26 Jun – Well let’s see – it has been a busy week around here – nothing big. Working in the yard – trying to figure out landscaping and how to keep those rocks in the yard and not on the sidewalk and being a safety hazard.
Can anyone please tell me how weeds can grow through three inches of rock – when the last rain we got was in March? And why do desert plants all have thorns that are longer than my gloves? I cleaned up all the weeds in the front this week – if I am out there by 6:30 in the morning I can work a couple of hours before it gets to be so hot – then crawl into the shower. That massaging shower head feels good on aching muscles. Got both sides of the front done and I think I have ideas of what I am going to do to make it look like something more than a rock pile. For one thing I have to rake the rocks up and put down a barrier! And I am planning a flower planter/seat wall along one side of the yard – and will do something along the front with bricks or blocks or something to keep the rocks in. I cannot wall it in too much or when we have our few rains (read “deluge”) a year – my yard will be a swimming pool – and everything will wash out. We do not get lots of rain – but when we get it – it comes down in buckets for a little while.
Not sure what I will do along the driveway. And the backyard – well among other things I still have weeks to pull there. And did I mention the terracing that would keep the dogs out of my plantings? Hmmm – well guess WHO can get up there – I watched her today and it looks like she just climbs up the wall – straight up! My little angel – ha!
Ordered my security/screen doors this week and they will be installed Monday. It is more for the screen door part that I want them – I love being able to open front and back door in the early mornings and air out the house before the heat bludgeons us to death. We are in the triple digits now – that will run through August and maybe even September, but the evenings are relatively comfortable and the mornings so far have been in the high 70’s and that is still comfortable yard working weather. The way my house sits – my patio is not in the hot, hot late afternoon sun – so it is pleasant out there as the sun goes down and the breeze – ok WIND – comes up. It is pretty windy here – but when it is sort of gentle it is not too bad and I like it.
I think I should just have Lowes drive their delivery trucks by my house and dump stuff off – it might be easier. I have to run by there tomorrow after church and get the locks for the security doors keyed alike – I hate carrying a ton of keys.
Speaking of keys – today was one of the more interesting days I have had lately! I got up a little later than usual – about 6:30 instead of my normal time – made breakfast and ate out on the patio while trying to keep the dogs from stealing my oatmeal and coffee. Then I came in and was puttering around the house doing a few little chores; folding the towels from the dryer and putting them away; dusting; going to the garage to get paper towels because I was out. Ok – this is the interesting part. You will notice, I have not mentioned showering and dressing for the day – but going to a closed garage is ok in pajamas! BUT! Yes, there has to be a but in there. I forgot to unlock on the door handle – and the door closes all by itself every time I go into the garage – SO I was locked out. No key in the garage! No cell phone to call my son or his girl friend! My boarder was not home! I was in pajamas – bed hair smoothed a little, but not looking good here. Thought maybe I had unlocked the front door – nope.
Luckily my neighbor was out waxing his car and came to the rescue. First he tried getting into a couple of windows. The good news is that I have REALLY GOOD locks on my windows. The bad news is that we could not get them open. The window on my back door has been loose and in fact I have been planning to fix it – it is on the list, but not near the top of the list. Now it is the top. Ali was able to take the frame off and get the window out and get the door unlocked. At the moment the window is held back together with 100 mile an hour tape. (If you do not know what that is – ask a veteran!) I ran to Lowes and got liquid nail – oh the reason the window was on the list and not already fixed is that it is a plastic window frame on a metal door – which was taking a little thinking – ergo liquid nails at Lowes today.
Before it could be put back together, I had to clean it all up – which meant scraping off the ton of caulk – bathroom caulk – they used to hold it together. Whoever did the repairs in this house previously seems to have felt that bathroom caulk was the one all purpose mender for every job. So far I have found so many strange things held together by caulk – I could not even begin to list them. Holding the window in place with caulk was interesting. I got it all cleaned out – under part of the caulk at the bottom of the window was about an eighth of an inch of dirt. Plain old dirt. Obviously whoever caulked it did not see any reason to clean it first. I scraped and scrubbed and scraped some more but it is clean now.
