Tuesday ToolTalk: Mr. Clean Erasers

I bought a new tool last week but I’ve not yet had the opportunity to use it. So, today, I’m highlighting a cleaning tool that’s been in This D*mn House since it was put on the market: Mr. Clean Magic Erasers.

The mother swears by these things. She uses them both inside and outside of the house, and she’s gotten me to use them, too. They’re great for removing the errant scuff or ground-in mark from painted walls, ceramic and vinyl floors – and sometimes, even your shoes and handbags!

They’re equally good at wiping grub and grime away from bathroom fixtures and around other wood and metal surfaces like door trim and baseboards.

And that’s what brings me to this post: I discovered a new use for them yesterday.
The mother, being a female version of Felix Unger (the Odd Couple neat freak immortalized by Jack Lemmon on film and Tony Randall on television) has been distraught over a thick band of dirt/discoloration across the middle of Pearl’s driver seat. Except for the occasional chip or gouge, the car is in virtual showroom condition, so leave it to the mother to agonize over a minor flaw.

I went online to see if I could find anything that might remedy it. As leather automotive seats are more the rule than the exception these days, it didn’t take me long. Someone had posed the very question I did: How do you remove ground-in dirt from a leather car interior? The answer: Mr. Clean Magic Erasers!

Within 10 minutes of relating this to the mother last night, she was in the car trying it. She had some impressive success, too, as that band has diminished significantly. (She’ll be back at it today.) A few things to bear in mind if you try this:
· If your stain is in plain sight, try this on a spot where it isn’t, just to make sure that it won’t discolor your surface.
· Rub lightly, gently increasing pressure to get to a level where the dirt disappears.
· If you do use this on leather (upholstery, furniture, shoes and accessories) after buffing it lightly and allowing to air dry, follow up with a round of replenishing treatment like leather lotion to avoid over-drying and cracking your leather.

I thought maybe Procter & Gamble would offer a coupon on their site, but they did not. However, if you still have your Sunday newspaper, you may find a coupon for buy one/get one. We had one in ours and I guarantee it will be put to good use. These really are a remarkable product.

One caveat: They do dissipate quickly. So if you hope to cover a lot of ground or a particularly dirty surface, have plenty on hand.

The Mighty Mississippi

Luckily, we didn't get the rain that had been forecast over the weekend. I'm afraid to think what the river would look like if we had considering it looked like this today.

I'm glad we cut that break since we're now going into yet another round of rainy days, if the forecast is to be believed.

The only way you can get down Lenore K. Sullivan Blvd. right now is by boat!

And if that additional rain happens, we might not see Lewis & Clark for a while. In fact, you can't see much of them right now! What? You can't see them.

Look closer. Just to the right of the cluster of highway signs ...

Yep. Hat in hand. That's all you can see of the famous duo.
Even their boat isn't doing them much good.

From a Distance

It’s still surreal to see that car in the driveway. From across the street (where I catch my bus) it looks quite nice. It truly looks as if it belongs there, that car that I now almost know enough about to drive safely. I still don’t know exactly how to run the climate control system but I think I have the wipers down pat now.

Trying to teach all this to the mother –who has trouble with the cable remote control – has been hilarious. But she’s been an eager student. In fact, she has been every bit as excited, if not a little more, than I about it. And for me, that’s a bonus. The mother just doesn’t get that excited about too many things. So, between the car and the refrigerator, she’s floating. We find out about the insurance today and I have a feeling that’s going to ground both of us!

I had to almost wrestle the driver’s seat back from her Saturday, even though she had refused to drive it at the dealership and she insisted that I drive it home. After a few short trips and several visits out to it after consulting the manual, the mother seems inifintely more comfortable with it. And that’s a really good thing, because I didn’t want to buy anything she wouldn’t be comfortable in.

But the weekend wasn’t all about the car.


