. Everybody drove over to campus, to Lake Cheston, where Luke was able to play in the sand and the water. He seemed to have a good time. We picked up lunch in Sewanee and ate it back at the cottage. I had a black bean burger and sweet potato fries. Delicious. There was also fresh cantaloupe. After eating Liz and I went to see the house and also the tiny house development in Tracy City. Luke stayed with my parents at the cottage and had a lot of fun with them. Liz and Luke left around three and my dad and I returned to the house.
We hung cabinets in the bathrooms, then a severe thunderstorm rolled in. So instead of marking lots on the new property we returned to the cottage. My parents left about six and I chilled for a bit before deciding to go out.
I drove to the Templeton Library but didn’t get out, then headed on to Lake O’Donnell where I set up to photograph fireflies again. That was going well until I noticed the full moon rising over the lake. So I went and photographed it for a bit. Next I decided to drive to the Green’s View overlook where I sat and watched fireworks going off all over the valley. That was pretty cool to see and I attempted to photograph it as well. Back at the cottage I transferred my pictures to the computer and messed around with them a bit.
Soffit to me.
I arrived on the Mountain just after ten last night. My mother was still up so we chatted for a bit and then I spent a bit of time on my phone before going to sleep. I woke up pretty early this morning but tried to sleep some more, so didn’t get out of bed until after eight. I made breakfast and then my dad and I went to work at the house. It was a little bit of a slow start but then we got to cranking on the soffit. It wasn’t fun to be up on a ladder again, but after several hour of hot and sweaty work we got it done. My dad did some caulking and replaced window sashes while I ran a couple of errands. After he called it a day I worked for another hour or so, loading unused cedar onto the trailer and putting up the tools. Hopefully tomorrow will be another productive day. I returned to the cottage and showered, and then we went to dinner at Papa Ron’s. We ate on the terrace and their service was back to normal, that is to say delightfully apathetic. After dinner I drove first to Green’s View, then to the back side of campus, which was closed off, then finally to Lake O’Donnell where I photographed the fireflies again. I just processed he photos and am not terribly happy with them. I will try again tomorrow evening.
Lots of quality outside time.
Luke and I went to the park in Spring Hill just after breakfast and stayed for nearly three hours. He played in the creek and saw lots of dogs walking by. So he had a wonderful time. After lunch we both napped. Liz got off work a little early, so when we woke up he had snack and we went to the nature park for a nice walk. Luke again had a great time. Upon returning I packed up the car and trailer in order to head to the mountain. We had dinner, Luke went to bed, Liz and I chatted for a bit, and now I am about to drive up to the cottage.
Rain day.
I didn’t go to bed until after three this morning, so it was a real struggle to get up when I needed to. It was rainy so Luke and I played indoors with Legos and read books. The morning actually went by surprisingly quickly. I napped when he did although I didn’t feel too rested after. This evening I went to Kroger. It wasn’t crowded at all.
A little more productive.
I didn’t fall asleep until close to four this morning, but didn’t really sleep past eight, and that was fitful. I took trash to the dump and ran into Kent as well as my neighbor Bob. I took more stuff to the storage unit and brought my trailer to the house. There I loaded it up with scrap wood and drainage pipe. I organized and cleaned more, ripped down the boards for the soffit, and installed the cabinet trim. I also started ripping down trim for the bathrooms. Things are getting pretty close, and that is a good feeling. Early this afternoon storms arrived, so I packed up and returned to the cottage, where I cleaned a little, washed dishes, and packed up. The drive home was a little wet but otherwise uneventful. I came through Fayetteville and Lewisburg and arrived just before dinner time. It was great to see Luke, who was in a good mood after having spent the day with my parents. We ate, then it was bath time, then bed time. I didn’t get to play with him much, but will get to a lot over the next three days. This evening I did manage to mess with last night’s firefly pictures, and the preliminary result is below.
Not as productive a day as I would have liked, but it’s Sunday.
Another late morning getting out of bed. Probably just recovering from my nanny job and “vacation” in Michigan. I drove down to Manchester and got a couple of things at Home Depot, then some more at Walmart. Back at the cottage I prepared lunch then went to the house. I did a lot of organizing and packing up in order to be able to work more efficiently going forward. It rained off and on so I wasn’t able to do anything outside really. I left after a couple of hours with plans to return later in the day. Later this afternoon I worked on a foundation plan and schedule for the new house. I should be able to build it a bit more quickly than the current one, especially if there isn’t a global pandemic going around. Dinner was mostly junk food. As it was nearing darkness outside I decided to go photograph the fireflies. The parking lot at Pearl’s was chained off, so next I went to Lake O’Donnell. It was a little darker than I would have preferred but I set up on the path to the lake. There were tons of fireflies out and I shot for about 15 minutes or so until they seemed to be done. I wanted to process them on my computer, but I don’t have my memory card reader with me. My new computer doesn’t have one built in.