Easy Install...Yeah, Right!

Being a child of the northern states, I grew up with storm doors and windows.  Everyone had them and it wasn't until I moved South that I realized not everyone knew what these things were.

Fifteen years ago, I remember asking a fellow at Lowes where the storm doors were.  He chuckled and said "Ya'll are from up north aren't ya?" and went on to ask "why" we felt we needed a storm door. 

I personally feel a house is naked without one but went on to explain to the fellow how nice it is to have the front door open and have that "window" to the world.  It's also nice to have the screen in for air circulation.  Some of us actually like fresh air, you know.

We poked around and ended up buying a door that had a roll down half window/screen on the upper half.  Loved it.  One of the best things we ever bought.

The door served us well until early this February when I tried to walk out and discovered the door latch was froze up solid.  SM was gone so I went out another way and reported the malfunction to him later.

He took off the handle, sprayed lubricant, tried everything he could think of.  We even thought we could take the door off but couldn't get to the screws with the door in the closed position.  Finally SM took a hammer and screw driver and just pounded it out.

We then considered replacing just the door latch system for around $50.  The door trim was scratched up but we could spray paint that.  But I'd noticed that the lower panel of the door had been loose for the last few years so I made the command decision to just replace the door entirely.

Most stock doors are white and nothing on our house is white so we special ordered a Larsen door in a "sandstone" color that, in the daylight, is actually a lot more gray than I thought it would be.  SM picked the door up yesterday between rain showers and got home with it about noon.

"Do you wanna go ahead and do it now?"  I asked.  "The box says Easy Install so maybe it won't take too long."

"Sure."  SM was agreeable and it actually turned out to be a good day to do it.  The heavier rain held off and the 60 degree day kept things comfortable.

SM and I work pretty well as a team.  We bicker at first trying to get the other person to understand what the other one wants but then we usually settle down and emerge from these sorts of tasks with our pride intact and minimal blood having been shed.

Things went along pretty well with me reading off the instructions and SM being the muscle.  Then the drill battery crapped out and needed a recharge.  Then we couldn't find the 1/8" drill bit to drill pilot holes.  Then the special gizmo that was supposed to ensure that the interior and exterior latch holes matched didn't work as well as advertised. 

Yep...Pretty typical for us.  We always make it work but it ain't pretty. 

We finally got the door latch installed and started to work on the strike plate.  Then SM gave the door latch a pretty good yank and the freaken thing fell apart.

SM stood there looking at the door latch in his hand and said "Well, I guess I didn't tighten that down good enough."

I looked up at him and said "OK, that's it.  We're done for the day.  Let's finish up tomorrow." 

I was tired and frustrated and found out that it was already 4:30.

Really? 

We'd been working on this thing for over 4 hours?  What happened to "Easy Install"?

We used the deadbolt to hold the door closed for the night.  We'll finish it up today for sure.

But it makes me wonder if it just us? 
Do you all find projects like this take on a life of their own?

It's a Trap!

The rain held off until the afternoon so I am happy to report that the "salad garden" is in. 

I hoed two of the raised beds to fluff up the soil.  One of the beds was infested with the long runners of Bermuda grass (Bastards!!!).  So I spent a fair amount of time dealing with that.  (Geez!  I can't even keep that stuff out of a raised bed!) 

The onion starts look like tiny little solders all in a row.  I planted 4 varieties of leaf lettuce and planted a patch of sugar peas.  I really like to grow carrots as a fall crop since it usually gets so hot here so quick the carrots just aren't as sweet but I went ahead and planted some too on the off chance that the cooler than normal weather sticks around this year. 

(Heck, maybe I should see if I can get my hands on some Brussel sprouts , broccoli and cauliflower.  You never know...@;)

By the time I was finished, I was beat.  I hadn't slept well the night before.  You know, one of those nights where you just never go down deep, not that I ever do THAT anymore anyway.  Plus I'd gotten up at 3am out of frustration with the fact that I couldn't sleep....

Anyhoo...I thought I deserved a nap so after cleaning up, I sacked out in the recliner for an on and off nap fest.  I had the TV on HGTV and finally woke up to someone pointing out that you should check your dryer vent for lint every once in a while since that is the number one cause of house fires.

Now this caught my attention not only because I'd been doing laundry all day but mostly because this was the THIRD time in as many days that I'd heard or read about this. 

Add to the fact that I was in that "tweener" state of dream vs reality. 

I sat there blinking for a few minutes and came to the conclusion that the universe was trying to tell me something. 

I didn't need to get "beaned" upside the head to know that this time I'd better do what I was told.

"Whatcha doing?"  I heard SM call from the other room as he hears me rootiling around in the laundry room, shoving the dryer over so I can squeeze in behind.