We now have a tentative plan and a very clear focus on our house plans. The room of the moment is the kitchen. The refrigerator comes in six weeks or maybe it’s seven. At any rate, late June. The goal is to have everything ready in the kitchen to just appliances into place. The current appliances, instead of being hauled away, will go to my late great-uncle’s house since they’re newer and nicer and will ideally help it show better and help our cousin to sell that house.
So there’s lots to do between now and then.


First, we have to decide about the cabinets. Stain them more of a cherry (currently a pecan) or pain them white? I initially was leaning toward the cherry, but now I’m leaning more toward the white. (The room is SO small. And I’ve since seen several kitchens with white cabinets and stainless appliances and liked them. I think the brighter color will make it look bigger.)

From there, we’ll have to pick a countertop and floor. And that means I need to call my buddy Lawrence. (We’ll need a new subfloor in the kitchen for me to tile on.) I’m a little skeptical about this time frame, but always up for the challenge.

Rewriting A Love Story

After all but passing out before midnight last night, I found I couldn’t sleep in this morning. I just couldn’t sleep. I laid in bed for an hour before finally just getting up. Must be leftover excitement from yesterday.

I still only have a cursory understanding of how things in the car work, even after going through a “cheat sheet” pamphlet and thumbing through the 2-inch thick owner’s manual. I made a quick run to the milk store by myself last night just as the sun was going down and nearly jumped through my skin when I pulled in the driveway, turned off the car, and the interior lights came on! This car does everything but drive itself which is scary in a way because that means there are that many more things that can go wrong.

In all the excitement of the car, I nearly forgot what I had done on Friday (and confirmed yesterday during the mother’s and my decadent shopping trip).

Remember the refrigerator that the mother fell in love with that would NOT fit in our kitchen. Well, I found a Maytag that, while not the same brand as her unrequited love, LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE IT and, WILL fit! And here’s the most beautiful part of all. You’ll want to pay attention to this if you could use something from Home Depot.

Through May 4, you can get 10 percent off online purchases at HomeDepot.com! Just use the code SAVE22. (I did find that there are some things it WON'T let you buy online. Lowe's is a little more liberal in this category.

And, if you’re in the market for appliances, May is “Maytag Month.” You can get a MasterCard giftcard up to $150 when you buy certain appliances or sets of appliances. (The refrigerator is worth a $75 one.)

So, in the past 24 hours, I’ve bought a car and a refrigerator. (Trying not to panic by reminding self that these are things we have been saving for.) Perhaps I’ve changed my name to Rockefeller. This might not be a bad time to check my Powerball ticket.

Beauty and the Beast

I shouldn't be so mean to Ladybird. Really, I shouldn't. She's been a good girl.

So today, I bought her a friend. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Pearl!

She's a beauty, isn't she? I only went to look. Just look. I wasn't even sure that the car was going to be what was claimed. But it was.

And I wasn't sure I was going to get a loan at a rate I found acceptable. But I did.

And then, I didn't think that the car would be ready to come home today. But it was.

I was both excited and terrified, so it made for an interesting ride home with the mother piloting Ladybird behind me. It was horrifying to try to quickly adjust to another vehicle in an unfamiliar neighborhood, navigate traffic, AND not lose the mother.

But I did it.

This was not the day I had planned. We did make some of our planned trips --but we took the car. The new car. And enjoyed it. (You have to remember, we've been driving an 18-year-old car so we're pretty easily amused.) I had to coach the mother on using the key fob and how to unlock the door once you're in the car -- after I figured it out myself. I know this isn't a big deal for a lot of people but it doesn't happen much around here so it was quite the event.

So here they are. The Beauty and The Beast.

It's not a new car. It's a few years old. But just a few. And it has d*mn near everything in it. I do have to take it back in a week or so. The dealership is going to touch up and detail a few road dings on the body. Nothing major. This thing is amazing! I waited a long time to go into debt over a car, so I wanted it to be something I wanted. It also happened to be one car the mother and I agreed on because I absolutely refused to buy an "old people" car.

The mother and I are both enthralled. We both keep peering out the window at it. It can't be a mirage because it still hasn't disappeared from the driveway.

