What A Surprise for Le Tour de France, and the Woodshed Is Complete

Who could ever have guessed that the entire Tour de France would be altered so dramatically with just a time trial? Time trials are usually a part of Le Tour - both individual and team, sometimes both and sometimes just one or the other. This time trial, held on the day before the procession into Paris, had a steep end climb for the riders and two friends and countrymen battled it out on the slopes. 

From the left: Primoz Roglic, winner of 2nd place in this 
year's Tour. Tadej Pogacar, winner of Le Tour after an outstanding
time trial where he picked up more than 57 seconds on Roglic, 
and Richie Porte, 3rd place winner, who said his only goal 
for this year was to have a photo of himself on the Podium in 
Paris. Well, here you go, Richie! 

The holder of the Yellow Jersey and assumed winner of Le Tour, Primoz Roglic (Slovenia) was the final rider. Just before him was the young phenomenon and fellow Solvenian, Tadej Pogacar. They rode for different teams, but were best friends, and Pogacar's 22nd birthday was upcoming within a few short days. Pogacar had already managed to nail down the King of the Mountain Polka-dot Jersey, as well as the Best Young Rider's White Jersey, but he rode like a man possessed, with an incredible ride that ended up giving him the trifecta - The White and Polka-dot, of course, but also the Yellow Jersey and the absolute win of Le Tour de France this year. Roglic, who had worn the Yellow Jersey for eleven days, ended up in second place, with Richie Porte of Ireland coming in third. Fabulous! Absolutely fabulous! Sam Bennett of Ireland ended up beating long-time rival Peter Sagan for the Green Jersey (Sprinter's Jersey). 

Here's what the woodshed looks like fully loaded. I know 
several people have asked "Why the staggered roof line?" 
DH wanted to make it more Frank Lloyd Wright style 
because it's more visually interesting and he knows that 
I adore Frank Lloyd Wright. I'm not arguing - it's 
absolutely beautiful. Now he's planning some above-
ground planting boxes for my strawberries, closer 
to the creek bank. 

I wasn't watching the final day - the ride into Paris. We were busy loading the truck up with wood for the compost yard, taking the wood out there, and then doing a final clean-up of the patio area. Later in the early afternoon we took a break from watching the US Open Golf and some really bad football and sat on the patio for a while. It was cozy and nice and seemed a bit alien - I've never sat there without the wood stacked all around me before. It was oddly exposed. Of course, we have a large maple tree that overhangs the entire area so it's a place of high-shade. That will make choosing plants for next year quite challenging for DH. 

Looking North, to my left as I sit at the patio table, it's
a far different sight than I'm used to. There's open dirt 
instead of stacked logs. The plants, that had been pushing 
up against the logs, now look sparse. DH will have lots 
of planting to do next Spring. 

Looking from a different angle, you can
see all of the open space that once held
wood. All of this will need to be planted
with shade-loving plants. It'll keep DH 
busy over the winter while he figures 
out what might be best. 

Dinner was wonderful, as I had planned. The ribs cooked up perfectly and the potatoes and cole slaw were exactly what I had wanted. All in all, it was a very pleasant Sunday, topped off by "Van der Valk" before sleep. But today I dive back into routine once again. Have an excellent Monday and enjoy your day. Be safe, be kind and please, wear your mask. I'll be back tomorrow. 

Le Tour, the Woodshed and Ruth Bader Ginsberg

Le Tour de France for 2020 wraps up this weekend with a personal time trial on Saturday and the ride into Paris with the final sprint to victory on Sunday. I haven't watched as intensely this year, but what I've caught has been excellent and the intense COVID preparations have all worked out. The crowds have been smaller, but the spectators were still there to cheer on the riders, and the commentators, although distanced, were excellent - clicking on all cylinders. I'm quite pleased with this year's Tour and am delighted for Slovenia who, with only two riders in the Tour this year, managed to put on a splendid show. I'm sure that small country has been glued to their media during the Tour. 

Saturday's stage of Le Tour de France is an individual 
time trial with a steep run up to the finish line. Here's where 
a Tour can be lost. Time trials rarely determine the 
winner of a Tour, but a fall or a bad ride can certainly 
determine a loser. 

