April Showers

This has been the worst April, weatherwise, that we can remember. The snow kept coming and now the rain.

The daffodils are getting ready to bloom, but as you can see, they are standing in over an inch of water.















The river is up almost a foot and our back driveway is partially under water with little lakes everywhere in the yard. Our sidewalk has become a tributary to the AuSable.







The fishermen had better wear their "hi-cut" waders this week-end for the opener of trout season!

Here's hoping the rain stops before the water reaches this little duck.

Stepping Up in the World

April is always a maintenance month for us. Due to Mother Nature and all of this snow, we have had to take our projects to off site locations. Mark & I like to give titles to things, so... Here are some highlights of "Habitat for Humanity, Senior Edition - On Tour".

Mark's folks, needed some new porch steps. The old ones had thrown Dad Hunter into the bushes more than once this winter.


Our nephew, James, came to assist.
He was very instrumental in digging
five holes to set posts.
Too many engineers,
we only needed two holes
on the INSIDE of the stringers.
Once the posts were set,
and the auxilliary holes filled in,
he left for an appointment and never came back.

Notice the stringer, Mark and I measured twice, cut once, and all three stringers were perfect!








Mark and his mom checked out the steps; solid, low-rise, and a hand rail to keep Dad Hunter out of the bushes!












While we were in the area, we did some work at my mom's house. Her porch roof has been leaking and we decided to tear it off and replace it with a metal roof. I guess my sister and I watched the barn raising scene in "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" too many times, because we love to get the whole family together for construction projects.

Levi, Jerry, and brother, Mark.

Mark

While this crew was destructing, another crew was priming the plywood underlayment.















Dad Hunter came over to help. Who knew he liked to paint?

Levi's wife, Stephanie, is a delightful addition to the family.

Emily ran errands and helped out where needed.
Mom made an awesome lunch with sloppy joes and chocolate cake.

This is my favorite "footage"
of the destruct phase.

Mother Nature got in our way again.
Rain & wind are not conducive to
metal roof installation.
Our project is to be continued this week-end.


Before we headed back north, Mom & Dad Hunter took us out for dinner.

That's me with the old goat!













Overall it was a successful week-end!
We stepped up in the world and raised the roof!