Labor Day Weekend

Long holiday weekend means time to accomplish some things around the house. Still power washing, washing windows, trimming bushes, and cutting firewood in preparation of winter to come.
 

The white beauty berry bushes are having a good year.

After 12 years of living here, I finally put on my gloves and started ripping off two layers of heavy metal screening on the sunroom door. 

The beautiful metal scrollwork can now be seen clearly. There is still screening and with the metalwork I have no clue why they would have put up more layers, but it's all gone now.

This is what was on the door. 

Obedient plant in full bloom.

On Saturday we wanted to see the progress in Chimney Rock. Passing Lake Lure was very sad, looks like a war zone and the flowering bridge is now completely gone. Very sad to see.

The entrance to Chimney Rock State Park, one of our favorite places to frequent, we even had our yearly pass, still blocked off. The bridge over the river to get into the park gone and no sign of work being done to rebuild it yet.

Thankful the original historic rock work still there. I was afraid that was all washed away, too.

It's been a year, so much is still in ruin. We finally got our bridge open locally a few weeks ago, they still are cleaning up trees along the roads, but take a drive just 20 minutes west and things haven't changed much.

Sunday, Cherie Hucky's trainer came. A big day!! After three months of separation and working with Persia to overcome her fear, they were going to be introduced. I was very nervous, afraid Hucky might hurt her. He's a bulldozer and she's tiny. 

When Cherie said to drop Hucky's leash my heart was pounding. She was up there waiting though and I think she was ready to meet him face to face.

It couldn't have gone any better! They both like each other, they play all day now and are very tired at the end of the day.  Persia is now coming in and out of the house on her own. We still can't walk toward her and pet her, but she follows us everywhere. 

Everyone says we have made great progress with her in just three months. Eventually we will have to get her used to the car, other people and then maybe we can board them both at Noble and still have that vacation I have planned on for so long.

Another scary step I took was removing the harness and 20 foot lead I've had on Persia for the past three months. I would take it off each night telling her she would sleep and feel much better with her "bra" off LOL. She is totally braless now and seems to like it, can run faster, but is missing that little bit of protection from Hucky's teeth!!

I feed the crows every morning with corn tortillas and peanuts. I have one crow that I talk to and he seems to like it, let's me come very close and listens. Bob found a crow that had passed in the front yard where I feed them. The day before he was sitting on the stump and I could tell he was not well. I believe this is the crow I talked to since I have not seen him since. I will miss him and hope I get another to make friends with. Bob came home with this card, he always finds the perfect cards and I have it next to my espresso maker to remind me of my sweet crow every morning.

Fourth of July Weekend

   A stay-at-home Fourth to accomplish some long awaited chores. I bought this power washer a while ago and finally got it out to start cleaning EVERYTHING. 

  I started with the black, slimy brick walks that I'm sure have never been cleaned, and Bob thought I was having so much fun he wanted to try and I couldn't get my power washer back!
 

So that's how you get a guy to clean!! Buy them equipment! 
 

I couldn't believe how great the bricks looked without any soap. We may do round two, but right now the first round includes brick walks, the brick courtyard, brick walls, then the painted walls, skylight windows, then down to the farmhouse to wash the whole place, even the porch floor before we oil it. I got the power washer because my friend Cher told me instead of scraping the peeling paint on the ceiling a power washer would take it off, and she was right. I did a test yesterday. Even Persia is looking at the bricks and is impressed.

At this point I gave up on the garden with the high heat for weeks and no rain. No amount of watering is the same as a good drenching rain, and things look awful, but I do have a few tomatoes.

And a few cucumbers.

And sunflowers.

We also finally put up the iron decorative corners I found at the antiques mall down at the farmhouse. 

AND introducing "Hucky" (he came with the name Huckleberry, not a name I would have given him). After losing Geisha and Timber in May, the PLAN was to take some time off from having dogs and travel in Canada for a few weeks. I had been working on that trip for quite sometime. I was to meet my friend Deb in Pittsburgh and go to Falling Waters, stay at the Industrialist Hotel while Bob shopped for books, then go to Niagra Falls and just go from town to town from Niagra on the Lake to Quebec and back.  Nothing ever goes as planned.

AND introducing "Persia". Since we now had 8 month old Hucky, he needed a playmate, and Fabby asked me to foster Persia who was in a KY shelter. We thought she was just scared at the shelter, but she is unsocialized and it's been three weeks and I am just starting to make friends with her. She is still not with Hucky and I am hiring a behaviorist to work with them and get them together. Hucky is going to Noble Dog Doggy Daycare to learn how to play nice with others. He was there today, I can watch him on the cam and so far he is doing well there with other dogs. He only had one timeout today for pestering a three-legged dog he wanted to play with and she wasn't having it and he would not leave her alone. So now with two dogs, the trip was going to be more difficult. My passport was ordered over a month ago, and I got a letter this week the agent at the post office didn't sign it, so I have to do the process all over again. Another glitch as it takes 6-8 weeks to get your passport. And today Bob was at a neurosurgeon talking about surgery. So I don't think it was in the cards to travel this September, but we WILL do that trip eventually!

All in all a good Fourth of July despite the heat!!!

Amelia Island Day 2 Fort Clinch

 This place was awesome. Didn't know it was on the island, really takes you back in time. Great ending to a few days away.