throw them in.......

at a past date when oll daddy Davy went and picked up his new/used toy he didn't have a way to load the commercial mower.he brought with him two old doors to use as a ramp. when the seller saw this he said hold on i have a old ramp we can use to help load. after it was loaded he said, you can keep those ramps i don't need them anymore....whaaaat..........sweet. and here they are having been used loading up the ol gravely after cutting up Hawkins. that 50in cut took about 20min to do the whole yard and it wasn't short stuff either, hot dam.

trim tram super spam..........

 before


 while out at Hawkins i did a little yard maintenance here's just a couple before and after pics for your viewing pleasure.

 after

 before

 after
 i rehung that fallen gutter. did you notice that the old window ac units are no longer in the windows in the before pictures of the back of the house? did you take them down you may ask?............no i did not, i had help from some friendly thief's. yep apparently they wanted those units more than me and bad enough to come steal them. they also took some from a neighboring house just yanked them right out the window. i guess copper is the name of the game now and those units probably had plenty inside. well it worked out for the best anyways this did happen when we were in the middle of purchasing so the sellers knocked some green backs off the bottom line.

wet, gooey, nasty, mess..............

what your looking at is a wet, gooey, nasty, mess. ya see when we bought this property lets call it "hawkins" it had a preexisting problem. see whom ever lived here did not have plumbing know how, and it had developed a leak(or two or three). and whom ever had installed the plumbing didn't have the common sense to incorporate a shut off valve anywhere on the whole dad gum house.  the water comes from a  well with five other houses, none with a shut off valve. so with no way to shut off cause all the other houses needed water. so lets put two and two together....leaking pipes + no shut off valve= a wet, gooey, nasty, mess.

solution........ well i was pretty happy when i crawled under there and saw all copper plumbing and i knew it was going to be a snap. game plan go to that home improvement store, get a "gater bite"(a pipe fitting that requires no soldering). sneak over to the well house cut off water run, crawl under house, cut pipe, snap on fitting, crawl back out, run and cut on water back on. all so fast that know one would be the wiser. but as you know to every great plan there is a complication.............but i was fortunate and it went as planned. took about five min and some muddy knees. but im happy to report no more dip drops for now at least.

try these on for size......

here's a quick pic of Malia trying on daddy's shoes after we had taken a quick run to the park. Malia your gonna make those shoes stink cause you don't have on any socks! you know what they say about big feet.....you need big socks.

malia scratching her back?...........

 i don't know what Malia is doing in this video clip(besides being silly) maybe shes scratching her back, your guess is as good as mine. maybe its a move  she picked up from barkley after his bathing ritual, i don't know but enjoy.

tomato killer........

while the ol wifey was out in the garden picking some farm fresh produce, she spotted this little fellow. unfortunately he was attached to one of my prized tomato plants so he had to be removed. this is one crazy looking bug, if you zoom in it has fake eyes all they way down its sides, which way is it looking? it has a horn on its tail and a mouthful of teeth. no bugs were harmed in the removal of this fellow from Dave's plant. it might not have been so lucky if ol Davy had to do the removing. i wounder what color it is on the inside?.....step.....ewwwww.

cleanup underway.........

                                                                           before

well the ground has been broke on the next project, lets call it "Jackson" cause its gonna take some jacksons to get it ready(and that's the name of the street its on). i went out and did a little yard work, a little cleanup of the grounds you may say. here is just a couple before and after pics.

                                                                             after


... i had to remove the nice shade tree because it was up rubbing on the roof of the house, and growing under the foundation(potential problems). and removed the small section of privacy fence because it was improperly installed(its a possibility to be put back up). there is a small patio outback which will take a little cleaning up.

                                                                         before
in this pic you can see a large over grown bush to the left of the house, it too was rubbing on the roof/siding. it was also hanging into the shared driveway and would rub your car.

                                                                                  after
here the bush is cut back, i hope it returns but it was out of control, just has to be maintained. grass is cut and all the tree trimmings down by the street for pick up. you can see the sun starting to fall, so as the day ended daddy dave went home for the evening.

mosquito bait...........

 after a quick run with my little lady to the park and back daddy Dave  had a couple of things he needed to do outside. one of which was to unload his truck from a past rental visit. well with the baby all ready strapped in the stroller dad hurriedly unloaded his truck. well once i finished up, i brought Malia in and set her down i then noticed a lot of fresh mosquito bites(click pic to enlarge).  well....... what a little tasty treat they had, in this pic you can see the bites on her knee, shoulder, and head(Davy wont show you the other side, but ill just say you could do a connect the dots). of course she was a trooper, in this pic she is actual holding a piece of ice which had fallen from the filling of a cup.

dads new/used toy.........

well with a couple more yards to cut now, time spent with the ol push mower was increasing. so after a little craigs listing and a little luck(and approval from momma Mandy) daddy Dave ran across this jem. it may not look like much to many but it looks like a winner to me. with this 50in cut ol Davy will not have to make as many passes on the lawn. whats left to do?a tune up and a fluid change, look out grass here i come. Malia is accessing the new toy.

dog days........................

can you spot Barkley(Mr. Poops)? with Malia down for a nap, and the wife away at work i mosey outside for a chance to load up the trailer for a trip out to the rental. work has to begin as soon as  possible so we can get a renter in, or else it will be baloney sandwiches and water for all. in this pic Barkley is taking refuge in the shade like any one with brains would be doing in this heat. busy busy days ahead

mommas flowers......

 momma Mandy flowers are just a blooming. flowers beware summer(officially) around the bed. and it looks like it will be hot hot hot.

this echinacea just gets bigger and bigger, every year.

reading rainbow...........

