Memorial Weekend Condo Clean-up, May 22-23, 2009

We left for the condo at the Lake on Friday, May 22. We had errands to run, including driving up to Idaho to check out Derek's land, and shopping for a microwave for the 5th Wheel on the way, so we didn't get to the condo until around 4:00 p.m. After unpacking, we had time for a short 4-wheeler drive down on the beach. We had the place to ourselves. It was quiet and we stopped and watched seagulls and other birds fly over the lake and then land on it. We even saw two pelicans glide in and light on the water. That evening we met Kurt K. and his wife, who are other condo owners. Kurt served on his mission in Brazil with Ted, my brother-in-law. They are friends with Dale K. and his wife, who were bicylcling with him and also with Dale's brother and wife. Dale was a classmate of my sister, Lydia. It's a small world.

Saturday was clean-up day and started at 9:00 a.m. We had picked up some plants to put in our planters we had placed there before our mission and planted with perenials which had subsequently died. We discovered that these big pots weren't getting any water and that is why the plants formerly planted hadn't made it. Therefore, I decided that we needed to take the pots back home and start over with the flowerbed in front of the condo. I spent the morning tearing out all the rocks we had positioned there before our mission. I decreased the rock flowerbed to half its original size, thus re-exposing the rich black soil underneath to plant the new flowers we had just bought. The left-over rocks I placed on the gravel next to the front door. In the pictures below, you can see the work in progress.

While I worked on our flowerbed, Ed wore himself out with the blower, helping with the general condo cleanup. He blew the sand and dirt by the curb in front of the condos into piles and then swept up and put it in the dumpster. Then he went to the back and helped with the weeding there.

We stopped at 12:30 p.m.for a barbeque with the other condo owners. It was really nice to be able to meet and get to know some of the other condo owners. After the barbeque I worked on the flowerbed some more, finally finishing it about 4:30 p.m. when it started to rain. (Good timing.) After lifting and dragging around heavy rocks and moving dirt for several hours, I was pretty tired and so was Ed. We soaked in the hot tub for awhile and I tried swimming some laps. But my legs were so tired I only made it through a few before I gave up.

It stormed that night, so after we ate some supper, we watched the DVD, "The Secret Life of Bees." It was a pretty good movie, and I recommend it.

Farmer John rests for a minute. The blower sits on the ground in front of him.

Farmer Jane is half-way through her project. The two pots on the grass will go back home. The rock garden has been re-pieced, and some of the rich black soil has been re-exposed ready for flower planting that will take place later in the afternoon.