Construction Begins Again

It has always been our intention to build two rooms in the basement at 6616.  We've had several visits from contractor Billy to discuss room size, heating/cooling needs, etc.  Yesterday, Billy and Rusty loaded a truck full of lumber, and then unloaded the lumber onto the patio.  Then the loud noises began as the faceplate was literally "shot" into the cement floor.

Billy marks the opening for the door.

Rusty measures and cuts the studs for walls.

The room is beginning to take shape.  Like all projects, this one will take way longer than I want it to.  Patience. Patience.  Every journey begins with the first step.

Hangin' Out with Musicians

Becky is the director of the NE Chamber Players.  She and Dick have the penthouse condo at the Corner Stone in downtown Lincoln.  Last Saturday, Becky invited many of the musicians to eat spaghetti and hang out.  There's always interesting and spirited conversation with this group.

Rusty Banks wrote the Ash Fall piece, which was awesome!

Composer Rusty shares his thoughts.

It was pretty weird having two Rusty's who both play bass and fly fish.

My Rusty is beginning to compose a piece for double bass and marimba.

Joe plays all percussion instruments for NE Chamber Players.

Easter and Pierce's 4th Birthday

It's our tradition to buy holiday candy at The Candy Factory here in Lincoln.  This year Rusty found a special treat.  The lady behind the counter said they come from Germany.  They are real eggs that are blown out, then the shells are sterilized, and then filled with chocolate truffle!

These are so rich that we've only eaten ONE so far.

The service at First Plymouth was as beautiful as always.  The music just blows me away.  And yes, Dar, it was cold up front, but not as bad as two years ago.  Afterwards we watched Celeste in the Easter Egg Hunt.

Lindsay and Celeste

Papaw and Celeste

It is another family tradition that the birthday person gets to eat off the red plate and select food that he likes to eat.  Pierce wanted peas and carrots.

Pierce turned 4 on the 11th.  He was so excited to have his birthday.  I loved being there to share it!

April 2012

We had summertime temps in the 80's and 90's in March so it seems odd to be having spring in April.  Anyway, it's beautiful and I love it.  I went on a bike ride around Branched Oak Lake with bike club friends.  Just fabulous!

The clouds should tell you it was very windy.

My crocus are finished blooming, but now the tulips are fully open.

Construction work behind our home has become incredibly busy.  The big excavators and bull dozers and dump trucks start roaring through at about 7a.m.  It's not uncommon to see them work until 6p.m.
We call the culvert "our culvert" since we've watched it from the very beginning.

Yesterday they started the back-breaking work of removing all the supports from inside the culvert.

They've inserted many of these big pipes into the ground.  I assume they carry run-off water.

The side dumpers run all day long.  I can't even begin to count how many come through in a day.  This video is tedious and has wind noise.  I shot it while standing on our deck.  If you have the patience to watch it, you'll see that some drivers are much faster than others.

A mile south of this culvert is the bridge over I-80.  Here's a pic I took today from the south side, looking back north towards the culvert.

The orange stick is the center of the bridge.

It looks to me like they still have a long way to go.  Will it be open by fall?  There is supposed to be a bike lane on this bridge too, which will provide for us a safe way to cross the interstate on our bikes.