Now, all I can hear is the raspy voice of the gal in the car ad who asks: "When you turn your car on, does it return the favor?"

Yeah. Oh yeah.

A Friend for Ladybird

You know that old line, "I'm going to see a man about a horse?" It keeps running through my head this morning as I'm going to look at another car.

And, if all is as it seems, I guess I may be buying a car. Words can't describe how freaked out I am. I have never, emphasis on the never part, financed a car in my life. With everything as uncertain as it is, it seems to me to be the worst time to embark on such a venture, but I'd really rather not wait until I'm in a "have to" situation should Ladybird decide to completely crap out.

We've been talking about a car for years -- and had planned to buy one now. Even sooner than now, in fact. But this was also the year I'd hoped to finish the house.

We looked at two cars while I was off earlier in the week, one of which was quite nice, and both of which, I thought were overpriced. That point was brought further to the surface when, on a whim, I found another car last night online. It looks almost identical to the one we were so impressed with a few nights ago AND it has a warranty AND less mileage AND it's cheaper. It also lacks one feature that we'd wanted (a sun or moonroof) that the other car has, but I still don't think that justifies the inflated price of the other car.

I'm trying not to have any expectations but as it gets closer to time to leave, I keep sneaking a peek of the open Web site page or rereading the info sheet I printed out last night. I guess we'll just have to see if Ladybird is destined to have company in the driveway or not. (She's going nowhere, my car that thinks like a truck. This would just really ease up the pressure on her as a primary car.)

So, off I go to look.

(Extra) Sandy Claws

I’m not sure how many years I’ve been buying cat litter (most of my life), or how many of those years have included the purchase of the “clumping” variety of said litter. Granted, I’ve only been buying Arm & Hammer for about a year, but regardless of brand, I’ve NEVER had anything like this happen before!

OK, cat owners – has this ever happened to you? Here’s a BIG box of cat litter.

I am a big fan of the reusable pails manufactured by my former brand. (I think I established that by putting mortar, sand, and dirt in them while doing my brickwork last year.)

But I keep one in the laundry room that is used only for litter. What I usually do is rip open the side of the A&H box, let it rest and subsequently empty itself into the reusable pail. (This task takes care of itself while I’m off dealing with something else.)

Imagine my surprise then when I get a closeup of the contents as seen in this cup.

Hey! Who put mortar mix/sand in my cat litter package?!

Cat litter has a high concentration of dust to be sure. But this is ridiculous. The entire box is mostly this dust, with maybe 5-10 percent litter at the most thrown in. Yeah. As if Toby didn't muck things up enough when the mix is mostly litter!

It doesn’t look nearly as odd either until you compare it to what it’s supposed to look like. (This came from a second, smaller box I purchased from a completely different location out of pure paranoia that I would end up with 20 more pounds of the previous!) I think you can see the difference.

It's almost as if someone just stomped on and ground an entire box of litter into dust.

I wasn’t able to call the consumer line this week and since they’re not open on the weekends, I’ll have to try to contact them by email.

And it’s a good thing I had the foresight to save the box, even if it was on trash day, as the lot number and all that rot contains a lot of the information they’re going to want.

Let’s see how they do at making good on this.

Hooray for Storage Boxes

In a tiny house, you're always looking for storage. And this time of year, when it comes time to switch from winter to summer, I'm looking for ways to keep track of things like all those winter accessories.

They started out scattered all over my bedroom floor.

In a recent Lakeside catalog, I found these boxes.

They're not very big -- which is a plus -- but big enough to hold gloves, scarves, earwraps, and even my tiny handbags! I am so loving these. You get a set of three for $6.95.

And if you like brighter colors, you can get those, too. I think they're marketing those as designed for kids but if you like the colors ...

They really would be good for kids, too, to collect all those tiny little parts that their toys come with. You could even throw video games in them.

And one of my favorite features? If you don't need them, just pull out the bottoms and fold the boxes flat until you do!

