Roommate Reunion

On Saturday we were treated to a visit from Joel's college roommate, Dan, and his son Ben.  They came up from Connecticut to check out Colgate and Hamilton and swung into Rome to see us as well.  Although we had limited time, we were able to catch up AND give them a tour of the house.  If Ben chooses either school his family will always have a place to stay!

I am so happy that the weather has been conducive to outdoor work these past few weeks because Joel and I have gotten quite a bit done.  While he continued to spread the topsoil on the east side of the house, I raked the entire back lawn and disposed of the leaves and twigs over the berm on the west side...30 or so full wheelbarrows...I have the callouses to prove it!  Then Joel disassembled the lakeside stone wall of the garden and rebuilt the upper wall with those stones and others that he moved from all parts of the property.  My job over the weekend was to tamp down the little balls of dirt in the newly spread topsoil to prepare it for seeding.  I started with a 10 pound tamper, but quickly realized that it was too heavy and cumbersome.  I switched to a garden rake, then a pointed shovel.  All too awkward.  Finally, the answer came to me and I began to shuffle over the dirt, totally ruining my sneakers but definitely getting the job done.  If anyone was watching they would have seen me do Michael Jackson's moonwalk, the Texas 2 step and my personal favorite, Riverdance!  On Sunday the dogs came to help, and ended up getting right in the middle of my performance stage.  We finished the area last night by spreading the grass seed and tossing on some straw just before the big rainstorm hit.  Perfect timing.

Steve and Larry continue to make progress with the in-floor radiant heating system.  Check out the Command Center Steve has built in our basement to manage the different zones.

Meanwhile, Spike is almost done with the back stoop, and Shay is still busy installing the vents for the AC.  I took a peek in the attic yesterday and saw the huge handler with the double drip pan to prevent overflows from condensation.  That happened in our other home forcing us to replace the soggy ceiling twice.  Never again...fingers crossed!