On Sunday the Tour wraps up with the traditional 
ride into Paris and sprint race around the Champ-
Elysees. I'm not sure if I'll be watching, I might be 
helping DH move wood into the shed instead, but 
I'm amazed and delighted that the Tour managed to 
be run this year of COVID. The changes worked 
and the riders and spectators were kept as safe 
as possible. Well done to all! 

The woodshed is almost 100% completed now. DH finished putting the side boards on yesterday and after he puts a couple of back braces on today, he can start moving the wood over from the garden (where it's been stacked for more than a decade) over to its' new home. I'll probably be pulled into helping him on Sunday, but hopefully he can get a lot of it done today. 

The woodshed is 99% completed now. He wants to 
put a 2x4 back brace behind each of the two end 
sections to strengthen them, and then the wood can 
start getting moved from the piles into the shed. 

Just to remind you of why he built the woodshed, the 
entire back of the castle walls are stacks of cut wood 
from trees we've pulled down over the years on our 
property. It's our hope that we'll actually be able to 
get our chimneys checked out, re-flashed and get 
chimney covers, and then have fires in our 
fireplace in the den once again. We've certainly 
got the wood for it. 

We decided to celebrate our wedding anniversary on Sunday and DH left the menu up to me. He bought the food yesterday and is already complaining about my menu choices. What did I choose? I wanted ribs that I could cook in the crock pot (easy, minimal fuss), Au Gratin potatoes - the kind you bake in a casserole dish in the oven and cole slaw from our grocery store's deli. He grumped that he would have preferred corn and mashed potatoes, but I wanted something that was lower carb. I'm quite happy with my choices and I'm looking forward to my meal. 

I wear my Ruth Bader Ginsberg shirt often, and I'm wearing 
it today in tribute of a great woman who was strong and 
took no nonsense. Her presence on the Supreme Court 
will be sorely missed. 

Of course I can't end without saying how very sad I am at the passing of a great woman - Ruth Bader Ginsberg. RBG was an inspiration for so many, a steady voice for civil rights and the rights of the individual on the Supreme Court. Now we have to hope that filling her place won't be done by the current President because that could be frightening. Cross your fingers - we need the position filled, but not until the elections have been held and the after-election fights have ended. 

On that note, I'm out of here. Have an excellent Saturday and enjoy your weekend. I'll be back on Monday - at least, that's the plan. Be safe, stay well and please, wear a mask. 

Le Tour Starts Towards Paris and the Shed Nears Completion

Only three days left for this year's Le Tour de France. Today we leave the Alps behind us as we have a hilly day heading out. Tomorrow we have a personal time trial, and then Sunday it's the ride into Paris and the final sprint around the Champ. I'm rather amazed that we managed to get here. The various postponements, the changes of dates and many options/paramaters that were put into place because of COVID, and the general thoughts that it just wasn't going to happen. But it did, and it was glorious, as ever. I hope you had/have an opportunity to see at least one stage of this year's Tour. It's going down in the record books as one of the hardest tours ever. 

Today's stage of Le Tour de France is hilly, but we're 
really away from the big mountains of the Alps and 
we're starting to head towards Paris. 

DH finished the shingles yesterday, put up the flashing, and then started putting up the side panels. After he finishes the sides today, he'll start moving wood from the various piles we have throughout the upper yard into the shed, clearing out lots of space for new plants next year. It's all full shade, so we won't be able to plant flowers that need sunshine, but he's been researching possibilities for us. It will be nice to have the back walls just a little lower once the logs have been moved. 

The shingles are on, the flashing has been applied 
to the fronts and he's starting to put up the side 
walls. We're doing slats for the walls because we 
still want air to be able to circulate. 

DH is leaving our choice of menu for Sunday up to me - a minor but delightful Anniversary gift. I think I want crock pot ribs, baked potatoes au gratin and some cole slaw. Add in a beer or two and it might just be the perfect day. I might even get a row or two woven on my shawl. 

It looks darned good (even with the misc boards 
still strewn about). We have some clean-up to 
do - pieces of shingles that were cut off, bits 
and pieces of tarpaper that need to be put into the 
trash, etc. Then we need to load up the wood that 
we've had stacked behind us as castle wall 
extensions. It's sturdy and it's quite lovely. 

