My cleaning helper was here on Tuesday and we worked all day on getting shelving up. The first thing we did was figure out the standards for the dining room window. That was as far as I wanted to go on this window until the brackets came in and we could check they’d really work.
The next area was the shelves on the north side of the back porch. Once they were up, we realized we’d never cut boards for them. So we went down and found boards and got them cut to length.
My son had moved the standards on the south side window so it was easy to get these shelves up. The screw gun’s battery wore down about this time, so we made a trip to the local hardware store for chain, plug ends for the lights and wire nuts. I was hoping they’d have S hooks that I needed but alas, like everywhere else I’ve looked, they didn’t have the kind I need.
I’d sent a message in the morning to the contractor asking if he could find time in the next couple days to plane one side of the shelving we’d cut. They were all rough cut and I was afraid it would wear out the bottoms of the plastic trays.
When we got back home, I realized I’d not taken a photo of the magnolia tree. I’d noticed the night before the buds had swollen in the last day or so.
We had some lunch and by then the screw gun was recharged so we finished hanging the shelves and plant hangers for the lights.
We had 4 plant lights to build so we collected all the stuff we needed and sat down to do that. We didn’t close them up because I am waiting for the reflectors to come. We’ll have to install those and need to be able to see to miss wires.
While we were doing that, the contractor called and said he’d be over at 3PM to plan all the boards. He got these done first.
He had to reverse the blade on the planer as it had gotten dull with all the planning of the trim boards over the last year. Then he did these.
Last were the 6 long dining room boards. He got them all done and I asked him about repairing the clothesline pole and then we discussed using a ridge board vs trusses on the shed addition. He will be working by himself and for a single person doing a ridge board is easier than trying to raise trusses by oneself.
We finished the lights around 3PM and the contractor left at 5PM.
I thought we’d finished the raking, but when I walked down to check out the mulch pile, I realized we’d forgotten to do this stretch along the driveway. Plowing throws stones onto the grass, and that wrecks mower blades. So I’d asked my son to finish this bit of raking and he did.
Looking up the driveway on a spring evening
When I went up to do the cats at the barn at 7PM, there were 5 deer on the back 40. The spring peepers were going full force at the neighbor’s pond. And when I went to pull the shades, there were 2 deer on the front pasture. It was too dark for photos.
According to this almanac – as the full moon in April – this is the Pink Moon, named after the herb moss pink, also known as creeping phlox, moss phlox, or mountain phlox, a plant native to the eastern U.S. that is one of the earliest widespread flowers of spring.
So far, there’s no sign of my creeping phlox in the 6th Fence garden. This is looking east to the barn on a spring evening, moon overhead.
Just before I headed to bed, the UPS truck arrived and it had the brackets I so desperately needed.
On Wednesday my cleaning helper and my general helper will be here and I hope we can get all the shelving finished. So far no info on when light reflectors are coming. I found some S hooks that might work and they are due in on Wednesday.
It’s supposed to be a beautiful day, but at least in the morning, we will be stuck inside getting as much done as we can.