They also have a slightly larger version -- with a clear window -- for $7.95. I looked at those but I think these are the perfect size for me as I'll probably put them under my bed or on the floor of the closet!

After filling up two of the three, I'm already thinking about ordering another set. Look how much stuff you can get in these things.

True Signs of Spring

While I worked on the shed, our resident mother robin-to-be was none too happy with me. She did not like that I had my saw set up about 20 feet from her (and about six or so feet below her).
As long as I was over by the shed, she didn’t seem to care. She didn’t even mind the drill noise as I attached the boards. Even so, I had to very cautiously sneak this shot.

Meanwhile, at my neighbors, I was able to spy on the nest that another mama robin built in their small pine tree. Since it is so low to the ground, we’re keeping a very careful watch on it.

This mother was pretty unflappable. I didn't even notice her at one point and she still stayed put, unlike the mother on my side of the fence.

I guess when I went over with the camera though she must have been on a bio break or something because the nest was empty … except for these!


Outside of the never-ending rain, a cycle we appear to have slid right into, and the ultra-crazy temperatures, these are some of the surest signs of spring that I know. Pretty soon, I’ll be seeing cracked shells on the ground and hearing those high-pitched squawks. I can’t wait!

Partially Pimped

My shed is not pretty. What can I say? Here's what I can say:

*The entire exterior surface is now covered in vinyl/PVC siding.

*Together with all the interior work I did on it last year, it's probably 10 times more sturdy than some people's houses!

*It still needs trim. And paint. Those stark white boards just don't do a thing for it, I'm afraid. But painting season hasn't really started.

We've still got a few weeks yet. During those few weeks, it's just going to have to look ugly, awkward, and a little bit on the embarrassing side. Rome wasn't built in a day; you can't rush the proper pimpin' of a shed then, right? It cost a little more than I wanted and definitely took longer, but that's DIY isn't it?

The bottom line is that while it's just not that attractive right now, someday, with some trim and some paint, it will look more like this. (Only without the lattice. That's only on the back.) In this photo you can also see that I got both sides finished, too. Can't wait 'til the gray gets slapped on those.

Maybe then people will quit lookin' at me like I've lost my mind, scratchin' their heads and all but thinkin' out loud: Why are you covering up the gray with those white boards?

And at that point I'll no longer have to explain that some of the gray surface is rotten and the white boards will ideally nip it in the bud. And, those white boards won't be white boards forever.

So , for now at least, pimpin' remains in progress.

Testing Michelangelo

Before it got dark last night, the mother tried the Rustoleum paint we bought on one of the ceiling samples we received. (This is the pattern we ended up buying, too.)

Initial result was good, though the mother later said that hours later it was still tacky. "This isn't going to work," she announced last night. "We'll have to find some other paint." This was disappointing, considering that we already had been unable to purchase our first choice, Behr's Luminoso line's silver.

Then, this morning, she decided that it was the increased humidity that probably affected the drying time so dramatically. "This turned out pretty good."

I think it turned out good, too. If you didn't know this was poly styrene, would you think it was metal? I would.

In fairness, it really isn't paint weather right now. Too much rain and too much humidity. That's in part why the shed is such a priority.

I've wanted to get it done so that when paint weather does finally get here, it's already ready to paint.

But back to the ceiling ... I am quite pleased with it overall. I need to take down the textured wallpaper (in a tintype pattern) that is on the bathroom ceiling right now and then prime the ceiling.

The mother wants to paint the panels for the bathroom ceiling an antique white to match the main color in the rest of the bathroom. I'm thinking they would look cool black. But that's an argument for another post.

Right now, I need to start getting things ready for tomorrow when it's back to the grind. It was a good vacation overall with a good mix of work and play. I already need to start planning for the next round of it as there is plenty to do!

Sheddin’ A Little Light

While I was busy with the board exchange at Home Depot yesterday, the mother was looking at lights.

She’s been searching for a light for the kitchen for quite a while. She even bought one and took it back. She just couldn’t find one she liked. (It’s been nearly as elusive a search as for kitchen appliances that she likes.) It was always “too” something. Too big. Too small. Too expensive.

