This is the year...

... for purging. Hopefully.

After the long holiday break... Happy New Year y'all!!... we began with Christmas stuff. We have boxes and boxes and more boxes of Christmas decorations. Indoor, outdoor, all around the door-door decorations!

So, before packing it all away this year, we added more boxes to what we already had!! Not really, but it sure seemed that way. We bought some plastic storage boxes (red ones!) to reorganize and purge things as we went, and in the process managed to dispose of several cardboard boxes and stuff we no longer want or use. For the moment, everything has a place and is in its place on a designated shelf. We'll see how long that lasts!

Next up is the overflow linen closet downstairs. And the bedroom closets. And my dresser drawers. And the books... oh lordy, the books! The seniors home will have plenty of reading material this year!

I think I feel a headache coming on ...

Saturday doings...

We're all ready for the little munchkins to come bumping on the door tomorrow evening. Their numbers have dwindled over the years, but have stayed pretty steady at about 75 or so for the past couple. Hopefully we'll have enough.

This year they'll be getting chocolates and pretzels.

The temps are continuing to fall so before we get hit with our first frost, we got a little fall planting done.

Planted more daffodils to fill in some

sparse spots in the mailbox bed.

We have a split rail fence around our property and have always had a problem with the gates. First, because we have a two-rail fence instead of a three-rail fence, they're hard to find. Seems to me, if you're going to sell all kinds of fencing material, it would make sense to have all kinds of gates to go with said materials, but, hey, whadda I know! The last gates we got we had to order on-line.

Secondly, they wear out/decay faster than the fence posts and rails. I can't remember how many times we've replaced them. So, this time, to preclude all the aggravation we usually go through with the stupid things, Lew decided to make the gates himself.

Now for the pièce de résistance of the day:

This pile of wood...

turned into this beautiful gate!
Isn't it just lovely?

Ahh, the man is so talented!

Tee Hee...

Many years ago, before we had an exterminator keeping the critters at bay, the crickets used to use our garage as their local social club and lounge. Most of the time I avoided being out there except to park my car, unload groceries, or grab a (hopefully empty!) bucket to wash the kitchen floor.

Along with my garage issues, I also had a sassy 12-13 yr old son who liked to tease and make disparaging remarks about my age (and I was still just a young mother!!) So anyway, one night, my resident wiseguy called me out to the garage with a "mom, com'ere, quick!" Now, from experience I had learned that whenever said son said anything to me with a "quick" attached to it, it was more than likely something I didn't want to know about, or see, or for sure, be quick about... especially if it involved going out into the buggy garage. However, on this night, I did mosey on out to see what all the fuss was about. I found him squatting down, peering intently at something on the concrete floor.

"Whatcha got?" sez me.

"Come see," sez he.

So I carefully leaned over his shoulder and saw this very anemic, very whitish-gray cricket thing sitting there.

"Ewww," sez I, quickly moving back, "what is it?"

"Cool, huh?" sez he, "it's a senior citizen!!"

Smart-mouthed kid! ;-D

Ravenous little beasts!

So, today was our annual termite inspection. Fortunately, there's no sign of any activity... for now. Howsomeever, it's probably only a matter of time before they rear their ugly little swarming bodies and decide to invade my kitchen again.

We've had issues a couple of times since the original termite treatment -- when the house was built -- expired. The first time we had to have the drilling around the perimeter of the house treatment, inside and out. About ten years later, we had to have a couple of spot treatments. So now, about ten years after that, it's coming time to do something again and I'll be damned if I'm going to let them drill holes in my brand new (well, almost) family room floor... just not gonna happen!

Soooo, the company wants to sell us a new bait system, which supposedly is very effective and would eliminate the need to drill holes. Of course, the initial cost is up there, and the annual fee is about 4 times what we pay now. Arrrgh! So far, from what I'm reading on-line, I'm not terribly impressed. Looks like we have a lot of research to do before any signing on the dotted line. In the meantime, I'm hoping they'll find somewhere else to dine until I'm ready to serve my fare.

You know, sometimes owning a house is a real pain in the posterior!

Oh joy!

Opting for speedy convenience and an almost immediate return of hot water, Lew decided to pay the extra $$ and the plumber was here at 8 AM, toting a 50-gallon water heater with him! We were lucky he could come out so fast.

Ahhhhh, warm water again.

Aaaack!

Why do these things always happen at the most inopportune times?? Not that there's really an opportune time for the water heater to start leaking all over the basement floor, but c'mon, it's Christmastime, darn it! I got other things to do!

Lew does almost everything else around the house, but he's totally anti-plumbing. Soooo, we've got a call in to the plumber, and since they always overcharge when they supply the fixtures, I guess we'll have to fight the holiday traffic and crowds and go pick out a new one ourselves. Erg! In the meantime, he's draining the tank so we don't end up with a catastrophe on the newly-finished family room floor or carpet (the basement drain is located under the wall that separates the basement from the family room... but that's a story for another time.)

I really can't complain, though. It's only the second water heater in 30-some odd years. The first one lasted 20-some years; this one 12. But still... the timing bites. I don't have time for this stuff!

Family Room photos...

Well, the family room project is finally winding down and I have photos for those of you who have hung in there with me and patiently waited (with bated breath, I'm sure!☺) to see all the changes. You can find them in my Picasa Gallery here:

Family Room photos

Just click on the album titled "Family Room - B&A" and view individually or use the slideshow link - you can pause or adjust the speed to your preference.

Will wonders never cease?

Woo Hoo!! We have a winner! The electrician said he'd be here at 1:30 today and lo and behold, miracle of allllll miracles, he was!! Not only the electrician, but the contractor too! Be still my heart!

