Paint, Firewood and Shop--What Else?

I was waiting for something more interesting to write about, but this is our life!

Before I started tackling the new pile of firewood Troy cut me, he fixed up the last empty rack we had. It was getting rather saggy and uneven, making it hard to stack firewood in it. (If you stacked the firewood in a straight line, you lost the rack at some point!)

So Troy took it down, laid some gravel, leveled it out and put it back. He even retouched the wood with vegetable oil to keep it from weathering.

That's the last rack to go since I finished filling the others this morning.
Hopefully I can get it filled this fall.

Troy is trudging along with the foundation insulation. The third (and final) layer is finished on the south side. Just the west and north walls to go.

He wants you to know that the foam is rated at R-5 for each inch; six inches is giving him R-30 on his foundation. The usual R value for a home's foundation? 0. Yup, zero.

And the paint? I had told myself I wasn't going to post until it was done, but it's taking too long. Last night we moved the ladder to the other side of the power lines so that I could start on the final section. (Yeah!)It was already primed so today I could put on the first coat of white. One more white coat (maybe tomorrow), then two of blue. Compared to the last section I had been painting, this one seems really small. (Especially split between blue and white.) That is a good thing.

And, much to my relief, it looks like I reached far enough painting the left section that I can reach everything remaining from this side. (I did not want to have to move the ladder back for some 2 inch piece that I couldn't reach!)

Finally, this is the view from our east bedroom window:

Not the angle to give you the best perspective but my maximillian sunflowers have finally started blooming and are going crazy. I had to rescue them this spring from being plowed under with Troy's rototiller (they were previously in his garden space) and they were a little delayed. Once they took off, though, they really went. They reached a height close to 10 feet but looked like giant weeds. We were very happy when the blooms started opening.

Behind the sunflowers, you can see a piece of the "rock garden" that I filled with wildflower seed this year. It's starting to look pretty good too. Troy says they're all invasive, but I think they're pretty.

My dahlia that I was excited about returning this year never bloomed. The peony that skipped a year but came up on the south side never bloomed. My trumpet vines, no blooms. And the bittersweet? No blooms or pods either. It's almost like my plants don't like it when I neglect them.

Good luck finishing up all your summer projects...fall is breathing down our necks.