A Texas city girl in a small New England town …
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Since Kevin’s homemade Christmas tree got positive feedback, he installed it again in 2008. The same year, I decorated a Christmas wreath for our girls.
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… to be continued …
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Kevin came for a visit today. After I took a long-needed shower, we went to the Healing Garden on the 7th floor of the Yale-New Haven Hospital. It’s not very big. However, the garden can be a nice little oasis. At this time of the year, it’s mostly grayish/brown or snowed-in white. I was amazed to find a blooming Rhododendron bush in this cold weather. There is a water feature. But it is not running due to the Winter. On the mulch, between some plants, painted stones with motivating quotes can be found. Some of the trees have cute painted birdhouses hanging from their branches. The birds seemed to like them. They might overwinter in these birdhouses. It was great to get some fresh air outdoors. For a week, I spent most of my time in my hospital room. It was a welcome change.
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~ 12/05/2021 ~
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In the Christmas Season of 2006, Kevin, Katelynn, and I visited California. Since we celebrated the 60th Anniversary of Kevin’s grandparents in Anaheim, we stayed an extra day to go to Disneyland.
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In December 2007, Kevin installed his first outdoor Christmas tree made of Christmas light chains. Everything was held up by a PVC pipe.
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… to be continued …
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I’m still at the hospital. But I am now in much better shape than when I came into the Waterbury Hospital ER last Sunday. Now, I’m sitting in a chair in front of my laptop, writing this blog in my Yale-New Haven Hospital room. What a journey it has been so far, and I still have a long way to go. Let me tell you what happened and what I know so far.
Saturday night, we’ve got the Christmas tree decorated in the front room. I stepped with my camera outside to capture photos of the tree in the front room window, when I began to feel nauseous. I took some deep breaths to no avail, feeling better. I went back into the house to put my camera down, telling Kevin how I felt and that I was going to the bedroom upstairs. After resting in bed for about five minutes, I had to go to the bathroom. I had really bad diarrhea and blamed it on the hot dog I had eaten earlier in the afternoon. But when I looked at my bowel, I noticed something concerning: it was dark brown, almost black. After I lay back down, I could sleep for two hours. I felt fine until I turned on my side. I was sick all night. And in the morning, I had the same color in my vomit. I let Kevin look at it to confirm if it was blood. He wasn’t sure, but looked concerned as well. That’s when I said: “I’m not messing around with this. I want to go to the ER! A doctor needs to see this. Especially knowing I’m chronically anemic.” Kevin agreed with me. Later that day, I found out that this was a lifesaving decision.
In the ER, I got a bed fairly quick, granted, how busy the place was that day, after I stated: “Nausea, vomit, diarrhea with the possibility of blood in vomit and stool”. After a CT scan, ultrasound, urine & stool samples, and a couple of other bloody puking episodes, I’ve got an answer: “Pancreatitis with the possibility of an ulcer in my stomach; not even to mention my portal vein”. At that point, Kevin and I knew I would stay in the hospital overnight.
In the following days, more tests were done. And I kept finding out more as we went. Meanwhile, the doctors put me on an intravenous liquid diet to keep me hydrated. No water, no food for three days, due to tests and healing. On Monday, I’ve got an esophagogastroduodenoscopy done. Later, I found out I had some bleeding in the esophagus and a stomach ulcer. The doctor also discussed my history of portal vein thrombosis, the possible cause of a hemorrhage and narrowing in the portal vein, and that I might need Transjugular Intrahepatic Portosystemic Shunt Insertion (TIPS). A team of doctors began to communicate with a team of gastroenterologists at Yale-New Haven Hospital about my health situation. On Wednesday, I found out I’ll get a ride to Yale. While waiting for my bed in New Haven, I was finally put on a Clear Liquid Diet. Thursday night, a room and a bed were ready for me. And I arrived at Yale at about 1 am on Friday. At 4 am, a doctor discussed with me my health situation, more tests, the TIPS procedure, a possible timeline, etc., and I pressed for some iron infusions as well. WTH, I lost a lot of blood already. And my hemoglobin level is in the basement. I do not want another panic attack episode due to anemia ever again. It sucks!
