First Rain

I heard the rain start in the wee hours of the morning.  Thundering hooves woke me again into the dark pre-dawn.  I had planned to ride this morning, before the rain started.  Clearly the rain had arrived well ahead of schedule and plans would need to be altered.

I threw on a sweatshirt and my floppy gardening hat before starting the morning chores.  Even Brett wore a sweatshirt and it has to be very cold before he feels it.  Our jackets are still packed somewhere.  I did find a  box with my muck boots so my sneakers were spared the mud.

The rain has been steady all morning; not pounding and not softly drifting; it comes straight down in soft sheets.  The donkeys were in their run-in shed, warm and dry.  The goats called to us from the interior of their shelter.  The horses were standing under the grove of trees with the densest canopy.

Winston and Mufasa run laps every half hour or so.  Flash moved into the run-in shed where he is standing watching the others play and rest under the trees.  He has obviously taken control of the run-in shed and is not sharing.  The others don't seem to mind.

Brett's friend Richard arrived last evening.  He is staying for the weekend to help Brett with projects.  Richard was Brett's roommate in college and remains his closest friend.  They started in Camille's room where the ceiling fan was dangling, a casualty of the moving guy bringing in Camille's mattress.  After that, they fixed the fan in our bedroom.  They took an inventory of all the light bulbs that are missing and will make a trip to the hardware store to replace them.  The last project before lunch was taking out the built -in desk in the laundry room.  The laundry room is narrow with hardly enough room for the door to open.  We need the desk space for shoe storage and a bench.  They had the desk out in nothing flat despite it being very securely installed.

Meanwhile, I worked on packing up the kitchen and squirreling away paintings, ceramics and the items around the fireplace.

Remember the wood floors we had installed in the great room and kitchen?

We had the same rustic red oak installed as the existing wood floor in the entry and dining room. The new floor is unfinished.

The existing floor will be stripped and sanded.  Then the entire wood floor will be stained the same color.  We want the floor to match and we want it a bit lighter than the existing floor stain.  I love the variation in color and grain of this wood.

Before the guys arrive Monday morning to start stripping the floor, we have to remove everything.  Brett and Richard will move the dining table, sideboard and hutch to the garage tomorrow.  I'll keep packing up boxes.  It seems wrong to be packing and moving furniture out of the house.

And, lastly, felicitations! to my friend Sylvie who is marrying her companion of many years, Christian, today.  I wanted to be there in the worst way; sipping champagne on a small island of the coast of Brittany; toasting her happiness.  But, a new job, new house and surgery conspired to keep me here.  My thoughts are with her today.