An Eventful August
There were lots of things going on here
last month.
The reason I didn't post anything in August is that
there was too much to write about, and not enough time to do the writing. We
had visitors, remodeling projects, storms and other events liberally sprinkled
across the month. Apart from the storms, it was all good stuff, and even the
storms brought much-needed rain (and then more rain). Eventually I may manage
to post some photos and additional details about some of what went on, but
here's a summary of our busy
month:
Aug. 3-4 - Iowa Trip: We drove to Decorah, Iowa to attend the Friday wedding of a close friend's son. Along the way, we visited Seed Savers Heritage Farm a few miles north of Decorah, and made a short side trip to the little town of Spillville to see the Bily Clocks Museum and Antonin Dvorak Exhibit. The wedding itself was in a beautiful old church in St. Lucas, and the reception was in Decorah at the Hotel Winneshiek Opera House. We stayed the night at another hotel, visited the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum in Decorah on Saturday, and made a few other little stops before heading back home.
Aug. 7-10 - New Siding: A crew arrived on a Tuesday morning to replace our siding, soffits and fascia. They finished the job on Friday afternoon. New rain gutters and downspouts were to come the following week.
Aug. 11 - Windstorm: At about 3:30 a.m. on Saturday a thunderstorm hit, with winds around 70 mph and maybe two inches of rain. Nearly every yard in our neighborhood suffered major broken tree branches. We were lucky that our worst break was a branch about four inches in diameter in the middle of the Amur maple in our front yard. The branch was caught in the tree, so I spent considerable time cutting it apart with pole pruner and pole saw to get it all down. It left a large hole in the middle of the tree's canopy, but the loss isn't conspicuous unless you're standing pretty close. Only a few hundred yards farther south, many people were not so lucky, with whole trees broken or uprooted.
Aug. 13 - Another Storm: This time the wind was not so bad, but we got about another two inches of rain. The back-to-back storms brought an abrupt end to drought conditions that had persisted through spring and early summer.
Aug. 14 - New Gutters: Now that we were getting rain again, it seemed timely that the installers for our new rain gutters arrived and prepared the house for the next storms.
Aug. 15-20 - Janice Visits (Part I): Our daughter came for a visit from Atlanta. Her trip was timed to allow her to spend August 17 and 18 at Carleton College, participating in planning for her class reunion next year. She was able to make time to stay with us for a few days, and to visit friends and family.
Aug. 17 and 20 - Bathroom Demolition: I spent large parts of these two days tearing out the deteriorated tile and wallboard around our bathtub, to prepare for their replacement.
Aug. 18 - Becky Visits: Our friend Becky was in town from Two Harbors, Minnesota, and spent a Saturday afternoon with us. One highlight was a trip to the Visitor Center at nearby Lebanon Hills Regional Park
Aug. 18-19 - More Rain: More storms brought us a couple more inches of rain. In southeastern Minnesota, these storms dumped as much as 15 inches of rain, causing tragic record-breaking flash floods that killed seven people and destroyed hundreds of homes.
Aug. 19-20 - Janice Visits (Part II): I picked up Janice at Carleton just as the rain was ending on Sunday. We spent the afternoon at home with her, and then we all visited Peg's parents. On Monday (while I was tearing the bathroom apart), Janice visited other relatives, and I took her to the airport in the evening to send her off to Atlanta.
Aug. 22-25 - Bathroom Remodeling: The crew doing our bathroom work arrived on a Wednesday, installed new wallboard, faucet and tub surround, and finished on Friday afternoon. I spent most of the next day painting the bathroom.
Aug. 26 - A Family Wedding: We went to the wedding of our nephew Ben and his bride Lindsay, celebrated in a beautiful outdoor ceremony at Scherer Gardens, just a few miles from our home.
Aug. 27 - Another Storm: Another early-morning storm hit, again with winds up around 70 mph. This time there was less damage close to us, but plenty in other parts of town. Combined with all the other storms, this brought August rainfall to a new record for the metro area.
Things have now settled down a bit, both in terms of weather and more personal events. We still need to wrap up many finishing touches for our home-improvement projects, but we're hoping September will be less eventful than August. The simple fact that I found the time for this blog entry is a sign that the pace has already slowed.