Since I arrived in New Haven, I’ve had another CT scan done, can eat on a regular hospital diet, and found out a bit more about my portal vein problems. Unfortunately, I have another blood clot in my veins. But the GI doctors will discuss more, how they will put that shunt in my vein to keep it from bulging out, bleeding, and narrowing due to a former nasty blood clot, I had back in the Summer of 2018. I will stay very positive because I feel I’m in good hands with a great GI team here at Yale. Doctors keep me updated as they go. Due to today’s medicine and technology, there is a great possibility that doctors can remove the clot while they do the TIPS procedure. The nurses are wonderful in both hospitals. Now, I’ve got the weekend off with tests and can relax a little bit. There is not much that I can do other than follow the doctors’ advice to have a positive outlook, eat and drink on a hospital diet, take my medication, and keep my mind busy by reading a book, watching TV, writing my blogs, and communicating with family and friends online. One doctor said, “We will have you fixed by Christmas. This will be your Christmas present.” Well, it will definitely be a very nice Christmas present. I can’t think of a more precious gift than a healthy life.
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~ 12/04/2021 ~
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Christmas 2003 was bittersweet. It was Katelynn’s first Christmas, but it was also our last Christmas in Germany.
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In December 2004, we had a Dallas Holiday Wish Celebration. The Beach Boys had a concert, and even Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, and Pluto came to visit and sing and dance in front of Dallas City Hall. I have it all on videotape footage and didn’t capture too many event photos.
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In 2005, we bought our house in Texas. The same year, we celebrated Christmas/Yuletide in our new home.
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… to be continued …
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Some of my followers probably have noticed, I haven’t been posting for several days. Last Sunday, I ended up in the ER, and have been at the hospital since. I’m doing okay with what is going on. But I will write a detailed blog once I’m back home and have recovered a little bit. In the meantime, I’ll keep it easy and wait for my procedure to be done in New Haven.
~ Tanja💗
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~ 12/02/2021 ~
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~ 11/04/2011 ~
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This morning, we experienced our first frost of the season in Connecticut. But this didn’t stop Kevin and me from driving to the Kent Falls State Park and doing a little mid-morning hike along the falls. We made sure we wore an extra layer of clothes. And up the trail, we went. The part of the Kent Falls, seen at the bottom of the trail, is only a small portion. The falls have a total drop of 250 feet. Since they wind around the corner, they can’t be seen simultaneously. Kevin and I had to hike up a steep trail to get an idea of how big and how long the falls were running through the hill. Unfortunately, we still haven’t reached the top. However, the part of the trail we’ve hiked was so worth it.
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– 11/03/2021 –
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Kevin told me two deer were in the forest when I returned home from picking up Sara at school. So, we went down to the upper tree line to check if they were still there. And sure enough, the two young ladies hung out on our property. Deer #1 kept her distance at the other end of the tree line while Deer #2 hid behind a tree. It took us a moment to see her. She was well camouflaged in the forest. Smart girl! After we watched them for a while, we guessed Deer# 2 got spooked and made a leap onto the neighbor’s property, where she was waiting for her sister to come along with her. Soon, they were gone in the underbrush of the forest. Kevin mentioned getting a deer blind. We can watch all kinds of wildlife visiting our property. We still haven’t seen Bruno the Bear yet.
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– 11/01/2021 –
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This afternoon, I took another peek at the leaves in Echo Lake Park. And with sadness, I have to say, the “Leaf Peeping Peak Season” is over. Here and there are trees still dressed in Autumn leaves. A lot of them are bare, now. I can tell that November has arrived in New England. Well, I will enjoy what is left for the rest of the season, before I experience my first real Winter in almost two decades.
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~ 11/01/2021 ~
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Kevin, the girls, and I went to a couple of fun events that season. Finally, we made it to “Boo at the Zoo” at the Fort Worth Zoo. The weather was perfect for some Trick-or-Treat time. And Sara had a Halloween Party at her daycare, where she could play games, have hot dogs, lemonade, and cake. Once in a while, it’s fun to splurge.
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In 2013, we decided we wanted to register for the “Family Fright Night Camp Out” in our city. It’s an annual event on the lake peninsula in Stewart Creek Park. We brought our camping gear, Halloween decorations, and lots of candy. The event has costume competitions, Halloween decoration competitions, scream competition, Trick-or-Treat, Movie Night, etc. The girls loved camping in the park. For the Halloween season, I carved five pumpkins. Three we used for the above event. And then I carved another two for the girls on Halloween.
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… to be continued in October 2026.
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After I dropped off Sara at school, I drove to Echo Lake Park. I wanted to see how far Autumn had come along. Two weeks ago, there were barely any signs. Now, it looks quite different. Let’s give it another week or two, and the green might be completely gone. The dew and the fog helped to give it an Autumn feeling at the lake. A half a dozen ducks and a bunch of Canada Geese enjoyed this sunny morning as well.
