Summer is Running Away - Toads, Ferns and the State Fair

It's August, and time is already running out on Summer. DH is stressing majorly about that because he still needs to build the woodshed and move the wood into it before the snows fall. I'm stressed because he's stressed - it's how things run around here- LOL.  

We have these little toads all over our property. They'll hide from
hard rains and thunderstorms in our window wells and they're
always looking for a safe place. This small and the world has to
be a big, scary place. Here, this little toad is trying to get into
our shed door. Too bad, little guy. The door was closed and
you'd probably better find a different home - one with food
around for you to eat. 

I think Sunday will be filled with a big trip to Home Depot to pick up a bunch of wood supplies and rent one of their trucks to get it home. He's vacillating on whether or not to pour concrete footings. While he's been debating design, he didn't want to buy the materials. But he's done everything else, and Renaissance Festival starts the weekend of the 18th-19th, so summer is running out and his window of opportunity is closing. 

The front yard window wells that lead into my laundry room leak during
hard rains - sometimes really badly - threatening to blow the
windows in from the water pressure. The ground needed to be
re-leveled and lowered, so that was yesterday's project. Here the
ferns have been temporarily pulled and he's lowering the
surface of the soil. 

It's not that he's not working. Yes, the sod has been laid, and so far most of the rolls (except for a couple of really crappy rolls) seem to be settling in well with lots of water and TLC, but there are other projects pending. Yesterday he worked on the front yard. We have had flooding and water leakage issues through our front window wells because the drainage was bad. Yesterday he pulled all of the ferns and worked on regrading the front. 

After he was finished regrading the front window well, this is
what it looked like before he got to work replanting the ferns
all lined up in a row waiting to be put back into their homes.
The ferns will look crappy for a while, but hopefully will have
survived the experience and come back next year happy and big. 

The first photo is how bad things were before he started the regrade. The second photo is after he was done, before he replanted the ferns. It's near the end of fern growing season, so our ferns will look crappy for a while, but hopefully they survived the stress of being temporarily uprooted, and will come back next year happy to unfurl and show their stuff. 

The local newspaper is filled with stuff about this year's State Fair. They announced the new foods a month or so ago, and yesterday there was a huge article about 27 new craft brews that will be featured at various venues. Bring it on! I love the State Fair, even though it spells the firm end of our summer. I'm actually submitting one item of beadwork into Creative Activities this year. I haven't entered anything for years, but I had something ready that I wasn't too ashamed of putting out there on display. I've got my registration printed out and it's all boxed up. It should be a quick in-and-out on the 12th to drop it off, then I'll get back to working on the back yard for the rest of that day. 

So that's how the end of my summer is shaping up. How about yours? It's rather crazy to look at August as the "end of summer", but around here, in the Frozen Northlands, that's reality. We'll still have some hot days, and some thunderstorms will still pass through, but we're on the downward slope of the seasons now, and it's starting to feel like Autumn is in the air. Crap! LOL - I'll be back tomorrow, have a wonderful Friday.