Are we there yet?

 

Full privacy fence... I'm enclosed now.  Only gate is on the far side of the house!

Problem #1:  A gap, about 8 or nine inches wide between the railing and the privacy fence.  A small child could wriggle through and fall to the patio (concrete).  They have promised to fix it.

Problem #2:  There is supposed to be a drink rail on the long side.  Foreman Brian said they didn't have the brackets to attach it.  Calvin promises it will get fixed on Friday.

Problem #3:  They left all the leftover construction materials on the patio, not out where the lumber company truck can come and retrieve them easily.

Calvin promised they will shift those "leftovers" to the north side of my driveway on Friday so I won't have them on the patio.

Until that patio is cleared of hazards, I can't use my sliding door to release Ember into the yard, which means I can't take down the x-pen temporary fence, either.

Consequently, I have called up the day care and slotted Ember in for Friday, Saturday, and Monday.  Friday and Monday I will have workmen here, finishing up on Friday and hauling off the trash on Monday.

I only booked her Saturday, not Sunday, over the weekend, because I figure she'll need a "down day" with "mommy and me" at least one weekend day.  

On the plus side?  The supporting columns are much bigger/sturdier than the old ones.  The flooring and steps are composite, not wood, so don't need as much maintenance.

Friday June 19 - Happy Juneteenth

I'm a bit frustrated.  The workers did not come back Friday morning, so even though I took Ember to day care and removed the center of the X-pen barrier.  I called the head guy to express my worry about the 8 80-pound bags of concrete mix, two of which had the bag broken open, that were sitting on my river rock bed.

Naturally, there was rain in the forecast and the crew that was supposed to move all that stuff... did not show up.  I called the boss who said he would call the crew chief and get back to me.  He never called back.  As the drops began to fall, I tried an emergency shelter made from Ember's doggy pool.

I weighed it down with a couple of cinder blocks from the back yard.  I am not hopeful that the bags will stay dry and I will not pay these dudes the remainder of their fee until they get the trash and leftovers out of my yard, and the gap fixed and the drink rail installed.  If those bags get wet, they will be solid concrete and impossible for me to shift!

About 2 p.m. my son called to check up on me, and we chatted for quite some time, "solving (not) the problems of the world", and generally having a vent (guys don't call it bitch) session.  That pulled me back from the anxious worrying and second guessing.

Saturday, June 20th

This was the day that our local Community Center held the celebration for Juneteenth.  I had never been to such a celebration before, but I knew that my son and DIL intended to attend.  Despite the forecast of rain, I thought I should go.  If nothing else to get myself educated about a holiday that growing up in one of the whitest states in the nation, I had been unaware of until the pandemic years. 

It was packed.  I found the group and was pleased at the sheer joy of the attendees.  

There was live music, emcees, lots of organizations had booths to promote their services, food was served in a buffet line (hamburgers, hot dogs, chips and water, nothing fancy, but very holiday fare).

There is a water park pad, so the kiddos were able to enjoy water even before it started coming from the sky.

I have turned into that old lady that stays and hour or an hour and a half and ducks out early.  Given I had to park about half a mile away, it was a good thing.  By then it was raining steadily.

Ember was in Saturday day care.  They open an hour later on Saturday, so we had time for about a mile of neighborhood leash walking before we went.

When I went to pick her up, she was wet from playing outside in the rain, too.  I love a summertime rain when the temperatures are mild.  I had taken down the x-pen panels in case the deck guys were to come to clear off, but with the rain, I held out little hope.  I put them back up in the rain before I went to get Ember.

Sunday, June 21

Happy Father's Day.  Rain continued.  I went grocery shopping during Ember's morning nap.  When I got home, I let her out of her crate and together we went on a neighborhood walk.  Then Dexter (the car) took us for a ride to recycle some cardboard.  

