Sue's World

Any Excuse To Visit

Joan and I were emailing earlier this year about her new kitchen tile.  One big change usually spawns more and soon the email conversation was on paint.  I half-jokingly offered to come help paint and soon a trip was planned.

I love that in a span of 2 short hours I'm transported into a different world and am face-to-face with my best friend.  I cannot help but comment (sorry, Joan) that we had a bit of trouble getting out of the airport.  In her rush not to be late to meet me, let's just say that someone sort of forgot where they parked.  It was pretty darned funny.

We didn't head home right away.  We headed to the Botanical Gardens in Denver.  It was a warm, beautiful day and it was a fabulous place.  I only took 2 pictures because I knew that if I took photos of everything I liked my memory card would have filled up. 

There were lots of different types of gardens but I loved this sort of wild garden with the concrete columns.  The whole place was inspirational and I would love to go back again.

Soon we were on our way home and making plans.  We stopped at a local microbrewery for a beer and something to munch on and finally got back to her home.  Happy-pup Harley was soon greeting us and the kitties were nosing around. 

In thinking back, we did a lot of stuff in a short amount of time.  We got paint samples and quickly narrowed the choices down.  We visited the local flea markets and so much more.  Seriously...a whole lot more! 

Let's just say that after nearly five days together we'd rearranged stuff in the kitchen, painted it, shopped til we dropped, saw the sights, visited a brewery festival and I must have thrown the frisbee to Harley about 500 times.  As always, the trip comes to an abrupt end at the airport with a hug and a few tears and a promise to see each other again soon.

I'm putting together a little photo album of some highlights.  Thanks, my friend, for another awesome visit.  I love you!

Enjoying the Sunshine

Hubby and I went to church last night so today was a complete day of leisure.  We started watching Lord of the Rings:  Return of the King at 8am!  Well, the 2nd half at least.  We watched it in two installments.  I got to enjoy a couple of hours in the garden after that.  I pulled weeds and tidied up the front yard, refilled all of the bird feeders and did a bit of watering.  The freesias have started bursting in bloom and we still have a good number of daffodils in their prime.  I'm getting excited for planting season! 

It took great effort but I did not do any work today.  No looking at work emails or doing a few more things on a project I'm in the middle of.  It was a true day of rest; wow!

Oven Repair Success!

A few days before Christmas I preheated the oven to cook a pork loin.  Ten minutes later I was unhappy to find a stone-cold oven.  It had rained the previous several days but at least we had a full tank of propane on the BBQ and I cooked on the grill.

I started researching what might be wrong.  Through a trail of posts on various sites, I was confident we had a faulty oven igniter but I wasn't completely sure.  I figured that if I could light the oven burner with a match I at least knew gas was coming in.  That didn't work.  Christmas came and went and finally I made an appointment to have it repaired but the appointment was for January 5th.  I mentioned it on Facebook and a former co-worker noted that lighting the burner on its own would not work; it was a safety feature.  I took the oven apart a few times (it's amazing how simple it is to do!) and was confident that if I could get the part I could do this on my own.  Today was the day to run to the parts store.  I wisely unplugged the range and within 10 minutes had it back together and plugged it in.  I turned the oven knob to 200 degrees and waited.  I watched the igniter heat up and glow red and that's when it ignited the gas.  Woo-hoo!

I then had the pleasure of canceling the $129 repair appointment (labor only).  Admittedly I would have chickened out had it not been for the guy's advice and encouragement and I sent him an email "thank you" for it.  It feels pretty darned good!

I Am Beat

Man, these past few days have been a whirlwind.  Dad had surgery on Friday.  I decided not to post anything aobut it until later.  I already noted I borrowed his van Friday.  Saturday morning I got the lawnmower into the van and dropped it off at the repair shop.  Then I went back home and loaded a bunch of stuff for Goodwill and dropped it off.  That was followed by a trip to OSH to buy a couple of large storage cabinets for the garage.  Each box weighed 230 pounds but luckily guys loaded the van and then I just opened the boxes at home and took out parts, one by one.  I assembled the first cabinet except for the dang doors.  Getting hinges to match up when you are holding the door with one hand so you can use the screwdriver with the other didn't work out so well so I gave up.  I then drove to the valley with mom and dad's folding chairs and got my own car.

