A cottage is born!

Before...

(Click to enlarge.)

...after.

Front porch/living room turned into temporary bedroom.

Mama bird on nest from kitchen door.
That looks like 391+ fire logs!

Another really big day at the farm today!

Kathy was at the farm early and did a few things before Brandt arrived from Community Development for our final inspection. Rex had arrived even earlier to tidy up a few things prior to inspection. While waiting for the inspector, Kathy and Rex finished putting the gas fireplace together - arranging the logs and such.

Kathy brought a shower curtain, some soap, towels, toothpaste, toothbrushes, etc., and got the bathroom ready for weekend use if we sleep over. Rex tightened a part under the bathroom sink and that took care of that minor leak.

The cottage passed inspection without a hiccup, Kathy got rid of the moldy building permit, and we are ready to pick up our deck permit when next we are in Huntington.

Kathy called Denny to see if the trip to Ft. Wayne was off since it was raining. (There was even a little thunder and lightning thrown in.) Denny said that since it wasn't going to be his things getting wet, he was still up for the trip. So off went the twosome.

Arriving at The Fort, Kathy let Denny direct the show, deciding what order to put things in his van. We ended up taking Bonnie's futon and its matching table; 4 dining room chairs; our small fridge; and one of our flat screen TVs with a DVD player, antenna, converter box, etc.

Denny refused an invite to lunch, so back to the farm we went after a short stop at Meijer so Kathy could purchase some outdoor halogen bulbs for the motion light at the walk-out. She also purchased a second chemical applicator tank so she could have a perfectly clean one for the 50 million nematodes for the vineyard that should be arriving soon. Beware Japanese Beetles! Your days are numbered!

Back at the cottage, everything was unloaded from the van. This was when the items got a little wet. Denny had been able to back right up to Kathy's garage in The Fort, allowing things to stay dry when being loaded. Denny was able to unload most of the things at the cottage without help while Kathy received them, dried them off, and distributed them throughout the cottage. When the heavier things were in place, Denny took off for home, refusing even money for gas. Kathy had left her car at Denny's house, so she rode along and got to visit with Barbara a little when she picked up her car. What a fun time! It is so wonderful to have such delightful neighbors who are the same age and remember the 50s and 60s and Howdy Doody!

Upon her return to the cottage, Kathy put all the things that were brought from The Fort and that weren't already in the right rooms, where they belonged. She hooked up the TV without a hitch and checked the reception. It was excellent with only indoor rabbit ears! What a nice surprise. Bonnie will have to search for more channels over the weekend and maybe adjust the color a little and we will be good to go.

Kathy left the futon in its bed position so that the mattress could dry out better. It didn't get very wet, but she felt it needed to be open to dry out better.

The cork flooring is by far Kathy's favorite flooring in the cottage. Today she swept it, then dusted it, wiping up some heavier dirt with a damp cloth. It will be gorgeous when Bonnie cleans it and seals it.

The ceramic tile is a breeze to clean. The grout color is not consistent throughout and does not look like what we chose. It is light here and dark there, and when dirt gets on it, it will not clean up and leaves a stain. We are already discussing coloring it darker and resealing it.

The bamboo flooring has been a challenge to clean. Though we now like the darker color, it may be the hardest of the three flooring materials we chose to keep looking nice. We will have a better idea after it has been completely cleaned.

As nice as it was to pass final inspection and be given the green light to move in, there is still a list of things that need to be completed. Most of the things won't take long, but they will still need to be done before we can complete our move and begin living at the cottage fulltime.

A big thank-you to Denny for his help today (and always), and to Barbara for lending him to us.

Thanks also to Rex for getting us through the inspection. We are excited about everything you have done so far and look forward to the other things you are finishing up for us!

Vindicated!

The Marquette are leafing out!

Kathy can start a fire...

...and see it through to ashes!
She may earn a merit badge yet!

Before cleaning...

...after cleaning. Ready for occupancy.

Another busy day at the farm...for Kathy anyway.

