Yard Sale Day

I am spending this beautiful Saturday doing one of my least favorite things...running a yard sale. 

Today is the annual Corbin Park Neighborhood wide Yard Sale and we have a few things we decided to part with. The main things I was hoping to dispose of are a roll top desk, a chest of drawers with mirror, night stand and headboard and our old barn style garage doors. On top of that, there is a bunch of crap that we have out as well and I've sold bits and pieces of it. It's going to be going to the Goodwill.

I have managed to sell the roll top desk and the garage doors. I'm very pleased about that. Especially the doors. I thought they would be hard to unload because it would take a very specific person who knew what to do with them.

Fortunately, that person came along.

I'm was planning to sit out here for two more hours and then call it quits at 4PM. But I just sold the roll top desk for $50.00 and the only thing left I care about selling is the Bedroom set. Since I don't think that is going to happen, I have taken some nice pictures and I'll be putting it on Craigs List. Enough of this Yard Sale Bullshit!

9:38PM: We have just returned from a birthday party for Susan's friend, Carine. I think she's 55. She and her husband built a house that is waaaaaaay out there in the sticks. Even though I mostly know how to get there, I could not get there again.

I called the Yard Sale a day at 2PM and packed the remaining stuff into a box that is bound for Goodwill. We made about $90.00 and then spent $85.00 on a flat screen TV and a box of Halloween stuff.

First Sunday in June

It is a gorgeous Sunday afternoon and we are  in "Relax Mode". Trust me, we've earned it.

Yesterday we worked in the yard. Susan got the flower beds in shape and I continued a long over due job I started last week. Namely, cleaning out from under the Arbor Vitae. 

I don't think they are getting enough water because there is so much debris at the trunk of those shrubs. I just don't think the majority of the water is getting past all that crap. So I have been on my hands and knees raking out the crap.

Today we went to ArtFest down in Browne's Addition. We cruised around for about an hour and a half, had a little food and returned home. 

Once here, I cleaned out a mini fridge that Susan nabbed from work and Susan finished up putting some flowers in some flower pots for the front porch.

It is now approaching 4:00 and we are vegging. I'm here typing on the deck and Susan is luging on the couch.

Mark is coming over and Susan reconnected with her old catering work buddy, Pamm. She's coming over as well and we're having beers on the porch.

Tomorrow is Susan's first day at her new job. She doesn't seem too nervous about it but that will probably come tomorrow.

Memorial 2019

It is the weekend of Memorial Day so that means it is raining. 

We are closing in on the one year anniversary for starting to remodel the TV Room. 

After many weeks off, we returned to that project yesterday with some intense mudding. It has become very clear that I am a sloppy mudder. I always say that sloppy mudding is taken care of with sanding. However, sanding is very messy and in danger of causing me major respiratory damage. Plus, it is a pain in the ass.

We tried wet sanding which decreases the dust but my mudding, being sloppy, does not respond well to wet sanding. However, we soldiered on and completed the sanding in about two hours. 

Next, a third round of mudding and finding the spots that need some extra attention. There are many of them.

But, we are still trying to enjoy the three day weekend. For me, it's a four day weekend as I took Friday off. I was all set to head north and go canoeing on Friday, but the rain put the kibosh on that activity.

So I called my friend Robba and took him to lunch for his birthday.

I also took the time to rent one of the thousands of Lime Electric Scooters that are deposited all around town. I rented it for 19 minutes and it cost $6.00. It's a dollar to unlock it and then 25 cents a minutes beyond that.

It was kind of fun but an expensive form of transportation that includes no suspension whatsoever. If I were to try and take one to work, it would cost much more than driving my car, which I estimate costs me about $8.00 a day. Ten if I include insurance. $15.00 if I include maintenance. Okay...maybe I should try the Scooter. No wait! Having suspension is worth the extra cost.

We are now enjoying a little down time before we go to dinner and then a movie. And it looks like more rain is coming.

Cloud Burst

I left work early last night to go and pick up film. The clouds to the west looked dark and ominous. I was really hoping to get the lawn mowed when I got home. It looked like I was going to be close. 

I picked up the film in the Garland District and ran across the street to check on the progress of our mantle clock. He's been having issues with it so it wasn't just me.

