The kitties are back on

and will arrive tomorrow afternoon. They will be quite the travellers coming all by them selves. We looked around the basement to see if there are any danger zones for two new scared cats and blocked them off and otherwise will bring them in and hope all goes well. It will be a bit of a transition for our old kitties but since every one is used to other cats it should work out fairly well.

ME

oh so sad the kitties aren't coming

At least just yet. Apparently the FAA in their infinite wisdom has declared an embargo on flying with pets both in Denver and in SLC. Now this is apparently because there is weather coming in. Well, checking on the weather site the only thing I see is the lows tonight dip to 40. The flight Kris is on comes in at 7:30pm the sun is still up at that time and it's clear skies and sunshine in both cities forecast today.

SO there will be some sort of shuffling and hopefully it will all work out. It's still going to be great to see Kris, I just hope now it's not a hassle cause everything else is up in the air.

So just to be nice to her I told her I would take the litter box out of the guest room. LOL

ME

good people and funny times

There has been a recent upswing in people I know signing up for facebook. It's like the good friends from my old AK employer are reaching out to those who have moved on to other jobs or places, and a whole rash of folks are now signed up and struggling to learn all the silly applications facebook has.

I so miss them all.

Not that I mind being here in UT. Today it got up to 50 degrees. Yesterday with a little spring storm we got 4" of new snow that 99% melted by afternoon. It was so nice today we did a little edging on the lawn project. We got both sides of the driveway and the sidewalk on the front of the house done. This has obviously not been done probably ever and man, it looks so much nicer already.

Tomorrow our daughter arrives and it's supposed to be up to 60 degrees. I will admit here and now that I'll probably miss the longer days up in AK. But UT has a lot to offer a person so the trade is ok. Plus, evenings should be way neat, dark and warm. YES I know summer isn't here yet and I will probably absolutely seek a hole in the ground somewhere. But hey, getting out today and doing a small little bit of yard work only got us a little sunburned. (our poor AK skin) Actually the darn yard needs mowed. Yup we gave up AK to do yard work! ; - )

While I was cleaning out some old files in the computer I happened onto some files that I could not help but peruse through. One of note was the remodel of our basement. MAN ALIVE. what an ordeal that was. Actually there was a hell of a lot going on the last two years or so, we were up in AK. Between getting the garage built, the basement gutted and completely redesigned and rebuilt, several great friends and family visited, our youngest daughter got married, Terry had surgery and then cancer treatment, travelled to OK and built a deck for our Daughters landlord and best friend, Saw George Strait, we planned for and jumped through ALL the hoops for an addition on the house to actually tearing off the back deck to start only to get a call the VERY NEXT DAY that the position here in UT is open and do we want to do this, to changing directions, finish up what we can on the house, paint, stain, more paint, and move, and drive, and deal with kitties, and give away Goldie, and put poor Sammy down, and now we've been here 6 months already. that has been a blink of an eye.

The first 6 months of AK didn't quite go so smoothly. I don't care what anyone says, you don't just live IN Alaska, you LIVE Alaska. Every day, especially in the winter, is survival. I'll never ever be sorry for what we did there.

That's enough for now. sorry to blather on and on.
ME

The reason

We have the fattest robins in the world here and there is also not a worm left on the street, sidewalks or driveway. Now I know why! LOL

ickie

we had heavy rains last night and woke up to a zillion earth worms that are stretched out over all the paved surfaces. Big and little. It didn't do this last fall when it rained and we had some doosies so maybe it's a spring thing. ICK.

Paver project status (or not)

well as you can see there has been a change in the weather which made a change of plans on our paver setting project. What a difference a day can make.

We actually had about 4" of snow today. Started out pretty warm and we decided to head to Sandy (south Salt Lake City) for breakfast out. We got into blizzard conditions near the point of the mountain and it continued to snow hard till we got out of breakfast.

From there we took the back road home and basically ended up driving into the back of the front and into some pretty good slush on the road.

Now, our street and sidewalks and driveway are bare and dry and there is a few inches on the grass left. Just another spring day on the west flank of the Rockie's!

We'll try for the pavers next week.

ME

PS: neither of us is terribly sore today. Will wonders never cease!

paver project

OMG we picked up 65 pavers that measure 4 x 8 x 12. I think they weigh a gazillion pounds each but Terry says more like 20. No Way! A 50 pound bag of sand seems lighter than these pavers. We have laid the pattern down in the dirt and maybe tomorrow will bring them back up and toss sand at them so we can level them up. In a short spot we'll add more dirt. I have a sneaking hunch I won't be able to pick up a tooth pick tomorrow.

We brought home the pavers, a 12 foot long treated 4 x 4, 5 bags of sand and some edging material. OH and we now are the proud parents of a hedge trimmer. Never needed that in AK. LOL

Now this is what it looked like before we unloaded the mess and started working on this.

Here is Terry getting the 4 x 4 x 12 measured and cut. Notice the mountains in the background. This is looking east. Figured as long as I can frame the picture that way why not take advantage of it. ; - ) We needed to add the timber to the front of the shed so we had an even edge to place the big ol pavers. Reason for this is the dick head that set the shed didn't listen to Terry and we had to deal with (or overcome) other cement pads that the shed is resting on. No there is NO moving the shed. Once we bolted on the treated timber we were set to dig out the sod and do a rough lay out.

This is roughed in and will be leveled tomorrow or the next chance we can. We still need to add the row off the patio as well, but this was certainly the lions share. All of this gives us at least somehow to get out of the shed without stepping in the nasty mud here. The mud here is like stepping in dog shit. The only difference is it doesn't stink. But it sure sticks to EVERYTHING forever. Just like dog shit.

Till we can pick up something heavier than a toothpick .. .. .. ME