I've been pretty good - getting at least one row woven on my shawl every day so far. Of course, there are hundreds of threads, so at the rate of one per day, it'll be more than a year before it is finished. Still, it hung on pegboard or was stashed on the floor for more than three decades. I don't think more than a year to finally finish the project is asking too much. LOL

On that note, I'm putting in two photos of how the shed looked when DH was putting things back late last night. It's hard to believe that it's almost completed, and I'm thrilled with the look. He's done a great job. Have an excellent Friday and I'll be back tomorrow. As always - be safe, be kind and please, wear a mask. 

A Somewhat Lazy Sunday

DH had a very busy Sunday while I actually took a lazy day - something I don't get very often. He woke up and immediately after his shower, got dressed and went to the grocery store. He usually goes on Monday mornings, but today we're taking his truck in for a six-month servicing and there would be no time for shopping. He decided to go first thing in the morning on Sunday instead. As soon as he was home and the groceries were put away, he changed clothes and went into the backyard to work on the woodshed. 

Sunrise is my favorite time of the day. Each day starts 
out with so much promise - an unmarked slate that 
will be filled with chalk marks by the time we go to 
sleep that night. What will you write onto your chalk 
board today? 

The shingles are now on the East and West sections, but the middle section is turning out to be harder than expected. I was admonished to let him know when it was 11:30 so that he wouldn't miss the first football game of the season, and I settled down at my weaving for a few hours while he dealt with sharp knives and tar paper. By 11:30, he was putting the final strip of replacement tar paper on the center section and then we started cleaning things up. We had everything put away properly before the game started. 

There is no Tour de France today, it's a "Rest Day" for 
the fans and riders. Of course, everyone will get more 
COVID tests today too, so we'll hear tomorrow if 
anyone will have to be pulled from the race. So 
far things have gone smoothly, however, so I'm 
hoping for the best. 

This is tomorrow's stage. It looks wonderfully 
knarly. We're entering the Alps now, so the BIG 
mountains. I can hardly wait!!! 

I returned to my weaving after a while. Green Bay was offering the Vikings a football clinic and we were doing horribly. So I started another load of laundry, cleaning the mattress pads I had used to protect my tomato plants during our frost warnings a few days before, then setting the washing to self-clean after that load was in the dryer. I actually got quite a bit of weaving done in bits and pieces throughout the afternoon and early evening. 

We had hardshell tacos for dinner last 
night. So good! We haven't had them for 
at least six months, so it was a real treat. 

After a meal of tacos for dinner (very yummy), we separated again until close to 8:00 pm when we settled down to watch a new PBS show - "Van Der Valk". We found it quite good, it certainly kept our interest for the 90 minutes it was on, and I'm looking forward to next week's episode. Of course, it's on "Masterpiece Theatre", so the standard is only 3 or 4 episodes per title, but that's just about perfect. When adding the new season of "Vera" that started on Thursday, I'm a happy person, even if I sacrifice a bit of sleep over my watching them. 

I gather, from reviews, etc., that "Van der Valk" is not really 
a new show, just new to us. Either way, I really enjoyed 
watching it and I liked the cast quite a bit - they jelled 
very well together. 

On that note, I'm out of here. We're taking DH's truck in for a checkup this morning, and I still have some things to wrap up before we head out for the day. Have an excellent Monday and please, be kind to others you may meet today, wear your mask, and stay safe! I'll be back tomorrow. 

Bicycles, Shingles and Loom Work - A Busy Two Days

Today is a rather boring day of La Tour de France, somewhat flat as the riders begin their cross-country ride towards the Alps. Their two days in the Pyrenees were wonderful, and I hope you got an opportunity to see some of battles in those famed mountains. The big question for all right now is will the Tour go on? COVID-19 testing occurred on Sunday and on Monday. Apparently the Tour Director is testing asymptomatic, so his assistant will take his place, but the team tests have not been released yet. As of the time I write this, all teams are still in the race, but that could change with  single positive test. I give you the stage profile below before jumping into a review of my own two-day weekend. 

Today is a day for the sprinters. Look at that ridiculously flat profile!
Thank goodness we'll have mountains again by the end of the week. 

DH and I (well, mostly DH, to be fair) worked on the woodshed for most of Sunday and half of Monday until rain pushed us indoors Monday afternoon. DH actually got quite a lot done. Sunday he spent putting tarpaper and drip guards on each of the three roofs. Monday was spent on shingles. Apparently it will take 11 rows of shingles for each panel (a full pack of shingles). He'll make sure the patterns mirror each other from the two taller sections, and that the mid-section is more of a meld of pattern. He's feeling much more confident about roofing with shingles now that he's done a bit of work with the one side. 

