The Fence

The neighbors we don't get along with so well wanted a new fence, so we are busy with putting it up. It will be an improvement, but we are supposed to get rain in two days, which would be great, but I want to get as much finished as possible before then. They have one design on their side and we are making another on ours. It should look good once it finally gets done, but of course we didn't go for a simple design, so it will take a lot of time.

Made it through the last week of online teaching for a bit. Nearly two weeks off here. The girls will head back to school for two days per week on May 11th, and they are really looking forward to seeing their friends again. The earliest we go back is June 1st, but they want to keep the 1.5 meter rule, which is impossible in a high school, so we have no idea what will happen.

I have been doing a little research into making biodiesel out of used fryer oil. It is illegal here, because the government would miss the taxes, but once we live in Marquette maybe we could give it a try. Seems like a fun experiment.

Naomi made high tea for us last Sunday. 

The Pond

I have gotten sucked into improving the pond again this week. Trying to get the rubber on the sides disappear, among other things. For some reason it makes time disappear for a bit. Doesn't hurt that the weather has been so nice!

It was great to have a few days off for Easter, but sad that Claire and Matt couldn't drive up. We have another week of teaching (Naomi only has to do two days) and then it is the May holiday. That doesn't mean too much other than a bit more time to focus on the things we want to do instead of work since we can't go to France this year.

They have been talking about opening the schools up again after the holiday, but we will hear more about that this coming week. I think it is too soon, but we shall see what they decide.

I finally finished up the hardwood dumbbell project. Nice to have some good weights to use!

Lots of sunshine and flowers.

More trouble with the front door.

Happy Tomatoes

They spent the week outside, and have grown a lot! The next couple days it will be colder, so we will bring them in, but after that I might just plant them outside. The weather has been June-like, and is supposed to continue this way for a while.

This weekend it was meant to rain, which is hasn't really done in a month, but they keep pushing it back and it has basically disappeared. We saw this same pattern last summer with the drought. Looks like it is happening again. Some fires have already started in the forest, and it is only the middle of April.

I hooked up the rain pipe to the pond so that we can collect rain water from the roof. Kind of useless without rain though. We will need to water the gardens and add a lot of water to the ponds today. I have also been redoing the edges of the newer ponds so that the black liner is a bit more hidden. Got a new depth gauge put in the cistern as well and checked another spot for a potential leak. Still haven't found anything. I will try reducing the pump pressure to see if that helps as the leak might be between the pump and the waterfall.

Sure is nice to have a couple days free from teaching so that we can spend some time outside and get things done! Yesterday I coughed and messed up my back. Still moving about like a 90 year old. Yesterday I spent most of the day on the sofa swing, and after dinner, I sat in the reading chair and it still felt like I was swinging. Not a bad way to spend the day if it weren't for all the noise the neighbors were making!

They were scared because thought they heard a mouse.

Summer Preview

This week it is supposed to be perfect weather. Sunny, highs around 70, and not too cold at night. The tomatoes can stay outside! Everything is already drying out though. People are starting to water their lawns again - in April. Very strange. This afternoon we will play with some water - washing the car and some windows.

The past week has gone pretty well. Yesterday we got our first food delivery - the guy had to keep ringing the doorbell until we got out of bed. Whoops. School with Grandma is great - every afternoon the girls get lessons for about an hour via Skype. I can already hear a difference in their English! Especially Amélie's, even though she has trouble focusing throughout the lessons.

The online teaching is going pretty well. Still a few bugs that need to be worked out, but the students seem to be doing what they need to do. I am still really enjoying working from home. Just what I needed! If only our neighbors would quit making so much noise...

Lunchtime.

And a snack.