Well, Ali just left after “nailing” the frame in – we are using 100 mile an hour tape to hold it in until the liquid nails dry – then cleanup – the old razor blade will get used a lot for that – and caulking and my window should be good as new for awhile. Well the door does need painting – inside and out – but that is a fall job. It is just too hot to paint right now – and I do not want my house all shut up with paint fumes.
Let’s see – what other adventures can a old lady get into when buying a house – just little things like putting up paper towel holder in the laundry room, towel racks in the master bathroom, sorting the garage and those things. I did get another shelving unit for the garage and I have to put that together and get it up – it will work great in the space I want it in – and get stuff off the floor. I hate clutter and I do not want my garage cluttered anymore than my house.
Now I will digress for a minute – my son from CA came last weekend and into the early part of this week and we were talking about the drive to and from CA. I drive over to the San Diego area about once a month – or every other month – for a week of “green” and visiting with family. I have two sons and aunt and cousins living in the area. I remembered the last time I drove over and was going through the CA agriculture control point. They are adamant they do not want anything not grown in CA coming into their state. Of course you drive nearly a hundred miles past the NV line before you get there, but no biggie because the inspectors are pretty much not checking. As I drove through the inspector was looking over his shoulder laughing and talking with his buddy in the next booth – I could have been waving orange trees out my car window and he would not have noticed! He would have just waved me on through. It reminded me of that old Johnny Cash song about pig iron.
Will be out of the “moving in” business for the next 2 ½ weeks as I have visitors coming. First my friend from Texas will be here from tomorrow until the first. Then on the afternoon of the first another friend – one who has been a friend for over 20 years – will be arriving from Florida for an eight day visit. I am looking forward to seeing them and having them see my house – as unsettled as it still it. There is much to do, but it is all on the list and eventually it will all get done.
Til later – talk to you in a week or so.
Can anyone please tell me how weeds can grow through three inches of rock – when the last rain we got was in March? And why do desert plants all have thorns that are longer than my gloves? I cleaned up all the weeds in the front this week – if I am out there by 6:30 in the morning I can work a couple of hours before it gets to be so hot – then crawl into the shower. That massaging shower head feels good on aching muscles. Got both sides of the front done and I think I have ideas of what I am going to do to make it look like something more than a rock pile. For one thing I have to rake the rocks up and put down a barrier! And I am planning a flower planter/seat wall along one side of the yard – and will do something along the front with bricks or blocks or something to keep the rocks in. I cannot wall it in too much or when we have our few rains (read “deluge”) a year – my yard will be a swimming pool – and everything will wash out. We do not get lots of rain – but when we get it – it comes down in buckets for a little while.
Not sure what I will do along the driveway. And the backyard – well among other things I still have weeks to pull there. And did I mention the terracing that would keep the dogs out of my plantings? Hmmm – well guess WHO can get up there – I watched her today and it looks like she just climbs up the wall – straight up! My little angel – ha!
Ordered my security/screen doors this week and they will be installed Monday. It is more for the screen door part that I want them – I love being able to open front and back door in the early mornings and air out the house before the heat bludgeons us to death. We are in the triple digits now – that will run through August and maybe even September, but the evenings are relatively comfortable and the mornings so far have been in the high 70’s and that is still comfortable yard working weather. The way my house sits – my patio is not in the hot, hot late afternoon sun – so it is pleasant out there as the sun goes down and the breeze – ok WIND – comes up. It is pretty windy here – but when it is sort of gentle it is not too bad and I like it.
I think I should just have Lowes drive their delivery trucks by my house and dump stuff off – it might be easier. I have to run by there tomorrow after church and get the locks for the security doors keyed alike – I hate carrying a ton of keys.