Whatever. The bottom line is that you have to have a light. But miracle of miracles she found one. Pretty, isn’t it?

I like it. I’m just concerned that it’s going to hang too low. I can see it now: Hi. Welcome to our new kitchen. Try not to dash your brains out on this low-hanging light fixture.

But, the mother isn’t listening, so there’s no point in continuing to voice this concern. Her response: I don’t care. (I love when she goes all 2-year-old in the reasoning department.)

We unboxed it last night. The antique brass finish clashes with the silver scheme that will ultimately be in the kitchen so she’s going to have to paint it. (At this rate, the mother is going to be painting something for every waking minute of her life and still might not get it all done.)

This is my last day of vacation and very nearly the last day of the month. I need to unpack the car (boards) and run and get the city sticker for the car. For some reason, our fine city thinks this antiquated annual practice provides enough revenue to continue it.

Most people I know don’t even bother with it. The mother though is fanatical about it. Even though technically the city gives you until May 15 each year to buy one, the mother insists that the stupid thing is in place by April 30 when it officially expires. Whatever.

So, I’d better get started. The weather forecast is calling for rain late in the day and I’ve got a shed to finish. Looks like I’m on a deadline …

Errrrrr...Detour!

It was a day of detours.

The first one occurred when the mother ran into a childhood friend at Lowe's. She recently moved back to the area from Florida and they started a lengthy conversation. That chat turned into lunch at our favorite Chinese haunt.

After that, the mother and I had to go back from whence we came so we could hit Home Depot. I finally made my board switch (trading in trim and getting the final boards I need for the shed). And we picked up some silver paint to try on one of the samples we received for the Michelangelo project.

The next in a series of detours occured on the way home when the mother spotted a car at a dealership along the highway. We backtracked and went to check it out. From there, we we went to another car place in town. (It pays to compare.) So, i'm anticipating calls from both places later in the week ... if I don't call them first.

I'm just not sure we're ready to do the car thing. I'm still concerned about taking on more debt and much of what's on hand right now is already earmarked for the house.

Decisions, decisions ...

Nesting

Nesting. I've been reading about it for quite a while now.

Before the recession really hit hard, the home improvement stores were all aflutter with anticipation of all the business they'd get from DIYers who were focused on all things home since -- with gas at then $4 a gallon and up -- they weren't venturing that far away.

As little lights have sprung up here and there in the economy, I've started hearing the term again. And, of course, as spring has arrived, it's brought with it a whole new reference.

Granted, this is a much more literal interpretation of nesting. I was, as you can see, able to catch the mother robin on the nest while I was out working on the shed Sunday. She was not at all amused with me working in the yard.

She would frequently fly into the neighboring tree when I would walk to or from the shed to cut or install my boards. I would have thought that after several hours of this activity, she would become confident in the fact that I was not going to harm her. (I never even really got all that close to her on any one of my trips.) But, each time, she would fly out quickly.

And as I would complete the task and return again, she would again repeat her flight to the tree. Her mate would pace restlessly on the ground below, even walking near my work area a time or two as some sort of a show of strength. But he, too, would skitter away if I so much as moved.

I haven't really gone anywhere since Saturday. And yesterday, I barely left the house except to feed the birds, dump the trash, and get the mail. That changes today.

I'm going to Hardware Heaven yet again. This time, the mother, who is feeling better, will likely go with me. I'm sure we'll make a few fun trips, too. We've been talking about the various things we need to get done and the best order in which to pursue them.

For right now, I'm still hoping to finish the shed before I go back to work on Thursday. We'll have to see if Mother Nature is on my side.

Conspiracy Theory

It was Monday. I hate Mondays. It’s the hardest day of the week to get out of bed. I was supposed to be able to enjoy this one because once I put out the trash, I could go back to bed.

I did go back to bed. But, I didn’t get a lot of sleep. It seems that every time I turned the corner into Z-Land, something was there to harken me back.