I was pleasantly surprised when about 12:30 p.m., Ember decided to crate herself for another nap.  Perfect timing.  I went upstairs to pay a bill, then snuck out of the house about 1:30 to go to FGC's baseball game.  As usual, no photos due to foster program rules.

It was a really good game.  He seemed most excited when he got to play first base (he made an out), and later in the game when he was tapped as pitcher (he caught a fly ball that would have been foul).  He did well at bat, too.  This year the league is "coach pitch" but if the kiddo can't get a hit after four pitches, they put up a tee for them to whack it.  FGC managed to get on base off coach pitches twice, and his third (and final) at bat he had to use the tee... and whacked it so well he got a double!  With the rules this year, the inning ends with either the batting team getting five runs, or the fielding team gets three outs, whichever happens first.  FGC managed to get across home plate on all three turns.

I have no clue what kind of score there was at the end of the game (nobody really counts it), but I was very pleased to see how much these kids (all of them, not just FGC) have learned over the past two seasons.  I'm also impressed with the volunteers who coach and umpire!  We are very lucky in this town to have so many folks involved.

I ducked out right after the game and came home to my pup.  It was about supper time and getting fed no doubt helped a lot to establish a good mood!

Monday, June 22nd - we are there!

I dropped Ember at day care and came home to find... workmen!

They installed my drink rail (read "cat superhighway").  

Fix for problem #1:  The gap has been filled with a solid post, matching other support posts on that side. 

Fix for Problem #2:  the crew installed the deck rail, also known around here as The Prisoner's personal highway.  You can see it in the final photo.

Fix for problem #3:  Calvin showed up and took away the trash from the patio and swept up.  

He took away the concrete mix bags that I had sheltered with the baby pool.  He hosed it down so that the river rock was in good shape, no damage from my anxious weekend!

The leftover building materials got moved to the driveway, so that Ember doesn't have to be kept on leash until the lumber truck comes to pick them up on Tuesday.

After I wrote him a check and he left, I took down the x-pen panels, moved the chairs back onto the deck, and hosed down the patio, an extra layer of cleaning because... Ember will be free to run loose in the back yard again!

All's well that ends well, and I can return to normal living for a while!

Life is good.  Spark on!

The week unfolds as the deck project gets underway

 Saturday, June 13th, 2026

I overslept.  I was about an hour late getting downstairs to take care of the animals.  I looked at the forecast and saw that the thunderstorm front was due at the same time as the "Tai Chi in the park" event and texted my friend Kim that I would be skipping it, in favor of taking Ember out for a neighborhood walk hopefully done before the front came through.

This photo is from about halfway through our walk.  Those are storm clouds, not hills, for those of you who don't inhabit the wide-open plains.  

Ember insisted on going around the last block despite my pleas to get home before it hit.  She won that discussion, and we went on around.  There were still some branches within reach of her sniff limit.  We had one funny spot where she climbed through a pile of them and I whined at her that she had to come back because Mommy could not go through the pile the way she did.

Sunday, June 14th

Waking time was more "normal" on Sunday.  But I was tired.  Reordered when we did the dog walk to "after puppy nap #1".  We walked the farthest she ever has on leash, and through a different part of the neighborhood.

Monday, June 15th

Mom still low energy.  This is the last day before we have 3 days of doggy day care in a row.  The deck project is supposed to begin on Tuesday or Wednesday.  On Monday I moved the deck chairs to the far end of the back yard, on the shed pad.  I'm waiting until the last minute to put up the x-pen temporary fence at the far end of the patio so that Ember can be contained for potty sessions.

Tuesday, June 16th

Ember was happy to be dropped off at day care.  I came home and put up the temporary fence, which will give her some back yard freedom, but protect the area that will have the privacy fence and deck removed for a couple of days.

I thought there was a good chance the folks would not show up Tuesday, which would give me time to clear the fence line of unwanted plants (volunteer trees and ivy).  The plan is to deconstruct and put the building materials on the concrete patio.  This should work!  Fingers crossed.