With the final inspection on Thursday, Kathy decided to head to the farm today to do some cleaning. And did we ever mention that both Kathy and Bonnie HATE housework? Kathy is a neat freak. Everything has to be neat. It can be covered with dust, but it has to be neat and in its place.

Let's see. First Kathy swept the basement and that took forever. She organized the basement, placed some trash at the walkout to burn later in the morning, and removed Rex's heater from the wall that he used before we had heat, placing it where he would find it to take home.

The basement stairs were swept. The trash was burned; and might we say that Kathy was finally able to start a fire and see it through from start to finish with no one's help! There is hope for her yet!

Kathy also checked on the grapes while outside and was thrilled to see that many of the vines we thought were dead are very much alive. So, of course, all the vines we bought for replacement arrived today and it looks like we may need to plant another row! We will know better this weekend as we examine each and every vine for signs of life...something that we have already done several times.

Kathy cleaned the downstairs bathroom - toilet, shower and tile floor. The shower cleaned up beautifully.

Most of the items on the front porch were taken to the basement and the windows and front door were cleaned from the inside. It was raining, so no outside cleaning today. The window between the country kitchen and front porch/living room was also cleaned. The frames of all the windows were just covered with sawdust and drywall dust. Everything had to be vacuumed, then washed with water before it could even be sprayed with glass cleaner. A long process making for a long day.

When Kathy was done for the day she headed for her car and Rex showed up to do a thing or two in preparation for tomorrow's inspection. Kathy touched base with him about some things that weren't done yet, asking whether they needed to be done prior to the inspection - the two outdoor lights, whether the gas line had to be buried and hooked up. (Rex had hooked up the regulator and had run the gas lines for both the stove and the fireplace.) I guess those things don't have to be done in order to pass inspection. There is still the matter of a couple of minor leaks, but that can be discussed tomorrow.

Kathy spoke with Rex about having him come to Fort Wayne to disconnect our stove and fridge and then transport them to the cottage and hook them up there, and that was agreeable with him. We need to find someone with a trailer with high sides on it for when that day arrives.

Kathy did not see Denny today so don't know if we are still on for tomorrow to transport the futon and fridge. It may all be weather-dependent.

Cleaning day #1

View through clean screens and windows.

What? You mean we have neighbors?

A vineyard? This place came with a vineyard?

Today was the first of what will surely be many cleaning days. Before we began cleaning though, there was the issue of the shed needing to be anchored to a garden post and the shelves being screwed in place from the outside. We had to disturb the mommy robin but finally got some screws into the garden post from the inside out, and then several screws from the outside into the two shelves to hold them in place and keep them from falling down. Everything had to be taken out of the shed and Kathy, for the 5th or 6th time, had to put everything back in. Lets see if it holds this time!

Some people from the campground arrived while we were working on the shed and Bonnie gave them a tour of the cottage while Kathy climbed the fence to visit with Denny, only he wasn't out in his yard or barn so she went home and waited for the tour to be over with.

We found a small leak under the main bathroom sink that Rex must be aware of because there was a paper towel there to catch drips. We also found dampness where the water enters the house from the well. We will be certain to mention these things to Rex.

The plan was to clean as much as we could today because Kathy and Denny hope to bring a few things from The Fort on Thursday after the final house inspection at 10 a.m. This will enable us to spend weekends while working on the house and yard until the move at Memorial Day that will include the major appliances.

A futon, an end table, a small fridge we keep in our garage to chill wines, and a TV and DVD player - you know, the important things - will be included in this first trip! Kathy will have to do some more cleaning on Wednesday to get the front porch clean enough to receive these items on Thursday since that is where most of them are going.

