Tower House - Updates

Here are update photos of Tower House projects. The first shows the paint starting to go on the outside. What a difference! The second is a shot of Lee Ann's completed raised beds and pond access walkway.

Here's Annie Teaching

This week Annie was a volunteer teaching assistant, helping an experienced teacher with a class of primarily Spanish-speaking kids who are trying to improve their English skills. She also will spend a week in July working with one student who wants more help. Annie hopes someday to teach English to Japanese students in Japan, so this is pretty good experience on that road.

Our Border Guards

This morning Lee Ann was working in the backyard and noticed dozens of miniscule praying mantises on our back fence. There was an egg sac attached to the bottom of one of the boards that had just hatched out. These guys look spunky for their size, so if you are a tiny insect and are considering invading our property you had better think again.

Wittenberg Lacrosse Camp

This has been my view the past two nights as I watched Annie and her fellow lacrosse campers face off in their 7 p.m. game at Wittenberg. It is a one hour drive to get there, but fun. Last night Lee Ann and I both went. Annie played well and her team won.

The camp is run by a staff of six including four college lacrosse players from Wittenberg, Ohio Wesleyan and Notre Dame College who coach and play alongside the campers. I am used to watching high schoolers play, so it was impressive to see a different level of talent on the field.

Visit To Antioch College

On Monday I dropped Annie off at Wittenberg University for a four-day lacrosse camp. On the way back from Springfield I stopped and took a walk around Antioch College's campus in Yellow Springs. This is kind of a sad place now, since Antioch closed down a couple of years ago. The college buildings are beautiful, but it is weird to see grass growing in the sidewalks and last year's leaves piled up in doorways. I read that the main building (pictured) was heavily damaged when pipes burst and flooded it last winter. Yellow Springs is an idyllic college town with lots of neat shops and restaurants, but you wonder how long they will survive without the college.

Scrape, Scrape, Scrape...

A big job!

Construction On Pond Avenue

Here is Lee Ann's new paver walkway and one of what eventually will be two raised beds for herbs. She put this together in the last two days at the Tower House. The near end of the walkway tees into an existing sidewalk. At the far end she will place stone steps and a few more flat creek rocks to allow access to the pond. Nifty.

Glamorous Business Travel

Here I am in Kansas City, at the Motel 6 Airport. (Despite what the sign says, because I booked online my rate is $33.99 per night.) After working Monday at the office in Cincinnati, I flew here and have visited two scrap processing facilities and one transportation facility in three days.

I don't mind work travel, but it is not what non-business travelers think it is. To save money I stay in cheap motels and eat takeout food. So as not to cut into my work days, usually I do my traveling nights and weekends, and I generally work long days while I am on the road. There is no social component or entertainment value in most trips. But I am very happy to still be working and the company treats me well, so I can't complain. Besides, I only travel occasionally now, which makes a huge difference. A year or two ago I was on the road constantly, burned out and ready to jump off a bridge.

Tonight I will be sleeping in my own bed - yay!

Change Of Venue

The last six months of my Tower House effort has been almost all in the kitchen. Now that the weather is nice outside, I am able to begin the gigantic exterior painting project. Here I have begun scraping the siding at the north bay window.