Patio Process VIII

AND THE PAVERS GO IN!!!!!!!!!!!

I decided we'd opt to ring the patio with these red pavers to nicely frame the limestone. It'd also help to take up the space, since I wasn't convinced we'd have enough limestone for the large area I wanted to cover (150 square feet, yo!).


THRILLING!!!!!! :)


I probably should have built up more sand under them, but .... yeah. With the extra AB3 rock, we decided to get less sand. Good in theory, but ... well ... we needed MORE sand. So, Coop's truck comes to the resue!


We ended up with three more times. Easy going in, but coming out .... well, it was a bit more exhausting.

Patio Process VII

After the last post, we had the sand delivered. :)

BEFORE:


DURING:


AFTER:


What do we do with all the sand, you ask? :)


We then compacted it like good llamas. :)

Patio Process VI

After we got the rock put in for under the patio project (in THIS post), there was a bit of rock left .....


Well, we then were able to give it to our neighbor! It even fit into the back of the truck. :)

Hey — I'm busy!

Doing some globetrotting! Stopping in to share a photo. See the Heartland Blog for a *few* more details.

Repairing the kitchen wall

Remember this post about tearing apart the kitchen wall?

Well, our buddy Coop came and helped us to put a header in so it will look like the opening from the dining room to the kitchen.


Jeff started to saw open the wall to make room for the new header .... and there went the dust ... UGGGGGGH! I totally thought I was done with the dust of this. Grrrrrrrrrrr........



Check this action out!!!!!!!


Oh ... but look at where things were placed on our dining room table ....


Initially, I had hoped to have the dining room painted, but we'll just have to settle for having corners on the opening and it mudded.

So let's see the progress








I still need to do a few more coats of mudding and sanding, but it's SO much more livable now! :)

Wine Tour III

Last stop: Smoky Hill Vineyard + Winery here in Salina. :)


They have tasting all the time, so people who come to visit me, we'll go here!!!!


I think the lady told us one vine of grapes makes between 5-8 bottles of wine. Yummie! I even hear they have volunteers pick grapes, so if you're interested, lemme know! :)








Afterwards, we came back to the house and chilled. The hammock swing in the backyard is a popular spot!

Wine Tour II

We next headed to the Vin Vivante Winery in Wamego. The place was OK. They had one really good wine, the Party Line. But we only were able to sample 3 wines, so we didn't get a full feel for what they offer. Since it's just down the street, if you're in town, stop there, but don't make a special trip to go to this place.


They had a really humorous line of wine, though!


Next stop: the place on I-70!


They had 51 wines, and allowed each guest to sample 5. But we did a lot of passing glasses around, so we all had a taste of many different wines here!


Back: me, Jennifer, Kristine, Mary
Front: Cecelia, Susie, Jackie, Robin

NOTE: You need to order wine online from Vin Vivante, but you can pick up Field of Fair in many wine stores around Kansas.

Wine Tour I

Well, last week, we girls had a party. It was to celebrate the upcoming wedding of our friend, Kristine, but let's be real: I've been looking for an excuse to have a winery/wine tasting road trip for quite some time.

We started out at the Oz Winery in Wamego:


Believe me, this place is WORTH the drive!!!!!!!!!!


See these? The person there told me they ordered these online .... and now I have a vision for our storage room in the basement. I think it could be a wine cellar! ;)




I LOVED the clever names for some of these wines!


A bottle of this Yellow Brick Road came home with me!


Some people didn't get the name until I started singing the song the flying monkies sang in the actual movie. :)


Detail shot.


Robin, Kristine and Mary.


Which witch am I? ;)


Um, I thought everyone else would be "swigging" out of their bottles too. Evidently not and I'm the only one who looks like a wine-O in this photo!

This tour included 4 wineries, and I'm going to break it up into several posts so they don't get too long!

NOTE: beginning July 1, wineries can now ship wine within Kansas. There are discounts for cases of wine, and since you can't get Oz wine anywhere BUT their winery, lemme know if you're interested in splitting an order/shipping!

# 99 — Build a patio with the limestone; eat a dinner al fresco.

...... CHEEEEEEEEEECK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is probably the item on my 101 in 1001 list I've been looking forward to the most .... well, aside from marrying Erik of course!

BEFORE:


AFTER:



Now, in case you are wondering why the heck I put some lattice up, it's to hide the stuff circled in red:


I plan to continue improvements, and eventually hang some gutter gardens there as well. I'll keep ya posted!

One of Erik's constant comments about the space was "the air conditioner is loud" .... which I do not deny .... but if it's spring or fall and we have the windows open ... it won't matter. I just wanted to high that unsightly group of stuuuuuuff.


And yes, the night we finishesd it, we ate dinner outside. :)

We have since added a new table and have been waiting for cooler weather to enjoy more dinners outside!

I'll also be moving the rain barrels onto the space ... and we'll just see how this evolves.

# 88 — Put the odometer on my bicycle

.... CHEEEEEEECK!


I actually installed it in June, but didn't have a photo to go with this post until today. What a slacker!

The benefit (to me) of having this on my bike is now I know how far I've biked. I love to just putz around and see what's going on around town. But now I know exactly how far I've ridden. :)

About 6 weeks left of this 101 in 1001 project!

Note: The dust on the previous post is from construction! Our house isn't normally that dusty/dirty.