Tree Frogs and Apples and Decks! Oh, My!

What a few busy days we've had here. We had another storm roll through last night. Another 1.6 inches of rain- sigh... At least it is settling the ground around the new septic system. We are spotting some places where we will have to fill in a bit because of settling soil.

The storm blew a little visitor out of the trees last night:

A tiny tree frog, no more than an inch and a half long, if that.

He (or she) was fun to watch on the window screen.

Today has been busy! We got delivery of the pavers that will be used to make a two different patio spaces here (one my project, one V's) and then we picked up the rest of the materials to finish the deck. Then V and the boys got busy with construction while J16 and I ran a few other errands, did some chores and picked tomatoes and peppers.

But, just so you don't think that all we do is work the children to death:

The boys playing X-box this morning.

But, we are mean parents... Even in the summer we stick to the rule that games are only for the weekend (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) The other days of the week, they need to find things other than games to amuse themselves.

However, they did work.

Oops, the box of deck screws dropped and the boys got to pick them up.

But here is the completed frame.

V and I13 work on the steps.

They started laying the planking this evening but didn't get very far before they called it quits. They plan to start early tomorrow and will try to finish the decking. We have the rails but they may take another day or two to get up. We are planning a pergola over part of the deck for some shade since it is on the south side of the house where it gets unbearably hot. I'm thinking maybe hardy Kiwi to vine up it. Any other suggestions?

And finally, WE HAVE APPLES!!

I picked a few from our one mature tree. They are totally unsprayed and we didn't really do anything to them this year other than prune the tree some trying to make it more manageable. But look at these!!

They need washed but they are Oh, So Tasty!

Look at the size of that thing!!

I'm thinking about taking one or two over to the orchard nearby to see what the orchardist thinks of them. He's the guy we got some of our apple trees from and who taught the pruning class. I was telling him about this overgrown tree/bush that we have and he decided that it must be a seedling of some sort. It can't be a grafted apple since it looks like it has been cut off at the base at some point in time and allowed to sprout up from the roots with multiple trunks. For a seedling apple, these are really good: Crisp and slightly tart- reminiscent of a cross between a Braeburn and a Granny Smith- and they are early ripeners. Maybe I can talk him into grafting a few trees of this. That would be fun.