It's about time.......:

It's about time......time leftover at the end of the day to put thoughts down on paper....(not much)......time for a progress report.....(not much).....time to try and remember what I've talked about in this bllllllog and what needs to be said....(not much).

I've thought this thought before, but life these days....and probably for a lot longer than I'd care to admit......is like that old Road-Runner cartoon. I don't remember much about the cartoon, but I do remember watching him being chased by a coyote, or something, and the road would just crumble off at his heels as he was running.....and then he would get to the end of the road and his feet would keep running but he would be in thin air and come crashing back to ground. And, life would go on. Now, I don't mean this illustration to be grim.......I'm just saying that every day is a new day with new stuff happening (or old stuff happening on a different day), and I don't carry a lot of yesterday with me. And all of that blah blah blah is merely a disclaimer for probably leaving out chunks of what's been going on and for waiting so long to even think about it.

So......now it's Spring. I thought it was Spring, a month or so ago, when I was watching the flooded river from my window and tromping around the high trail where you can see the Blue Heron Rookery. In fact, you could see EVERYTHING.....forever. When I looked back at those pictures today, and look out the window now, it seems like that was the dead of Winter. Overnight it has become overgrown......overnight.......you can't even see where you're stepping....and all of those blooming green things are BLOCKING MY VIEW!

I'll show you some pictures.....

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Looking out my window today. Where is the river?

So.....this is what happens when friends think your house-building pace is a little too slow. They assess the situation.....say they have a little time on their hands......have a conference with Michael.........order the lumber.....assemble their tools.......and I found them sitting on a stack of delivered cedar out by the road on the very day at the very moment they said they would be there. They may not have patience with me and my on-going project, but they certainly have the knowledge, the experience, the artistry, the ethics and.......God love 'em.....the generosity of spirit to lend their precious time and energy to applying the cedar to the ramp and porches. And talk about patience? Ask Michael about patience and cedar. Putting those boards side by side by side.....wasps buzzing around your head.....air compressors blowing gaskets.......nailers going haywire......getting locked out when they needed to be locked in....yes, they've got it.

These friends, who prefer to remain nameless for the time being (for fear of being inundated by other desperate, displaced homemakers with project lists and agendas) could be playing Pitch, shopping for khaki pants at TJ Maxx or enjoying the days with their extremely supportive, beautiful, and exciting wives.......and, instead, here they are.

I feel like Ms. Universe every time I walk up or down this ramp. Can you imagine the genuine "pain in the neck" that went with those cedar boards on the porch ceiling? And, there's more to come......

Michael prepared the ramp, the porch and deck for my "volunteer" work crew.....who refer to themselves as Frick and Frack.....to apply the cedar wrap.

Great looking wood stove chimney....canoe and kayak at the ready...... OOOOOOPS. I thought I could add all of the pictures that told about getting the new wood stove. For some reason, I can't include them.....the stupid @#%*&)** blog won't cooperate. I'll try to do an amendment to this one with just old pictures. Dang. And you're thinking, "What wood stove?"

Deck and porch getting ready for the cedar.....chimney standing by. What's that chimney for?

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Those couch pillows in such disarray........that merely indicates a big time the night before. A big time: ten o'clock news and a chocolate-covered-mint Eskimo pie.I only got to use the Scan wood stove three or four times before it started warming up. The last three fires were certainly better than the first, but I can see why people like these things. It takes so little fuel, compared to a fireplace, to get the same result......with such a lesser degree of maintenance. Hmmm. I guess you could say that I like my wood stoves like I like my people. And vice-versa.

What wood stove?

This is where I try to figure out my Webster Electric bill each month. It's a lot like reading a Beirut subway schedule, I think. I read my meter......I figure it out....I send in my check.....and then I get A CORRECTION NOTICE AND AMOUNT DUE. Story of my life.
Michael is going to drill some holes for wire-hiding, and that will help this space look better I think. It's okay. (Right this minute, I am out on that porch that you can see through the NEW SCREENED DOOR......with a card table, a computer, my rolling chair, the river gurgling below, a Great Blue Heron honking, and that's definitely more than OKAY.)
Once, when I was living in the rental house in town (for 13 years!), I went to Eureka Springs for a weekend. I pulled in the driveway, when I got home, and there was a new garden beside my house. I had made no secret of the fact that I didn't want any houseplants, no green stuff to water or feed or fertilize......and some people just didn't think that was American.....or right. As much as I hate to admit it, I grew (so to speak) to really like that garden.....mostly the mint and horsetail. So, here we go again. Same friend. Same plan. Same hard heads involved on BOTH sides of the pick ax.