Adventures

Well, Dang, Being Outdoors Revealed To Us Things That Can’t Be Left Alone

Shelley

Finally, in Wisconsin, summer is here! That means Mr. and I are in great outdoors mode – spending time in our tea house and yard as much as possible. And working on projects.

As we walk around the yard, we admire the farmer’s early efforts to get ahead in the field with his crops. Unfortunately, they have been slowed down due to the hot & dry weather. Rain overnight has been scarce since mid-late May – early June. On a rare morning when it does happen, it’s easy to see the doubled-up rows in the soybean field.

Not every Memorial Day, Mr. and I have embarked on a project, but when I suggest we do so – it’s a doozy.

With the hot dry weather, I’ve been watering seedlings, plants, and the sprouts of trees we planted. I’m happy to report all are surviving. Only one tree was attacked by a bunny and we had a replacement in the wings to stick in the ground. Watering and checking on them is a daily routine. It doesn’t bug me though, it’s better than watching the snow fall from the windows. I pray that time of year is MONTHS away!

I, of course, record all of the said efforts and make helpful suggestions as every good whip-cracker does.

I plant the seeds and wait and watch for things to happen.

Meanwhile, Mr. ponders the stages of the HUGE project in the shade during the only time of day the project’s activities can take place – otherwise, it is way too hot . . .

I play outside with my camera. And discover that I’ve become quite rusty at my dew-drop photos techniques.

I try.

Back to the (elephant in the room) retaining wall project. If left alone, the larger-than-life as we knew it thirty years ago wall became this summer’s retaining wall project that keeps on stumping us (literally). Sadly, back 30 years ago, I didn’t take as many photos as I do now. As the project moves forward it’s been a puzzling affair.

We’ve discovered the old wall would likely have eventually destroyed a corner of our home’s foundation. So this round I’m being extra diligent in my efforts to record what we’re doing so we can remember later.

Me: “What the heck did we put behind the wall back when you built it 30 years ago?”

Mr.: “Oh, backfill, sand, concrete pieces, topsoil, and apparently your tree’s roots.”

The wall had become a haven for bugs, toads, bees, and critters. I’ve seen them all while ‘helping’ Mr.

I carried this little toad below across the yard to transplant him into a new home. The grub, I wasn’t quite as kind to – it involved a shovel and a toss-across-the-yard technique.

Meanwhile, Mr. shoveled, tore out the old wall, carried heavy blocks, and pounded in fence posts to make a barricade wall to help hold back the layers of falling fill. The boards he used were from the 2020 rental remodel that literally broke us from the desire to own rentals. But, the wallboards are coming in handy. . .

You see the creepy little face too, don’t you?

The barricade wall is holding strong. We’re not sure how we’ll get it out after building the new wall, but that’s a problem to solve . . . later. Mr. discovered a huge tree root while trying to level out the area to try out the new wall bricks.

A shovel and an axe and it was ‘destroyed’ (we hope 🤞🏻).

Me: “Pose with the root . . . please.”

Mr.: “Okay.”

The next step was to see how tall we needed to build the wall and how far out from the barricade wall we should build it. We as in Mr. I watched Mr. calculate in his head the 360 #s of lifting heavy bricks he did so that we have a sample section of wall to inspire us into finishing it before the snow falls. Who needs a gym membership? Not Mr.

The demo wall was built a bit close to the damaged foundation wall area so fixing that became awkward, to say the least. Swearing may have been involved.

And, yes, for those astute followers of Mr., water damage in the corner of the house took us on a detour of the portion of the house’s foundation wall area needing repair.

Disappearing wood!

After fighting with the siding, etc., and more swearing involved, the area is all fixed, thanks to Mr. holding onto a 4 X 8 sheet of the original wallboard. Don’t get Mr. started on how it isn’t advantageous to hang on to a useful piece of stuff that can be left alone for 30 years!

Mr. found some great stuff that should last another 30 years that he sprayed in the cracks.

After all that fun outdoors, we’re back to where we started before the discovery of the damaged wall that couldn’t be left alone, it had to be repaired.

And, like my last photo I took in May, summer fun is a fleeting thing here so that means you’ll see me (us) back here again sometime when the blogging bug strikes me again!

