Painting, Peaches, Lake, and Kids

 Another sure sign of summer.  It's coming . . . it really is . . .

Drywalling crew finished at Jesse's last weekend, so Monday morning Josh helped Echo with four littles while Jewel and I helped Lucy sweep and wipe off lots and lots of drywall dust. Home again after a quick BP pizza lunch to lots of laundry and cleanup after the cookout.  After a hard day's work then we nabbed an hour at the lake at one point. Again fun to have Brandi.

Here's how she gets home. In case you wondered.

Some kids headed to Jesse's after supper to start painting while Dad and I tackled the peach trees. Ino I'm completely an amateur orchardist, but I've never seen anything like these peaches. There are so  many. 

Granted, most of the little ones will fall off eventually anyways, but until they do they're stealing valuable resources from the good peaches; so they have to go and the sooner the better.

(can't get this dumb px to turn so it is what it is)

And what it is is the ground under a thinned tree. Kinda crazy.

Quick fishing trip after working on trees awhile.

I can't get enough of the few beautiful days we've had. The moon was gorgeous.

Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things.

 And blessed be his glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen. 

Psalm 72:18-19

Precious visitor Tuesday morning. I worked on peaches while Josh did a great job watching Jason.

Brandi knows that Jason is very willing to share his snacks.

Many of these won't drop - they're on tight. And that is way too many peaches for a branch that size. I'm thinning peaches to 3-8" apart. That's a lot of thinning but still leaves a LOT of peaches on the trees. We're not counting them yet though, oh no. We have to share with the Japanese beetles yet, and a single hail storm can end it all, and, although we do spray, there are still diseases that can really nasty up a crop ... so... as always, time will tell.

Kids are doing good in the garden and so it's looking great. I especially like the size.

Another paint night at Jesse&Lucy's. I went to watch kids; Dad finished pruning peach trees before he came.

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Kids are watching a monkey in the tree.

Love hearing these guys play.

More thinning on Wednesday morning. All 18 trees look like this all over. I would gently twist off all but two of these: the one on the bottom and the biggest one higher up would get to stay.

Work done (not really, but...), time for fun.

With the 10-day forecast calling for rainy cloudy cold, we enjoyed our last lake day for awhile. 

After Echo, Lucy, and Leann left with their littles, Josh found these treasures at U. Harley's creek. He really hit the jackpot.

And then more fun with Brandi.

Home for chores and another quick supper (most suppers have been quick this week as various ppl skedaddle to Jesse's right away); Sarah helped me watch four littles while the painting crew made tracks.

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Thursday morning I took Jewel to work then stopped at Nena's to pick up a couple Amazing Trim Brushes bc I couldn't find Dad's in the shed. Back home again, wouldn't you know we finally found said Trim Brush; so we went on our merry way with three of these amazing little tools. By 9:00 we joined Lucy and A. Sarah and the painting party continued. 

Note the brush Lucy is using.

I used to despise painting; but after a few minutes using this Amazing Trim Brush, I realized that this brush made trimming 100x (or so) easier and it was actually rather fun. Three brushes was definitely not too many as everyone else quickly recognized their superior advantage as well. Maybe this is old news to you veteran painters out there, but it was revolutionary to this old girl.  I will never again detest painting as long as I can use one of these. Definitely worth every penny of $5.99. I'd have paid twice that if necessary.

*advertisement over* 

Josh was a great help.  He did a really good job, didn't make a huge mess (surprise surprise - I mean, he is a 12yo male...), and he didn't need many breaks. Three Mt. Dews may or may not have helped his outlook and endurance 😏

Looking out the south door (this is for you, Jenny😊). The beam coming down from the ceiling was formerly a wall; but I really don't even remember where the doorway was. I can hardly picture the "before" of this place. It's changed a lot. And is looking wonderful.

Looking north. Lucy is standing where a wall was; the doorway to the mudroom was the left side of that opening, and the stairway curved down to open to the west. If that makes sense😏 The stairway, to the right, is now completely open to the north and is built out to the west also. Cupboards will go beside the visible steps. 

Kitchen done - crew moved upstairs.

Still hard at work on an upstairs closet.

Pregnant and elderly ladies (that's me) are not allowed to do this. Kaitlyn acted like it was a walk in the park. I didn't watch.

This is more my speed. I was trimming behind Jewel and enjoying it immensely with my amazing little brush, thank you very much. None of that risky stuff for me, no way.

New closet in the master bedroom. Old closet is part of the new closet.

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Thankful for a safe day; God be praised.

And that was the end of Thursday's progress.