Kathy had planned to hose the screens outside today but it was so windy that Bonnie was afraid the screens would be damaged. So Plan B called for vacuuming the screens which worked out very well. While Kathy vacuumed, Bonnie washed some windows on the inside. (Remember, Kathy is the world's very worse window washer.) With just the screens and the insides of the windows washed, the difference was remarkable! Kathy used the bare floor setting on the vacuum and went over the bamboo floors. It left a lot to be desired. The ceramic tile cleaned much better. Kathy vacuumed the insides of drawers and cabinets and Bonnie washed some of the shelves in the kitchen. We feel good about what we accomplished today, but the task seems overwhelming at present. The basement will take a lot of work...cleaning, painting the floor. The cork flooring in the loft still needs to be cleaned and sealed. Then the vineyard always needs attention.

Kathy emailed Camille today to see when she should be ordering the nematodes. Gonna have to apply them in May we're thinking.

Much to report today!

Rex trying to do some back-filling. Ground was too wet.

(Click on photos to enlarge.)

Tote that barge! Lift that bale! Get that concrete in the bucket!

Success! Good-bye concrete and thank-you Rex!

Kathy's favorite grapevine at bud break - the Marquette.

Denny's ancient vine!

Barbara and Denny's gazebo.

Denny's raised beds.

Where does the rocket fuel go?
(Denny's design for his climbing veggie plants.)

Bonnie trying to control some wayward black raspberries.

3 eggs in the adobe robins' nest.

Much going on at the farm today.

First - the news that all of you have been waiting for - the turkey vulture is FREE to eat carrion another day! Barbara told Kathy that the bird wasted no time making it's escape from the corn crib after Kathy removed the door. She also assured Kathy that SHE would not have let the bird die in captivity.

Kathy and Bonnie took a tour of the cottage when they arrived at the farm late this morning. Rex was there and is finishing up. There is water to all the sinks and the dishwasher and, most importantly, the toilets! Hurray! The hot water heater was ready to go and we had hot water by the time we left this afternoon. The dishwasher is in place as is the kitchen sink. All faucets are on and working. There does not appear to be much left for Rex to do. There are a couple of lights that need to be installed on the outside of the house - one by the kitchen door and a motion light on the west side of the house. The gas line needs to be run to where the stove will be and to the vent-free gas fireplace. The reverse-osmosis needs to be hooked up and a water line from it run to both a spigot at the kitchen sink and to our ice maker and through-the-door water on our fridge. Rex will need to come back when our appliances are delivered next month and hook them up for us.

In the meantime, Rex also brought over his tractor and attempted to do some back-fill around the house. The soil on top was dry but underneath it was still too wet to move. He will come back with a Bobcat which he says will allow him easier movement and a better view of what he is moving and where it needs to go. He did remove a huge piece of concrete at the edge of the driveway that everyone was afraid they were going to hit. For some reason the company who poured our foundation, basement floor, retaining walls, etc., just emptied any extra concrete wherever they pleased. We had little piles everywhere. Kathy and Denny broke up and removed all but the large one by the driveway. Both tried sledgehammers and couldn't so much as crack it. It is gone now, and any company who does concrete work for us in the future will NOT be allowed to just dump leftover concrete on the property. It was in the garden, by the driveway, at the walkout basement, at the side of the house. Not cool!

Bonnie decided where she wants to put a portable carport on the north side of the house and discussed with Rex the grading that would need to be done in order to have it placed there.

We checked on our vines and it looks like they are doing well. The Marquette seem to thrive on our land and we have more of them than any other vine. The leaves are the most beautiful we have ever seen. Hope the grapes make good wine!

We ate lunch with Denny and Barb at Wings, etc. Kathy had eaten there before and liked the food. Bonnie got barbecue chicken, Denny ate Hogzilla (pulled pork), Barbara got a burger, and Kathy got a prime rib sandwich and some Amber Bock. We all enjoyed our food and would return there to eat. As always, we had such fun together. There are so many stories and laughs to share!

Before we left for lunch we tried Bonnie's laptop and air card in Denny and Barbara's house but the reception was poor. Don't know what the solution is for better Internet service for them.