Post Inspiration – Linda G. Hill’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “left alone.” Use it any way you’d like. Have fun! Along with Terri Webster Schrandt’s Sunday Stills for June 4 The Great Outdoors and Brian at Bushboy’s Last on the Card for May

PS – How is your summer going so far? Are you having FUN? Are you building muscles? Are you playing with your camera?

Published by Shelley

Letting my quirk out one post at a time.

92 thoughts on “Well, Dang, Being Outdoors Revealed To Us Things That Can’t Be Left Alone”

  1. Wow, Shelley, that is one huge retaining wall project. I saw a peek of a ladybug in one of the last pics (they are everywhere this month). BTW, your bugs fit in with this week’s Lens-Artists buggy them 🙂 Funny to look back on how much snow we had all winter and to see the great outdoors at your place now, your yard looks huge, LOL! With all the planting and projects, looks like we may be staying close to home this summer, too, which is just fine with me!

  2. Oh this makes me sad for you. I’m sorry about what you discovered. On the one hand good to know about the problems with the retaining wall/house foundation, but on the other hand WHY?!! I understand your need to monitor this situation closely.

    1. Hi Ally, thank you for your empathy. We feel as you described – good to know and hopefully we’ve repaired it sufficiently enough. That’s the north side of our house and when we replaced the one window on that side we found installation issues that caused rotting wood too that had to be redone. Our house was built in a rainy summer – we’ve been cursed with water issues so many times. You’d think we’d be used to it? 😂
      Great to hear from you – thanks again for the support!! I hope your summer is going well and that your garden is popping with colors that make you smile!

  3. Finding the damage to the home was bitter sweet I guess, at least the damage has been repaired. That wall is a major undertaking! The photo of your home is beautiful, I love the wood design coupled with the brick. Very different from homes down here and every bit like Michigan homes. The lawn looks very stressed from lack of rain, I hope you get a few serious downpours soon!

    1. Yes, John, you’re right, it is bittersweet! The wall project seems to grow each step we take. 😫
      Thank you for the compliments. There are a lot of these 90s houses around. That’s neat that you have them in Michigan.
      Yes – the lawn is so dry & crunchy it’s sad. We hope we get some rain soon. Unfortunately, there’s none in the forecast until maybe this coming Saturday .10 inch. 😭😭😭

      1. .10 of an inch? That is useless! I remember mowing in the 90s at my commercial mowing job. The grass looked like yours all over the place. I’ve never seen a brick and wood home here in ten years but there certainly could be.

        1. I agree, it’s useless. Yes, in the 90s our kids were little and the grass was so dry except around where the kiddy pools were in the yard to cool them off and the dog.
          That’s interesting about the homes – probably due to the heat? The cedar would become brittle too fast?

          1. I’m not sure about using cedar in the desert but I would bet that it wouldn’t last! You’ve got to stand in the desert outside of town and let the 110 degree heat bake you brief. Then you would be sure the wood may not last. 😂

  4. Oh, man. You are taking me back to our previous house and the things we discovered when we decided to reside it. Yikes. I guess better to find it than ignore it. At least it’s a small section…we had to completely take the outside of our stone fireplace down and replace the rotting OSB because there was no wrap on the house. I’m having bad flashbacks. LOL.

    Good luck with the rest of it. Good thing Mr. is handy! (I won’t show this to my DH, as he is already a guy who will “save this just in case we need it someday.”)

    1. Hi Laurel!! Thanks for stopping by to share your good wishes!
      Oh, my, yikes, I would be crying if we had a huge section of OSB to repair like what you described.
      Mr. was very pleased with himself when he found the board. He had to have literally moved it around in his shed for 30 years and it finally became useful. That and the tiny siding tool. I shake my head every time a tool or something shows up that he uses to help move the project forward. I’m frequently filling my photography moments with this question, “I didn’t know you had that tool or part hiding in the garage, when did you get it?” 🤣

      1. LOL. Same! I can’t believe some of the things that appear from that tool room downstairs. 🤣

        1. 🤣😂 I stopped counting how many times I ask, “What’s that for?” or “When did you get that?” 😉 Those items always have a name too. I guess I should be happy he doesn’t ask me anymore about why I needed another pair of shoes 👞👟👡👠 🤣

    1. Thank you, Cathy, we’re thankful it has been fixed!
      I’m grateful for Mr.’s ability to fix so many things. I can’t imagine having to pay for all the things we’ve fixed and built over the years!

