As soon as the deck is sealed and all the other items repaired, we will begin setting all the furniture back on the patio. I'm getting a little ahead of myself here because I am getting so excited for the reception. Here are the things I can think of at this point, but we will not be able to start until Wednesday Oct. 12. Then we will really be pushing it, so the 12th and 13th will be extremely busy.

PARTY VENUE
Deck needs to be sealed before most of the stuff below can happen
Lay the rugs down. Rugs are washed
Put the furniture back by the fireplace. Couch, two chairs, love seat and a maximum of four other chairs. Coffee table and end tables.
Firewood in place
Two dinner tables and buffet table
Drink cart, two coffee carafes
Trash Cans

Need a game to play - a yard game could be fun but it might be dark
Pool clean day before or day of.
Jose - week of the 10th
Trash bags
Clean and stock the bathroom


RECEPTION
Go over guest list
Call On The Border emailed Danielle 9/26. She is ready for final headcount
Chips and salsa
Ice, drinks, coffee, cups, napkins - Water, Coke, Diet Coke, Dr. Pepper, Diet Dr. Pepper, Sprite, Gatorade, Sweet Tea, Unsweet Tea.
Dessert - Nothing Bundt, Saltgrass cheesecake, chocolate chip cookies - need to order all this stuff by 10/11
Make sure we have the Guest Book out
Take some pictures
Go over the housekeeping rules and ask the blessing

There are just a few things remaining on our summer renovations:

HIGH PRIORITY
1. √ Pool plumbing
2. Frameout for new windows/doors Oct. 5-6
3. Get inside window/doors wall ready for painter
4. Misc Stone Repairs. I can mark, but we need to do a walk around together. Oct. 5-6

MEDIUM
5. √ Louvre adjustment in front
6. √ Complete lights on front porch
7. Electrical for pool cleaner by Shop rock garden. And while we are doing that, can we get new lighting for the shop?

LOW
8. Stain the trim around the columns and paint the conduit

NEXT MONTH (or ASAP)
9. Window box feature for Garage Window

A quick list to get done ASAP. Reception is on Friday, Oct. 14

• Pool cleaned and kept clean. We are having a big problem with this. Hunter says by Weds, Sep. 28, it will be clear. He is going to clean the filters Sep. 26. Now, they say there is a big problem with the plumbing but Jeremy is handling it. This may take all week. It's going to work. Sep 30 we will have a clean, sound running pool. Hunter promises by Oct. 1. Oct 1, still dirty. Oct. 3, we have no idea what the problem is or who is going to fix it.

• We need a new landscape plan using existing beds. This is something I should get on with so we can have Jose install week of Oct. 10. This includes pots and hanging troughs on patio. I am working with Gary on this. Goal is to pick everything up on Oct. 8. Oct. 3, Gary is out of town until the 10th. Looks like we were forgotten about. New plan needed.

• Deck Sealed. Marty says week of Oct. 10 is possible. He said to call on Oct. 3. Oct. 3, I have sent him a text pleading for him to do the job on Oct. 10. If this job is going to get done, it needs to be confirmed because a lot of other tasks are waiting on this one.

JOEY

• Clean off shop patio. Still junked up to the max. Set everything in the yard by Daltons window. Oct. 2-3, I made some progress on this but Im a little overwhelmed.

• New chaise lounges put together. The old ones should be set out at the curb.

• Remove the TV cabinet from the living room, then put back in very neatly after the wall has been repaired. Do this after Oct. 2

JAMEY

• Give the garage a light cleaning since Sharlette gave it a major cleaning a few weeks ago. Moved just a few things Sep. 25

• Cap on water control valve in back by wall. Need to measure it.
• Trim work finished on porch. It is finished, now just needs staining and a little brown paint. I may have to do this myself.
• Water valve box door. One for Jim, mine next to it has been replaced, and ours in front of the house needs replacing. Sep 26, Ashley says she's on it. Oct. 3, reminded her again.
• Use Roundup on the granite sidewalk and spot treat everywhere else.

• Louvre vent in front gable. I'm determined to paint this Gale Force blue. Vent Sep. 24. Paint soon after. It was installed Saturday, but it's not quite big enough to cover the existing hole. Do-over. They put a moulding around it which is ok enough, but beat up the gable with the ladder. I hope Daniel can solve this. Oct. 3, Daniel's team will be out Oct. 11
• Clean everything around the house, then trim and clean again. No fair moving stuff around. Clean it! I got the first round done Sunday, Sep. 25. But I knew it would need a second round.
• Get some more firewood and make a nice stack behind the slide
• Measure the windows for outside shutters

• Window treatments in back? Sharlette is going to take care of this. Oct. 3
• Electrical outlet in rock garden between pool and shop. We will plug the robot in there. Shannon said he needs to think about that.
• Stone surface repairs. Need to mark the bad places and see if there is any new stone work needed. Should be able to do this week of Oct. 3 because they will need to re-set the stone on the patio surface to accommodate new doors.

• Get someone to add more security cameras. I have contacted Anthony to help with this. Sep 23, I called him again. Oct. 3, Anthony bailed.
• Shutters on kitchen window in front, Daltons window and bathroom window. Gale Force blue. Maybe I can have this done with the help of Daniel, right after the windows are installed.