Bonnie dug up some wayward black raspberry vines and Denny took some of her extras to plant. He brought over his Mantis tiller for Kathy to try, offering to let her use it instead of her buying one. She came close to buying an electric Mantis this past week but didn't. She practiced on a couple of vines we think are dead and she could probably get the hang of it. She is hoping to use it around all 80 vines to get rid of the grass and weeds, and she also needs to fertilize and add more soil up around the vines but below the grafts. That will be an undertaking! Camille Cupa will be back to help and advise us this year and has already been in touch with Bonnie. Kathy needs to ask her when she should be applying nematodes. The Japanese Beetles will be making their appearance in June.

Kathy reversed the dead bolt on the kitchen door per directions to disable it so it will pass inspection on Thursday without steps. She also moved a few rocks today from various areas of the property to where we started our pet cemetery.

Bonnie's orchard grass is peeking through now. She is hoping it lives up to its reputation for only needing to be mowed a few times each summer. She put it on with a heavy hand. It is supposed to choke out other grass.

Lots of photos today. A few of Rex's efforts with his tractor. A few of Barbara and Denny's homestead including, as promised, a photo of Denny's contraption for his vining plants like his cukes and pole beans. There will be strings running from holes at the top of the device to holes at the bottom. We know that our readers will be eagerly following the progress of this creation, so we will keep you updated.

Freeing the turkey buzzard!

2 eggs in the adobe bird nest!

This is really embarrassing...for Kathy anyway. A really wonderful story with what we hope will be a happy ending and no arrest warrant for trespassing, and we have not one photo to help tell the tale! Though she took many, many photos, Kathy was totally inept with her cellphone camera and got absolutely NO photos of the rescue of the curious turkey buzzard who was imprisoned in the corn crib and would have surely met his DEATH without her brave attempt to rescue it. So, with no photos, Kathy will have to rely on her story telling abilities to give you a visual of this event.

Bonnie and Kathy went to the farm today to check and see what Rex had been doing. Bonnie took the day off because we were supposed to meet Kathy's brothers, their wives, and Kathy's mother for dinner in Wabash this evening. Kathy's mother has been sick with a bad cold and the dinner had to be postponed. Bonnie kept her day off, and the two of us headed to the farm late this morning. After seeing all the things Rex and LeeAnn had done, we stopped off at the Planning Commission to get a permit for the wrap-around deck we hope to have built, and our front porch which, according to the Commission, is really a deck. There will be no problem getting this permit and we should be able to pick it up in a few days. While in that office, we scheduled the final inspection on the house for a week from tomorrow. Kathy will be there for the inspection.

We found out that we cannot place a portable aluminum carport where we would like to place it because, even though it is portable, we still have to abide by the same distances from the center of the road and the property lines as though it were a permanent structure. So scratch that option. We also found out that we do not have to have steps to the kitchen door for the cottage to pass inspection, but that the door has to be made inoperable. To do that we can simply have the deadbolt lock from the outside of the door. Kathy will take care of that tomorrow or Sat.

Bonnie made arrangements earlier this morning for Rick Bauer to return to tie in the perimeter drain to the existing tile. He will need to actually remove part of the older field tile heading south down the slope until he has the angle he needs for the proper drainage for the perimeter drain. Right now our perimeter drain is lower than the field tile, making draining into it impossible. The north side of that field tile will also have to be worked into the equation. Right now, because of the tiles not being hooked up, the area between the retaining walls at the walk-out is not drying out. Once all the tiles are hooked up, we can have some stone moved in. Rick will also be doing the rest of the back-fill around the house.

We found out that we will not need a permit to increase the size of our driveway, put stone at the walk-out, or even when/if we decide to have a concrete slab poured between the retaining walls.

Once we pass inspection we will get in and clean and then, hopefully, begin to move some things in so we can spend the weekends if we want to until we can get our appliances and larger items moved. Kathy took some time off around Memorial Day for the major move.