Hubby was a trooper and we had a mellow night in.  Well, it started off being mellow.  We decided to watch the UFC fight card.  We ordered pizza and soon settled in.  One fight was a blood bath.  A guy's eyelid was gashed and it really looked like he had a third eye.  And yes, we were eating pizza then.  In fairness, I watched that part of the evening with my hands over my eyes, looking through a tiny hole between two fingers.  Ugggh!

This morning I realized I had to do some magic in the garage so hubby could park in it again.  It's going to be quite a process to get that garage in the shape we want it.  It means throwing stuff out and donating other stuff.  The trash cans are already full so I will have to wait until trash day before I can make more progress.

I am so stiff and sore that I can barely move right now....  We did take a mid-day break and took a trip into the Valley.  More on that in a minute.  It feels good to really tackle the garage and not just move stuff around.  It's time to do some serious editing and make sure we don't welcome rats in again during the rainy season.  Yuck!

 

 

A Little Something Light For The Day

I don't feel like getting heavy about today, so I'll make it light.  Today I borrowed my dad's van.  I've been stacking up projects that require a van or a truck.  I was about to go rent a Uhaul for a day but knowing my dad would not be needing his car for a bit led me to ask to borrow it.

On the way home, I already stopped at Lowe's and bought 2-60 pound bags of cement, a 4x6' piece of hardiebacker, and some sprinkler heads.  I really only needed the van for the hardiebacker, but....

So what do I need that for?  The backer board is for a mosaic tile project I've been wanting to start.  I want to make a little side table for the backyard but wanted it to be impervious to the elements.  Since hardiebacker is a cement board that's what I needed.  Now that I have it here, it means figuring out the dimensions and then getting started.

The bags of cement are for stepping stones.  I got a little dirty putting the backer board into my "cart" so I figured I might as well get dirtier by hauling bags of cement.  I also gave myself a nice back adjustment so for the cost of the cement I am avoiding a trip to the chiropractor...I hope.

We have some sprinklers that aren't quite reaching to the edge of our property so I got wise and bought heads that reach 18' and that are adjustable so I can go from 1 degree to 360 degrees.  That means I don't have to maintain a supply of 90 degree heads or 180, etc..  Duh - why didn't I think of that before?

On the agenda for tomorrow is taking the lawnmower to the repair shop.  It's been out of commission for 2 years.  Today I mailed a "termination of service" letter to our mower guy for mid-September which means our mower needs to be in good shape by then.

There's A Lot Of Dad In Me

My dad has always been the fixer of everything.  He just somehow knows how to do every handy thing.  I think it was last year when he and I redid the upstairs bathroom and painted upstairs at the cabin that my mom remarked she was glad I'd inherited the handy gene.  I'm sure I'll never be as handy as he is or my brothers are, but I'm definitely more handy than most people I know.

As I do various little things, I think of having watched my dad work and how I do some of the same things.  Today when I was putting up garage door insulation, I had to mark 2 spots per panel (there are 16 panels).  I made a template just like he would. 

When I cut tree limbs, I thought about it and anticipated how things would fall and how I should position the ladder just like he would.  And yea, once in a while I take a few little short cuts, just like he would.

And yes, sometimes there is a lot of trial and error but it's really amazing how relatively simple a lot of handy jobs really are once you think about it.  Time-consuming, maybe, but relatively simple.  The one area I would love to learn more about is electrical work.  Aside from installing a dimmer switch, I haven't done any electrical work.  Sure you can fall off a ladder, but the risk of electrocution isn't all that appealing to me.

