Spring in Wisconsin for you. 70's one day, snowing the next.
We went down to Marshall Park.
Sasuke wanted to go for a swim.
I think this is the last original smoke detector in our house. It's doing the malfunction beep, so time for a new one.
It was pretty cold today, but Sasuke really wanted to go outside and play.
Whoa, snacks? I like those too!
Sasuke was pretty excited about the big rental truck my neighbor has out front.
Mama broke out the raspberries.
Giving Sasuke one last hug before Masami takes him through security on their trip to Japan.
Cell phone camera through binoculars.
Sony T100 through binoculars.
Our tree out front is blooming
I got my lens back from Nikon. The focus stopped working suddenly, but they repaired it free under warranty.
I added six new plants in our berry area. All different kinds. To try and keep the grass and weeds under control this year, I put down a generous amount of cedar mulch.
My hyacinths are coming up!
I love Skype.
This is just up the hill from my house, who knew?
Self-timer shot of me sanding the deck.
This is the sandpaper I've gone through so far. See those boards? That's why I can't put this off any longer...
I'm getting there. I just have the raised portion to go.
So much for finishing the deck today. Underneath the half step is totally rotted.
I picked up some replacement boards.
This rotted board has a tree growing out of it.
This wouldn't be so bad if the screws would come up. Probably only one quarter do without trouble. Half come out with a grab-bit, but the final quarter just need to have the head drilled off. Looks kinda cool at least.
Today's trip to Menards included a cobalt drill bit that's better able to drill out screws, three boxes of fresh deck screws, and a couple #2 square-head bits. Pulling these boards is serious grunt work. If I had to guess each board takes over an hour to pull and replace. I'm reusing what I can so there is a lot of cutting involved... with a hand saw.
This was absolutely disgusting.
Don't even think about moving in there.
We don't have a cookie sheet big enough for a pizza and I've always wanted to try one, so I snagged a pizza stone at Woodman's yesterday. We don't eat a ton of pizzas, but I think the frequency will be abnormally high for the next few weeks.
I saw these two incredibly tiny clovers peaking up from between some deck boards. I had to take a macro shot. I used my Sony T100 and a bicycle flashlight.
After pulling the deck board up there was enough room to put something down for scale.
Stop raining!
My Rhubarb is coming along nicely.
I got this phone when we moved into our house because we get zero Sprint service here. It's hard to believe but that was almost three years ago. It still works and does what I need it to, but the battery is pretty worn out and it's non-removable. I got a great deal on a top of the line 2014 model (with a brand new battery) on ebay. I should be good for another three years.
I keep my old Sony T100 (circa 2007) in my work bag. It still beats the best cell phone hands down.