Sunday morning, this is what the woodshed looked like. Bare pressboard
sheets for a roof, nothing more. We had tarped the roof overnight to
protect it from any moisture. Now it was time to tarpaper. 

It was cold. Sunday the temperatures started dropping and on Monday the temps were in the 40's. He wanted me to sit outside and watch him to make sure he had help if he fell off the roof (he has occasional dizzy spells), so I bundled up in my long-sleeved t-shirt, a hoodie and a blanket. I was still cold, but a nice cup of tea helped. We gave up when the rain started, and after he cooked burgers on the grill, we dried off and had a relaxing evening. 

After the day on Sunday, we had tarpaper on the rooftops and
drip guards appropriately placed on the sides and backs of
each of the units. The front and the little bits of the center
section will get flashing instead of drip guards. 

I wanted to share a project that I've resurrected. I've been getting more into fiber again. In the early 1980's I was spinning fiber a lot, and one of the fibers I loved to spin was silk on a handspindle called a Takli. It's a small, brass spindle that's made to introduce high-twist into silk or cotton. I used to use it all the time, I rather miss working with it. My goal, was spinning silk for a triangular shawl. I spun a LOT of silk and made a mini-loom to try various weaving techniques and patterns to see what I wanted for the finished project, finally deciding to weave it as a simple over/under weave. It's BIG, though. The final loom I built measures 4-foot square and the actual fabric will be 44 inches from middle-back to hand. 

On Monday DH started putting up shingles. He's never
done shingles before, but by the time the rain forced a
halt to the work, he'd done pretty well and it was looking
really nice. 

I had started weaving this when my Aunt Hedda died. My mother, who hated dealing with or acknowledging death in any form, finally let me know about the memorial service less than five days in advance (thank goodness I was able to get Bereavement Fare pricing for my flight or I wouldn't have been able to attend the memorial).  When I returned from Denver and after cleaning out my Aunt's house and dealing with family crap, it took me a while to settle down. I put the loom aside and didn't pick it up again. When we were redoing the craft room last year, DH hung the loom onto pegboard hooks, and there it stood. I hadn't picked it up for more than 30 years. 

I set my loom up on the work area I use for my
painting (you can see all of my paints in the small
white bottles behind my silk threads). Each thread
you're looking at is actually four separate threads tied
onto a single nail. The small woven part at the bottom
of the loom is what I've woven so far. The weaving
edge of the shawl will follow that white line from
bottom right to upper left. 

It's been perched in the back of my mind now that my hands are able to handle fiber once again. I picked up the loom yesterday, perched it onto my worktable (my paints are clearly visible in the background of the photo) and grabbed a tapestry needle. I analyzed what I had done and where I had left off, untied the next thread, and started weaving. Before DH called me outside to supervise him and the shingles, I had woven five threads across. I'm working on that project now, and have the time for weaving in each row down to approx 35 minutes. That's pretty darned good, and I'm so pleased with the look of the fabric. When I finish this, it will be outstanding. 

So, that was my two days off. Today it's back to the grind. We'll be in the 40's for most of today, and then slowly start warming back into the 60's and low 70's by the weekend - at least that's the promise. We'll see if that's really going to happen or not. Have a wonderful Tuesday and please, be kind to others. Everyone needs kindness and joy in their lives. 

It's A Holiday Weekend - Two Stages of Le Tour to Share

I'm not attending the gym yet, but I'm working out every day anyway. I've been staying away from the barre for the past week to give my pinched nerve a chance to recover, so I've been on the treadmill every day instead - lots of fast walking. Today I finally managed 1-3/4 mile before quitting for the day. I'm pleased. I've been working myself back up to the 2 miles I used to do on the indoor track at the YMCA. A few more days and I'll probably be there once again. It's a long way from the days of my cast and crutches in May - thank goodness. 

I might not be a fan of the treadmill, but I'm sure using mine right now.
I'm on it six days a week while my pinched nerve heals. After I'm
back to normal, I'll drop back into my alternating schedule and only
be on the treadmill three days a week. 

Of course one of the reasons I can spend boring time on the treadmill (there's nothing exciting about fast walking - it's totally a drudge) is that I listen to my audio books while exercising. I've been re-listening to a series I've loved for years. The author just introduced a new book into the series a couple of weeks ago, so I've been listening to all of them. I just started Book 3 yesterday, and there are eight in the series. I'm set for listening materials for the remainder of the year - LOL. 