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– 10/12/2021 –
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Katelynn loves going to the pumpkin patch because she can jump in the bounce house, go on hay rides, and pick a pumpkin. Sara just enjoyed crawling around between the pumpkins. Every pumpkin had to be tested by giving it a good slap on top. We also went to the Pirate Days. Unfortunately, “Boo at the Zoo” got rained out on the day we went to the Fort Worth Zoo. But it wasn’t the end of the world, either. The girls got out and had fun, anyway.
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Aww! 2011 was one of my favorite Halloween Seasons of all time so far. Katelynn had a crush on “Marvin, the Martian” and wanted to marry him. That’s right. She loved this Looney Tunes character so much that we had to get her a plush Marvin. She said she wanted to become an Astronaut and be the First Woman on Mars. Over the years, her idea of flying to Mars has changed. But she still wants to be a Paleontologist, now.
Sara was the cutest little garden gnome I’ve ever seen. It was her first Halloween, and she could walk to the houses. But she still had a hard time catching up with her older sister. Her little feet were not fast enough. So, she called Katelynn to wait for her: “Kaitin, Kaitin! I want to go T’ick-o’-T’eat with you!” Sara wasn’t scared of any monsters either. Since we always made a big fuss out of Halloween, she must have thought it was normal.
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… to be continued …
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Before I drove Sara to school, I warmed up the car and captured some photos with my Nikon. The sun just rose above the horizon when I could see the fog past the trees in the valley. While we had no fog up on the hill in Watertown, Oakville was covered in a blanket. Sara’s school is about 300 ft lower in altitude than our home. The Autumn fog looked so pretty this morning.
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~ 10/12/2021 ~
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Katelynn wanted to help me with the pumpkin carving. So, I’ve got her a little pumpkin she could play with and get the pumpkin guts out. She always loved to say: “We need to get all the pumpkin yikes out!” And then she played with the gooey inside of the pumpkin.
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Sara was only twelve days old when we celebrated Halloween in 2009. She was such a cute little Pumpkin. Katelynn wanted to help with the pumpkins again, while her little sister took a nap. Katelynn was very proud of being a big sister. She really enjoyed taking Sara out for her first Trick-or-Treat. All bundled up, we walked through the neighborhood and collected candy on this cool October night. The fresh air was good for the little munchkin.
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… to be continued …
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There are still many emerald-colored trees in the forest. However, the golden colors become vibrant as October continues. I just hope we will get some crimson mixed in as well. Nothing in sight, yet. But I don’t give up hope. It’s still too early to say how the leaves will be at their peak in another week or so.
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– 10/11/2021 –
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… This Halloween season was completely different from last year’s. Katelynn was excited to go to “Trick-or-Treat”. She knocked on the doors with a happy “T’ick-or-T’eeeeat”. Since she couldn’t pronounce the “r”, the neighbors thought she was adorable and gave her a lot of candy. After three houses, we had to walk home to empty the bag before we could go out there and get more candy. Oh my, so much candy and no meltdowns anymore.
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In 2004, I heard about the Munster Mansion Replica when I watched VH1 while I was preparing dinner. I talked to Kevin about it. And one weekend, we drove from Dallas to Waxahachie. When we found it, we looked at it. The owner, Charles McKee, waved at us, and we waved back.
A couple of years later, I read in the Dallas Morning News that the McKees have these weekend tours right before Halloween. Kevin and I got a babysitter for Katelynn, and down we went to Waxahachie again. They used the big parking lot in front of a local school. A school bus and a limousine were busy around the clock, picking guests up and dropping them off. It was a long wait. But once we were on the property, we had a lot of entertainment. One of the firebreathers asked me to pull a nail out of her nose. I replied, “… before this happens, I will pass out.” Everybody in line was laughing. 😊
Once we made it inside the mansion, we were not allowed to capture photos or record any film. It made us pay more attention to the tour as well. If you like to see photos and documents, you can go to the official website and check it out for more information. Here is the link:
https://www.munstermansion.com/
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In 2007, Kevin had to go to Trick-or-Treat with Katelynn. I was still recovering from a knee injury and would rather stay at home. It was fun. Katelynn was dressed in her “Snow White” costume and received plenty of candy, while the neighbors and I were busy giving out candy. I have to admit, I missed the door-to-door walk that year.