COMPLETED

• √ Clean the glass in the old Pavilion sconces.
• √ Clean out the shop so we can keep most of the furniture inside until the deck is sealed. Man, we need a General for this project (Mrs. B maybe). Yes, she said yes. Should be ready by Oct. 7. Mrs. B did this on Sept. 30 and she is probably the hero of the whole summer.

• √ Edge everything a couple of times and use some roundup. Mark should have the edger fixed Sep. 23 and I will edge all day Sep 24. Yes, it's looking much better. I'm going to give it another round Sep. 26 or 28

• √ Get some granular ant killer. Sep. 24
• √ Lighting on front porch. Not sure when they will be coming back. Done, Sep 29. We will also need some paint touch up there.
• √ We have to think of a name for what we are now calling "The Porch". Contenders are: Patio roof, overhang, canopy, awning, marquee, Made in The shade, Too Easy, Back Jack, Moon deck. Moon Roof is in the lead

• √ Gutters installed. All brown. Sep 19

• √ Hey, I did get the entire yard mowed, edged, trimmed and blown. It looks good, but I need a follow up real soon.

• √ Water faucet installed by the outside bathroom gate.
• √ All the sprinklers have been adjusted and timer programmed for every other day.
• √ Light bulbs in new fixtures. Bulbs will arrive Sep. 24. They did arrive BUT they are just slightly lighter than the original ones. BUT I found the other originals so we should have enough. I have sent the new ones back
• √ Clean the smoke off the wall behind the grill
• √ Yeah, the dirt pile by the street needs to be smoothed out. Joey still working on. Time consuming. And hard.
• √ Wash rugs: Blow them off, spot treat with SHOUT, scrub, then soap the entire rug with the Carpet Miracle and scrub, then power wash rinse. Then spray a light coat of Wet & Forget and dont rinse it off. Roll up when dry.
• √ Everything removed and Deck cleaned off. Joey has been on this. I worked on it some over the weekend. It sure is a lot of work to get everything removed. Still need to move some more tables. May have to move them over by the cow fence and leave them there for two weeks.
• Experiment with one or two grass areas to see if watering can revive the dead spots. Shop entrance in the back and front door to manhole cover in front. Yes, keeping it watered. And it looks like it may work. Oct. 3. It's going to take a lot of water to look good, but I can already see some improvement.

• Window box feature on garage window. Most likely Jeremy won't be able to get to this till Nov. 1

MAJOR RENOVATIONS

1. Prepare porch opening for new doors and windows. Two days before doors arrive. OCT 5-6
2. Install new windows and door. Call Mark H. back Friday Sep 30 for timeframe. OCT 6-7
3. Temporary new finished out wall inside back door. Sheetrock / paint until new design is carried out in 2023. OCT 10-11
4. Floor in attic. K & O Oct. 10

We have some urgent situations that must be addressed because they are holding up some other repairs:


The Pool pump was broke and it is finally fixed as of today. But, it is so nasty and full of mosquitoes that I don't want to go out on the patio and do any cleanup until the pool is clean and mosquito free. A shock treatment and full cleanup are in order and I hope this can happen by Sept. 20



We have placed some sod in a few areas in the back because Larry had it left over and I gladly accepted it. I just have to keep it wet for a week or two. Sept. 19 we are supposed to have a new water faucet in the back and if so, I need to run some hoses out there and keep it soaked.

This isn't that urgent, but I would really like to have my edger back so I can edge the sidewalks. Man, it look awful out there overgrown and unedged.

My paint man did a great job on the house. That stop sign you see on the center gable is going to be covered with a round louvre and painted Gale Force blue

We are entering a crunch time now as we have a reception set for Friday Oct. 14. My goals in the next ten days are:

• Get the front of the house painted - DONE!
• Install gutters all the way around - Sept. 19
• Stain under the back porch - DONE Sept. 15
• Clean off the back patio surface - working
• Including washing the rugs - working
• Selectively place the items back on the patio - Sept. 24
• Get my edger fixed - Working ETA Sept. 24
• An initial cleanup of all the flower beds and shrubs - DONE Sept. 14
• Get the water valve box doors replaced - Ashley at Crandall says ok
• Don't let the yard get out of hand! - Sept. 15-17 and again Sept. 22-24
• I'm having a real dilemma deciding what color to paint the chimney. You can't see it at all from the front. Maybe only driving towards the house. We decided to go with the Dover White. It is the safe conservative choice and looks good.

The sun and the rain have spoken and the result is an awful mess in the yard. First, the sun and heat wreaked havoc on the sensitive little St. Augustine blades causing lots of burnt out spots in the yard because I could not afford to water every day. THEN, a huge rain came and washed away all hope of a recovered lawn. This is the worst I've ever seen the grass look. Half of it looks great, lush and green, but the other half is now a dull dead gray. The outside is now generally trashy due to the grass growing faster than I can keep up with. The rain has also washed the decomposed granite down the sidewalk and onto the patio in a mini landslide.




On the non whining side, we decided to put a pavilion-like cover over the back door. We are calling this "The Porch". It took a whole department to come up with that name. The Porch is based on its cousin, The Pavilion in the general feel, but scaled down size. Scheduled completion is October 1 before we have everything finished out, stained, cleaned up and looking good.



We are very thankful to have been able to get a new roof at the very end of August. Along with that, the chimney was rebuilt nice and vertical this time.



The cows are back and I've never been more happy to see them!