Oregon City, Oregon - Week 24 - June 10-June 16, 2019

Bright and early Monday morning the workers showed up and started installing the Deckorators decking, Mesa color.  They also came on Tuesday which was beastly hot.  Then they took off Wednesday and Thursday, came back on Friday and finished.....with the tiny exception that the aluminium vertical posts are, well, aluminium color.  Quaid (the contractor) will come back next week with spray paint and make that icky aluminium color become black.









Oh - another tiny thing that hasn't been completed is that Dad wants to install an electric plug  on the corner of the deck.  Right now, if we want an extension cord, it plugs into an outlet which is on the wall by the office sliding door.  This means that the cord snakes across the deck and crosses the stairs  --  all of which is probably an OSHA violation.  But, exactly how to install the outlet is giving Dad a brain freeze.  Here he has been overcome by the cold.  But I know he'll figure it out.



I love the benches and stairs!!!



Here the railing is the aluminium color






works for the kids too



Ivan and Renee and Bjorn, Archer, and Magnus arrived Friday evening - the boys are going to stay here through the first week of July.  We all went to the Redland Cafe



Tyler, Archer and Magnus love being goofy



Wednesday was the last day of the school year......and the last "hot chocolate"morning at the bus stop.







Wednesday afternoon the Rip Tide kids (Shelby, Gretchen and Eric) came over to spend three days while Ann and Travis went to Las Vegas for their fifteenth anniversary.  Their arrival raised the level of  "cousin mania" as all three sets of cousins went from house to house to find the best deal..best food, or activity, or friend.

Look - Gretchen can actually eat her bread crusts.



Shelby likes pancakes



Eric is a sound sleeper

the hot tub was a favorite

the most comfortable play area was, apparently, our bedroom

The issue of the clogged drain pipe was soon to be solved.  We'd waited patiently for two weeks for Dan Armstrong, who had gone fishing, to come Saturday morning.What a relief!!!!



Down in to the trench he lowered his reverse jet powered hose attached to a strong motor and a big container of water



In the woods near the western end of the barn, on the edge of the canyon, there are two perforated corrugated tubes (we should have, instead,  put in solid pipe twenty years ago).  One pipe (the one on the east...nearer to the barn).. is connected to the french drain which is at the bottom edge of the new addition.  The other pipe, on the west, is connected to the downspouts.  After a lot of jets forcing surging water into the pipes from both ends, finally, a gush of brown water with some gooey debris came spurting out the ends of the pipes.  Success at last!!!  Now Dad is free to connect up all of the pipes in the trench, and it'll be ready to be filled in.



Saturday evening was Evan's Graduation Party.  Jessica had invited lots of people who have known Evan over the years.  She served her famous curry wurst sausages from Mt Angel, Dad's famous potato salad, Warren's famous cake creation, and Jenn Isom's delicious fruit and lettuce salad.  There were five long tables for seating guests and two tables for the food.  Lots of friends talking and kids playing.















Sunday was Fathers Day, and we had curry wurst left overs at Jessica's for dinner.



Abby entertained with her interpretive dance routine.



We all got Dad a portable electric air compressor!!!!  He also got two giant Impatiens  plants (not your run of the mill plants, no siree) from Warren and Whitney, and a knife sharpener from Paul (yes...a Benchmade sharpener).



We have begun an effort to revitalize the boat trailer which we acquired years ago when Grandpa Danielson died.  We pulled it out of the shed and assessed the damage.  Trashed tires.  No lights.  No fenders.  I was ready to push it over the canyon.  But....Malcolm says he knows where the fenders are and he has tail lights that can be instantly attached to the trailer.  Tires are as close as Les Schawb.  We thought it would be fun to take the two canoes to Crane Prairie Reservoir when we go there with Travis and Ann during the first week of July.  Hopefully we can get our acts together and get it fixed. 



I learned this week that the tendon I injured last May 21 when I stepped (slightly leaped) over a pile of dirt, is actually ruptured.  My surgery is scheduled for Wednesday next week.  I'm doing my best to be optimistic about the situation and to find the blessing(s) of being unable to do any of the scheduled hikes this summer.  Sigh...

Oregon City, Oregon - Week 23 - June 3 - June 10, 2019

This was a big week - construction began on the deck, Jude had his birthday party, and Evan graduated from Oregon City High School!!

Here is the pile of wood for framing the deck.



And by Tuesday afternoon the framers were gone for the day and the frame was finished.  Now, granted, the stairs haven't been built, but that will happen next week on Monday.



Right away Dad and Malcolm put in the vent from the dryer and fastened it to the joists.  They did a LOT better job than had been done the last time around==solid pipe that can be cleaned!



And, sigh, unfortunately, the work on the drains for the downspouts continues.





And, finally, reaching the end which goes deep underneath the driveway and out to daylight.  But at least we know that Dan Armstroung really has to come and use his "Pro Drain" equipment and clean out the area from the house to daylight in the canyon.



In the meantime we started on my big plan (Dad isn't convinced it is a good plan) to put shade cloth over our bedroom windows.  Here Dad is measuring how wide the shade cloth will be.



And here is the 2 x 4 which will go on the outside of the house to which the shade cloth will be attached.....2 coats of primer and 2 coats of green.



Here is the shade cloth over the deck.  I want to get a new one that provides a heaver shade and will cover a slightly wider area so we won't have a band of sunlight over the deck in the late afternoon.







Friday was Jude's birthday party.  Last year at the fair, Bev had won a birthday party valued at $100.00 at Bricks and Minifigs in Canby.  We'd seen this store before and wondered how it managed to survive in Canby.  It's a franchise that has tons of legos and tons of other things.  The store had great Lego supplies and the kids were absolutely delighted.

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There were 12 kids and miscellaneous adults.














Warren executed his birthday cake magic



Jude was appreciative



Pizza was good



Most fun activity was the race track



Sunday was Evan's graduation from OCHS.  He had the highest GPA in his class and had taken the most Advanced Placement classes in the whole graduating class.














And he's done!