I was wrong about them not getting here Tuesday.  I had started some weed cutting along the fenceline, and about that time Calvin showed up with building materials for the fence part of the project.

I kept working on the weeds, then called it "good enough" to take a break.  About 10:45 a.m. I noticed the crew had arrived to do the deconstruction of the deck and fence.  I asked them to smile for the camera!

They proceeded to deconstruct, and when they left for the day, the posts were up but not the fence.  

Apparently, the delivery truck didn't bring the concrete to set them up!  Tomorrow.  Quick setting, says Calvin (the boss), only need 30 minutes for fence posts.

Raul and Ignacio are the crew hauling the deck flooring to tuck it away for installation.

Ember was very curious when she got home. After supper, I took her out to meander in her section of the yard while I sat on a deck chair and watched her explore.

Wednesday June 17th

Ember reluctantly followed mom to the backyard by way of the front door and across the driveway to the gate.  Treats lured her inside for her morning P&P.

Enticing on the far end of the deconstruction zone was The Prisoner, who was getting his first look at the work in progress.

I stopped at the grocery on the way home.  By the time I got here, the crew were already working on the fence post setting.

Those propping timbers are being anchored in my neighbor's yard.  I hope the neighbors are going to be OK with this.  I didn't see it coming.  Three years ago the fence guys did not put up such props.  At least during the previous fence work three years ago the neighbors were OK with temporary access.  

I can see that I owe my neighbors something for the use of their yard!  At the very least to restore the space between the houses.

10:45 a.m. the skin of the fence is starting to be installed and the joists for under the deck floor are going up.  The front side of the fence is up, shielding from street view the storage area while work continues.

The props will be removed Thursday, according to the work crew.  

Steps are in, as is the deck floor.

The kitty came back inside, after spending a day out hunting.  He had to be shown where the steps were, then he trotted up them during Ember's last call and went back into his own safe space in the laundry room.

Thursday, June 18th

The day dawned beautifully, with cloud cover being sun kissed into a pink glow.

When I stepped out onto the newly installed deck floor to snap this photo, I was met with sprinkles of rain from those clouds.

When I took Ember out for her morning P&P in the backyard, I looked West and found a rainbow.  Rain had not been in the forecast. 

Ember happily went off to daycare.  I came home to find the workmen already starting their day. 

I have rails in progress!

Blog is getting too long already... so I'm going to leave it here and post.  

...  To be continued  ...

Life is good.  As always, it is "under construction".  Keep on Sparking, my friends!

Tai Chi. Really?

My friend and former co-worker, Kim, found it to be too muddy around her house for our recently taken up Saturday morning parallel dog walk.  But she had found this "contribution" class, all stages and ages, of Tai Chi, in the park, in the open air, at the same time as we had been walking the dogs.  That became our Saturday outing.  I managed to convince Ember to take her nap in the crate and I headed over.

At first, it was three of us newbies hunting for the class, because the location on the posting was pretty vague.  Eventually a fourth lady showed up. She had met the instructor and found a way to call her.  This cleared up the confusion about where in the park the class was to set up, and we compromised.

I had never done Tai Chi before.  I had seen a couple of videos of it but hadn't taken a class or anything.  But I was curious.  The instructor assured us that she had taught every age from preschool to seniors over 90.  Cool, all of us are in between those ages!  My observation is that the body feels the workout later.  It's slow and feels relaxing; the stretching and breathing is a similar focus to yoga.  

After the class, Kim and I discussed and decided to do it again next weekend.  I will try to remember two things for next week:

1. Bug Spray
2. Walk the dog early, so she doesn't feel "left out"

After Kim drove off, another lady who had attended the class asked if I was going to walk some more.  She seemed a little lost and maybe in need of a walking partner.  I told her I was indeed going to walk, but I needed to go home and make that a walk with my dog.  I invited her to come walk with us, and she did.

It was starting to get steamy, so we made the walk shorter than what Ember and I normally cover.  Besides, the other lady had left her keys and water bottle on my kitchen counter, and she only had about half an hour to devote to this activity.