OK, so we checked on Rex's work, went to the Planning Commission, and we ate Mexican at Don Raphael's. Bonnie got her hair cut and Kathy got a couple copies of the key made that opens our shed and Denny's outbuilding where our tiller is still housed.

Kathy checked on the adobe robins' nest and discovered two eggs. She expects several more. There is an excellent view of the nest from the kitchen door that will not disturb the nesting robins.

This brings us to the rescue of the turkey buzzard.

Kathy and Bonnie saw Barbara and Denny outside and dropped off a key for Denny to his outbuilding since Kathy had to get his the other day when ours came up missing. (We will most likely find it now.)

As always, we enjoyed our visit with our cave-dwelling neighbors and talked about our luncheon date this coming Saturday. We will be taking one of our laptops and an air card with us on Saturday to see if Barbara can get AT&T wireless service below ground. She is not too happy with her dial-up these days.

Denny showed us an awesome design he made for his garden for his vining plants. It involved using 4" (?) PVC pipe as a post and other pieces of plastic. You know, you won't believe this contraption, but we were really impressed, so Kathy will just have to take a photo of it at different times during the growing season so you can see if Denny's design is a success or not.

So while we are talking to Denny and Barbara, Denny mentions that this stupid turkey buzzard was flying above the corn cribs across the road from his homestead. The small tops to these cribs have fallen off. So this buzzard must have seen a rodent in the corn in one of the cribs, and he hops in. Problem was, he couldn't spread his wings to fly out because the opening at the top was too narrow! Someone, who shall remain nameless because he doesn't want to appear cruel and heartless, stated that the buzzard would die in the crib. Kathy was aghast, and her brain raced to figure out how to save the turkey buzzard. Cut the wire on the crib? No, that would be destroying property.

We headed down Denny's driveway to drive back to The Fort, but Kathy kept seeing that turkey buzzard trapped in the wire crib. "Turn right," she instructed Bonnie. "We have to try to save that buzzard."

Arriving at the scene of the entrapped buzzard, Kathy discovered that there was a wire door partially open and that the corn in the crib was low enough that none would spill out if she opened the door even more. But she couldn't get the door open, had to study it, and finally figured out how to open it wide enough for the buzzard to get out. When she finally got it loose, the entire door fell off and landed at her feet. Dang! She collected all the parts and neatly stacked them next to the crib.

Just then, he who was going to let the buzzard die appeared and thought he might be able to scare the buzzard from behind, getting him to escape out the opening. But no! The silly bird was too frightened to escape. We were certain he would figure it out once we left, and Kathy will be checking on him tomorrow or Saturday when she returns to the farm.

If you are the owner of this property and ever read this blog, Kathy apologizes for trespassing and removing your crib door. If she can figure out how to put the door back on after the buzzard escapes, she will. And Bonnie sat in the car the whole time and is guilty only of trespassing and not vandalism.

391 logs, but who's counting?

Robin's nest on top of garden post behind shed.

Close-up of nest. No eggs yet.

Neatly stacked decking material from campground.

391 + pieces of firewood! You can just make out the nest

in the upper right hand corner of the photo.

Kathy went to the farm today. It was too muddy to do some things, but she did move all of the firewood and decking material from the front of the property behind and to the side of the shed at the back of the veggie garden. (We don't grow flowers.) She counted the firewood as she moved it and it totaled 391 pieces. There was already a stack of firewood from the campground behind the shed, so she estimates that we have about 500 pieces. She is hoping that Denny, who likes to build fires, will help himself to some wood.

Rex had done some work in the cottage since last weekend, running water lines and working on hooking up the water heater, water softener, whole-house filter, reverse osmosis filter, etc. He had also been working on getting the light under the glass cabinets up and wired, had hooked up the water line to the main bathroom toilet (though there is no water to it), and some other things Kathy can't remember.

The bird's nest in today's photos appeared in the last week. Kathy thought it was well built, using all local materials which were cemented together with some mud from the abundant supply we currently have on the property. The nest is deep but empty at the present time. The construction is as green as any we have seen, using only renewable resources!