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… to be continued…
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– 10/07/2021 –
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This was Katelynn’s First Halloween. She was only 27 days old when I carved the Kitty pumpkin for her. The story behind the pumpkin itself can be found here under this link:
https://underthewhiteoakleaves.com/2022/10/01/my-jack-o-lanterns-2003-2007/
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Katelynn was at the Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch for the first time. Oh, she had so much fun playing with the straw. Kevin and I had to fish it out of her clothes later. She was so busy throwing the straw in the air, it went everywhere. The next day, we dressed her up as a lamb. I made the costume myself. The head was a bit big for her. She enjoyed going to Trick-or-Treat with it.
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It was the first year we celebrated Halloween at our new house. I made a DIY-Diddlina candy bag for all the goodies we would receive from going to Trick-or-Treat. On the other hand, Katelynn was still little and a bit unsure if she really liked this whole “Trick-or-Treat” thing. When we walked from door to door, she wasn’t very happy. Once she had some candy, it wasn’t nearly as bad anymore. But she did not like the door-to-door walk at all. A year later, this would be a whole other story. …
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… to be continued …
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Kevin and I hiked in the park for a little bit. Unfortunately, I had the wrong shoes on. We didn’t make it far on the trail before we turned around. But we enjoyed the slow change of leaves. When we walked past a fish pond, Kevin saw a chipmunk and wanted to see where it hid after he went up a small hill. He found an entrance to a den. When he walked down, something jumped against his leg. Kevin looked closer and saw it was a frog. The little Pickerel Frog was patient enough for me to take some photos before it leaped across the trail to get back to the pond. Beautiful critters, we see when we go outdoors.
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~ 10/03/2021 ~
Kevin, Katelynn, Sara, and I visited the Goshen Fair yesterday morning. The Goshen Fair happens annually on Labor Day weekend. With Fair rides, prize-winning livestock, vendors, and food trucks, there is much to see and taste. The girls were excited to go on all these rides. Due to COVID-19, it seemed like an Eon for them to enjoy a day at a fair. We ate some fair food. It was nice to get something, not necessarily fried, like at the State Fair of Texas. Kevin got some popcorn and munched on that while we walked around. The livestock was so adorable. One of the roosters’ cock-a-doodle-dood every time someone entered the barn. I guess it was his way of greeting everyone. The piglets were so cute. And the Llamas reminded me of Disney’s “The Emperor’s New Groove”. There were also cows, alpacas, bunnies, sheep, and many more animals.
We also wanted to support some local businesses. I’ve got some honey and found out that the lady who owns the beehive is from Watertown as well. How much more local can it be, getting fresh honey from a backyard beekeeper only two miles down the road?! Katelynn got herself a nice alpaca poncho. Sara couldn’t get enough of those fidget poppers. And before we left, I bought a felt pumpkin guy. I’m such a sucker for Harvest, Autumn, and Halloween decorations. All of us enjoyed the few hours at the Goshen Fair. With the beautiful weather and perfect temperatures, the fairground got crowded quickly. It was time to leave.
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~ 09/05/2021 ~
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This evening I walked around in the yard, looking for photo material. And I was not disappointed. From Acorns to Sedum, I found quite interesting September material. Autumn makes its entrance very slowly. Today I saw that our birch tree began changing its dress from Summer green into Autumn gold. The acorns and samaras begin to drop to the ground more frequently. The hostas display their last blooms. And the sedum has a beautiful pink to show off in our wildscape garden. Since Ida’s visit, we have cooled down considerably. Autumn shouldn’t be too far away anymore.
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~ 09/03/2021 ~
It seems I got myself confused over the last few months. I’m still unsure what kind of apples we are growing in our front yard. I’m leaning toward “McIntosh” instead of “Crapapple”. We still might be guessing for a little while. All we know is that these apples are delicious. Kevin, the girls, and I usually eat them right there, where we pick them. There is nothing better than a freshly picked apple.
~ 09/03/2021 ~
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A few days ago, “Ida” was a Category 4 Hurricane making landfall in Louisiana. It has weakened to a Tropical Depression and is causing a lot of rain in New England. So far, we have been on the path of “Elsa”, “Fred”, “Henri”, and “Ida” during this storm season. And we still have three months to go before the Hurricane Season 2021 is over. Well, we “enjoy” the ride Mother Nature has in store for us.
~ 09-01-2021 ~
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This Labor Day weather is so beautiful that Kevin used the opportunity to work on his shed a bit more. Kevin ran a little short of shingles this weekend. We’ve got some more, while it was raining yesterday. The shed roof is almost done. Soon, he can begin with the interior shelving. While he works on that, I can caulk and paint the shed. It’s something I can do while he’s at work. Everything looks great so far. It’s not perfect. However, it is sufficient for storage without needing to worry about critters or a storage tent collapsing due to a major storm. It turned out to be a cute building tucked away across the house.