When I walked out, it was raining. When I say it was raining, I mean it was RAINING. Monsoon like rain. I got totally drenched getting to the car.

I made another stop at the Pharmacy and the RAIN continued. I was driving home down the Division Street Hill and there was a current running down the hill. When I pulled up to the house, the intersection was flooded.

Water was cascading off the house.

These pictures don't do it justice because the rain was starting to subside by the time I got the camera. 

We get cloud bursts like that occasionally, but this one lasted a lot longer than they normally do.

We had some flooding issues in the basement. Nothing serious but the carpet is damp by the basement door.

We also had some major flooding in the basement at church. I stopped by there this morning and the whole big room smells musty and the floor is damp.

Spring Weekend

We have just experienced a week of fabulous weather. I turned the heat off a week ago and we haven't missed it at all. With the great weather, we had a productive weekend of re-establishing our outdoor relaxation centers.

On Friday, we got the front porch set up and had our first beers of the season there. You can see by the chain on the floor that we still must lock everything up.

On Saturday, we went over to Mom's and I power washed her patio. Then we moved all the furniture out there and got it set up. 

That inspired me enough to come home and power wash the deck.

You can really see the difference from the area I cleaned and the area yet to be cleaned.

I also drained the hot tub...a job that was long overdue. I still have to give it a good scrubbing but that can come later. I'm not sure if I'm going to fill it right away.

Today was Mother's Day so we grabbed my Mother and took her to breakfast. We went to the Monroe Street Grill. Susan and I have been there once since they opened over a year ago and thought it would be a good place to patronize. 

We all enjoyed our meals. I had the Chicken Fried Steak which was excellent. However the biscuit they serve it over was too cakey. I like a biscuity biscuit, ya know!? 

Anyway, it was good and Mom enjoyed getting out. We got her home and by the time we got home, we were ready for a nap. So from 2 to 4, we napped. It was awesome.

With the deck clean, we used the after nap period to get the deck furniture down from the Carriage House.

Now everything is right in the universe. Almost.

It was pretty warm last night and hard to sleep upstairs. If only I had a way to cool the bedroom prior to bedtime.

Oh yeah. I have air conditioners. So I got that installed in the bedroom and all should be well tonight. I have two more to get in place but that can happen later.

So NOW, everything is right in the universe.

Hops Report

The hops grew about five inches but it wasn't impressive enough to capture on film.

Hops

Today's photograph of the day is an annual spring tradition. The measuring of the hops. I placed a strip of masking tape on the deck post and marked it to see how much the hops grows in one day. It is a remarkable number. I think I've measured close to six inches in the past.

We'll find out tomorrow.

Obligationless Saturday

Susan ran five miles this morning in preparation for Bloomsday, which is next Sunday. I did not!

I broke out the leaf blower and cleaned off the deck and the front porch. 

Prior to that I unloaded a bunch of fire wood. A guy at worked asked if I wanted some free fire wood from a crab apple tree his dad cut down.

The result of my affirming response was this pile of wood. I have some splitting to do, which may start today. (It will not be completed today.)

The rest of the day is ours. We can do whatever we want. We haven't had this luxury in quite some time. It seems all our weekend days are packed with other obligations.

We plan to stop by the Hub for the second annual .6 mile fun run, from The Hub Tavern to the Mosey Inn Tavern and back. I did it last year but missed the signing deadline this year.

While messing around in the yard, I noticed something.

This is as good as this strip of grass will look for the rest of the year.

Actually today may be the day where the house looks its best.

Don't look too close.

It's a nice day out but a touch on the windy side. I'm heading out now to kill some dandelions and clean up after a pigeon.

That's the pigeon I had to clean up after. To be fair, I had to clean up the pigeon from something else that went after it. And the amazing thing is that I am part of the story.

I was leaving the house Thursday evening to go to dinner with some friends. As I walked out the back door, this large bird, perhaps with a 15 foot wingspan, flew right past my head and hit the dining room window at the back door.

I whipped around, and there on the window sill sat this stunned pigeon. It had nowhere near a 15 foot wingspan.

It  sat there for quite some time. Then I moved slowly towards it and it took off towards the park.

As I watched fly away, another larger bird (maybe a crow) took off after it. I presume the pigeon was trying to escape the other bird when it flew at my head. 

My scaring it away ultimately led to its demise. 

