Lovely Summer.

Summer is lovely so far. Very few bugs, unlike last year when we couldn't sit outside very long because of the swarms of mosquitoes that tried to consume our bodies and all the aggressive, nasty wasps that got in to our little cottage. This year is almost bug free. We are having a few days of super hot weather but then it will cool again. I'm not great with heat this high but am thankful for limited bugs.

We have some items on our "landscaping task list" that we need to tick off, now that the festival is over. I've started to work on the deck, which needs to be scraped, sanded, then re-stained. It's a little too hot to stain. I may have to do the prep work, then stain it closer to Fall when it's cooler. Tricky to work the timing to do this but would love to have it off our list before the snow comes back. We also need to work on installing the final row of fencing and the gate on our picketed veggie patch. Next is talking to the greenhouse about our apple trees that have never given us apples - hoping they will honor the guarantee and replace them. Then we'll be working on filling the last of the empty spaces with cedar chips so we don't have weeds to pull. I need to order more chips and may stop in today to get this done so we have them on hand. We do a section at a time and the transformation is amazing! We have to lay the bricks in the front to create our new walk way and figure out what that looks like in the back and along the side as well. Can't wait to see this part done. Last thing on our list is to work on our greenhouse. The wind was not kind to it this Winter, despite the notation that it can stand high winds. Um, no. But thankfully, it was free so we'll find a way to get it back to working order so it doesn't just sit, as it currently is. 

Future thoughts for our property include adding shutters (our builder was supposed to but claims we said we didn't want them, even though they are on the list and on the plans, clearly visible), window boxes,  a garbage can receptacle and finally, the gate and driveway. Our drive is currently gravel, which has its appeal but we also like the idea of a smooth finish, so looking at either concrete or blacktop. Likely an expense for next year but we'll start the conversations now so we know the cost. Not cheap, I'm sure.

Always so many things when you own a property. For us, the hard part is having events, work and general like in between trying to get our list down. When I look at what we had in the beginning and then where we are now, I'm very proud we've got it down now to just a few items. Lots of hard work has gone in to putting this all together. We are enjoying it and hope to get the bits done this year and next so then it's just maintaining it all. So relaxing now to sit on the deck (that never existed), to look out on the work we've done (from scratch) and see our garden blooming (all dirt back then), and feel accomplished. Always something will need work or to be tweaked but it's finally showing what our true vision was and now is. Worth all the time!

Today I have the day off. It's usually Fridays but my newest counsellor would have been all alone tomorrow (I know he'd be just fine) so I switched days so he has another colleague in the building if anything comes up. Turned out to be a good move as our team member who is on maternity leave is now coming in tomorrow for a visit and to talk about her return to work, so I'll get some sweet baby snuggles in! Dh is working out at the moment, then it will be my turn, and the rest of the morning I'm going to do some paperwork and emails, then we'll load up our car with festival items, drop those at our office and head over to the cafe. We're meeting three amazing dear friends who are part of radio station to chat about our upcoming "birthday bash" and the future of the station. After that, dh has some blood work at the lab, then we'll likely head home for dinner and a quiet night. In between, I need to get outside to water our plants. 

What are your grand plans for this beautiful, warm,

cloudless, sunny, endless possibilities  Thursday?

~ Chy