Greetings to my 3 loyal readers! That would be daughter Tammy and the Women of Substance! Lest you think I’ve decided to live in the pool all summer, such is not the case – although it’s tempting! Let’s just say that the last week has been pretty darned busy at Chez Brown and the peace and quiet I’m enjoying today is well-deserved!
Last Tuesday Len and Alex arrived back in Springfield from their trip to Disney World. Alex immediately left with his other grandparents for their cabin at Lake Pomme de Terre and Len stayed with us. In no time at all, he was in his work-uns (Brown name for work clothes!) and ready to help Burl tackle our pool deck project. Earlier this spring I decided I could no longer stand the ugly brown rocks and weed-ridden landscaping near the pool – so I started digging it all up! I had no idea where I was going with this de-construction but I knew if I didn’t start somewhere, nothing would change!

Ugly landscaping!
As this photo shows, there are plenty of weeds and some ugly brown decorative (really?) rocks plus a few non-strategically placed plants and tons of monkey grass which even I can’t kill! And scattered among the rocks are pine needles from our large pine trees and there’s no way to clean it all up.
On Mother’s Day Cindy gave me the creative gift of a backyard plan! My limited landscaping brain was thinking paver stones but she had a better idea – a low deck a step or two off the concrete. Her dad grimaced but was up for the challenge – he loves to build! So he got out his graph paper and laid it all out and we were off and running!
About 10 days ago I dug a dozen post holes 18″ deep in the rock and clay – talk about an upper body workout! Burl set the posts and on Tuesday, he and Len started laying out the framing and making numerous trips to the lumber yard. I gave them a break Tuesday evening so we could celebrate Tammy’s belated birthday with homemade Mexican Villa tacos and strawberry pretzel salad/dessert.
Stacey arrived on Wednesday from her conference in Florida and while the guys golfed, Stacey, Cindy and I had lunch together and stopped by The Harem for the launching of their new bath and body products line. Check out Tammy’s blog if you want to know more! Fabulous stuff and of course I had to buy some goodies for myself – I can attest that the shea butter hand cream is divine!
Wednesday night I left the others on their own for dinner and a movie while I attended the installation banquet for Sunrise Rotary. Even got to perform my first official Assistant Governor job by installing their officers! And just to make sure I got plenty of Rotary meetings in last week, I went to the installation luncheon for my own club on Thursday and then to Rock ‘n Ribs board meeting on Friday!
Thursday afternoon we were all in the backyard once again.

Burl, Len and Corey work on the deck framing
Grandson Corey joined the group and we had 3 generations working together on the project. I was beginning to see how it will look when finished and was already arranging furniture on it!
Just to be sure we didn’t interfere, Cindy, Stacey and I relaxed in the pool!

Mulligan supervises the pool floaters!
The water was cool, the books were steamy and the drinks were plentiful! Mulligan and his toy provided entertainment.
Friday brought more pool time for the girls and work time for the guys. I picked fresh green beans from the garden for dinner to go with pulled pork and Tammy and Steve joined us for a feast! We were stuffed to the gills but that didn’t stop us from a dessert run! Cindy, Stacey and I had discovered a new place near Republic Road and Fremont on Wednesday – it’s called Orange Leaf (I know, strange name) and features a gazillion flavors of yogurt (non-fat and low-fat varieties) plus tons of different toppings. You create your own tasty treat and then pay by the ounce! I predict it’s going to rival Andy’s for our summertime treats.
Saturday we all attended the Marshfield 4th of July parade which I always love – especially when the high school band goes marching by and this year they were playing a snappy rendition of “You’re A Grand Old Flag”. Burl’s motorcycle unit from the Shrine participates in the parade every year and he had a great time riding his little cruiser.

Big boys with little toys
As soon as the parade was over, we headed to Lake Pomme de Terre to spend the rest of the day with Len’s parents and his sister and her family. The kids had a great time swimming and the adults had a great time drinking margaritas and visiting lakeside. Len’s dad, Leonard, fired up the grill and we were joined by others in their cove for a fantastic potluck picnic. The original plan was to drive over to the dam to watch fireworks but once the kids and their parents got busy with their own display in the backyard, we all settled in with another drink and decided to stay put! I was just happy that Burl was driving me home later that evening.
Len and Stacey stayed at the lake for the rest of the weekend and we enjoyed another leisurely day on Sunday. I even agreed to go out to breakfast with Burl after church – it’s his favorite meal to eat out and I hate it but since I found out I can get fresh fruit at IHOP, I figured I’d be nice to my deck-builder.
Sunday evening we went to Cindy’s for a neighborhood picnic and to watch more fireworks – great group of people and the firework displays we saw from her backyard were fantastic. We had hoped to make it home to see the displays from the I Love America event and Hickory Hills but didn’t even miss them.
Stacey left yesterday morning and the guys were once again on the links while I sweated through a 2-mile run and a 25-mile bike ride – fueled with visions of relaxing in the pool which I did for an hour or so! Then it was time to put MY workuns on and start staining the deck boards.

44 boards later.......
44 boards and about 5 hours after I started, I was done – literally! Burl had Shrine motorcycle practice and I figure since it’s “my” project, I can help a little so I’m in charge of staining boards! I was determined to finish them last evening and by 8:30 I was more than happy to see the last board. I took a shower, fixed a sandwich and was practically asleep at the kitchen table when he got home around 9:30.
The guys left about 6:30 this morning to meet some buddies for breakfast and play golf at Old Kinderhook in Camdenton so I got to sit on the deck, read the paper, drink coffee and admire my work from yesterday! As soon as they return, they get to start laying out the boards and screwing them onto the framing – yee haw!
Alex comes back for this second session of Camp Grandparents with us later today so we’re gearing up for another couple of full days………and then we leave for Des Moines for more family fun!