Mmm, Bacon!

 Is there anything better than the smell of bacon in the morning? Or the afternoon? Or the evening? Bacon is delicious! Just ask Dakota and Zoey. Whenever they smell bacon, we get their undivided attention. 

But bacon is just not bacon. There is thick cut, maple, low salt, turkey, Canadian, Kevin Bacon and dozens more. The list seems endless. Just as endless is the way to cook it, skillet, microwave, air fryer, oven. Then there is the biggest controversy of all. Crispy or floppy? It is really not a controversy in our house. Crispy is the only way to go. Anything else is blasphemy! So, what prompted this particular opening topic for this week's blog? It was actually the dogs. That first picture is how they look when they hover around the kitchen when they smell bacon. They are so adorable and attentive, I just had to write about it. 

Thanks for all your thoughts on Zoe Belle. I am happy to report that she is 100% recovered.  We are pretty sure she got stung by a bee or black widow. We have plenty of both and she tries to eat them whenever she sees them. She still has not learned and still snaps at bees when they hover around her. 

We did have another scare this week. I swear that dog is going to be the death of us. We were sitting out of the patio with Dan and Bonnie. Zoey and Dakota were nosing around in the grass within feet of us when Barb notices Zoey jump back, and her hackles went up. Barb got up to investigate and started screaming for Zoey to get back. I rushed over to see a 4' snake coiled up ready to strike. We thought for sure it was a rattlesnake, but it ended up being a bull or rat snake. Harmless for the most part. She is now on leash arrest and is not allowed to wander out without a leash even if we are right next to her. 

On the computer front, I try to turn it on every morning, some days it works, some days it doesn't. It is seriously time to get a new one but with the vet bill from last week, it is just not in the cards this month. Come on baby, hold on one more month! I've looked at each of the ones recommended by those who responded and am leaning towards the Lenovo. Something with a full-body hinge. Not these two small ones my current computer has. Update. I found the one I am going to get. I could not find find a Lenovo with a full-body hinge. The MacBooks are just too much money for the rate that I go through them. At under $500, the HP I am looking at is 1/4 of the price of the Macs and has a full-body hinge. I just do not know where to ship it at this point as I could be leaving soon to help with the harvest. 

Let's see, what did we do for fun this week? Oh, we went camping! Only for one night but it was nice to get out and about. We went drove 30 miles south to Angostura Reservoir. Friends Merrill and Vicki were camping down there for 5 days so we decided to join them for a day of kayaking, beach relaxing and fire tales.  Of course, I forgot to get a picture of them, I did manage to get this picture of our site and the beach we hung out at. Rumor has it, this place is packed on the weekends, but the Tuesday night we spent there was actually pretty quiet and enjoyable. There are so many places to explore around here, it is about time we get out and enjoy some of them!

Dakota ready to go camping!

Our site for the night, right next to Merrill and Vicki

It was a short stay but nice to get away for even one night.

Most of the work this week centered around the gazebo. Barb finished staining the posts. We received our post bases in the mail and got them spray painted, then we installed the remaining panels and cut them to fit. 

Me relaxing after starting to get a couple of pieces up. Then trimming one end with a side grinder

As we put the last section of the top together. Barb had to be on the inside holding a wrench on the nuts as I tightened the bolts on the outside. It was over 90 that day so not only was it extremely noisy inside there for her, but it was also hot! 

Barb cleaning some goo off of one of the edges and peeking out of the top after installing the last section.

We were now ready to install the top!

Friday, I started the day at the neighbors helping him install a couple of fence gates. Then it was over to a job site where Kevin was working to help install a huge truss and beams. The owner rented a crane for a few hours to help. There is no way we could have done this without the crane, it was way too high and heavy. 

The big timber truss was the first thing to go up

Then it was time for each of the beams

Once those were in place, I spent the afternoon moving dirt to put around the gazebo pad. Whew!

Sunday was a big day. It was gazabo build day! Kevin came over along with our friend Earl who is visiting from Wisconsin. Using the skid steer and boom we lifted the top in place on top of the sections I already installed. In my mind, this was the most precarious part of the build, but it went incredibly smooth. Once we got it hovering in place, Earl and I got busy inserting and tightening bolts fastening the two sections together. 

Here's a very short video to give you an idea of how we put the top in place. 

Earl and I installed bolts connecting the two sections while the top hovered in place.

Once that was done, we located here the posts were going to be on the pad, anchored the post bases with concrete anchors and measured and cut the posts. The entire process took a lot longer than anticipated with each post taking about 1/2 hour to get aligned, cut and in place. 

Kevin and Earl getting the first post base ready then Kevin leveling it while I screw it into place.

We took a break when Cheryl, Sharon (Earl's better half) and friends Elizabeth and Allen arrived for lunch. Of course, we forgot to take even one picture when they were all here. 

After lunch, we put up the last post and spent time tightening up all the bolts and lag screws. Then at long last, we were done. After months of anticipation and preparation, it was done!

Taking down the tire we used to lift the top.

It was a long, exhausting week but we are oh so happy with the way it turned out. We still have some trim work to do, a few more bolts at install, some electrical to do but it is up! I think we deserve something tasty, mouthwatering, bacon perhaps?!?!?