closing fools...........

well we figured go big or go home(or go broke then go home), so while out rental hunting we stumbled across another jem. everything worked out and we are now blessed with another rental. this one is in great condition its almost move in ready(fingers crossed).  its not down the street, but hopefully it will be worth the trip.

here's a pic of the back. its in a little close quarters but they pack them in like sardines when they built in the city limits, this was actual built in 1900's.

we closed......... but were open for business........................

 here is a quick pic of our new rental project. remember the post of the house with the nasty sink....well this is that one. yeah......its not so bad from the outside but inside its gonna need a overhaul. it does sit on .6 acres and is in a nice country location though. it was steal of a deal, to good to pass up, payed less for it than what my car cost, wheeling and dealing.

well daddy Dave roll up your sleeves and get to getting(get busy).

proof she's a walker......................

although Malia took her first steps all by herself, Mon 13th of June(at least that we had seen). we had no pics or video, she didn't do it on demand or stay around for the camera. we now have proof, undisputed, undeniable proof ill just let the video clip do the proving, enjoy

relocate.......

 well it seems that our hydrangea hasn't been doing that good in its new location. morning hours it was fine but afternoon to evening hours it was a sad sight, all drooping and wilted. so i dug her up and put her in a more suitable spot via direction of the wifey.

and here she sits in her new spot by the fence. in this new location she stands tall all day long and her flowers stay in full bloom. my wifey said that the different soils/location will  produce a different color flowers which looks to be true, they are now more pink and before blueish purple. flower on my little hydrangea flower on

musical pillows?.............

if we were playing musical pillows Barkley would have won because he cheated and took both pillows. in this pic Barkley's own dog pillow was missing in action. so he just lays down on a couple of the couch pillows already on the floor courtesy of Malia. do what ya got too in the name comfort, can ya blame him?

local vegetation.......

just some  local vegetation here on lenmore this first pic is some kind of flowering plant in momma Mandy's flower garden.

and this one is of course a green tomato, if only this were a scratch and sniff pic you could smell the vine ripe tomato mmmmmm. with all the recent rain we should be back on track for a bumper crop this year, but too soon to tell for sure. these pics were taken by that camera yielding mother.

the new Mt Everest...............

well its not topped with snowy peaks nor do you need oxygen masks to climb to the top of this summit but it is equal challenging to my young daughter Malia. this is a pic of her first summit climb(that we know of) she is proudly perched upon the arm rest, head held high. i went into the other  room only to come back and find this feat already preformed. new problem, how do you properly decending the summit? its ill advised to do this head first but we will soon see the outcome whether we like it or not. sometimes ya take some hard knocks in life and this might be one of her first.

bird house?.............

 man i tell you what the ol birds just love the homestead on lenmore, guess it must be the company. im always finding a new nest, whether it be in the garage, bush, or tree, they are always popping up, here is the newest and latest. by looking at the pic, if you were a bird where would you make your nest? think cozy and dry and out of reach of potential predators.
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if you guessed on top of the propane tank you were right. while daddy dave was outside he decided to check the fullness of the tank. as he opened the top the nest was exposed. not expecting this it caught him a little off guard, but then the mother of the nest then flew out and buzzing daves head, made him jump a little (happy to report no changing of the draws was needed). if you look close you can see the eggs in the nest, so not interfering with the nest davy closed the top and let the mother birds nest be(after a couple pics of course).

snake in the hostas?.............

is that a snake in the hostas?......... nope its just the old electrical wiring for the out door lamp post. one of the past storms had blown down the lamp post and daddy Dave has not had the time to fix. so he removed it and is to soon install an outdoor outlet/receptacle box, as to have access to this line in the future. he does plan to reinstall the lamp post but not at the moment.  also daddy Dave also planted a new variety of hosta in the front garden also(these were also donated by sister#1 on a past visit, thanks). its a hosta party and your invited.

the business end of a bee...........

yep..... there's no butts about it, this honey bee is hard at work no time to turn around and pose for the camera. all business and no play. i guess hes not so sweet(get it.... honey) on the paparazzi . well i guess its none of our bbbizzzzzzzzzness what hes doing anyhow. bee careful if you sniff this flower.

rootey toote..................

 just a quick pic of a new plant which sister #1 donated to the lenmore foundation. it is a rather large jasmine plant which will look great once the roots take. here it is in its place and tacked up.

another quick pic of one of the ivy plants which was planted awhile back, it ya can tell it seems to be taking nicely to its new home on the fence. you can see new growth, the lighter green leafs. stretch your toes ivy, stretch your toes.

wish... wash.... my teeth are taking a bath......

here's a video clip of Malia brushing her teeth all on her own. she enjoys having her teeth brushed , momma Mandy usually does this for her but shes starting to want to do things on her own. enjoy

hipster...................

just a quick pic of that Christmas gift i received. for those that don't know its a gerber, a multi-use folding tool. Ive been taking it with me when i go out to rentals and such and it has come in handy many times. great gift guys thanks. in fact while out picking up rent, the occupants had a concern about a swinging ceiling fan. well out comes the gerber, and solved becomes the problem, all in a days work my friend all in a days work.

dont think shes gonna make it........................

 this is a pic of one of the great large trees in my backyard. it seems that this ol pin oak is sick (the tree on  the left). at closer inspection it almost looks as if it was struck by lighten at one time or another. maybe she never healed back up right,  but who could after getting struck with that kind of voltage. she is slowly dying and it wont be long before we have to put her down, the up side.......... fire wood.

and im happy to report the second trailer load of firewood was pulled off without a hitch.........get it "hitch".(i did have to use my truck hitch to pull it home though). and here it lies at the base of these trees.