Office Roof Blows Off!

Blogspot always puts pictures in opposite order, so this is an after shot that shows a professionally installed tarp on this entire side of the building. (Plug for Serv-Pro here.) It's so wonderful that they came out so quickly, because a torrential downpour began as they completed the job, and the rain lasted for about 15 hours. Today they returned and removed all evidence that there was ever a roof on the ground - as follows.

It was a "torch-down" roof, common on older manufactured homes, which is what our office building is.
The young man who headed up the tarping/cleanup crew said we definitely got hit much harder than anyone else in our area - the wind must have been pointed just right to funnel up our little valley.

Todd was inside at the time it tore off, and he said the noise was amazing.

Thank the Lord, we have insurance that will pay for all the cleanup, tarping and replacing the roofing. I detest paying for so much insurance every month, but it sure comes in handy at times like this.

Wild Iris

Our first year here, I was amazed and delighted to find my driveway edge (which is more than 1/4 mile long) dotted with clumps of these beautiful small irises, no taller than 10 or 12 inches. Here are some that have yet to open and share their beauty.

Do you see the black blob sort of thing there? It's so cool that I got that in a shot - it's a huge shiny black bee that was specifically targeting the iris clumps, and traveling between them so very fast.

The Goldfinches Are Back!

In order to grow lilacs in my front beds, these wire cylinders are required protection from the local population of marauding deer. One very cool and not expected perk is that the local hummingbirds and finches are using the wire cage as a resting place close to their feeders.

Look at this little fluff ball resting and looking out for his mate while she's feeding.
Here is a finch "sock" feeder and the hummingbird feeder for this side of the house. I think there are two finches on their feeder and I also think that's a hummingbird tail on its feeder. We have to have hummingbird feeders on both sides of the house because they are so territorial. We watched one little guy chase away bird after bird for a couple of days, then noticed that while he was away for a few minutes a couple birds slipped in and were soooo hungry! That was when I got out the second feeder and put in on the other side of the house. They both are used all day.

The birds are thirsty too, and appreciate the waterfalls. Even though the algae makes me cringe, the birds don't seem to mind at all. I love it when the creeping phlox blooms in the spring.

Sigh...

I'm afraid I've been thinking. (A dangerous pasttime - I know.) This afternoon wasn't fun. Not to say too much, but Tyler was removed from the golf team, and it was both his fault and Michael's fault, and more slackness than badness. Still, taking the boys over to the golf course to sort things out and seeing people who were upset because of them was extremely sobering and discouraging for both Todd and me.

These situations are opportunities for growth, both for the kids and adults. I am certain that it's a good thing these character flaws have showed up now when we can work through them with the guys than later. And the yucky feelings are slowly working their way out of the house.

When I'm upset, I work. As I was planting and weeding, I was thinking. There are times I stand inside looking at weeds growing lush in the beds and just let them go because I don't have time to really deal with them until later, or the weather is bad, or other duties seem more important at the moment. And as I was thinking this, I wondered if I do the same thing with the boys. (And my office. But today's subject is the boys.)

So - much prayer. Tighter oversight of the boys. More talking with them, facilitated by Tyler not spending every afternoon and early evening at golf practice. Maybe less stress and over-extension on him. Watching their grades more closely, getting "all up in their business"! Boy, I don't enjoy this part of parenting. But I really care about how they turn out. Really really.

We'll just have to weed the minute the weeds appear for a while and hope to get a handle on them.