We're into the Pyrenees today, and finally get our first HC category
mountain. I can hardly wait! It's been a Tour with a lot of
climbs so far, but there's nothing like the Pyrenees. 

Today is Day 8 of Le Tour de France, and we finally hit some serious mountains - two days in the Pyrenees. I can hardly wait! I'm curious about the fans. The fans in the Pyrenees are usually totally above the top - absolutely rabid and crowding the riders on hard climbs. Will they be there in the usual numbers? Will they wear masks? How about social distancing? I know the Tour itself has increased the barriers they have along the race routes to help keep the audience away from the riders, but I'm not sure it's going to be possible in the narrow passes of these mountains. I'm giving you the profiles of both Saturday and Sunday. 

Day 9 (Sunday) of Le Tour keeps us in the Pyrenees for our second
day. No HC mountains on this day, but some serious mountains,
nonetheless. It'll be fun watching the boys work their way up and
over these peaks. Monday is a Rest Day, so I'll be posting Day 10
of Le Tour's stage profile on Tuesday morning. 

DH has been working on the roofing of the woodshed. It's hard to do as one person, but he's determined. He got most of two sections started yesterday, cutting and laying the plywood. He's got a long way to go, and is still not 100% firm on how he wants to install the drip guards, paper and shingles. He'll figure it out. 

We have an extended weekend with Labor Day being a holiday. So ... I won't be posting until Tuesday. I wish all of you a great weekend and a good Labor Day holiday. I'll be back on Tuesday, hopefully with pictures of the woodshed to share. 

A Perfect Sunday - Le Tour and the Wood Shed

Sunday's second day of Le Tour de France was an unexpected joy - a mountain stage unusually early on the schedule with two Cat 1 peaks and one Cat 2, as the riders ended in Nice. The views were spectacular - drawing us in to watch for as long as we could before we headed out to work on the shed some more. I'll try to upload a photo of how we left the shed at the end of the day, but basically, a couple of more rafters need bracing brackets and then it's time for roofs and whatever walls he plans. I know nothing about his vision, I'm just the helper when he needs a second set of hands. 

Day 2 of Le Tour had the earliest mountain stage since the late
1970's and it did what mountain stages often do - broke
apart the field. The winner of Day 2 was Julian Alaphillipe
(Deceuninck-QuickStep) with a brilliant ride down the
final slopes for the day. 

We had a night of rain, and I know DH wanted to see how the new drainage worked with the screens, but he was exhausted, and I was exhausted, and the rains came at 2:30 am, so no. I didn't wake him up. I just turned over and went back to sleep. Rain on the roof can be a lovely sound to fall asleep to. 

We're crossing from East to West today, with lots of ups and downs
to keep things interesting. There's a nice flat long run into the
town of Sisteron, so the sprinters will enjoy pushing for the win
here. So far Peter Sagan sits second in the Sprinter's battle. This
might be his time to take the Green Jersey for himself. 

Today's Stage 3 brings us away from the coast and into the middle of France as we begin moving from East to West and the Pyrenees. It's got lots of hills and descents, but it will be a sprinter's ending as the riders move into Sisteron. There are three Cat 3 climbs and one Cat 4, but nothing too arduous (says the woman sitting on the desk chair in front of her computer. Realistically, I wouldn't be able to out-bicycle the worst rider of Le Tour, so who am I kidding! LOL )

Still, it's a Monday, we're racing once again, for at least 9 days, perhaps longer, and I'm quite happy about that. What's up with the 9 days? Well, the riders will be tested for COVID on the first Rest Day, September 7th, and then again on the next Rest Day, September 14th. If any rider's test is positive (and I think the tests will also encompass all of the support personnel), the entire team is eliminated from the Race immediately. If all teams are eliminated, the winner of this year's tour is the man who is wearing the Yellow Jersey at that time. It's really a crap shoot whether the boys will actually make it as far as Paris, but they're doing their best to be safe and conscious of distancing and mask wearing. 

So it goes in this time of Pandemic. Everyone is affected. For now, have a glorious Monday, enjoy your day, and please be safe, stay well, and wear a mask. 