  6. I know how these projects can (and often do) go every which way other than the plan. I am sorry for the extra work that has to be done. I also know how heavy dirt is 🙁

    I hope you have a lot of summer and enough shade to get past the project.

    1. I know you can sympathize well with what Mr. is feeling. The last few years’ worth of projects are making us (him more than me) sound like the old folks grunting when we are getting up from chairs! 🤣
      Thank you for the well wishes for summer and shade and the completion of this project!

      1. I have to replace the bed under a stone walk that has been sinking into the soil. It’s going to be slow, dirty work, but I need to get it level again before I have to run a snow blower over it.

        1. That’s a big job too – the leveling part is SO important, so I hear! Every time I see Mr. pondering the next step I think of you and your co-worker’s quote, “The planning is the work!” 😉

          1. I think of that often as well. I had breakfast with him a few month ago. He was happy to hear that the quote had spread. I’m not looking for “level” per se, just level with the grass around it, and no bumps along the way. It’s a field stone walk, so lots of random stones.

          2. That’s great you keep in touch with your wise friend.
            Ah, the don’t trip anyone up kind of level that has character. Perfect!

    1. Yes, indeed. Thank you for the good luck wishes!! Can I hold you to that about the break in the heat? 😂

  8. I sweated swore and grunted along with Mr so he has distant support from here. A very useful piece that didn’t make the garage sales or get taken to the tip. A man like me knowing what to save.
    Do you know what the grub was. It looks like the grub of a beetle to me. I no longer hurt them and let them be as a lot of the world’s beetles are disappearing due to pesticide use.
    Yes I did see the face
    Thanks for joining in Last on the Card Shelley 😀😀

    1. Mr. is mighty thankful for the support and sympathy and encouragement to keep stuff that might/does come in handy someday!
      I believe it is a Japanese Beetle Grub. I don’t care for them and the beetles are very destructive to crops, aren’t they? They eat my flowers when they hatch. 😭😨
      Thanks for seeing the face – I knew you’d be the one to see it!! 😊
      Thanks for the prompt. I see you’re the host for Lens-Artist next week…I need to join that prompt too!!!

  9. Wow, so glad you discovered the needed repairs! We were having some remodeling done in our house (started out as only tile, expanded to cupboards and counters and painting…) a few years ago. Discovered a nasty crack in our foundation. We enjoyed over 5 months in my parents spare room while that fiasco was fixed. But it was fixed! Fortunately, we had the time, a place to say, and an emergency fund to pay for it, as it was not covered by insurance, and it was too long for it to be under warranty. Fun times!

    1. Hi Lisa – yes, we’re happy to discover it and repair it.
      Yikes. . .that sounds like our life when we discover things that need repair. There’s always more! I think owning rentals has helped us be good at fixing the essential parts and being content with good enough to last 30 years so that the costs aren’t as terrible as they could be. That’s helpful especially since insurance doesn’t cover it! Fun times is right 🤣

  10. Bon courage pour la suite des travaux de terrassement. Vous me donnez la force d’ entreprendre de vieux projets abandonnés avant d’être commencés.

    1. Thank you, Anne, we appreciate your encouragement. Our to-do-list is mighty long.
      Good luck on your projects too! 🥰

    1. Thanks, John! Your bug photos are stunning – that moth one! WOW.
      Yes, it’s a big project that will likely consume our summer. If you change your mind about wanting to dig, I’m sure you won’t be turned away 😉

  12. That’s a project. Thank goodness you do have the “man”power to get it done. Nice that he always seems to have a smile on his face for you. Your property really is beautiful and I love seeing the farmland in the background. Hopefully with that behind you, more fun in the tea house and patio because you can. Thanks for linking what is “bugging you” bugs included. Nice that you save some of them. lol

    1. Hi Donna – it’s our summer of love project. 🤣
      We continue to say to each other every year that we enjoy our view. We know that it could eventually end up with a field of houses. 😭
      When our arms and backs are too tired from the work, the patio and the tea house are welcome spots to enjoy!
      Brian asked me what kind of grub…I looked it up and it’s a Japanese Beetle grub. We don’t like those bugs, they eat my flowers 😫
      Thanks again for hosting the Lens-Artist photo challenge – it was nice to visit your blog again!

      1. hahaha. Yes.. the Japanese beetles. Sometimes we have to do what we have to do. Whoever invented the flyswatter is a millionaire. I hate to kill what nature has purpose for…like scorpions. they are beneficial insects, but…a sting would be pretty dangerous for my young grandchildren.