Speaking of keys – today was one of the more interesting days I have had lately! I got up a little later than usual – about 6:30 instead of my normal time – made breakfast and ate out on the patio while trying to keep the dogs from stealing my oatmeal and coffee. Then I came in and was puttering around the house doing a few little chores; folding the towels from the dryer and putting them away; dusting; going to the garage to get paper towels because I was out. Ok – this is the interesting part. You will notice, I have not mentioned showering and dressing for the day – but going to a closed garage is ok in pajamas! BUT! Yes, there has to be a but in there. I forgot to unlock on the door handle – and the door closes all by itself every time I go into the garage – SO I was locked out. No key in the garage! No cell phone to call my son or his girl friend! My boarder was not home! I was in pajamas – bed hair smoothed a little, but not looking good here. Thought maybe I had unlocked the front door – nope.
Luckily my neighbor was out waxing his car and came to the rescue. First he tried getting into a couple of windows. The good news is that I have REALLY GOOD locks on my windows. The bad news is that we could not get them open. The window on my back door has been loose and in fact I have been planning to fix it – it is on the list, but not near the top of the list. Now it is the top. Ali was able to take the frame off and get the window out and get the door unlocked. At the moment the window is held back together with 100 mile an hour tape. (If you do not know what that is – ask a veteran!) I ran to Lowes and got liquid nail – oh the reason the window was on the list and not already fixed is that it is a plastic window frame on a metal door – which was taking a little thinking – ergo liquid nails at Lowes today.
Before it could be put back together, I had to clean it all up – which meant scraping off the ton of caulk – bathroom caulk – they used to hold it together. Whoever did the repairs in this house previously seems to have felt that bathroom caulk was the one all purpose mender for every job. So far I have found so many strange things held together by caulk – I could not even begin to list them. Holding the window in place with caulk was interesting. I got it all cleaned out – under part of the caulk at the bottom of the window was about an eighth of an inch of dirt. Plain old dirt. Obviously whoever caulked it did not see any reason to clean it first. I scraped and scrubbed and scraped some more but it is clean now.
Well, Ali just left after “nailing” the frame in – we are using 100 mile an hour tape to hold it in until the liquid nails dry – then cleanup – the old razor blade will get used a lot for that – and caulking and my window should be good as new for awhile. Well the door does need painting – inside and out – but that is a fall job. It is just too hot to paint right now – and I do not want my house all shut up with paint fumes.
Let’s see – what other adventures can a old lady get into when buying a house – just little things like putting up paper towel holder in the laundry room, towel racks in the master bathroom, sorting the garage and those things. I did get another shelving unit for the garage and I have to put that together and get it up – it will work great in the space I want it in – and get stuff off the floor. I hate clutter and I do not want my garage cluttered anymore than my house.
Now I will digress for a minute – my son from CA came last weekend and into the early part of this week and we were talking about the drive to and from CA. I drive over to the San Diego area about once a month – or every other month – for a week of “green” and visiting with family. I have two sons and aunt and cousins living in the area. I remembered the last time I drove over and was going through the CA agriculture control point. They are adamant they do not want anything not grown in CA coming into their state. Of course you drive nearly a hundred miles past the NV line before you get there, but no biggie because the inspectors are pretty much not checking. As I drove through the inspector was looking over his shoulder laughing and talking with his buddy in the next booth – I could have been waving orange trees out my car window and he would not have noticed! He would have just waved me on through. It reminded me of that old Johnny Cash song about pig iron.
Will be out of the “moving in” business for the next 2 ½ weeks as I have visitors coming. First my friend from Texas will be here from tomorrow until the first. Then on the afternoon of the first another friend – one who has been a friend for over 20 years – will be arriving from Florida for an eight day visit. I am looking forward to seeing them and having them see my house – as unsettled as it still it. There is much to do, but it is all on the list and eventually it will all get done.
Til later – talk to you in a week or so.
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