Sunday Was a Lot of Hurry Up and Wait

Sunday was a glorious day - it bordered on too hot by the end of the day, but there was a breeze and periodic fluffy clouds, so all was just about perfect. DH got started on the shed right after breakfast and we worked through until 4:30 in the afternoon, after which we cleaned up and actually went to a restaurant for the first time since April. He was in the mood for a burger and I ended up with a lovely order of fish & chips. Everyone was masked except while eating, and social distancing was practiced. All in all, I think it was a successful first foray into public dining once more. 

This is how things looked at the beginning of the day,
before we got started. The two side pieces of the roof
support are up and bolted into the uprights, but not much
else is done on the section. 

We didn't get as much done on the shed as we wanted. Around 11:00 or so, he started fiddling with measurements and a piece of paper, growling that he needed another massive wood supply purchase. So, off to Home Depot he went, while I settled down at the patio in my chair, enjoying the lovely day under my patio umbrella. 

Here's a straight-on view of the woodshed at the beginning
of the day. I don't think you've seen the center section yet.
That center section is higher than the end bays, and it's going
to hold the smaller branches, etc. He's got a vision going here,
and I'm just enjoying the ride. You can see my cross-fence
neighbor, Bob, in the background mowing his lawn. 

He came back with a LOT of wood, and of course, to put it all away, (some pieces were 12 foot high, so almost to the top of the rafters of the garage) we had to move a lot of wood that already was there and do some rearranging. That was time consuming, but eventually we got all of it done, the new wood stashed, the composite boards next to the plywood, and the extension ladder put back into place. Then it was back to work on the shed, but it was already almost 1:00 pm and time was slipping away. 

By the end of the day, we had finished the roof support
on the second unit, and cut and placed the rafters. We didn't
get the front panel screwed in, and didn't put up the braces for
the rafters that will hold everything together. Right now,
it's holding together with "spit and a prayer" as the old saying goes. 

By the end of the day, we had managed to cut the rafters and finish the framework for the roof support, but it was fiddly work and took far longer than it should have. Even with all of the right tools, etc., things just didn't go smoothly. By the end of the day, when we put everything away and decided to go out to dinner, we had most of the roof done. I still feel we should have put the four screws into the front plate before we quit for the day, but DH was done, so we're relying on the clamps to keep everything secure. 

One thing that I am very happy about is this - I can now wear shoes
properly on my left foot - the first time since the end of April. The
swelling in my broken food has finally reduced enough that I can
fit a shoe back onto my foot without great difficulty. It's an
achievement - LOL. 

So now it's 5:30 am and we have a small storm rushing through. I wanted to put tarps out over the new grass at the base of the woodshed, but it's pitch black and my back door/patio light doesn't extend to that part of the yard, If I can't see to put the tarp down, it's rather a wasted effort, so I'm just hoping the rain won't ruin anything that we needed dry, or cause erosion on the bank where we're trying to grow the grass. The rains will be finished by 8:00 am and we're on the extreme southern edge, but it's still worrying me a bit. 

Have an excellent Monday and I'll be back tomorrow. Remember - be kind, stay well and please, wear a mask. 

Growing Grass and Farmers' Markets

I'm really happy to say that it's Saturday. It's been a heck of a week, and I'm glad I just have one more day at work before my "day off" on Sunday. DH managed to get the angled roof boards around the second shed structure attached yesterday. It's only a single bolt (there should be two), but it's not going anywhere. He also cut the boards for the first floor level, but they're not attached yet. The grass seed he's been nurturing on the base of the shed berm has started sprouting. Hopefully, if the weather holds, we'll have a healthy growth by the end of next week. 

The grass is starting to sprout on the woodshed berm. Once it's caught
hold and gotten thick, we'll be safe from erosion and rain damage, but
until then, we need to be careful and cover it with tarps when the
weather looks like rain is imminent. 

Tomorrow's schedule is to get the roof beams attached to Shed #2 and the plywood roof onto both structures. It's a lot of work that needs to be done, but if we get the plywood onto the top, he can start the actual roofing next week - tar paper, drip guards, shingles, etc. Don't ask me specifics, for this, I know absolutely nothing. I'm just a body helping, I'm not the person doing the work. 

I used to love shopping at the Farmers' Market, although I
rarely do any more. There are local markets, but they open
a little bit too late for me to shop at before I have to go
to work. I'll probably start shopping them again after I retire,
though, since I adore the fresh produce. 

