*parents visited for the week: this included, murals, Bryn Mawr, the American Swedish History Museum, Old Swede's church, Flea Markets, Laurel Hill Cemetery, visiting acquaintances, crafts, and the Masonic Temple - to say the least.
*fixing up the yard
*a new boarder
*the finished bathroom.
The New Bathroom
I might as well start with the saga. Here's what I could manage in terms of photographs:
The bathroom is mostly done. What remains is the the minutia. Cleaning up the tiles from where the stain got on the tiles, deciding on curtains (or not), blinds, and of course all of the hanging stuff: towels, robes, soap dishes, toilet paper holder. . . But it is now completely painted and usable. I'm thrilled.
The Visit:
My amaryllis bloomed just in time:
Ann took some great pictures of Jacques and the flowers. He's just so cute. I hope she sends me copies. The roses over the front arch way bloomed as well and are just gorgeous!We had a great visit. As usual we packed everything in! somehow. On Friday I took them to the American Swedish History Museum, which is really quite interesting. Turns out the Swedes were here long before William Penn. Funny how that's not really mentioned, ever (she said sarcastically). Ann wrote a bibliography of Carl Larsson (Swedish Painter) and since the Museum had one, I thought it would be a good idea to visit.
Saturday we went to Flea markets. Although, I didn't really plan things well. We went to the Berlin Flea market in New Jersey and it was sort of ho - hum. It was flea market weekend though, and we should have just stayed in Philadelphia. We did hit Old Swede's Church and Clark Park - where I think we had the best luck. I ended up getting a henna "tattoo" on my hand. The henna-lady was already mostly closed, but I was desperate and she said she could free-hand something for me. I really like it. Sometime, I'll get something more elaborate.
Sunday was a half studio day. Ann wanted to make a box. She bought a kit from the Paper Source and I said I would help her make the box. It turned out so cute! She chose an adorable parrot pattern on paper with a very light blue book cloth. Meanwhile, my dad got acquainted with the board shear - which he said was a great machine. :) yes. it. is.
In the afternoon we visited a friend of theirs, Marjorie DeHartog. She is the widow of the writer, Jan DeHartog. She's just moved to Pennsylvania from Texas. We spent a wonderful afternoon with her in Gwynedd, PA.On Monday we crammed everything else in. Ann had done some research on her Aunt who had written for the Pennsylvania Ledger and lived in Philadelphia. So we went and saw her house, and photographed the Ledger building. We also wanted to tour Laurel Hill Cemetery, a beautiful cemetery which overlooks the Schuykill River. We took an adventure and drove up to Laurel Hill on Ridge St. This was great because I got to see at least 5 or 6 murals I'd never seen before! We did have to take the scenic route (because I didn't know quite how to get there) around Mt. Vernon cemetery, but in the end it all worked out. It's quite a beautiful place.
This morning we had breakfast and went off to the the Masonic Temple. Wow. What a place. It is quite a beautiful building. The tour was a bit too quick for me. I just wanted to stand and stare and things. Then we went off to PAFA (Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art). They house a really wonderful collection of American painters.
And then all too quickly it was time to take them too the airport. It's always too quick.
Them's the breaks when ya live across the country I guess -
Gardening
So I came home - and went to the Sprint place to see if they could fix my cell phone - which has, ahem, become inabled. If anyone calls, I can't hear them. They can hear me - I can't hear them.
Bottom line - they couldn't help me. So now I need a new phone. I'm thinking of an iphone. . .but $$$ . . . I'll keep thinking. It might just be too much technology for me. But then again. . . .
So after the Sprint store I went for a bike ride and because I had a lot of pent-up energy I attacked the yard. I mowed the back meadow and the side meadow. I had bought a weed whacker which my dad put together for me - so I whacked the weeds. My "lawn" looks really nice and flat for a change.
However -
I discovered that I have a new boarder.
Can you see him in the little black hole in there?
Here's a close-up:
yeah -I can't believe it. I have a raccoon in my attic. He even had the nerve as I was sitting in my freshly mowed back yard to walk right past me and slip under the shed. Jacques went tearing after him and hissed at him. I'm kind of surprised because he did absolutely nothing about the squirrels, but the raccoon - who is not only the same size but twice as mean - that's what Jacques decides to go after. Great. Maybe he thinks the raccoon is a funny-lookin' cat.
Bottom line - I need to call a roofer this week. Stuff needs to be taken care of.
There goes my tax return.
No comments:
Post a Comment