Almost Caught Up

Whew!  After this post, I will have totally caught you all up on what's been happening.  Sorry for the barrage of posts.  I will try to keep a more consistent post schedule.  

OK, first up is our picnic table.  Last month, Jim's grandmother gave us her picnic table.  It had a rough winter and wasn't in the best of shape.  I would rate it code red for splinters.  I decided to take the project on myself and borrowed my dad's electric sander.  I spent an afternoon sanding it smooth.  I then went out to Ace and bought some deck stain.  Unfortunately, I think they mixed the color up wrong because it turned out way more orange than I wanted.  I had picked out a medium brown shade, but I just rolled with it.  I wanted to get this project done.  I spent another afternoon staining it.  I was quite dirty by the time I was done.  I gave all surfaces one coat of stain, but I gave 2 coats to the seats and table top.

Here is a pic of the finshed picnic table.  I'm sorry, I forgot to take a before pic.

I'm quite proud of my accomplishment.  Thanks, Grandma for the picnic table!

I wanted to show you the cool rock that Jim's mom found while working on the hedges.

I think it looks like a slice of bacon.  Mmmm!  Bacon!  ^_^

I was a little worried 2 weeks ago when the city started repaving our road.  I didn't know how long it would take, and road construction always seems to take forever.  I was concerned that our guests would have a difficult time arriving to our housewarming if there was construction.  Well, it only took them a week to do it, so now we have a nice new road to show off to our guests.  Woot!

I love gazing up at the moon, and it was particularly lovely a few days ago.  I attempted to take pictures of it, but they of course don't do it justice.

However, I think these are the best ones I've ever taken.

I've also noticed that the fireflies are out and about already.  I was mesmerized the other night watching them in the fields across the street.  They literally made the fields sparkle.  I also made a wish that night on the first star I saw.  It was a lovely wish, but I can't tell you what it was.  I just hope that it comes true some day.  It is the same wish I always make.

Next up are some wildlife pictures I've taken.

I managed to get closer to a chipmunk while I had the camera on me.  I think I caught him off guard.  I especially like the middle picture, but you'll have to click on it to see it larger.

Just yesterday, I had remarked to Jim that I was surprised we hadn't seen any rabbits in our yard yet.  Well, low-and-behold, this one hopped out of a bush in the the backyard this afternoon.

And last but not least, a pic of one of our black squirrels.  I think this is the best one I've taken of them so far. They usually hang out near the very back of our yard and run up a tree before I can get close enough to take a decent pic.