I brought SM up to speed with the situation.  "You know that's why I installed that flexible metal tubing.  It's supposed to be better that the other stuff." 

"Yeah well...When was the last time we actually LOOKED?"  I asked. 

(insert crickets chirping)

I am happy to report that there really wasn't any lint in the vent.  Just dust.  There was more dust and lint and spiderwebs around the backside of the dryer space than anything actually in the tube.  So it was a good thing just from the point of view that it needed cleaning back there.

So there you are.
Consider this a hint.
Take a moment and check your dryer vent trap. 

Squeaking One In

Yesterday morning it was 25 degrees as I walked the hood.  My face was stinging by the time I'd completed my 3 mile hike. 

"Goodbye Winter."  I said to SM as I entered the house. 

"Isn't it freezing out?"  SM asked, confused.

"Oh yeah.  Wanna kiss?"  I asked, offering up my red, frozen face.

"I'll pass."  SM said.  "So why Goodbye Winter?"

"Cause this should be the last frozen morning from here on out." I crowed.  "If you can believe the long term weather forecast that is."  I amended.

"Call me a fool, but I believe it."  I continued.  "Lows above freezing from now on.  Heck, our last freeze date is April 15th.  That's only two weeks away!"

I have today off from work. 
My onion starts came in yesterdays mail.
The daylily bulbs are still on the table.
My spring seeds are in their packets.

It's supposed to rain here for the next two days.  But I might be able to squeak one in and get all this stuff planted before it rains this morning. 

Yeah Me!

On Your Mark, Get Set...GO!

As you can see from my lack of posts, there hasn't been much going on around here to tell you about. 

We've all been in a rinse-repeat cycle lately, I think.

I've been watching the forecast lows which seem to be stuck in a 25-35 degree rut.  The highs have been bouncing around sure but it's the lows I'm concerned about when it comes to starting the Spring garden. 

And it appears that this coming week might, just might, be the last of really cold stuff.  Which means that I'll be playing in the dirt next weekend!  Yeah me!

Beside my computer I have a pile of daylily bulbs that need planting out front.  Since we took out the birch tree, I told SM that I think I'd like to do a mass planting of daylilies and other flowering perennials in that spot.  (BTW, the tulips I planted inside failed but the ones outside are starting to come up.)

I started some tomato and pepper seeds last week and the tomatoes popped up yesterday.  SM told me he wanted to try buying tomatoes and peppers from the local nursery.  That's fine.  I'll grow mine and he can plant his store bought ones and we'll see how they compare.

I've got a sticky note beside the computer to order my onion starts (Copra) this week from Dixondale and my sweet potato slips from Sand Hill Preservation.  They'll ship the slips closer to June. 

Try as I might, I haven't been able to start slips here at the house and none of my local nurseries have them and the ones that do sell out so fast that I've been skunked.  So this year I'll be ordering online to guarantee that I'll actually get some plants in my hands and into my garden.

I've got my lettuce, carrots and pea seed packets on the table just waiting to direct sow next weekend.

Yep.  It's almost here.  One month later for the onions than my usual time but only two weeks off for everything else.

Are you starting to gear up too?

Weebels Wobble...

Do you remember Weebels?





"Weebels wobble but they don't fall down?"

For some reason that phrase popped into my head as I stomped around the neighborhood this morning trying to get in my 3 miles before heading into work.

You see, I wobble as I walk. 

I'm not sure when it happened but I can't seem to walk in a straight line anymore. 

Relatively straight?  Yes. 

But if I'm walking with someone else, side by side, I invariably wander into them. 

If I'm on my own, in the office or at home, I run into corners of walls, desks, chairs...

Consequently, I have bruises on both sides of my arms, hips and legs. 

You could say that I'm careless, maybe in too much of a hurry, maybe my depth perception is off. 

I have a different theory.

Over the last few years my center of gravity has shifted. 

Lower.

I used to be "Toothpick Tami".  That's what the kids used to called me when I was a kid. 

Stick straight I was. 

Now I'm shaped like a Weeble. 

No wonder I wobble.

Can falling down be far behind?

Nibbling Away

We've been slowly nibbling away at yard work and garden chores. 

I asked SM to take the hard rake and pull all the dried up weeds and grasses while I went in behind and pulled the more stubborn stuff by hand.

I was pleased to see that the grasses that took over the garden last year were NOT Bermuda.  Although I did pull a fair share of super long Bermuda roots.

SM hit the strawberry beds too.  I need to get in and thin them out soon.

Here's a shot of the monster Holly Trees that we had decapitated a few weeks ago. 

I went and shaped them up a bit.  The yellow "Privet" bushes should fill in the empty spaces later this Summer and give us more privacy than what we have now.

