Memorial Day at the Beach

Smidge of rain, plenty of clouds, sun-break or two...and absolutely nothing to complain about at all because the company, food and fun was fantastic. Grandma, Grandpa, Glenna, John, Kathleen, James, Tess, Yana, Daniel, Alex, Josh, Jocelyn and Hailey had a great time. The only complaint was it went too fast (and of course there was no running water).

Tess and James rowed out to capture a huge heavy board for Ben to do something with.

Picnic table bit the dust (via rust) and was chopped up for salvage.

Three boys head out at dusk with fishing poles and returned...with fishing poles.

Dogs (Scout, Lenny, Dakota and Dylan) and their people had a great time together!

Birthday dinner for Daniel's 22nd with family, friends (Alex & Josh) and Aunt Glenna's delectable ice-cream birthday cake. Mmmmmm.

Grandma's moon. Ahhhhh.

The chain to our buoy broke...and fell to the bottom of the sea. Saturday James headed out at low tide (-3) to try to rake up the chain and reconnect it to a buoy. WAY easier said than done but after many challenges he managed to connect a temporary buoy before the tide came in too far.    

Beach moments that make beach memories.

Daniel - Alex - Josh

Stanley Cup Play-off Beard

Hailey the hairdresser attacks Daniel the BD boy

Hangin'

Campfirein'

Swiin'

Beach Mugin'

It's was an OooLaLa kind of Weekend

Last weekend we decided to attack the problem of Lake Kathleen by digging a French drain.

Were you expecting a more exciting topic? Shame on you with your mind in the gutter :)

When it rains really hard - or when it rains for hours at a time without a break - the back patio fills with water. I'm not talking a little water. I'm talking about a few inches of water covering the concrete slab all the way to the porch steps. Enough water that little kids can run around splashing and have a ton of fun (I know that first hand). Enough water that little fish could consider it their personal pond (I don't know that first hand but I can see it being true).

Papa was going to have James do this job a couple of years ago but James had other plans for his hands so the job sat on hold.

Phase 1 is complete. Now we will let everything settle and then go back in with a final layer of pea gravel, dirt and grass. Jeesh that pea gravel is expensive - had I known how much it cost I would have grabbed a bucketful every time I went to the beach this summer!

BTW...don't know why Papa named it Lake Kathleen - maybe it was because I had fun splashing in it with the kids :) but nearly 10 rainy winters ago that is what Papa named it and we've called it that ever since.

He makes cutting the concrete with his diamond blade saw look easy but trust me, it wasn't.

 

After using a sledge hammer to separate the concrete along the saw line, he broke it up into manageable pieces with  a long crow bar. This was an enormously difficult job that required a few breaks along the way to give the arms and back a rest.

Ditch is dug end to end.

As it turned out, there actually was drainage in place when the house was built  nearly 30 years ago. It had stopped functioning long ago as it was packed 'tighter than a new memory foam bed-topper in a shrink wrap plastic bag' with dirt.

Oh bother. They installed the water lines for the automatic sprinkler ABOVE the drain. What a pain :/

Of course nothing got done without Supervisor Dakota getting all close-up and personal. 

The new drain is laid. Is it long enough? Does it have enough of a slope? Does it need tweaking in any way before I bury it? Measure twice, cut once is Contractor John's motto!

Trying to find the right fitting for the downspout proved problematic. 

No

Yes!

Time to fill in the French drain.

Bring on the rain...well, no rush really...but you know what I mean :)
All that's left is finish work on the rockery, grass seed, plantings and more pea gravel as it settles over the winter. 

Captn' Jody

Captain Jody and Scallywag James take a spin on the water powered by the infamous Ted Williams.

And she survived to tell the tale!

Many Faces of James

Random post. Ran across this collage of James at Suncadia. Had to share. Just so James :) Love that guy.

James and Tess Entertain

Tess and James hosted dinner at their place for their families August 12. I love the layout of their apartment. I love how they have personalized it and made it feel so comfortable and homey. I love watching them attack a task together.

Perfect day. Perfect company. Perfect food. Perfect fan placement (that would be referencing me perfectly placed in front of a fan due to a sweltering heat wave).

Sadly, imperfect photographer. I only have two lousy out of focus snapshots. I missed capturing the chicken and veggies on the grill; the homemade potato salad (with and without tomatoes) and; a group pic of James, Tess, Brad, Tanja, Yana, Papa, Daniel and me.

Can I blame the heat? It addled my brain. Yup. Going with that.