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YEEHAW! The assembling of the shed is DONE! Once it’s caulked and painted, Kevin will finish the framework of the doors. But I want to paint the doors first before that happens. Yeah, the lawnmower and the snowblower are out of the garage. My tubs with the seasonal decorations found some space in the shed, too. Once we are done unpacking all our household goods, we can park two vehicles in the garage. The shed was so needed.
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The garden shed is one of the best investments and is worth every penny we spent on our new property. My seasonal decorations fit perfectly along one side of the shed wall. The camping gear is on the top shelf under the roof. Kevin’s tools can be stored in there. And our lawn/snow equipment fits perfectly on the shed floor. Everything is in its place and looks needed. Therefore, the garage doesn’t look cluttered. We can finally oversee our stuff. And don’t need to look around in every box to find it. It makes life easier, not harder.
~ THE END ~
(09/06/2021, 09/13/2021, 09/19/2021)
All the roof panels are up. The roof’s front is shingled. For the rest, we have to wait until “Fred” passes through New England. If that’s even the case. Currently, meteorologists are making their predictions about the potential path of the tropical storm. Nothing is set in stone.
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Kevin shingled the roof some more. It surprisingly made it through Tropical Depression “Ida”. The shed stayed inside. He also installed the windows and the door. Kevin noticed that the asphalt on our driveway was too high when the door was in place. Therefore, he couldn’t open the left door all the way. He had to cut about an inch and a half off the bottom to make it fit. Once there is a trim on it, the cut will barely be recognizable. Let’s hope he gets the shed done this weekend, latest by next weekend. We need some room back in the garage.
… to be continued …
(08/17/2021 & 09/03/2021)
Kevin got all four walls up. And he is ready to install the roof soon. It already looks like a building. If I didn’t know better, I’d say. The chipmunks were calculating how many acorns could fit in that shed. They keep checking it out when we are “not looking”. I wouldn’t be surprised to find a whole family in there when Winter is over and Spring arrives next year.
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With some help from our next-door neighbor, Kevin got more work done on the shed. Now, the roof sidings, the roof, and the vent frames are up. Because of the heat wave and the night breaking in sooner, Kevin couldn’t get as much done as he wanted to finish this week. But he installed more framework and got the lawn mowed before the relieving rain and the cooler front came in this afternoon. We are supposed to get temperatures in the upper 50s (about 14 – 15℃) tonight. It’s time to air out the house and eliminate this mugginess.
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Since it was much cooler, Kevin installed almost all the roof panels and some of the waterproof shields nailed to the roof. He could also put some of the pieces in the shed, so Katelynn can park on the driveway again. Now that the shed starts to look more like a building, I can’t wait to see it finished. I have that feeling, it might be constructed before the original arrival date. The shed is supposed to be delivered by the end of August. Yeah, I think Kevin gets it done before that.
… to be continued …
(08/09/2021, 08/14/2021, 08/15/2021)
Our garden shed arrived yesterday, one month earlier than we originally anticipated. It is supposed to arrive at the end of August. So, the plans for getting the master bathroom done have to wait for now. And since the weather was perfect. Kevin used this weekend to start assembling the shed. He made sure he had all the pieces and tools he needed for the building. Yesterday, he worked on the base frame. Today, he leveled and built the floor before he assembled the front entrance frame. After six hours working on the shed, Kevin had enough and needed some rest. His ankle is swollen and on ice, again. But he got something accomplished. It might go slow, but it will go steady. If he works on it for an hour or two every day (weather permitting), he will get it done in no time.
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The last few evenings, Kevin always worked on his project for about an hour. Monday and Tuesday, he could finish the front wall. That took the longest, because of the window and door spaces. So, he needed to make sure, the studs were exactly lined up with the siding. This evening, he worked on the back wall. The frame and the siding were done in no time. Tonight and tomorrow, it is supposed to rain. We have to wait until things have dried up a little bit.
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Kevin finished all the wall frames and installed two of them, today. The other two should be up in no time. Then the tricky part will be the roof frame. He’s getting there. One nail hammered in at the time. As of right now, the half-finished shed reminds me of the back walls of an oversized diorama box, my kids used to bring to school.
… to be continued …
(08/01/2021, 08/04/2021, 08/07/2021)
Under The Harvest Moon 