The photo is of Ember panting on the deck later in the day.  

Sunday the 7th of June

Ember and I got out walking early, when it was only 69℉.  I was once again drenched in sweat by the time we returned home, 1.84 miles later.  

After that it was a lazy, wasted day!  We napped.  We streamed old TV shows and dog rescue videos.  Mommy ate pizza and shared some.

Monday the 8th of June

An early nice long leash walk, well-behaved.  Ember met a fellow human walker.  Big guy, kind of the size of my son, tattoos on his arms, also like unto my son.  After greeting her the young man asked, "Is there anything I can pray about for you?"  I thought for hardly a second or two, "Pray for the world.  For the whole world," I said.

My needs are small, I thought, as Ember and I walked on toward home.  Whatever your faith, it cannot ever be wrong to pray for the world, can it?  Pick whatever need you feel we need most: peace, health, comfort, full bellies, hope, justice, honesty, wisdom for the leaders... and extend the petition to include the world.  As I walked, I did just that.

We had a low-key Monday, "Mommy and me" day.  Ember had her third or fourth play session with the herding ball.  This time, she defeated and deflated it!

Tuesday, June 9th

Tuesday is Ember's favorite day.  It's the day she gets to go play with her puppy friends after four days of just Mommy and the cat!

While she was off doing doggy things, I dropped some recycles at the center, did a bit of grocery shopping, and paid some bills.  I also took a wee nap and read a few chapters in a novel I have going.  It was hot outside, and I was glad to have a relatively peaceful day!

Wednesday, June 10th

Ember and I were just about to head out on a leash walk when the skies opened up.  It was brief, but it was rain.  Ember is not a fan.

We got a rainbow out of the deal, but before it started raining, not after, as is usual!  Guess it has to do with the timing of the front.

Anyway, we went on our coffee run, then Ember got a consolation prize in the form of a beef bone.

After the rain passed, after the pup finished with her bone, I started to pull her harness down to go for a steamy walk (it was already heating up) when the phone rang.

Hallelujah, it was the deck guy.  Next week, on Tuesday or maybe as late as Wednesday, they will start my project.  I agreed to give him a check for the downpayment this afternoon, then Ember and I headed out on our, as predicted, steamy walk.

He popped by and collected the check.  Ember loved him.  He proclaimed himself to be an enabler of her putting her paws on him.  After he left, Ember and I continued with our quiet day, with an extra treat trip to the DQ to share a kiddie cone.

Thursday June 11th

Thursday started early.  I woke at 3:38 a.m. to rain on the roof.  Went back to bed but not for long.  By 4:30 I was dressed and Ember barked from her crate because the sky was making too much noise for her liking.  I flipped on lights and went down, letting her know it's OK, it's just a thunderstorm.  I can't help thinking about the last big thunderstorm that upset her, nearly a year ago, in August 2025.  During that one, she "lost it" and when I tried to defend the couch cushion, I got bit.  To the tune of stitches.  This time, she's a grown-up, and when I opened the door, she actually went outside in the ruckus, and came back, let herself be dried off with a towel, then snuggled into a dog bed for more sleep.

After the sun rose (albeit behind layers of clouds), we went out and surveyed the yard.  Mr. Sturm und Drang had left her one sizable branch to chew on, from a neighbor's tree.  On the drive to day care, we had to detour around a few such branches from other trees, each of which was taking up one side of the street.  Garbage cans were also knocked over and their contents running loose.

Despite all the drama from the sky, routine was followed.  Pup got her breakfast and morning treats and made it to play with her puppy friends. 

I was feeling quite lazy. I did make it to the library to swap out books, and to the grocery store for a few essentials. 

Friday!  Yay!  We survived the week!

Friday dawned nicely cool.  The Prisoner came out of his "melted" afternoon stance for a regal morning pose on the deck rail.