I have pigeon blood on my hands.

Second Mow

It was a very nice Spring evening and I decided it was time for another fling around the yard with Mr. Mower. It sure looks more hospitable than it did just a month and a half ago.

All went well and I had a hearty harvest. You can see from the picture that I got artsy out there and cut the lawn diagonally. It's a subtle sign of pure class.

I think I am still mowing more dirt than lawn. It makes mowing a dirty job.

Furthermore, it's a dirty job that requires a beer when you're finished.

Paster

I don't have anything worthwhile to post today. I just wanted to continue the theme of PrEster, Easter, and Paster.

Now I've done it and it's really quite hilarious.

Easter

We made it to the kitchen last evening and for two hours we peeled potatoes and cut ham. A small amount of peoples did a large amount of workings.

After church, we returned to the kitchen to get our route. We had se7en deliveries heading up Crestline, north of Francis. The route spread from there.

Some people who make use of Meals on Wheels really know how to smoke.

After the deliveries, we raced home to grab the necessities for Easter dinner at Mom's. Susan did a great job of feeding eight of us. 

And we have ham left over.

PrEaster

We slept in until 6:45. We had to get up early today to help out with Meals on Wheels. We signed up to help out with food prep at 8AM. Except, we were wrong. We actually signed up to help out with food prep at 6PM. We will be delivering meals tomorrow after church. It's our contribution to humanity. No need to thank us, we already know we are awesome.

So we'll attend to M.O.W. later. 

I'm doing some stuff out in the Carriage House and coming to realize that it is time for another gut and organize of that space. Followed by some purging. 

Look at all this crap. 

It occurred to me today, that I have a bit under three years before I retire. I would love to pull the trigger on now but I think it's better to hold out. I am still able to work and I have to qualify for Medicare to help pay for all my drugs. 

So one of the things I want to do, that I can do NOW, is organize the Carriage House and rename it the Art Studio. (Studio for short)

I'm going to plan a day. However, we still have to finish the TV room.

The initial mudding is done. Now we need to do the initial sanding. Followed by more mudding and sanding and touch up mudding and sanding and AHHHHHHHH!

Here is some proof that spring is here. The hoses piled around and the last falls leaf bags are a nice touch too.

Mow Season 2019

I officially opened Mowing Season today and actually got a nice sizable harvest. I checked on line to find out what early spring cut grass is worth on the open market and it appears that it's not worth anything. In fact, I would most likely have to pay to have it removed. 

It's been a long time since last Mowing Season but I remember it as a money making proposition. I guess that is the sitch when I mow someone else's yard.

At least I'm on the board for 2019. I have not kept track of my early mows in past years so I have no idea if this is early, late or about right. 

NCAA Bracket Collapse

It was finally time to shave Oscar. He managed to get through the ordeal with not too much stress and we are going to be hair free for a couple of weeks.

I got out in the yard today and did a little clean up. Nothing major, just arranging some leaf bags, and breaking out the leaf blower.

I also pulled out the drone that Susan gave me for Christmas. I think I'm getting the hang of it but it's hard to tell. It is very sensitive to wind so I have been fighting that. The battery life is only about ten minutes so I have been trying to get the feeling for it in short burst.

I have a long way to go before I'm proficient.

Finally, Gonzaga made it to the Elite Eight and they will be going home as number eight. They lost to Texas Tech. It was a close game the whole way and the Zags had a lot of turnovers that contributed to their demise.

They had a great season but everyone thought this was going to be their year. Not to be. Play sad music as the camera pans away from the scene of the setting sun.

Roto-Rooter Day

I drove in to work early today and the one good thing about it was that I beat the sunrise, at least for the first part of the drive. 

The sun has been in my face for the past couple of weeks as I drive eastward to work. Today, the sun rose over Mica Peak when I hit Spalding Auto wrecking adjacent to the freeway.

That's just small minutia about me and apropos of nothing.

I tried searching through this blog to find out the last time I had a plumber come to the house to Rooter out the main sewer line. I think it has been about three years but was unable to find anything.  I made sure that the title of today's' blog reflected a note about the Plumber coming. 

I'm also going to place a label on the pipe with today's date and the cost...which will be about $300.00.

That, after spending nearly $500 yesterday to have a new alternator installed, plus $100 for a new battery.