Aug. 3-4 - Iowa Trip: We drove to Decorah, Iowa to attend the Friday wedding of a close friend's son. Along the way, we visited Seed Savers Heritage Farm a few miles north of Decorah, and made a short side trip to the little town of Spillville to see the Bily Clocks Museum and Antonin Dvorak Exhibit. The wedding itself was in a beautiful old church in St. Lucas, and the reception was in Decorah at the Hotel Winneshiek Opera House. We stayed the night at another hotel, visited the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum in Decorah on Saturday, and made a few other little stops before heading back home.
Aug. 7-10 - New Siding: A crew arrived on a Tuesday morning to replace our siding, soffits and fascia. They finished the job on Friday afternoon. New rain gutters and downspouts were to come the following week.
Aug. 11 - Windstorm: At about 3:30 a.m. on Saturday a thunderstorm hit, with winds around 70 mph and maybe two inches of rain. Nearly every yard in our neighborhood suffered major broken tree branches. We were lucky that our worst break was a branch about four inches in diameter in the middle of the Amur maple in our front yard. The branch was caught in the tree, so I spent considerable time cutting it apart with pole pruner and pole saw to get it all down. It left a large hole in the middle of the tree's canopy, but the loss isn't conspicuous unless you're standing pretty close. Only a few hundred yards farther south, many people were not so lucky, with whole trees broken or uprooted.
Aug. 13 - Another Storm: This time the wind was not so bad, but we got about another two inches of rain. The back-to-back storms brought an abrupt end to drought conditions that had persisted through spring and early summer.
Aug. 14 - New Gutters: Now that we were getting rain again, it seemed timely that the installers for our new rain gutters arrived and prepared the house for the next storms.
Aug. 15-20 - Janice Visits (Part I): Our daughter came for a visit from Atlanta. Her trip was timed to allow her to spend August 17 and 18 at Carleton College, participating in planning for her class reunion next year. She was able to make time to stay with us for a few days, and to visit friends and family.
Aug. 17 and 20 - Bathroom Demolition: I spent large parts of these two days tearing out the deteriorated tile and wallboard around our bathtub, to prepare for their replacement.
Aug. 18 - Becky Visits: Our friend Becky was in town from Two Harbors, Minnesota, and spent a Saturday afternoon with us. One highlight was a trip to the Visitor Center at nearby Lebanon Hills Regional Park
Aug. 18-19 - More Rain: More storms brought us a couple more inches of rain. In southeastern Minnesota, these storms dumped as much as 15 inches of rain, causing tragic record-breaking flash floods that killed seven people and destroyed hundreds of homes.
Aug. 19-20 - Janice Visits (Part II): I picked up Janice at Carleton just as the rain was ending on Sunday. We spent the afternoon at home with her, and then we all visited Peg's parents. On Monday (while I was tearing the bathroom apart), Janice visited other relatives, and I took her to the airport in the evening to send her off to Atlanta.
Aug. 22-25 - Bathroom Remodeling: The crew doing our bathroom work arrived on a Wednesday, installed new wallboard, faucet and tub surround, and finished on Friday afternoon. I spent most of the next day painting the bathroom.
Aug. 26 - A Family Wedding: We went to the wedding of our nephew Ben and his bride Lindsay, celebrated in a beautiful outdoor ceremony at Scherer Gardens, just a few miles from our home.
Aug. 27 - Another Storm: Another early-morning storm hit, again with winds up around 70 mph. This time there was less damage close to us, but plenty in other parts of town. Combined with all the other storms, this brought August rainfall to a new record for the metro area.
Things have now settled down a bit, both in terms of weather and more personal events. We still need to wrap up many finishing touches for our home-improvement projects, but we're hoping September will be less eventful than August. The simple fact that I found the time for this blog entry is a sign that the pace has already slowed.
Posted: Sun - September 2, 2007 at 07:50 PM by email
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Published On: Sep 02, 2007 08:03 PM
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Published On: Sep 02, 2007 08:03 PM