So my neighbor Richard bought a new snow thrower last year to replace an older one that was still in his possession. This weekend, he asked if I would like to have it, even though it didn't start. Those who know me know that a.) I love a...
Hope you had a great weekend! I have to say that I believe I OD'd on football on Sunday...lol. So glad that it's back! However, the weekend started on a down note: When I got home on Friday evening, my wife informed me that she received a call...
Hope you had a great Labor Day weekend! It was the first weekend at our house that we had a chance to enjoy the flagstone patio that I spent most of the Spring and Summer putting in. Fired up the grill and did some pork ribs...yum! I like to experiment...
Hey, how about this awesome weather we've been having over the last week or so? Love it! Beats trying to get stuff done in 100+ weather! Started off this weekend getting the almost-done back patio in shape. One of the few problems I've had is...
Hope you had a good weekend. As usual, the backyard landscaping/redo continued as I curved our new retaining wall and set the split for the terracing (pic attached). And, as usual, it was labor intensive but it's nice to see the project coming...
Hope you had a great weekend! As usual, the awesome weather made it possible for me to continue the backyard patio project. This weekend, it was putting together the patio furniture we bought (on sale!). No problem there, had everything assembled within...
Hope you had a great weekend! As is common around my house for the last few months, I continued work on our backyard project. Finally layed in all the flagstone, I can see why professionals charge what they do, it's not an easy job! LOL But no sooner...
Over the last few months, you've probably been aware of the back patio project at my house. I've mentioned it several times in my blog posts, and sometimes it seems as if the project were going to take forever. Can't say that now, it's...
Hey there, hope you had a great weekend! Also, hope you're doing your best to stay cool with all this hot weather we've been having. CRAZY! In spite of the heat, this weekend I managed to forge ahead on our latest DIY project (and by "our", I...
So, I think my wife has had enough of my whining and bellyaching about the demise of our grill. We've been without one since Spring, and I love to grill it up no matter the weather! So, she surprised me this past weekend with a new grill and I love...
Ola amigos! :-) Nothing like a week on the beach in Mexico to get your head together and just "chill out"! Jenn and I were fortunate enough to be able to use my mother-in-law's timeshare in Puerto Vallarta this past week! Lots of sun and surf, just...
First off, I hope everyone is taking time to remember what this holiday is about. How many thousands or millions of men and women have died in the history of our country to keep us free? They deserve more than a passing thought! Please take time to...
Hi there! Hope you had a great weekend! Luckily for me, the weather in Gladstone was perfecto! That meant getting some more work done on our back patio (that's a picture of it with this post). Probably like you, we're on a budget at the ol'...
Wow, what a busy, productive Mother's Day weekend! As you may or may not know, my own mother passed away in 1991 at the age of 49, so I tend to go whole-hog on the mother's day love for my wife, Jennifer. It's her weekend and I always try to...
Hope everyone had a good weekend! If you're like me, weekends are a time to catch up or get out! Last week, I was in Denver and Laramie, WY, visiting with my two oldest kids, can't believe how quickly they've grown up! This weekend, it was...
Escape the Ordinary with Ed & CommunityAmerica Credit Union!
Escaping the ordinary...Mother's Day weekend
by Ed Walker,posted May 14 2012 11:43AM
Wow, what a busy, productive Mother's Day weekend! As you may or may not know, my own mother passed away in 1991 at the age of 49, so I tend to go whole-hog on the mother's day love for my wife, Jennifer. It's her weekend and I always try to make it a special one for her. We went out dancing until the wee hours of the morning on Saturday night! She loves to dance and, well, let's just say I'm definitely not a dancer...lol. But, it makes her happy and that's what's most important to me. Mother's Day proper began with fresh homemade Belgian waffles with strawberries & cream...breakfast in bed for Jenn :-). For dinner, I made a really good Blue Plate meatloaf from the Williams-Sonoma Heartland cookbook, along with homemade garlic and buttermilk mashed potatoes and garlic and bacon green beans (we love garlic at my place!). Very happy to report that Jenn and the girls (our two daughters) raved about dinner, which of course made me happy. During the middle of the day, continued work on my "Patio from Hades"...lol. This project is using repurposed flagstone from a porch my father-in-law tore out at his place up in Easton, KS last year, which saves us beaucoup $$! The deal I made with Jenn is that I get my new grill at the completion of the patio, which will end up being about 310 square feet. Our old grill (RIP) was beyond repair, and I had already made numerous repairs anyway, so it was time to say adios to it. Saturday and into Sunday, dug a trench 30 feet long and laid down some percolating pipe to take care of drainage issues in our backyard, so no more pooling of water where the problem was, should be good to go with that. So far, a porch that might cost us well over $5000 or more looks like it's going to come in around $800! No loans are taken out, we save and then get what we need and then work piece meal on it. Yes, it takes longer but it's nice to know that at the end of the project everything is paid for, no loans and such to worry about. We worked this way when we re-did our master bathroom. Again, it took longer than if we had just taken a loan and got everything and did the work, but by doing it a little at a time, when money and time allowed, we were able to finish it under budget! Hope you had a great Mother's Day weekend! Feel free to tell me about it here, or just comment on this post or what you did over the weekend! :-) Thanks to Community America Credit Union for providing this space for you and I to discuss "escaping the ordinary"!