My cherry tomatoes are doing beautifully, at least my "grape" tomatoes are. I haven't had to purchase tomatoes for my salads for a few weeks now. I just harvest every night and it's been fabulous. I do love this season of harvest. The stores and farmers markets are filled with lovely fruits and veggies. I've been enjoying grapes for lunch, cherries for breakfast and blueberries on my salads and oatmeal. It doesn't get much better than this time of the year. 

The inability of FedEx to deliver packages to the
shop during our working hours is really making
me angry. I can't understand the difficulty
in actually coming by a business during
operating hours. UPS and the Post Office
seem able to do it without a problem. 

I have two packages being delivered via FedEx, that I'm having NO luck actually getting. Apparently their driver likes to be in my area before 9:00 am, and refuses to even come to the shop door if he/she sees the CLOSED sign. If the driver actually came to the door and rang the doorbell, I'm usually there and could accept the packages. But no. It doesn't happen. One is more than two weeks late by now, the other is starting well into it's first week of delivery purgatory. I've phones FedEx Customer Service several times, but I'm getting nowhere. I don't seem to have this problem with UPS or the Post Office. I'm starting to really hate FedEx. 

We've had serious server issues for almost a month now. The
developers have been trying their best, but it's like trying
to stop a flood with a paper dam. It isn't working. 

Lord of the Rings Online is having some major server issues, acknowledged by the Powers That Be in the Dark Tower. It's been frustrating to play for almost a month now - ebbing and flowing, but never truly fixed. Yesterday the following came my way and I just had to share. Too "precious"!!! LOL

On that note, I'm out of here. Have a fabulous weekend, enjoy whatever activities you have planned, and I'll be back on Monday. 

A Sunday of Cleanup and Buildup

Sunday was a busy day, although not horribly so. The temperature wasn't too hot and there was a gentle breeze, a nice change from the storms of earlier in the week. The first thing we did was pull the pickup out of the garage and start filling the back with branches that the wind had knocked off our trees. We joined a line at the compost area, but were one of the first eight trucks allowed in and our load wasn't nearly as bad as the truck ahead of us which appeared to be holding the remains of at least one tree. 

The truck ahead of us at the compost looked like it was holding
the remains of a good sized tree. Our load wasn't nearly as large,
heavy and bulky. Almost everyone was depositing branches and
storm damaged brush and I'm quite sure the compost was a very
busy place on Sunday. 

After depositing our branches, we headed back and DH started working on the flooring for Woodshed #1 while I investigated his progress on the eastern drainage. We discovered, during the STORM, that we got backup and problems with the drainage catchment because of leaves and other detritus being carried down from the roof. Although we discussed putting river rock levees in the ditch, we decided to try screening first, so DH laid several pieces of screen down the ditch. 

I don't know how well you can see it, but there's a section of heavy-duty
screen across the river rocks in the middle of the photo. 

He also broadened the catchment basin itself and raised it several more inches in height. I think it will work well, but he wants to see if he can lower it back another 1-2 inches since he'll need to grade the side yard to be level. Every inch of height requires a lot more compacted dirt before we can add sod and grass seed. 

He widened out the catch basin to hold more water before
overflowing. 

He also raised the walls of the catch basin. It's now probably around four
inches or so high. It's actually a bit too high, so we'll probably pull it
down an inch or two, but this should help the flow of water quite a lot. 

After he got the cross-hatched flooring attached and screwed in, we worked together to get the two angled side pieces of the roof framework on shed #2 clamped into position. He'll work on that today, but his major job today is getting sod for the base of the shed structures. He seeded it, and the compacted dirt held up very well in the storms of last week, but we need to anchor the soil into place as quickly as possible. 

The first thing he did was cut the flooring to size and
attach both layers. screwing every board into the
framework or the board below it. It needs to be very
sturdy, it's going to be holding a lot of weight. 

After he was finished with the flooring, we started working
on the roof for the second unit. It's only held in place
by clamps right now, but the angles and the inclination
are almost identical to the first unit. It's a bit harder to
work on Unit #2 because it's up to high on the dirt berm. 

So a trip to Home Depot is on DH's agenda today - a very dangerous place to go - LOL. Then again, the Home Depot credit card is totally his own card, and he pays it, so I don't have issues. Have a wonderful and fabulous Friday and please, stay safe, be well, and wear your mask. I'll be back tomorrow.