Barn work

We had a full day of excavator work done by Dave Pulcini and just wish that nephew Dylan could have been here to watch it all.  He would have loved it!


The project was to clear all the sod and vegetation away from the foundations of both barns. 














We are uncovering the base boards to determine how many and what percent need to be replaced.  There is some deterioration in spots with rot and rust evident.
















The back of the barn at the entrances to the horse stalls was similarly cleaned and scraped level.  Dave was very skilled, and it was a pleasure to watch him work.












The west end of the horse barn was clogged with old volunteer trees and heavy vines featuring the rope-like wild grape (terrible stuff!).  The material was piled away from the structure -- with its final destination to be determined.

Class reunion

One of our classmates who lives in Texas was traveling through our area over the weekend.  Since he hadn't attended any reunions in several decades, it gave us a good excuse for a mini-reunion.

We gathered on the deck at JD Wine Cellars at Longacre Farms in Macedon.








Without a lot of advance notice or planning, we had a good turnout and a great time.  There's talk of making this a yearly event.












Thanks go to Joan for getting us organized and planning a wonderful party.

Sewing day

Linda and Jeanne came to the studio for some sewing time, and Nancy joined us for a time, although she is sidelined from sewing til her hand heals.













Jeanne worked on this new shoulder bag, shown here with the top flap opened up.

And she modeled it for us in the picture below.

Peach season

This year's crop of Red Haven peaches (our favorite variety) has provided fruit that is both pretty and delicious.   Some of these peaches came from Marion and the rest from Penn Yan.

We canned most of them, made a few batches of peach marmalade, and are eating the rest....  Yum!

Canna lilies

We saved the canna lily bulbs over the winter and planted them in the garden just beyond our raspberries.   They bloom a long time and attract the hummingbirds.

Millie's table

Our feral kitty, Millie, has learned to come up on the deck for both her breakfast and dinner.  If she isn't already waiting on the bench, a call usually brings her on the run.  She still won't allow anyone to get too close to her, but on occasion will let me sit on the bench with her while she eats.

Jen's quilts

In addition to being Dylan's Mom, Jennifer is also a quilter.  So after the tractors were put away, Jen and I got to have some studio time.


Jen has finished piecing this delightful kitty quilt and now has to figure out how to quilt it.












She also brought this appliqued piece.



















These lovely mums were a present from Jen, and I've repotted them to see if I can get them to last longer.

Dylan's visit - day 2

Dylan showed his Dad how much dirt he could move with his excavator.
















The hit of the weekend, though, was taking out the John Deere tractor.  Dylan helped gas up and was ready to go to work.















Dylan was more interested in watching where the grass was coming out than seeing where they were going, and his Mom was trying to get his picture.


















Driving up from the back yard.


















Dylan also like watching and feeding the goldfish and our two multi-colored shubunkins.

Dylan's visit

Our niece, Jennifer, visited us for the weekend with her family, David and Dylan.















Dylan had lots of new things to see in the gardens and liked looking for frogs in the lily pond.

















He was busy building his own roads through the zen garden.






































His favorite activity was working on the tractor.  Here he's mastering the levers to operate the front bucket.













He was also interested in checking out the John Deere lawn tractor.

Garden flowers

The black-eyed susans and cone flowers have been very pretty this year and are blooming for a long time.












This is a nicotiana plant, or flowering tobacco.  It is very hardy and looks lovely year after year.  It is also fragrant and attracts hummingbirds and moths.

Sewing Day

Nancy joined me for a sewing day and finished up this lovely pinwheel quilt she was making for a baby shower.

Nancy volunteers at Craft, Bits & Pieces, which accepts donations of items for resale.  These three tops came in to the store recently, and hopefully they will be picked up by someone who will finish them.