Kathy was pleased to have a visit with Barbara and Denny. We have tentatively set the 25th as the date of our next meal. It will be lunch at a local spot in Huntington.

June from down the road (NOT LeeAnn's mother) and her daughter, Elizabeth, stopped by for a visit and got a tour of the cottage. Liz is an anthropologist and Kathy promised to call her if she finds any skulls on the property that might belong to an early, yet undiscovered tribe of homo sapiens. Kathy did find part of an arrowhead on the land today and took it over to show Denny and Barbara before leaving for home.

The weather at the farm was beautiful today and Kathy worked in short sleeves. It should be even nicer on Saturday when we return.

Burning day!

Denny burning at SE end of property and along road.

Burning along the road.

Original burn pile.

Danged old sofa bed!

Sofa bed ready for trash.

Today was burning day at the farm. Barbara called Kathy about 9 a.m. to say that Denny was going to burn. Kathy was at the farm before 10 and Denny had already burned a great deal of the trees, limbs and twigs at the SE end of the property. Kathy finished picking up the limbs and twigs at the NE end of the property that she didn't get picked up last weekend while Denny burned away. After the pile was burned at the SE end and the brush along the road was going, Denny started the pile in the middle of the property to the west of the vineyard. Kathy was in charge of that, and remembering that she has no skill with fire, it should come as no surprise that she failed at keeping this fire going.

Denny took off for lunch and put Kathy in charge of keeping the fire along the road going. This she did with some success and without setting the woodpile on fire or her car. What a lot of work needs to be done along the road! Some serious chopping, weed eating, clipping, raking, and then some more burning. A daunting project for sure!

Upon his return from lunch Denny got the second burn pile going again and Kathy managed to keep it going this time. When Denny was certain she couldn't screw it up, he took his tools and went home where his water softener demanded his attention. Kathy actually got the fire completely burned down and gave herself a gold star for the day. She also emptied the burn barrel and moved it next to the main burn area. She pulled a sofa bed frame and springs out of that burn area and now has to dispose of it, and she took some more of the pieces of the deck from the camper and moved them away from the front of the property and put them behind the shed. In addition, she broke up some concrete piles that the men left in places around the cottage when they were there pouring footers, the basement floor, and the retaining walls.

When Kathy was about done for the day, a man pulled into the driveway and asked her who owned the property across the road. She didn't know and sent him to Denny for the answer. He was from Ft. Wayne and worked in Markel and wanted to build in the country. Kathy told him that if he built in that area, he had to build a unique home because we only allowed unusual homes to be built on our road. He agreed to do that.

Kathy itches all over and expects to have poison ivy and only hopes it will not be a bad case.

Congrats to KJ for getting his CDL today! We are proud of you!

This is my story and I'm stickin' to it!

Poor red car stuck in the mud at the farm!

Rex to the rescue, pulling grandson, Derek, out of the mud.

Well we had more excitement at the farm today than any two people should have...or four...or six. Here is how it went down. Kathy's grandson, Derek, came for a visit, bringing his lovely girlfriend, Melissa, for us to meet. For whatever reason, Derek did not want to block Bonnie's car in and pulled off the gravel drive on to the mud.

"What is he doing?" asked Bonnie. "He can get stuck."

We raced to the door and tried to get him to back up, but it was too late. So for his attempt to be considerate, Derek became quite stuck in the mud. Of course everyone had his/her own idea of how to get the car free of the mud, but mostly it was Kathy and Derek who tried everything imaginable and only sunk the car in deeper, almost to the front bumper.

Kathy was particularly covered with mud, resembling the Abominable Mud Woman.

A tour of the cottage didn't change the situation with the car, and after several further futile attempts, Bonnie (who was dry and mud-free inside the cottage with Melissa) asked, "Are you ready for me to call someone yet?"

"Yes," said Kathy. "Call Rex."