All in all we did a MAJOR trim to the whole back yard.  Nothing was missed.

Even Scooter got his @;)

It Ain't The Taj Mahal

I'm rarely motivated to start projects around the house during the dark days. 

I need light to get me going.  Once the sunshine hits, I'm off and running.  Inside and out.

On the weekends lately, SM and I usually have had HGTV or DIY on as background noise first thing in the morning.  I'm usually doing housework since it's still frosty outside and SM is usually sipping coffee trying to his own engine started. 

It's easy to get distracted by these remodeling shows.  We know it's a "sales job" for this new item or that but it's fun to see what people decide to do with their homes.  Most of the time we're horrified with how much they actually spend. 

Either that or we're just freaken cheap! 

Lately, we've been getting sucked into some of these "Crasher" type shows that they have on.  Yard, bathroom, kitchen...it's a quick "hit and run" type of remodel.  Most of the time it's not a good remodel either but we treat them like they're a sporting event.  SM and I cheer the good decisions and Boo the bad ones.

They had on a kitchen "crash" a few weeks ago.  They ripped out some of the upper cabinets of this gal's kitchen and tiled the wall up to the ceiling with that "mosaic" tile that's so popular now.  Kinda like this stuff...





Then they installed some "open" shelving because "everyone likes the feeling of openness and you can display stuff in your kitchen." 





OK...I mean this looks nice but I can't imagine trying to keep it organized and looking this way. 

My dishes are a wild eclectic assortment of whatever we liked at the time and I've got a mad disarray of food stuffs that I really want to hide behind my cabinet doors.  Don't even get me started on the pile of crap SM has on "his" counter let alone the pile of bills and papers I've got wodged on another.

And of course they tossed in new stainless steel appliances.  Ya gotta have that.  Then everyone stands back and oo's and ah's about it.

The thing is, it's all subjective.  It's really easy to say I want an "open concept" home or "I have to have granite counters."  But until you live in it day after day how do you know that it was a smart decision or that you just ended up following the latest trend?

I can't imagine how tough it would be to sell your home these days without all the latest hot buttons. 

"Hey...there's a reason why my kitchen looks so 80's.  It's because that's when it was built!"  (I guess this is why we won't be moving anytime soon.)

All I could think of when I saw those mosaic tiles going up is that someday soon you are going to hate the look of them and then what?  You're gonna have to rip them all out again.  What a mess!

I suppose that's one reason why I don't have a tile backsplash.  Hey, paint is cheap.  My kitchen used to be green.  Now I'm loving the yellow.  Who knows what might be next?

It's easy to look around and start to dislike something about your home. There's always something that needs improving.  But why be negative?

What do I love about my kitchen? 

I happen to love the color.  The curtains.  The rug.  Even the 1980's oak cabinets.  Somehow, over the years, it all just came together.

I love this sink and faucet.  I love the Hobby Lobby wall décor above it.  I love the Formica countertop that I don't have to worry about when I cut something on it or spill cherry Jello and stain it.

I don't love the stove but it'll do for now.  I do love my All Clad griddle that SM bought me around ten years ago.  That puppy sit there and acts as a shelf for hot pots and pans when I'm finished cooking or baking.  Maybe I'll flip it over and make some quesadilla's later.

I especially love The Nook. 

My plants and books and laptop.  And my view. 

Especially my view. 

Maybe I'll do this kind of post with other parts of my house. 

Goodness knows it ain't the Taj Mahal but there must be a reason why I love it so.

Bounce

We had heavy, heavy (did I say heavy?) rain all day yesterday. 

We got lucky this time.  Just north of us they got an ice storm.  Yick.

Today, we're supposed to have sunshine and 65 degrees.  Can you believe it?

And that forecast is supposed to stick for the next few days.

March is like a bouncing ball here in the South.  We're all over the place.  Yesterday in the 30's, today close to 70.

SM loves to look at the extended forecast and make plans accordingly but I tell him not to look to far down the road.  March weather always zigs and zags.  One day cold and nasty, the next day gorgeous. 

As nice as today is forecast to be, we'll be spending it on indoor pursuits.  We had a flood watch that just expired a few hours ago.  It is SOGGY as a sponge out there. 

Thank goodness for the back deck. 

We might not be able to walk in the yard, but we can at least soak up some sunshine and not get too muddy doing it.



Hopefully.

It's 5:00 Somewhere

I was bushed. 

Filthy and my body aching, I headed into the house swiping off yard debris from my clothes. 

I took a shower thinking to myself how much I miss hot water.  I can't soothe away my aches and pains with heat anymore.

I have hotflashes in the shower now. 
No Kidding. 
So it's tepid water for me. 