        I am also glad to see you. I quick blogging for quite a while when life got to busy with health stuff and grandkids. It is nice to be back and more active. Thank Shelley. Looking forward to staying in touch more. Happy summer.

        1. Yes, I agree. 😂 Have you invented the scorpion swatter/deflector so that you can make a million too? I’ve never seen one, do they scurry away from screams? 🤔

          I’m glad you’re back blogging too. I’m inspired that you were able to take a long break to do what you needed to do and that it is possible to do so and jump back into the fun when it fit your life best. Thanks – ditto to you! 🥰
          Happy Summer!!!

          1. Thanks Shelley. It’s a great community to be involved with. Ha scorpions are not afraid of anything, except the black light. That’s how we find them, and, they know. lol.

          2. Yes, indeed.
            Wow…I didn’t know that about scorpions – that’s fascinating. I think I’d still scream 🤣

  13. Well, we have an indoor project going to make the bathroom more handicapped-friendly, basically leveling out the shower so there’s no stepping up into it and replacing the tile. Unfortunately, the project has expanded to include tearing out all the drywall and replacing it, because the guy who did the shower around 20 years ago didn’t line the walls with plastic, water got behind the wall and we had mold growing, and, when they went to take the wallpaper off the walls in the rest of the bathroom, he saw that the drywall had developed holes in it. It’s getting to be a much bigger (and thus more expensive) job than originally intended….

    1. Oh, my, John, I know exactly what you’re going through. We had a rental bathroom that the same thing happened. We can sympathize with you and Mary!
      You’re gonna love the mold free refreshed outcome and the easy access to the shower. I hope you have hired a great crew to do the work!

  14. Hi Shelley, thanks for joining us this week! Your post made me REALLY glad I don’t have any major projects underway at the moment! But your bugs made your post a perfect fit for us!

    1. Hi Tina!! Terri encouragement to join in. It’s so fun to see the Lens-Artist challenges are still going strong and I’m happy you welcome back bloggers who have been MIA like me 🥰😍🤗

  15. Owning a house, a plot of land is everyone’s dream – maintaining it and dealing with Mother Nature’s weather and “shifts” through the years is not fun. I either didn’t pay attention to what my parents were talking about (house maintenance-wise) growing up, because the constant issues that crop up and need attention sure are discouraging after a while. Kudos to Mr. for all the hard work he is doing. I am okay with beetles, unlike spiders and centipedes. They don’t move too fast for me. 🙂

    1. Your comment about the dream made me smile. Yes, indeed, shifts drift our way when we least expect it.
      Mr. is eating this elephant of a project, one bite at a time!
      I thought of you last night when I saw the ants were marching in our patio door 😣

      1. Yes, sadly that American Dream also turns out to a endless forking over of $$$$$. But it is still all yours, so that is why we do it. I thought thee ants were a pain you know where, but seemed to disappear more quickly. I have had a few stray ants but nothing like the last few years. I hope they have moved on (but not to your house). 🙁

        1. Yes, I agree!!
          We found A LOT of ants and think they were drawn to the oranges we put out for the orioles who don’t seem to love them as much as the ants.
          Big or little – it’s always something to deal with!

          1. Nice! You were hopeful for Oriole pics and get ants instead. The ants liked the mealworms – not fun. They glommed onto the mealworms no matter where I put them. Ugh!

          4. They are invaded fast, it’s quite annoying. We can’t figure out where they’re coming in either. We have sprayed and set out traps but there still invading. UGH!

          5. Ugh – they go everywhere once there is one trail. I even tried the cornmeal and a low dish of water (they eat the cornmeal, drink the water and kind of explode), but they turned their ant noses up at it.

          6. They are relentless – we’ve tried 3 different kinds of traps and they’re still showing up. We can’t figure out where they’re coming from. UGH!

          7. Good luck with it – I hated seeing them in my room too, on the comforter … in the kitchen. Only one side of the house. The side I use the most … kitchen, bathroom, bedroom.

          9. We should have that much energy. I have ear plugs in my ears for bed during “ant arrival” til they depart. Because they are in my bedroom and I see them on the comforter – ugh, I worry they will crawl into my ears overnight. I know it sounds crazy, but ….