Bonnie, instead, called Jonathan, who was out of town. She then called Rex, but Jonathan, who had a quicker speed dial finger than Bonnie, had already reached his father and apprised him of the situation at the farm.

Rex and LeeAnn, bless their hearts, drove to the farm from K-Mart, and Rex had Derek out of the mud in a jiffy. Many, many thanks to Rex and LeeAnn for the prompt assistance, and on Palm Sunday afternoon no less!

Poor Derek, not only did he get his car stuck in the mud, but Kathy kept calling him Kenneth or KJ and placing him in movie theatres watching films that were released about 15 years before he was born! (Now Kathy knows how it is when her mother calls her Jane all the time!) So, apologies to Derek. Your grandma really does know your name and will attempt to place you in the right generation when next we see you. We have offered Derek and Melissa a rain check visit. When the weather gets nicer and we are moved into the cottage, we would love to have them back when we can have a real visit and cook out. Thank you so much for stopping by today!

Just a note: Derek and his band, Beyond the Puppet, won The Battle of the Bands at Warsaw High School last week to claim the $500 first prize. You can read about it here:

http://www.timesuniononline.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=224&ArticleID=39379

Way to go, Derek!

Bonnie worked in the basement today and Kathy had hoped to beat the rain and work outside but didn't win the race. So she did some more touch-up painting and helped Bonnie in the basement..until the car got stuck.

Yesterday KJ arrived with his chainsaw after he got done with school and cut down the rest of the trees north of the driveway. We left a couple of trees that we thought about cutting down and will see how they do. Kathy got all but a few limbs and twigs cleaned up yesterday as well as moving the cement blocks and some other things behind the shed. She also straightened the woodpile behind the shed.

Bonnie's seeds arrived Burpee and we are excited about getting our veggie garden in!

Note: Bonnie wants our readers to know that we frequently had campfires the year that we camped at the Peru campground. Kathy doesn't remember as many as Bonnie does.

Stalking the wild turkey

Miami County turkey. (Must click to enlarge and appreciate photo.)

Kathy was coming home from Logansport today when she spied this wild turkey along US 24 in Miami County. She had to backtrack to be able to come up behind it to take the photo. The turkey wouldn't hold still, so she was lucky to get this photo. Please enlarge to see the detail of the turkey. This is a Tom turkey. Kathy has seen wild turkeys in Miami County all of her life. She grew up in Miami County at Bunker Hill Air Force Base, later known as Grissom AFB, and now as the Grissom Aeroplex.

Kathy stopped at the farm both yesterday and today. She visited with Denny today when he returned a book she had checked out of the library that he wanted to read. He has a plan for getting the rest of the limbs and twigs burned (when the weather cooperates), and also the roadside brush and weeds. One day it will look nice. Kathy is thinking of planting some spring bulbs along the road. This fall perhaps for next spring.

Rex stopped by and he and Kathy discussed the target time of the end of this month for us moving into the cottage. Rex is going to find out if we need to have steps to the back door in order to pass the final house inspection. We have two exits in case of fire, but we may need to have steps at the kitchen door to meet code. If so, Rex is going to try to borrow some temporary metal camper/trailer steps to get us through inspection until we can get our wrap-around deck built.

Kathy checked on her paint-mixing job and it will take a trained eye to detect where she covered the paint that didn't match the original wall paint near the stairway and a couple of other places. Denny couldn't detect it at all and Bonnie proclaimed it a close enough match to quit. Kathy was even happy with it and she is hard to please. She said it could be just a tad lighter, but she is going to leave it alone.

KJ hopes to stop by the farm on Saturday to finish his cutting. It is supposed to be a nice day. He has very little left to do.

Bonnie still has work she wants to do in the utility room, and Kathy just wants to be outside working in the vineyard or on the land. She did get some poison ivy last weekend, but considering that she has worked around it 3 times now, the poison ivy is minor.

Kathy spoke with Denny about going out to eat again with him and Barbara after he recovers from dental surgery. It should be another fun time. Restaurant and date still to be determined.