Later: The Plumber ended up costing $417.00. I have to do a better job of adding a root killer to the sewer every once in a while. I have it flagged in my calendar now.

No Remodel Sunday

If you look back only a week and a half ago, to my post on March 13th, you'll see a very different scene from the picture I took today.

Since just before the arrival of my pal Vernal, the snow has been rapidly melting. Every day I am surprised to see how much snow disappears.

I would love to go skiing one more time this year but I don't know if I'm going to be able to swing it.

We should have worked on the TV Room today but instead, we went to the Big Horn Sportsman's Show. You know how we love to go out in the wilderness and camp and fish and kill things...well, this show was geared to that.

We didn't buy anything because we can't afford to. We have a house to remodel.

We are almost through the first week of March Madness and my brackets are in tact. Not perfect...but hanging in there. I think Susan is doing better than me. 

Our local favorite, Gonzaga has advanced to the Sweet 16 and will be playing Florida State, who knocked them out last year in the third round. Revenge will be sweet.

The one thing that did get accomplished today was that Susan took down her snow flakes on the french doors. 

It's really official now. Vernal is here!

Dry Wall Reparations

I was determined to finish up my little dry wall faux pas (Pronounced: fox pass) so I could feel guilt free about going to watch the Zags play at 4:00 today.

I wasted a bunch of time going to Home Depot and Lowe's to get some dry wall scraps because I had the right size here. And more than enough to finish the job.

It took me a loooooooooong time because of my inability to measure properly. I had to lay each piece in in 48 inch lengths...because that's what I had. 

But I would measure, cut, try to fit the piece in place, take it outside and shave off a little bit, shave it again after it didn't fit, shave it again after it didn't fit, shave it again...you get the idea.

But I was finally victorious. I got it in. And now, it's off to the game. Go Zags!

Partying with Vernal

We are in the midst of the En See Double Aa's Basketball tournament and a couple days into to the visit from my pal Vernal. Vernal comes for a visit and I want to start doing stuff again.

I started this evening by inaugurating Barbecue season.

It grilled up some asparagus and a nice juicy steak. So we know I got stinky pee in my future.

Susan is working the first game of the Hockey Playoffs so I'm on my own tonight and intent on being productive. 

After such a great meal, I'm ready to take on a project.

This is the project and it is Susan's fault. I can say that because she's working and not here to read it. The other reason I can say it is because IT'S TRUE!

When we were gutting the room and taking down all the lath and plaster, Susan said to leave this baseboard chunk of plaster alone and we'll put baseboard over it. Well, it is not flush with the wall, jutting out past the dry wall by an eighth of an inch. 

So she said it needs to come out. 

To my shame, I knew it should not have been left and my penalty for not making a stand to remove it in the first place is having to fix it.

Fortunately, it came out pretty easily. The hardest part of the project was cleaning up. Next I need to russle up some dry wall.

Back to Remodeling

In honor of St Patrick's Day and the impending arrival of my old pal Vernal, We have returned to work on the TV Room. I'll have to look back but we haven't done any work in there since before Halloween.

Here's what we did.

There is the Northeast corner.

That's the Northwest corner.

If you chose the Southwest corner, you're hittin' on all eight.

And of course, the Southeast corner. 

If you can't tell, we mudded in a corner strip all the way around the ceiling. Next we have to lay in a corner strip...in all the corners!
But that's for another day. 

We are trying to get this done so we could walk over to the Hub and watch the Selection Sunday Extravaganza as we hope Gonzaga will be a Number One Seed in the West.

Number One is Out the Door

It's unbelievable and hard and amazing to say it, but the Zags lost last night. They had a great season and were undefeated in West Coast League games. Last night they played for the WCC Championship and lost to the dreaded St Mary's NancyBoys.

It remains to be seen what happens to their Number One ranking.

This morning I woke up to about 2 inches of snow. I fired up the snow blower at 6AM and gave the neighborhood a blow job. Imagine the horrible taste in my mouth to discover it was totally unnecessary.

This is how it looks out front now.

The street is completely melted like it was before this snowfall. I should have realized that a March snow storm isn't any big deal.

I'm out of peanuts and the squirrels are not happy about it. I have to get over to the peanut store but it's not going to happen tonight.