Fence is in, yard is a mess

The fence is installed. Love it! The installation did a number on the yard. Lots of mud and not as much grass left. It doesn't help that we just had serious rain, so the mud doesn't want to go away.

The cats are getting used to being confined, and so far only Elvis has escaped. I don't know how he is doing it, but I hope to find out. He can't climb it, can't jump it, and can't burrow under it. I think he is climbing a tree and launching himself over it. Hopefully I'll see him in action sometime this weekend.

Come spring I'll need to get some grading done where the new well was dug. When it rains I get a lake back there. Big drainage issues. For now I'm just happy the cats are in the yard and not running across the street, playing chicken with people who drive too fast.

I'll try to post pictures soon. I had to get a new digital camera and am still trying to figure it out.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Howdy neighbor! *

* ode to Home Improvement, which this post is about...

Things have picked up since the well went dry in May. The lawn is almost back to normal, although I have several new low spots that I need to fill in. The area is already the natural low spot of the lawn, and with the weight of the rig it just compacted it even more. Since we have had record rainfall in August and September that area is just a mess. It rained a few days ago and it is soggy.

Finally got new gutters, with gutter guards! WOOOO!

Got the shed (which is HUGE) re-shingled. Thank goodness I did because there was a hole in the roof and I didn't know it. I don't go into the shed as all of the tools I use are kept in the garage - and it's icky and dark and spidery and I don't do icky and dark and spidery. All the plywood on the roof had to be replaced.

NEW BAY WINDOW! Finally replaced the old picture and side windows in the living room. It is gorgeous. Makes the living room look so much larger. I wish I had pictures to post but my camera died the day they were coming to install it. I went outside to take a "before" picture but the camera crapped out. I need to get a new one but am not sure what to get.

Signed the contract to get the privacy fence around the entire back yard. Cannot wait! It should be installed within a month. YAY! My cats will be able to stay outside all day and I won't have to worry about their safety. I also ordered a new sliding glass door from Champion Windows that has a pet door IN THE GLASS! And? It qualifies for a $500 energy tax credit. YAY again! Now they will be able to go in and out whenever they want.

Extra bonus! I can plant tulips again because the deer won't be able to get into my yard to eat them. So I'll have daffodils in the front, which the deer won't eat, and tulips in the back. HAPPY HAPPY!

125 heat index

I love summer. LOVE IT! But this heat wave has been brutal. Yesterday the high was 103 degrees with a heat index of 125 degrees. In all my born days I have never felt this kind of heat.

Oppressive, hot, humid, heavy, wet and just darn HOT.

Makes me *almost* wish for February. But not really.

Today is supposed to be another 103 degree day. OY!

July update

The yard is still a mess from the well drilling. It took 2 months to get a quote from a neighbor who owns a landscaping company. Keep in mind he stopped by the house on his own and offered to help. Now that I accepted his quote, I'm waiting on the work to get done. He's giving me a very good deal so I can't really be too demanding. I guess. Not really concerned about getting it done, but I really hate that my neighbor has to look at it every day.

Despite my best efforts I have gotten poison ivy rashes twice already this year. I wear gloves when I garden and it still got on my hands. Currently I have it between my fingers, and there is a spot on my right palm. Sheesh!

Work is okay. A bunch of changes, lots of training, but mostly I'm just tired of it. I need to reset my attitude and concentrate on the fact I have a good job. But I'd really REALLY like to be filthy rich with no need to work.

Bennie the cat had an eye infection that took weeks to clear up. We tired three different eye drops/salves. The last one finally worked. Luckily it didn't spread to his other eye, or the other cats.

Had my HS reunion last weekend. It always makes me kind of melancholy afterwards, remembering the "good ole days" - and were they really that good - and remembering the missed opportunties I had. There have been a few times in my life I wish I taken the other road, but can't go back and change it. I do know that I am where I'm supposed to be. No matter which fork in the road I would have taken in the past I always would have ended up back in Maryland taking care of my parents before they died. And you know? I'm totally cool with that. I am where I'm supposed to be.

