new front windows

 Finally the day arrived for our new front windows to be installed.

We have been working toward this day for years. I think I have mentioned before that we have had some of the exterior wood frame replaced, and that worked for awhile, but rotten spots kept showing up quicker than we could plug them with wood filler.

Every company we called for replacements was worried about what they would find behind the exterior "roofs" of the bow windows...worried that they wouldn't be able to make the new windows look good.

One fancy-pants company over in St. Matthews quoted a price of $16 thousand per window! One has to think that they pretty much didn't want the job!  Another company said we would need to hire a stone mason before they could do the job.

Finally we talked to Pella, and thanks to their positive-thinking installation manager, they said they could do the job and at a reasonable price.

We did go with regular windows rather than bows...about half the price but not quite as pretty. But for the savings, we'll get used to them.

We had to scoot all the furniture away from the windows to get ready for the installers.

Front Room...

And Family Room...

Family room first. Whoa! That is a big opening! The installers did have to fill in about six inches on each side to help support the lintel (a metal support piece above the window).

It had been built resting only on the outer edges of the old window frames.

There it goes...you can see no insulation in the top (or bottom) of the bow areas, just plywood.

I had some anxiety at this point!

But  they were quick to get the new window in place.

I mostly just stayed out of the way and stood at the kitchen counter cutting quilt pieces.

They moved over to the Front Room and quickly had the old window out.

And the new one ready to go in.

It was an all day job for them.  When they left they had trimmed and caulked the inside and vacuumed up around their work area.

They will be back to add the exterior trim.

Everyone was correct in assuming the wall behind the "roofs" would be rough. The installation manager said he is going to try to chip away the excess mortar to see if the rocks look okay under there. If not, he will come up with another plan.

We have to leave the protective film on the outside of the window until they are all finished.

I will show photos of inside and outside after the job is complete.

We have already noticed the new windows deaden a lot more of the noise from the highway. I think we will notice they block the cold a little better this winter, too.

in the mood to cook

 Nothing stays the same and now it seems like we are both satisfied with this routine of me cooking ahead foods to just heat and eat when we are ready.

This way Lonnie isn't locked in to eating some particular thing that I decide to cook for dinner and I don't feel put out if he isn't in  the mood to eat what I've cooked. 

We still do have a nice family dinner weekly but the rest of the time we mostly just rummage around in the fridge.

This time I've made two soups (again).

Homemade noodles for Chicken Noodle soup...

And Pioneer Woman's recipe for tomato soup (should have doubled this one).

Forgive my "schmeary" looking stove...I am not a neat cook!

Also made cheese stuffed jalapenos halves with bacon. I could eat these for any meal. Low carb, too.

And some oven roasted veggies - peppers, onions, eggplant, yellow squash, broccoli, with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Cooked just to tender crisp but I think I crowded these a bit. The moisture makes them steam rather than roast.

Some of the soup goes in the freezer to add variety to what's already in there.  The rest should last us a few days with the peppers and veggies.

bye bye shrubs

 We have new front windows ordered (yipee!) and the installation contract says shrubbery must be trimmed back two feet from the work area.

Looks like some work need to be done here!

The shrubs were due for a trim anyway.  But, the more I though about it, I just wanted to do away with them completely.

I don't think they were adding much beauty to the house. Especially bad, are the hollies on each corner.  They are huge things and were once nearly as tall as the house.  I had someone cut them short enough that I could reach them to trim. But, of course they always wanted to grow tall again. A lot of trimming to try to hold them back.

It was all planted too close to the house (by previous owners) anyway.  It's an easy mistake to make when the shrubs are young and small.

So, I got to work with my reciprocating saw, and in a couple of sessions had the shrubs all cut down to stumps and stacked in the front yard. The Sasquatch helped me load the trimmings onto a trailer and pulled it back to the burn pit.

Isn't this better?  Less closed in, less visual clutter.  By the way, that black spot appearing to the right of the door is dirt on my camera lens - not on the house.

Later, the Sasquatch will cut the Holly trunks down short with a chain saw and we'll dig up all the stumps and/or cut below ground level.  If that green algae on the stones doesn't dry up maybe it can be cleaned of with a light pressure wash.

Not a good time of the year to do it, but I also trimmed up this dogwood tree, which is also too close to the house - but it is staying.

Wish I would have removed the shrubs years ago!

anniversary dinner - delayed by pandemic

 For a few years we have been celebrating our wedding anniversary with dinner at our favorite steak house.

Lonnie has a system where he takes advantage of earning a bonus gift card for there at Christmas time, when he buys gift cards for his sons.  He buys a gift card for us too - thus increasing the size of the bonus gift card and we are all set for our anniversary - at the end of April.

But it's 2020, and we were in virus lockdown when our anniversary rolled around. 

Even now, as most things are gradually opening up, we've been out to eat only once.  But we started dreaming of a juicy steak and a nice evening out so we decided to go ahead and have that belated anniversary dinner.

Ruth's Chris is at the top of the Kaden Tower.  I can just barely remember this building going up when I was a child.   

Like me, it's showing it's age.  Or maybe the virus makes everything seem a little drearier.

We always take the elevator that goes up the outside of the building.  I like the views but it looks like Lonnie is just counting the minutes until he gets that steak in front of him!

Sort of different than our past experiences here.  The menu is scaled down and laminated. Nothing extra on the table...and of course everyone wearing masks (we removed ours when our drinks arrived).

But overall we enjoyed it. The steaks were as good as always and we each had a bit left to bring home to enjoy the next day.

It was nice to go somewhere besides the food and hardware stores too.

arrowhead and late summer blooms

 I keep forgetting to show this arrowhead I found on our property earlier this year.

 I was picking up some stray rocks from an area we had cleared and there it was...laying on top of the ground.  At first I thought it was a toy.

It's amazing that it wasn't broken or crushed by the bulldozer that uprooted the trees and pushed them into a pile.

It's in pretty good shape. Notice the little "teeth" along the sides?

It's the first  time I've ever found anything like this and it gave me a feeling of awe and amazement thinking that the last person that had this in their hand was a native American Indian.

Of course now I am always looking at the ground around there trying to see another one. That won't happen but I can't help doing it.

Also, a few late summer blooms...

Elephant Ears and Crepe Myrtle.  This is the Crepe Myrtle that I'd moved to this spot earlier this spring.

It's much happier and healthier here.

Darn it, I can't think of the name of the plant with the bright green leaves.

Rudbeckia and white and purple Salvia.

A bee enjoying a Passion Fruit bloom.  The vines are bullies but the bees love them and they are easy to pull up if need be.

And a view from the porch...

Everything has grown well this summer...including weeds of course.