Outside my window!

Work is being done outside my window today. This orange tree produced abundantly every year for decades and the oranges made the best juice you've ever tasted. We believe it was part of the original ranch's orange grove and was probably here when the house was built in 1951. But it's been dying, little by little. Not long ago we spotted piles of very fine sawdust at the foot of the tree and chunks of bark were peeling off... it was being killed by termites! Or so we thought!

This is what we found inside! Not termites but carpenter ants! They are just as destructive. If I had a better close up or a video of this stump, you would see thousands of ants crawling out of the center! It was disgusting and made me want to scratch an itch that wasn't there! YUK!

The gardener and his helper made good work getting rid of it and they're hauling all of the cut wood to the garden waste center.

Before they fill this in, they're inserting some Termite/ant sticks in the hole and in the top layer... that should take care of these pests!

Much better looking!

Now I'll have an unobstructed view of the yard from my sewing room. I had the gardeners put my large poinsettia planter in this spot. This is a plant I've kept alive for the last 5 years; I cut it back aggressively in Feb/March, replenish it's food and soil and it hasn't disappointed. One year in September I built it a tepee that I would drape over it every evening and remove every morning to get the leaves to change color. It wasn't necessary; the leaves change naturally in late December or early January and it looks spectacular. Just not before Christmas!

Meanwhile, daughter no 2, our rocket scientist, (she's an engineer and works at SpaceX), came to visit this morning to work on Lolah! She has a project that needs quilted fabric so she got a quick introductory lesson then she was flying on her own with little supervision.

She was done in no time at all, quilting some patriotic fabric with wavy lines across the width using Perma Core red on the top and dark beige on the bottom. The backing is navy.

Not bad at all for a first shot at longarm quilting. Once she gets the proper measurements for the piece, she'll return to use the regular sewing machine. I promise photos of that! It's really cute! Did I mention this is for a friend's birthday gift and he's in the armed forces? 

Before I leave you to return to my sewing room, I have to show you another picture of our "pet" hawk who has returned everyday since that first sighting! I took this one yesterday... for a brief period, he was sitting on the roof of the pool house but flew up here when I got too close. He hardly looks like the same bird... looks darker! I say "he"; it could very well be a "she"!! What do I know... It's free entertainment...

And lastly, HAPPY BIRTHDAY wishes to my little grandson who turns 5 today! 08/08/08 was a great day when you entered our lives! Grandmaman & Grandpapa love you very much! We miss you... Have fun today!

Toodles,

Lorette

Barn Project

Maritime week #2 was spent cleaning in a different way!

At the "other" old farmstead, my mother-in-law's birthplace and our summer home, on the shore of the bay in southeastern NB, the barn was failing and needed to come down. My husband had been making arrangements all week while I was in northern NB dealing with clearing our my parents home. Here is the barn sporting the flag on Canada Day... the project began later that week. It was no longer cold and rainy but hot and humid!

It was our intention to save as much lumber as possible but not all the lumber was in good shape... perhaps taking it down 10 yrs ago would have been ideal but we were not ready to do that then.

My husband purchased 2 van trailers for storage: one for the wood of the barn; the other for another project.

A local guy was hired to demolish and try to save as much as possible.

He estimated it would take a day... it took 2 full days! He underestimated...

the amount of old hay left in the barn...

... the amount of old farming equipment inside and out in the field...

the baler...

the potato planter...

the thresher...

These machines are antiques and a local collector of farm machinery gladly acquired these and plans to restore them and then display in a museum.

Other farm equipment pieces were junked for the metal!

Twenty nine loads were hauled out!

We managed to salvage enough wood to fill 1/2 a trailer... This is the beginning of one of three piles.

We salvaged the doors...

some old shingles for future decorative projects... 

And we transplanted a little tree in memory of my mother-in-law on the north side of the footprint of the old barn which was built by her grandfather from lumber cut and hand hewn from the lot. The tree will border the site of a future garden.

I think she would be sad to have witnessed this loss but pleased that we have salvaged some of the wood for our future cottage.

RIP Mum 

04/30/2013

The Maritime Way!

Well it's been a busy and emotional 3 weeks in the Maritimes! So glad to be home in So.Cal. and having some time to relax in front of my computer and sewing machine!

The first week was spent clearing and cleaning our parents home since the new owner was arriving in early July! That meant getting ready for a huge garage sale. We emptied one home, one garage, one dollhouse and a barn! The garage sale was advertized for 3 days starting on Thursday June 27th! The weather didn't cooperate... it was cold and rainy starting the day before the sale... our most important day getting ready sorting and arranging the seemingly endless amount of stuff our parents accumulated over their 65 yrs of marriage and raising 5 daughters!

What made this wonderful was the great support from friends of the family who came to purchase... our garage sale ended early after 1 1/2days despite the rain! There was nothing left! We enjoyed a terrific lobster feed (100lbs) to celebrate, a tribute to our father's yearly event on Memorial Day weekend; he would set it up in the garage using sawhorses and planks as a table.

It was an emotional goodbye! We kept it together until we were ready to leave...

We were saying goodbye to our favorite gathering place!

But I know how to recapture those memories in my mind and my heart... all I have to do is hang clothes out to dry...

Toodles!

Lorette

Smell of home

When you do laundry, do you hang your clothes out to dry or do you use the dryer?? I grew up with a grandmother, a mother, and aunts who used a clothesline.

 there seemed to be clothes on the line everyday even in winter!

You can even see clothespins in this picture!










The fresh smell of clothes dried on the line is one smell that always brings me home to memories...

I remember the good times we had growing up...























I remember all the cats that grew up with us... Our cats were all barn cats... few of them were allowed inside!







I remember...

School days...

Sundays....

  Winters...

 

 The little house Dad made for us to play in...

Lots of mowing... OH the smell of freshly mowed grass...

 As we grew up, married and moved away, had children, I remember how important it was for the kids to be together...

 I remember the family reunions...

I remember... Mom and Dad and the love they had for all of us. How lucky we've been to have had such beautiful parents!

RIP Dad... 01/2006



















RIP Viki... 01/2013



















It will be hard to empty the old homestead to let the new owner create her own memories but these are the memories I revisit every time I bring in clothes off the line! And the smell of home and its memories never die!

Lorette