Ember and I set off to explore the neighborhood.  It was trash day, but she did a pretty good job of leaving other people's trash alone.  She even left two unfortunate birdies that did not survive the storm alone.  But there was one bag of "ewwww!" that she found to roll in.  I wiped her off with some of those doggy cleaning gloves after we were done with our adventure.

We added a trip to the store that lets her come in with me, and one of the staff was in the entrance, ready to greet her.  The other clerk got her to sit for her treat.  And I got her to get back in the car without a whole lot of drama, too.

Once again, life goes on.  It is good!  Keep Sparking, my friends!

Dog laundry and other mundane chores

 Monday morning

It was the first of the month and I was exhausted.  I dropped Ember off at day care and walked around, trying to do a household task here and there, but especially dog laundry, as this had not been done since Carl's visit.  

I made the adjustments to her day care schedule, giving her Wednesday with me, but keeping her normal Tuesday and Thursday.  Also slated dates for her next vaccination and grooming.  

Tuesday morning

Much better rested by Tuesday.  A day of pacing oneself pays off.  Tuesday was for human laundry, since Monday got the vacuuming out the x-pen done.

It was a warm day.  I noticed a certain lethargy in The Prisoner, being not as quick to jump up on the deck rail away from Ember.  I kept Ember inside while I went out and lifted him.  Later, once Ember was down for her nap before last call, I lifted him down and escorted him to his safe zone in the laundry room.

Wednesday morning

The Prisoner was not anxious to go upstairs and outside so I left him with food and drink and litter boxes in his safe zone.  By evening he was back to his old self.  Guess the heat wears on us all.

📸Enjoying deck time Wednesday evening.

Thursday

I had an appointment in Omaha, and I was watching the weather forecast carefully.  I have driven in pouring rain and through storms that I should not have in my younger days and am reluctant to get caught in that situation nowadays.

Luck held.  I left home with a bit of a cushion, watching the hourly forecast for the lightest rain period.  I got lucky on the way back, beating the stormy part, though not the rain.  The worst of the drive was visibility on the way back, due to the backwash from the vehicles that were going about their own business.  But made it safely home.

As for the appointment it was a follow up to a series of recent ones spread over the last three months.  I was released on my own recognizance for the next year.  Yay! 🎉

I was pretty worn out.  I picked up Ember from daycare and fed her.  When she went into her pre-last call crate time, I zonked on the bed for an hour before brushing my teeth and continuing with normal Thursday evening chores.  It was last call before the trash got trundled to the curb!  I remembered to turn off the automatic sprinklers since it had rained most of Thursday and was predicted to rain some more on Friday.  ✅

And now it is Friday!

I slept well.  Ember and I got out on a long leash walk before it got too hot.  It was super humid though, so I was drenched in sweat by its end even though it was only in the 60's F.  Not looking forward to next week when summer temperatures are predicted to top 95℉.

On this walk, Ember failed the "leave it" test with which she was presented.  Imagine someone dropping a breakfast sandwich:  egg, cheese, bread... 👀 Now imagine a car parking on top of it, with said sandwich being squished under the left front tire. 🚗 Yep.  

Mom's cues were worthless as Ember's nose took her straight to it.  She writhed under that car from three different directions as she dug it out.  Mom has learned that sometimes it's better (once you figure out it's not a dangerous poison) to wait it out.  I stood, holding the leash, in the street to direct cars around the scene.  From time to time, I tried to check if she had finished her investigations.  I'm pretty sure she "ate the whole thing" as the old antacid commercials used to moan.  

She did not get her usual giant chew stick on return to home after this adventure.  We did go on a ride our normal coffee run.  Mommy is monitoring for upset tummy signs, but so far, nerp!  If I hadn't already been convinced of the labrador cast iron stomach...

Methinks the cheeky squirrel approves of Ember's adventures.  "Keep her away from me!"

I have not yet heard from the deck guys about the next proposed start date.

Life is good.

Spark on!