Unplanned Tree Encounters, Among Other Adventures

Hi, everyone!

The day after we got back from visiting Great Uncle Bill and Great Aunt Betsy, we went out to the bay for the weekend.  We had a big surprise when we turned onto our road! The road was blocked by a mess of tree branches and trunks!  Grandpa knew that our gas-powered chain saw in the shed wasn’t working, but he had another idea.  We drove into our place the back way and picked up the electric chain saw, the lopping shears, a pry bar and an extension cord.  Then we drove out on our road until we got to the trees.  Our car is electric and has an auxilliary power outlet.  So Grandpa could plug the chain saw into the car and start clearing the road!  Grandma and I helped by cutting and clearing the smaller branches.

Once each big branch was cut into sections, Grandma and Grandpa used the pry bar to roll them off the edge of the road.  As part of the road was cleared, Grandpa drove the car closer to the rest of the mess so the extension cord would reach.

After a while, a neighbor showed up with his chain saw to help with the last, biggest branch.  That one was very hard wood, but we got the road open again!

The next morning, I got to go kayaking with Grandma!  I can’t go when she is planning to weed water chestnuts, because there’s no clean spot for me to sit!  She was just planning to see what areas would need weeding later, so I could come along.  We paddled over to No Name Creek.   Grandma had weeded there a few years ago.  She was happy to see that the creek outlet didn’t have any water chestnuts growing in it, but we did find a patch partway up the creek.  We reported that to the weed consultant when we got back from our paddle.

We went back to Fairport later Saturday because there was a lot going on in town!  Grandpa wanted to finish sealing the foundation next to the back deck.  He only had to take a couple of deck boards out because they run parallel to the foundation on the main part of the deck.  After he sealed the crack, he put some plastic boards on top of the seam to deflect water away from the foundation.  Then he put gravel back on top and replaced the deck boards.  He was concerned the deck boards weren’t quite level, so he used the laser level to check.  Then he checked how level the deck railing was.  I helped with that!

James has started to take piano lessons!  He’s welcome to practice on Grandma’s piano, but he really needed one at home to use.  Grandma and Grandpa asked their musician friends for suggestions and found a nice keyboard at Costco.com.   There was a sale price on that keyboard the very next day, so Grandpa ordered one to be delivered to our house in Fairport.  When it came, Uncle Steven’s family was at Seabreeze Amusement Park and planned to stop for the keyboard on their way home.  That happened earlier than expected because it started raining at Seabreeze!

Last Thursday, James came to hang out with me in the morning while Thomas and his parents had an appointment.  Then James and Thomas came back for dinner while their parents went out.  Grandma planned a pizza party, and Joe-san sent fresh corn to have with it! Of course, there were gummy bears with the pizza slices!

Friday night, we were back at the bay.  Before the pandemic, Grandma and Grandpa and I used to host an annual  picnic at the bay for the church choir.  Grandma invited everybody to come last Saturday, so we had to get ready!  After some cleaning and gardening, we took time off to go to the Point for sunset.  There were lots of waves, but I finally did get to see the sun set into the lake, rather than into clouds!

Saturday morning, Uncle Steven’s family came out to help with the party.  While we were waiting for people to arrive, I watched coding videos with James and Thomas.  Then I got to see some of my choir friends!

There were yummy appetizers, and Grandpa grilled chicken, hamburgers and hot dogs to go with what the guests brought to share.  Everybody seemed happy to have the choir party back again!

After all the guests left, we had a family fire.  I was in charge of the s’mores ingredients!  On Sunday morning, we had waffles on the porch.  Uncle Steven and Aunt Kara got a chance to go kayaking while Thomas and I watched videos.

This time of year, Grandma likes to get local sour cherries and make a sour cream, sour cherry pie.  There’s only a week or so when they are ripe and available.  The farm market where she usually gets them in Wayne county didn’t have any when we stopped there on Monday.  The farm market right around the corner from us in Fairport did!  So yesterday, Grandma and I made the once-a-year sour cherry pie!  I helped blend the shortening into the flour, then I helped stir in the water.  Then we rolled out the bottom crust and put it in the pie pan.

Grandma said I had to stay away while she pitted the cherries, so I didn’t turn into a pink-spotted cat!  I did make sure that the number of cherries and the number of pits matched!  After the cherries were arranged in the pie crust, we stirred up the sugar and sour cream topping.  The top crust is a lattice, so I helped cut the strips to weave together.

I helped with the lattice strips close to the edge of the pie, then Grandma crimped the crust edges and sprinkled cinnamon sugar on top.  The pie filling bubbled up while it was baking but didn’t spill!  We invited Uncle Steven’s family over for dinner, so everybody could enjoy our yummy pie!

This morning when I woke up, I could hear chain saws and a chipper!  Another neighbor was having big trees taken down!  This tree service brought a big crane to lift big limbs as they were cut. Grandma let me watch from a safe distance.  I feel like I’ve been sitting on a lot of cut-up logs recently!

Love,

Lion-san