So, the family room makeover plans are starting to move along again. Have no idea when actual construction will start but, hey ... a little bit of something's better than a whole lot of nothing at this point.

Now, if we could only get the contractor doing the porch work to show up, I might just be a happy camper!

What is it??...

To quote Captain Steven Hiller (aka Will Smith) in Independence Day while dragging that alien across the desert... "and what the hell is that smell?"

Ugh! I don't know either, I just know it smells like... well, you know... that stuff. Really... roasted.

What, you ask? A brand new quilt/bedspread and shams that were delivered yesterday. All folded nice and pretty and neat in those vinyl zip-up thingies. All folded nice and pretty and smelling really r-o-t-t-e-n. I'm thinking it's the vinyl thingies. I'm really hoping it's the vinyl thingies.

Cuz if it's not and a good washing and day hanging outside in the fresh air doesn't get rid of whatever it is, there's no way on God's little green earth this thing is going on my bed smelling like nasty roasted poop! Gag!

Welcome home...

Oh joy! About 3 weeks ago we sent our well-worn chairs out to be recovered as part of our family room redecoration. They were returned today, and oh yes!! Jeez, do they look good! Almost like new! Well, take a look-see...

They were really in the sorriest shape. Most of the buttons had popped off and the leather (which used to be peach-tone) was so worn it was well beyond the cleaning stage. They're now covered in a gorgeous brown micro-fiber fabric and oh boy, is it soft! We wanted to keep them because (a) they're as comfortable as can be, and (b) trying to replace them with something equally liked has been next-to-impossible.

So, I am pleased. Let's hope The Man is too. If nothing else, he'll be glad to have his comfy chair back to fall asleep in! ;)

Some things never change...

*sigh* Ants. The little beasts are back from their winter hiatus and are proving to be more of a pita than usual. They made their first appearance about a month ago... one here, one there... but that's usually just the beginning signs.

In the past two-three weeks they've shown up on the window sill and along the floor, but worst of all - waltzing nonchalantly as you please across my kitchen counter and table! Oh, no, no, no - that's just not going to happen! We were only seeing them one, two, maybe three at a time, but still... not on my kitchen counters or table!

So, the bug man was here last week for his regularly scheduled visit. He poked and he probed and he crawled around and he found nests outside where they were coming inside. So he sprayed and he dusted and Lew caulked up a couple of spots where there were gaps. Sounds like a good plan of attack, yes? NOT!

They're still showing up daily. I expect what I see dead on the floor. That tells me the stuff is working, However, I don't expect to still see them prancing across the counter or table. Every day. One at a time. How strange is that? What's even stranger is they're not going where the food is! Go figure!

Miserable critters. Why they can't stay outside where they belong is beyond me. I'll give it a few more days, and then I'm calling the bug man back.

Weekend doings...

So Lew is outside mowing the grass - first cut of the season - and it smells soooo good! I'm enjoying it while I can (see today's photo) because the weather is supposed to turn crazy (ha! so what's new this year?) again with more cold and wicked rain blowing in from the midwest later on today and tomorrow.

I'm prepared for a cold weekend though. Got some movies from Blockbuster - The Break-Up, Inside Man, and RV - firewood, soup in the freezer, and ingredients for more fruit dip (flavored cream cheese and marshmallow creme.) Or maybe I'll bake a peach/butter pecan dump cake and really load up on calories!

If I gotta be inside in the middle of April, I'm gonna be comfy cozy... and full!

Dust-ing Bunnies...

In the past year or so, I'm feeling waaay older than my years. This COPD/emphysema I have is taking its toll and normal, everyday household chores are becoming more and more difficult for me to get done.

Lew does a wonderful, non-complaining job of picking up my slack, but it's just not right that the man should work his full-time job every day and then have to do my share of housework too.

Soooo, we finally got us some help. We found a team of cleaning ladies who come highly recommended. Today was their first day and I'm thinking this arrangement is going to work out just fine. The house looks great and I am beyond pleased!

And, they do windows! ;)

Saturday Photo Hunt #10 - Soft

A super-soft, cozy throw isn't terribly unique, and I couldn't get either of my soft kitties to cooperate and lie on it, but here it is - my photo of soft.

~ ~ ~

Grab the Photo Hunt code.
Photo Theme. Join the blogroll. Visit Participants.

No more - I'm done - I want it gone...

I've had, had, had it! Get this piece of crap out of my life!

In the summer of '05 we had a new heating/AC system installed - a heat pump. I am soooooo NOT impressed! While it performs acceptably in terms of heating and cooling, this beast is the noisiest piece of equipment I've ever had the misfortune to have to listen to!! It consists of an inside unit, which is fine and lovely and... quiet; so quiet you hardly know it's on. On the other hand, the outside unit more than makes up for the lack of noise inside. The damn thing sounds like a jet plane revving up for take off and has gotten progressively noisier in the last season, particularly during the winter months.

The final straw came recently when we got a cold snap and temperatures dipped into the teens. The monster kicked on in the middle of the night and woke me up from a perfectly good, sound sleep! So now I've got the distinct pleasure of being served my nightly noises in stereo - my foghorn snorer on one side and this miserable beast through my bedroom window on the other.

Not only is it annoying as hell to me, but I'm sure the neighbors just looooove us as this thing roars throughout the neighborhood! It's embarassing.

At the moment, I'm patiently waiting for the HVAC guy to come and DO something about the situation ... he'd better not tell me "well, that's just the nature of the beast." I swear, I'll smack the snot outta him!