Initially, it was Toby the Cat with his ceaseless yowling. I cleaned his box, tossed him some food and that seemed to placate him. At 8:30, with the trash delivered to the alley, I was boarding the Dreamland Express, Ozzie pressed firmly into the back of my legs.

I was roused by a hellatious noise from the alley. In talking to my neighbor across the way, I’d heard that our alley was scheduled to get some rock this morning. I’d heard this before. Our alley, which is more like a sidestreet than an alley, has been in sorry shape for years. So, it was long overdue.

I shouldn’t have been surprised then to see this.


I mean, I’m glad that we’re finally getting the long ago promised rock, but did it have to be today? (Of course it did.)

When it started to rain, as it has off and on all day today, the dump truck and Bobcat that later appeared on the scene took off. I fell asleep – only to be roused by the trash truck. (It had clearly been unable to get in the alley earlier, blocked by the road grader, dump truck and Bobcat.)

About 10:30, I gave up. It just wasn’t in the cards.

That’s not to say that I have done anything today. I haven’t. I’m blaming the weather. The occasional shower, followed by a steady sprinkle, has done nothing to motivate me.

I was going to go to Home Depot to do the board exchange, but maybe I’ll wait til morning. To borrow one of my favorite Scarlett O’Hara lines: Tomorrow is another day.

Monday, Schmonday

I have tried to be a good DIYer and a good blogger the past few days. Both of these activities have dramatically affected my ability to be a good blog reader.

Google Reader has recorded an obscene amount of entries that I've missed. So, I’ll apologize now. If you are accustomed to seeing me regularly read and comment on your blog, I may or may not have been there the past few days. Not that I’ve lost interest. Not that I have any less love for your adventures. I’ve just been waist-deep in my own. I’ll catch up. Honest.

And while I’m sunburned, sore, and exhausted, it feels good. It feels great to have the weather warm again and it feels good to be getting things done. And one of the best feelings of all – it’s Monday, and I’m going back to bed. Right after I take out the trash. (Vacation: Day One begins.)

I think I’ve earned it.

Stupid White Girl

What can I say? I'm just a stupid white girl.

Mind you, I'm not one of these fair-complected, snow-white types. Nor do I have that "natural beige" like a flesh-colored crayon. No. I have that ruddy complexion, the one that takes forever to tan. But the catch is, I burn. And burn. And burn. And burn.

Eventually, I tan.

I guess three consecutive days in upper 80s sun will tend to cook one. My arms, face, neck, and feet are proof of that. I'm currently alternating between the "my arms and face are on fire" and the "damn, I'm freezing!" stages of sunburn. Stupid white girl.

The upside: I got a lot done.

First, the yard is respectable again for the first time all season. Second, half the shed -- yes, half the shed -- is pimped! I don't have enough boards to finish the other half. (Berating self. Idiot!) I also didn't have enough daylight to have finished the other half by the time I got done with the first half and with the delicate matter of filling in around Tigger's grave.

Two of the three trim boards will have to go back. The mother doesn't want the trim on the sides. Whatever. I'm glad she told me this before I'd cut the piece for the side I did finish!

Rain is on tap for tomorrow and maybe the first half of Tuesday, so I probably won't get much farther. That, and the mother has to go get some tests sometime this week though I won't know when until sometime tomorrow. So, we'll see what happens.

An Interesting Discovery

When I was first working outside on Friday, I spied something with interest. If I hadn’t been looking up though, I’d have never noticed.

See this? Looks like a column and a storm drain. Well, it is. It’s one of the two columns that hold up the carport, the column that’s closest to the back of the house.

But look closer.


See! I told you there was something more there. It's right along the top of the drain. Do you see it yet?

Apparently, it’s a robin’s nest! I wasn’t sure what kind of bird was responsible for it because I never saw a bird near it the whole time I was outside on Friday.


But yesterday, I saw a robin flitting busily between this nest and the neighbor’s tree that is just beyond our property line. (You can see it in the first photo.