Freshly laundered I wander into the kitchen and grab a wine glass.

SM pops pain relievers like candy.  But I'm a pill-a-phobe for the most part.

And a glass (or two) of wine has been my weapon of choice for years now.

I head to the fridge in the garage where we keep our stash and pour me a healthy swig from the box-o-wine perched on it's side, tap hanging over the edge.

Sipping, I walk back into the house and head for my recliner to kick back for a bit and I happen to pass the neon green digital clock on the stove.





I pause, registering this fact. 
Geez...It's earlier than I thought.

I glance at the glass of wine in my hand.

I've never had alcohol this early before. 
Well...except for New Years and that's a holiday.

I consider putting the glass back in the fridge until a more appropriate hour and take a few more steps to do just that.

As the aches and pains of a hard days work register crawling up my legs, I shrug and take another sip.

After all, it is 5 o'clock somewhere.

Missing...In Action

I'm here.

Really, I am.

I just haven't had much time to read your posts let alone consider writing one of my own. 

I haven't been on Facebook in over a week.  (Oh, The Horror) 

Work is busy enough sure.  But what's really kicking me in can is the yard work. 

Yep.

To all my sweet friends who are suffering under piles of snow, I am whining about the sore muscles and stiff back of forcing an underused, sluggish body into the bend, twist, reach, shift, yank of Spring. 

I have been pestering SM all Winter to "Call the Guy" and get our front yard trees taken out.  Last Wednesday morning, I saw the green tips of my Spring flowering bulbs popping up through the mulch and threatened SM.

"Give me the cards."  I stood over SM at his desk with my hand out asking for the business cards SM had collected from tree removal business.  "I'll take care of it myself!" I threatened.

"Go to work.  I'll take care of it."  SM replied, not in anyway intimidated by my attitude.  (He has lived with me for close to thirty years after all.)

And take care of it he did. 

SM tells me that Tree Guy got to our house within 30 minutes and took out the birch, the pear and ground the stumps.  He also decapitated the 3 "tree sized" hollies down to shrub size.  And did it all in 3-4 hours.  SM says he must've hit the dude during a  s l o w  week.

SM is horrified at how wide open the front yard is now.
I'm happy as a clam with having a new blank palate to play with.

But before I can plant new stuff, I gotta haul tree guts out of the yard.  Tree Dude offered to leave all the mulch behind but I wasn't prepared for mountains of mulch (not with a rainy week ahead.) 

So I told SM to have him take it away.  But where each tree stood is a mound of stump grindings that I've been hauling to the backyard garden to toss in the walkways.  There's more of it there than what you might think. 

So that's what's up. 
I'm here.
But not in the cyber world. 

Pictures to come, I'm sure. 
Once I have time to fuss with the freaken camera.

The Best Defense

The news feeds are HOT right now with talk about the California drought situation and how it will impact food prices this year. 

Lynda, over at Cortina Creek Farms (their farm is in California), wrote a post advising "Folks...Ya Need To Plant A Garden". 

It's worth a read to get her up close and personal perspective on how the drought is impacting their farm.  And the business of farming.  Lynda's family can weather this storm.  But some younger farmers won't.

When you're young, anything is possible.  The world is your oyster and you can usually bounce back from hard times. 

As you get older though, you start to think a bit more defensively.   Time is not on your side.  Emergency funds, retirement savings, health insurance...SM and I choose to have these systems in place. 

We're both in decent health (for now). 
We both have an income stream (for now).

But we both recognize that all this can change in a heartbeat.

So we exercise to stay healthy. 
We've invested in a garden to provide us with some home grown fruit and veg.
We're looking at our house and yard and making improvement decisions based on what our world will be like in 10-20 years. 

Taking trees down.  Lower maintenance landscaping.
Replacing the wood deck with Trex or something like it.
Railings for the steps?  Wider steps?
The master shower stall needs replaced.  Should we consider a walk-in shower?

They do say that the best defense is a good offense.

IN a field one summer’s day a Grasshopper was hopping about, chirping and singing to its heart’s content. An Ant passed by, bearing along with great toil an ear of corn he was taking to the nest.	1
“Why not come and chat with me,” said the Grasshopper, “instead of toiling and moiling in that way?”	2
“I am helping to lay up food for the winter,” said the Ant, “and recommend you to do the same.”	3
“Why bother about winter?” said the Grasshopper; “we have got plenty of food at present.” But the Ant went on its way and continued its toil. When the winter came the Grasshopper had no food, and found itself dying of hunger, while it saw the ants distributing every day corn and grain from the stores they had collected in the summer. Then the Grasshopper knew:          “IT IS BEST TO PREPARE FOR THE DAYS OF NECESSITY.”