And right now I need to be at Wal-Mart buying cat food. *grin*

May - updated with pictures

The rig in place, after the magnolia got a massive trim.

The "stone dust" mess after two days of drilling. This stuff hardens like cement, and I have to get it removed.

The mess the rig made on the lawn after they left. The ruts are pretty deep. This is looking from the back yard towards the street.

May is my favorite month. The weather finally starts to get warm and stay warm. Winter is in the past, and everything is green.

It's a Tuesday and I'm home. Had to take the last two days off because my well ran dry. The well drillers are here, getting ready to drill for water. I am praying they hit the motherlode of water and soon. I'll post pictures once they are done. The lawn is a mess, several trees have gotten radical "haircuts" and once they start to drill it's going to get messier.

Monday morning stuff

1. I think the two best TV themes ever are the ones from Bonanza and Hawaii 5-0. Tv show themes are a lost art these days.

2. What ever happened to the "No Call list"? I get more telemarketer calls than before. Of course I don't answer the phone due to the genius that is Caller ID.

3. I vow that as soon as the weather turns warm for good, I will scrub/clean/spiff up the back deck. It's nasty and dirty all over, and green in the northern facing areas. It will sparkle and shine when I am done with it. At this point I don't have plans to replace it, so I am going to enjoy it and the first step is to clean it good.

4. This weekend I am painting one bedroom. The next weekend I am painting the third bedroom and the hallway. After the paint dries I am getting carpet for both rooms. After my bank account recovers I am looking for a new bedroom furniture to include a new mattress set.

5. My plans in #4 might come to a crashing stop if the federal budget isn't passed and I get furlowed by Congress. Cuz, in case you didn't know I am one of those unnecessary federal workers who deserve to lose their jobs. And if I do, in the words of the House Speaker -- "So be it".

6. Why is it that every time I have the day off, Matt Lauer also takes the day off? I like Willie Geist, but he's no Matt Lauer.

Questions

1. Why do I go grocery shopping when I'm starving?

2. Why do I bother to make a shopping list when I leave it on the kitchen counter 9 times out of 10?

3. Where are my spare pair of glasses?

4. Why do dog owners (not all, but a lot) think it's okay to test squeeze every single dog toy in the store before supposedly buying one -- I almost never stick around long enough to see them place a toy in the cart? And do they really let their dog play with a toy that is louder and more annoying than a jet engine?

5. Speaking of the word "supposedly" (see above), why does it make me crazy when people pronounce it SU-POSE-UB-BLY? Every single episode of Ghost Hunters Steve uses the word supposedly (as in "supposedly there is activity in this part of the room", or "the owner supposedly was touched by an unseen spirit") and he says it wrong every time. Makes me cringe! Why am I a word snob? I'm certainly not perfect and I don't point out to people when they pronounce something wrong, but it makes me cringe.

6. Isn't it good to see I am very comfortable with my sci-fi geekiness that I readily admit to watching Ghost Hunters every week? Um, more than once a week, probably. Actually.

7. Is it spring yet? Anytime soon? Some time this year? Maybe? I'm sick of cold and snow. And why does my nose run every time I am out in the cold? What's up with that? I look like a sick toddler with a constant stream of snot running down my face. And no one wants to see what I look like while shoveling the driveway. Disgusting.

8. Remember the Flip Wilson Show from the 70's? I loved it! "The devil made me do it" "What you see is what you get" That was good fun. Long live Geraldine!

9. Speaking of funny people from the 70's, remember Foster Brooks and his drunk guy act? I watched a You Tube clip of him singing the 12 days of Christmas and I laughed so hard I had to stop the clip a few times to compose myself. By the way, snot ran down my face then too.

10. Why can't I stop a list on an odd number? I didn't have anything else to add after #9 , but just couldn't leave it at an odd number. I think I'm an even number snob. My birth month, birth day and birth year are all even numbers so I think I'm drawn to even numbers. Or maybe I'm weird. Probably so. What do you think? Weird, normal or I probably need to stop asking such dumb questions?