fruit trees

View Fruit Trees in Athens in a larger map

View Fruit Trees in Athens in a larger map">here

Crayfish Hunter

I may have written about this last year, but once again, I have picked up a summer job working with a professor and her doctorate student. My job: playing in creeks.  The student is doing his dissertation on the mercury content of crayfish (or crawdads as we called them) in acid mine drainage impacted streams.

I went out for the first time this past Saturday and it was a beautiful sunny day to be creeking. The water was a little high in some of the sites, so we went up to the headwaters and found good stream flow with more life than I thought would be able to be sustained in these creeks. Minnows, tadpoles, water striders, and of course crayfish were seen just about everywhere. 

To determine the gut contents of the crayfish they have to be a certain size. So, when I'm walking through the creek, looking down, spying all the critters in the crevices of the rocks, I am looking for the biggest ones. And just like a good fisherman, I had a story of the BIG one that got away. Oh well, can't get them all.

Probably the creepiest story is when I went to check our traps. Last year and at most sites this year we used nets to catch the crayfish. However, we tried a new method in one of the sites at the beginning of the day. My partner had minnow traps that we baited and set out in the water. We decided to leave them there and check them on our way back in to town. At the end of the day, we stopped at the site and I volunteered to check the traps and bring them to the bank.  The first trap was empty. And the second and third. Obviously the traps weren't going to work, but I still needed to retrieve them. The fourth trap was deep in the water and I thought my partner must have waited it down with a rock. Not so much. It was filled with a snake. Big dead snake more like it. It freaked me out for a second but I composed myself and brought the trap to the bank, opened it, and dumped it out. Yep, dead snake. 

This will be my summer. Playing in creeks and building a house.

May update

Progress on the house include wrapping it up to make it air tight and installing a short roof over the south facing windows and doors. The roof is also complete which makes us very happy. No more running around with buckets when it rains. People ask us why we are putting a short roof over the south deck and not a full roof or no roof. Well, it's all about passive solar heating. Southern sun in the window will heat our home during the day requiring less resources used to heat it. The short roof will keep that same hot sun out in the summer out. Keeping the house cool. Hopefully we will have pictures of that soon.

Kent's parent were driving through Athens on their way back home from down south. Here are a few photos taken in the driveway.

Where have you been?

Every day Kent asks me if I blog. I respond by asking if he blogged. Maybe the lack of progress on the house hasn't inspired us. So I'll report the other events in our lives.

We attended another murder mystery party. This one had the theme of pirates, spanish royalty, and native tribesman. Once again, I was the murderer. In fact, both Kent and I murdered the fella. I acted first with poison and Kent followed with a stabbing. My character was a doctor for the pirate ship. Kent was spanish royalty trying to woo the governors daughter. If you notice in the photo below, Kent is a bit revealing. If you remember our other murder mystery party we went to for New Years, a 70's theme, Kent was also showing off the chest hairs. It could become a tradition where we attend theme parties. I am the murderer and Kent opens up his shirt. Goodness.

Ahoy Matey! Come with me on me ship the Scurvy Nave.

About a week later, a blessed event occurred. MY BIRTHDAY!  YEAH!!!

We started the day at Village Bakery with some friends, but then went into work mode. But I can't remember what we did. Apparently we didn't take pictures so I can't remember. I think we finished part of the roof. This roof is taking forever. Cross your fingers and it hope it will be done by next week.

Then we can have sleepovers.

The gang at VB.

House Update

Sometimes I have to look at our photos to remind me what we did. The weeks and days are starting to run together. 

We spent the beginning of the week preparing to pour the cement floor for the entryway. That meant finishing the plumbling, leveling the graveling, and putting in the insulation. Wednesday the cement truck arrived at ten in the morning but it couldn't drive all the way back our driveway. That meant we had to use the wheelbarrow to haul it the rest of the way. Although I shouldn't say we, because I didn't do a single load. It was all Kent and PJ. Nevertheless, it only took about an hour to get all the cement we needed and all that was left was for Jim to do the finishing work. 

Here is PJ leveling the cement. There is a special name for this, but I can't remember it. Shimming or skimming, skirting?  I forget.

Thursday, finally, we had a sunny day. Kent took a day off work to get the rest of the roof up. We have had a tarp over the six foot addition of the house to keep the rain out and that hasn't been too successful. Water is a tricky thing that finds the smallest hole as a way to get into your house. Annoying. So Thursday and Friday were spent working on the roof. 

Saturday, still sunny!, we finished framing and sheathing the addition. Sunday was a sand and stain day. I didn't think it would take all day to do this, but it did. Once again, we worked until dark. We sanded the rest of the floor on the second floor and polyurethaned it. We also sanded and stained the rest of the pieces for the roof to be put up tomorrow.

This photo was taken on Saturday afternoon. It shows the second floor of the addition. It's almost completely enclosed. Windows will go in after we wrap the house with Tyvek.

More fun to come.

Happy Happy

This past weekend we traveled to Cincinnati to partake in the festivities to celebrate my grandmother's birthday. It was a milestone birthday as she turned 69 for the 21st time. (That's how the Sicilians don't age, they stay a certain age for decades. For example, I am 29 (for the 7 th time this May and my Mom is still 49)

This is Nonn, in the middle, with her sisters. Yes, they are all the same height. It's required in the Sicilian lineage that you be 5 foot even.


My uncle hosted in his beautiful new house, where his wife, Ruth, and my Mom fed us wonderfully. (Momma Mia, those Italians can cook) There were relatives present that I hadn't seen in decades, as well as my own dear brothers that I don't see very ofter either. The weather cooperated to allow all to venture outside and play in the sun. We even threw some frisbee.


Uncle Joe and Rex yuckin' it up on the deck.



Aren't these kids adorable. Gotta love those who love the sweets. I was eyeing that cake too. However, I don't remember what happened to the strawberries on top. No bother, it was some damn good cake. mmmmm cake.



Jeffo and Momma.



Laura and Ryan. Is Ryan eating one of the mysteriously missing strawberries???


Other birthdays to note in April include, Kent, Rex, Oscar, Korpi, Stacey, and half of Nonna's sisters. Happy Birthday to you all!!

Though the best babies are born in May.

Me Pocket

Still not a lot going on with the house. Rain has dampened the progress. We have done some work inside. Two bedrooms are sanded and polyurethaned. We still have a bedroom, the hallway and half a bath. It's been tough to get to the rest of the floor because rain is still getting into part of the house that does not have a full roof on it. 

In lieu of photos of the boring stuff we are doing now, I decided to include a snapshot of what I find in my pockets every night. It's always a treasure hunt to go through all my pockets and see what's there.