okra: Busy, busy

I have been pretty busy lately, as evidenced by my lack of posts. I've mostly been working on various house projects. We are STILL painting our front porch. A long succession of rain storms kept us from finishing up. But, this weekend was mostly sunny and warm, so we got nearly all of it done. And man, it really looks better! It looks like we have a real porch, instead of some strange structure made from odds and ends. The previous owners had constructed it partially of old bunk bed pieces. The white paint covered all of that up and now it actually looks nice. Plus, no more bees! We still have to paint the railing and the floor, though. I got a portion of the railing painted this evening. Scraping off the peeling paint and covering up the rusty parts really helps...

I've also been weeding and planting around the yard. I cleaned the patio, and I have the lumber to build a raised vegetable and herb garden. It is all cut to size, I just need to assemble the parts and get the soil delivered. Arrrrr, so much to do. I also have 6 bags of mulch that are still in the car, ready to be used around the patio.

As it turns out, we have to have a new roof. I just signed a roofing contract Monday. The guy we signed with is a very friendly fellow, though somewhat "folksy". He has been in business for many years, has a good record, and an excellent price, so we went with him. In fact, I'm quite relieved because his price is so good that we won't have to pay out any money out of pocket. Our insurance will cover the entire cost. They are supposed to start on either Friday or Monday. So, hopefully that will be completed before our landscaping starts next week. Yikes.