Clever idea, but I’m not sure if I’m going to run out and start a franchise!

Erin picked out some nice classy looking lights and of course I then proceeded to do the hard part by by rooting around buring cable and installing lights in the 90 degree heat.

Nicely highlighting our container garden special from the nursery this weekend.

Nice overall view of the patio in the dark.  We’ll have to wait to daylight to show the actual details of the lights.  Hopefully no planes will miss DIA and end up in our backyard.

My frantic “We gots to go to University NOW!” was the result of me spying a nice deal for a MIG welder on Craigslist this afternoon.  A real Lincoln Electric including an Argon/CO gas cylinder.  Apparently my timing and tactic of offering slightly more than asking price was perfect because the seller said he got over 20 emails in the first couple of hours.

The transaction went smoothly other than Erin running extremely late and almost blowing the entire deal.  the seller was a nice kid on his way to grad school. He bought the welder to work on an old car but never really had the time.  The welder was in great shape.

Why do I need a welder one might ask?  Well, I have dreams of building a living, breathing live steam locomotive some day.  Like the kind these grown men play with at the Colorado Live Steamers just outside of Denver.  A welder is but one tool of the list of tools I need to pull that off.  A lathe and a mill among other things are also on that list.  Hopefully, over the next several months (spaced out lest I be sleeping in the garage with my beloved tools), I can spy more good deals on Craigslist.

My steam engine is not a weekend project.  I actually acquired the plans and some castings almost a year ago.  It will take quite a while to gather the tools and materials not too mention 100’s if not 1000’s of hours of turning, milling, welding, silver soldering, riveting, threading, bending, and cutting.  Good thing I have a patient spousal unit.

FAQ:

Does this mean I am not playing with my trains in the basement? - I will continue to work on my basement trains.  They each scratch a different itch.

Does this mean I am not building a garden railroad?  - Well… I can see the possibility of a small loop in the backyard at some point but this year I will be focused on Arbors and Trellis’s.

Will you drive the steam engine in the backyard? - The steam engine I want to build is big enough to ride on - about 4′ long and will weigh about 500 pounds.  It won’t fit in the backyard.  More than likely I will join the Colorado Live Steamers where they will have 2.5 miles of track.

Don’t you have enough hobbies - Woodworking, Model Trains, and now Metalworking? - Well true but you’ll notice that they follow a pattern - I like to build stuff with my hands.  Not sure why the force is strong but I enjoy it and get better with every new project.

When will you have time?  - Good question.  A little here, a little there, over the course of a lifetime it adds up.

I won’t tell you what he bought…but thankful it wasn’t illegal.

Some of the pieces were at least 1/2″ in diameter and made quite a racket.  It doesn’t appear that anything was damaged or dented thankfully.

Do you like music?

How about food and drinks?  If you answered yes to any or all of these, then you need to check out one of the shows at the Denver Botanic Gardens during their Summer Concert Series.

On Monday, Sara and I picked up dinner at Whole Foods and then headed to the Garden for the Indigo Girls concert.  Since we design and implemented the Botanic Garden’s Web site, we got VIP tickets to a number of concerts throughout the Summer.

For those of you in Michigan, the venue is like a mini Pine Knob.   The main difference is that you can bring in your own food and ALCOHOL.

I’m not an Indigo Girls fan, but we definitely had fun hanging out on our blanket with our shoes off.  Plus, it’s a great place to people watch.

I’m looking forward to our next show which is Aimee Mann and Marc Cohn and then later in the Summer we’re off to see Chris Isaac and the Cowboy Junkies.

Just a little bit more work needs to be done on the pathway and we’ll be enjoying the rest of the Summer in our newly landscaped backyard.

The above picture shows the birdhouse after it was placed in the wooded area behind my parent’s house.

Here’s a look at their absolutely beautiful backyard.  Lots of time goes into keep the backyard in tip-top shape, but it’s worth it!

Lunch was great as we were joined by ex-CareerSite friends at Grizzly Peak.  While we only spent an hour catching up, it was good to see everyone.

Later in the day, we met up with more friends at the Pub next to Grizzly Peak.  Here are my favorite pics from the night.

David snapped this picture of Mike and I early in the night.

In return, I snapped one of him and Emily.  In August, their family is moving to Indy as Emily took a teaching position at a university down there.  Indy’s not too far from Ann Arbor, so there’s a chance we may see them next time we’re in town.  Otherwise, they need to head out to CO with the kids to go hiking and camping with us.

The boys of CareerSite - Shaun, David, Mike, Eric and Chris.

I’m not sure who snapped this one, but Emily and I were chillin’ while the guys played pool at the Monkey Bar.

I’m not sure what to say about this one…other than the fact that I have a hunky husband!