I’m not sure if there are eggs in it yet or not. It’s too high up to see. If I got a ladder tall enough to actually peer inside, I might scare the mother off and I don’t want to do that. Seems that there are going to be babies in the neighborhood though as my next door neighbors have a nest with THREE eggs in their pine tree. Mr. G showed it to me yesterday.

I’m always amazed by the care and precision that go into these nests. The birds use absolutely anything they can find to build these creations. In fact, while I was leaving Home Depot last night, a little sparrow flew right down in front of the car. I instantly braked, and as she flew away, I saw she was carrying several inches of green twine. I think we know what she was doing.

I Fought the Lawn

There’s a T-shirt that says, “I fought the lawn … and the lawn won.”

Not today it didn’t!

That’s thanks to one of my neighbors. Before I got outside, Mrs. C. came over and said, “I see you’ve got clippings bagged up. We’re going to the dump soon, so if you want we can just throw these in the truck so you don’t have to take them in the car.” I could have kissed her. But that would have been weird, so I didn’t.

Then, Mr.C. backed up his truck and we dumped the bags inside on top of his grass. He asked if I wanted to use some of his trash cans to collect the clippings from the back yard (which I hadn’t yet cut). He said he’d come back later and pick them up before he went to pick up his son-in-law’s clippings. (I could have kissed him, too, and while it wouldn’t exactly have been weird, it might have been ugly with his wife standing there.) Then, they even went to the neighbor lady’s across the way, took her recyclable clipping bags and a whole bunch of brush and threw those in, too. Talk about being neighborly!

The back yard, except for one section, was actually easier than the front to cut. And, using those trash cans made a HUGE difference. I’m guessing that between not having to fight with trash bags AND not having to make two trips to the dump, they shaved at least 90 minutes off the job! God bless them.

Then I hooked up our hose. I had to uncover the faucet and go downstairs and turn on the water to it. Then I unrolled the hose and put the sprayer on. I concluded that this sad ass excuse of a hose needs to be replaced. But, it worked well enough to spray off the A/C unit (it had a bunch of feathers and gunk and little furry tree pieces stuck to it) and clean down the mower. That’s all that mattered for now.

I was going to try and set up the saw and start cutting boards for the shed, but the mother decided that she felt OK enough to eat some Chinese. (Twist my arm.) so I came in and got a shower instead. It’s wonderful to feel like a person again because man, it’s been hot today!

I just made the first Hardware Heaven trip of my vacation (I needed trim for the shed) and then picked up food. All in all, it’s been a productive 24 hours. I would like to have gotten all the boards cut so that tomorrow I just need to put them up, but you have to ease into these kinds of activities, right? (Well, that’s what I’m planning to do at least.) After months of only occasionally hefting household stuff, trash or laundry, today was quite a work-out.

Right now, there’s an order of beef and broccoli with my name on it out there and I’m going to go claim it!

A Tale of Two Yards

You can’t tell it now, but the front yard was a horribly overgrown mess this time yesterday. (In fact, I think that might even be understating it.)

I made a few stops on the way home, went to the doctor with the mother (more on this later), and was still outside to the yard by 2:45. THREE mowings, four bags of clippings, and four hours later …

Oh, and it DID reach 90 (and felt every degree of it). Thankfully, the A/C is on and the house is SO comfortable. It really was the first thing I did when I got home yesterday!

You can’t really appreciate the yard unless you know how bad it looked to start with. (And I wasn’t smart enough to snap a before picture.) Ours was the only house in about a three-block radius that wasn’t neatly mowed. Since we get a lot of foot traffic, people were actually gawking and pointing, too. Embarrassing. Well, I guess they’re taking note of the difference today.

But, of course, there’s still the back yard. And Oh. My. God. I so do not want to deal with it. Here’s why. These pictures don't really do justice to just how overgrown it is. It's insane. But, it's my destiny, for today at least.

Assuming I survive that, I may start cutting boards for the shed. It should be a fun day ...