          10. I thought I had them all poisoned and gone so I cleaned up the mess, just left out the traps, just in case. All afternoon – no sign of them. I just checked an hour ago and found two new ants. 😣

          11. Not fun – I am hearing an ad for a product for flying insects. You plug it in (like an air freshener) and it is supposed to zap them. I don’t think it works for ants though. Sigh.

          13. I had one crawling up the hall wall the other day. I’d rather see an ant than a centipede which I saw scurrying across the bathroom carpet the other day, but one ant means many more are sure to follow.

          15. Ran some groceries downstairs this morning as I went shopping before work, so just put perishables away – big black spider near the dryer … I, of course, know it will scale the dryer, march around inside the bag and come upstairs in the bag … I couldn’t step on it as it was too close to the wall. I used to have a trap-door vacuum for bugs, but it filled up the canister and they no longer sold refills. That was before Amazon and after I wrote that sentence above, I went on Amazon. They have something comparable – hmm.

          16. I’ve never heard of a trap-door vacuum for bugs. That’s interesting. I hope you order a new one and that it works.
            I thought we were rid of the ants, but they reappeared again! We still can’t figure out where they are coming in, but they’re so small, guess they’ve found their way. Next phase will be spraying the perimeter of the house outside.

          17. I used a perimeter produce a couple of years ago, some crystals from Terro … it was recommended by my handyman and it comes in a canister you shake out. I have a small house and the canister didn’t go too far or maybe I was heavy handed. The product is “Terro Home Perimeter Ant Bait” – I will send you the link in a separate comment as I know links have to be approved on your site.

          18. Thank you for the link. We did find the entry point and sprayed it with something Mr. bought, but I’m going to tell him about the product you recommend! Thank you for sharing it!

          19. You’re welcome Shelley – glad you found the entry point. Jim (handyman) said he recommended it to all his customers. I only have one portion of one side of my house that does not have lava rocks or river rocks, so for me, I told Jim, I’m not sure how many of those pellets went straight down into the rocks and were useless. I think the storm has passed for the most part for now … another year off my life worrying about it.

          20. When we get done with the wall building, Mr. will have to take care of the opening that the ants are getting into. Home ownership is a never-ending to-do list kind of deal!
            I’m glad to read the storm passed and you’re okay!!!!

          21. Thank you and I meant to comment on the wall building as that was one of your questions us, if we missed hearing about Mr.’s arms and amount of bricks he was lifting. I know – home ownership is not always fun. I have the handyman coming Wednesday to do the gutters and see if he can fix the security light which suddenly doesn’t work and was installed (by him) last Summer. Sigh.

          22. Yes, this summer is turning out to be a very big workout for Mr. I was able to lift one small edge of the block that he trimmed for the top. I also can stand up a bag of the rock, can’t lift it though. I’ve been assigned the task of picking up the small items and the empty bags from the rock. It’s teamwork.
            I hope that handyman does a better job this summer. What happened to the idea of quality work?!

          23. He’ll be ready to take a break before the snowblowing begins – that’s for sure. I was working with white marble one time in one of the gardens and my hands got bent like claws as I pulled muscles in my hands lugging the bags of marble around. I hope he does too … I have to out and supervise. 🙂

          24. His hands resemble that description! 😂🤣 I was just thinking this morning that if he could finish before the end of June that we’d be free of that huge project for the rest of the summer. His list of other projects is waiting for his attention! 🤔😉

          28. Thanks for the link! We bought some spray, but I see that it washes away with rain so the stuff you shared doesn’t! One way or another we’re going get these nasty ants!!

          29. I am seeing hordes of ants at the Park lately — as I leave the Park I do a tick check on shoes/socks/pants (the geese are now gone for the Summer so no goose poop check) … but today I saw ants on a crack in the perimeter path and there had to be 1,000 ants … just amazing how they were moving all together. I thought “now I have to do an ant check – my luck I’d bring home a pregnant one.”

          30. Yes, it seems to be the year for ants. Where are the Northern Flickers? Don’t they eat them?
            Sorry…but, I laughed, that was a funny sentence about the pregnant ants! 🤣

          31. I just figured my odds, the ant would be pregnant … 🙂 I have only seen a Northern Flicker once at the Park but I also think Woodpeckers eat them. Maybe they like grubs better … more meat!

    1. Hi Rebecca! Yes, we’re troopers with an unexpected glutton for punishment twist. 😣😂

      Thank you, I’m glad you liked the dew drop photo! 🥰

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