To-Do list revisited

Posted on August 24, 2016 by Patti_is_knittinginflashes

As I said in my earlier post, the to-do list changed as the day went on.

Before I starting on the “real” work, I had to make a phone call and take bread dough out of the freezer.

Then I tackled the list.

Flower pots – clean and put away.

Tomato cages and hardware cloth/mesh – gone but not forgotten.

I want to staple/nail the hardware cloth to the lattice around the base of the deck and a few inches underground then paint it black. Small furry creatures like chipmunks and rabbits live under the deck and I want them to move.

Heartless? Maybe. But those little furry things ate through the wiring for our deck lights and repairing that was a bit costly.

And it might keep snakes out of there, too.

After Mr. Aitch weed whacked, I raked up all the debris and clippings.

Waffle mix. Done.

I also moved a planter box that was between our cars in the garage to another place along the side wall.

And picked some grape tomatoes to share with our neighbor, Peggy.

It might be cheating but I add things to my to-do list after I do them just so I can cross them off. It gives me a sense of accomplishment and proof that I did something. Do you do that, too?

Painting the wall above the shower and sewing the box bag didn’t make the cut.

To-do list

Posted on August 22, 2016 by Patti_is_knittinginflashes

Looks doable.

Already adding to it…

As the day wore on, the list changed.

Mr. Aitch and I have waffles every Sunday. I used to buy a mix but now make my own. I just mix up several batches of the dry ingredients and store it in a container with the rest of the recipe taped to the side.

After a shower emergency (more on that another day) last month, I have to repaint the repair.

When we cleaned out the garage earlier this summer these pots “were” scrubbed. They have been sitting here for way too long so they need washed again before going back into the garage.

That big black thing on the left was the collar for the septic tank that was removed in June. It was buried up to the top for easy access clean-out for the septic tank. Now that we don’t need the collar anymore I want to fill it with soil and transplant my mint so it doesn’t take over the yard. It won’t stay there but I’m just not sure where to put it.

Mr. Aitch can’t weed-whack around all that.

Yes. Rain water and grass clippings in that tub. Gross!

Again from the garage cleanup: Hardware cloth/mesh and tomato cages. Two of the three tomato plants don’t need any additional support from the cages and the third one is a monster and too unwieldy to get a cage around it now.

Mr. Aitch said four little words to me and I am on it! Today!!

What did he say?

This will attract snakes. It was the last word that got me. Snakes.

In the 22 years we’ve lived here, I’ve only seen three snakes. That’s pretty good for living in a rural area. God has a purpose for all creatures but I’m not a fan of snakes and I certainly don’t want them close to the house.

These have to go NOW so the grass/weeds can be cut down.

What I really want to do is sew and start making a box bag.

Do you make to-do lists?

Do you follow them?

Did I cross off everything on my to-do list?

Sewage, drainage, and rock walls Part II

Posted on August 12, 2016 by Patti_is_knittinginflashes

Welcome to Part II of the sewage, drainage and rock walls. Click here for Part I.

To get to the front downspout the raised flower bed had to be torn down. Well, at least part of it.

My daughter and I built this rock wall about 22 years ago, It didn’t hold up as well as expected but I learned a lot about building a stacked stone/rock wall in those 22 years. And I got to use that knowledge to tear it all down and rebuild it. During the hottest part of the summer.

As usual I didn’t get a picture of the before but the wall undulated ( fifty-cent word) in and out three times from the steps of the front porch the side of the house. The downspout is behind that bush and the pampas grass.

Daffodils and lilies of the valley were strewn about that section so as I torn out the rocks, I rescued those plants/bulbs to replant later in the fall. I put off that project for a few years but it’s funny how one thing leads to another.

Landscape fabric went between the rock wall and the soil.

There are ~~better~~ other ways to keep the soil from leaking out and stabilize the wall but it’s the way I chose to do it.

The raised bed/rock wall went doesn’t come out as far as the original and does circle around the side of the porch. It kind of eases into the same height as the added soil around the foundation and heat pumps.

All this work happened over the course of about three weeks…mostly because I couldn’t work on the raised bed/stacked rock wall for more than a few hours in the mornings and evenings at a time. We’ve had some heavy rains and our basement is dry.

Grass is growing over the newly seeded areas though we will reseed some of those areas again this fall.

After the tomato plants are finished for the year, I’ll work on the other side.

Whew!

Sewage, drainage, and rock walls Part I

Posted on August 10, 2016 by Patti_is_knittinginflashes

The ups and downs of owning a home…

As part of the new and improved water service, we had to abandon our septic system and hook up to a new sewage line. The new line went through the back of our property which “they” cleared for us. I don’t know how many trees were cut down but new ones were planted during the hottest and driest part of the summer so far.

Abandoning a septic doesn’t mean one just walks away from it. Oh no, it involves having the tank drained (by a professional company that specializes in doing that), then crushed. The now crushed tank, rock fill, pipe connection to the tap, and under fill of said pipe have to be inspected by the water company.

Only then can one abandon the septic system. And all that work gets covered up with dirt, dirt, and more dirt. Or in our case, shale. This was an all day project beginning around 7:00 am.

But wait. There’s more.

Since heavy equipment was already involved, we decided to have some drainage issues resolved. Our basement would flood during heavy rains. Not often but more than once is one time too many. The rain couldn’t get away from the house fast enough so it backed up through the basement floor drains. One thousand square feet of floor space six inches deep of water. 500 cubic feet = 3740.25974026 gallons of water. (I cheated and got that number from here.) That’s a lot of water!

So we had our downspouts diverted from the French drains that are deep down around our foundation away from the house.

One goes out towards the back yard and the other hides behind the lilac bush in the front.

That process also involved increasing the height of the window wells and additional soil around the foundation so the ground sloped away from the house.