As this Friday comes to a close, the Stauffer Team is pooped. Dennis and I often comment to each other how some people who happen to be homeowners are bored? We have done well putting in a new floor in the porch to get it higher and out of harms way, aka: seeping moisture due to heavy rainfalls. Today was the rest of the project. Taking our time, Dennis and I dug a trench along the entire length of the patio east to west to allow rain and water run off to run to the east beyond the patio and porch. In times past Dennis and brother Roger put in three drain pipes along the patio that went down about eight feet. It was piping that was perforated with a solid cap on top of it just below the surface of the soil. The hole around the pipe was filled in with small rock. No doubt this has helped, but with the rainfall of six inches within several days coming in a matter of several hours each time, it is a lot of rain. It has to go somewhere, so why not flood the patio? This trench had been dug years prior, but like anything else over time it had filled in.
My sister Elvera called during the project to let me know that she will start radiation on Monday the 18th of July for cancer treatment. After a good visit of each of us sharing what the day held she did have one last thing to offer: “As long as you have a trench that is six to eight inches deep, why not put in some tulip bulbs.” At that offering I told her I had better get back to helping Dennis. Families, just too precious not to love.