I feel confident enough about my abilities to know when a job is too big.  And I know there's the potential for disaster even in the things that seem harmless.  Like the time years ago I was in the back of the yard wrangling rabbit fence and nearly cut a finger off because it was filled with tension and squeezed my finger and the tension increased as I tried to extricate my hand.  That taught me to carry my cell phone when I'm out working alone.  And I don't go to the top step of the ladder or get on the ladder beyond the first two steps if it's not level and secure. 

It's good to be a handy gal.  And to have happy memories of years of watching my dad do handy things and be his little helper.  Maybe when the weather cools down he and I will go to the cabin and do more handy things together.  I'd like that.

Can't Seem To Stay Out Of The Heat

By some crazy choice, I have been outdoors for a long time today.  It started with wanting to test out the pole pruner I brought home yesterday.  Yes, for a mere $32 we can (probably) avoid hiring a tree trimmer.  I made a big dent in clearing out low hanging sycamore branches.  I spent time prepping, calculating where to make cuts and which direction the branches would fall.  Filled the green bin and stopped for the day.  I cut the pieces up as small as possible to fit the most in.

Then I moved into the garage.  I recently saw something somewhere about insulating your garage door.  I ordered 2 "kits" from Lowes and had it delivered for free.  It took me less than 1 1/2 hours to get it up and it's quite amazing how much cooler the garage is this afternoon.  I finished just before noon so it was already warm, but even then it's doing its job.

Then I put up a 4' shop light.  For 10 years we've had a single bare bulb fixture in the garage and for a mere $15 (including 2 fluorescent tubes) we now have ample light.  Why didn't I do that before? 

Then I came inside to eat lunch and watch a bit of tv and then the outside called again.  I spent time weeding and watering the side yard where it was already shady.  Hot, yes, but shady.  Now it's time to come in for good.  A cool shower will feel nice and it will be divine to be clean. 

Here's the Scoop

A very quick post....orange cat is outside meowing.  He/she should be; it must smell different out there.  For the first time this year we let our kitties outside.  They were out nearly 2 hours and had a ball.  The catnip is decimated and the surrounding plants didn't fare so well. 

I did a bunch of garden cleanup after having furiously planted the weekend before.  Finally planted some seeds last week: sunflowers (dwarf, autumn mix, lemon) and other stuff.  Also planted a 24 pony packs' worth of flowers and 10 1-gallon shrubs.  So much to do this time of year!

Watched myself on Private Chefs of Beverly Hills Friday night.  A friend who didn't know I was going to be on watched it and recognized me and called to ask if it was me.  :)

Have to report for Jury Duty tomorrow, only the 2nd time in my life (and the last one was in the mid-80's).  I admit I'm kind of excited!  I am bringing some work stuff with me on my little laptop in case there's lots of waiting around.  It's amazing how the uncertainty of next week's schedule puts me into major contingency planning mode. 

Dishwasher is only being used as a drying rack.  There's a horrible noise and it hasn't been washing properly.  Note to self:  get on with it and call for appliance repair.

I think the cats got a rat in the garage last week.  The victim is certain; just don't know the details of its demise....

There; that's the update.  More at some point... I know, I still have pictures to post from a month ago!

Playing With Cement

Today was the day.  There were forecasts of rain but I bought cement, sand, and a tubular concrete form yesterday anyway.  And today when I woke up and saw the sun, I decided it was time to build the sand-cast birdbath.

When I opened the bag of cement mix, I was disappointed; it had gravel in it even though the guy at Home Depot assured me it didn't.  I told him what I was making and that was looking for a very smooth product.  Rats!

I went ahead and used it anyway.  I found a giant split-leaf philodendron leaf in the front yard.  I sculpted a mound of sand and placed my leaf on it.  And then I "dug" a little outline trench in the sand around it figuring that will create a sort of lip.  I covered the sand with plastic and put my leaf face-down on top of it.  Then I make exaggerated indentations where the holes were in the leaf. 

Next came mixing cement.  Seriously, it's like mixing cake batter.  No big deal.  I had some buff-colored cement coloring and make a lovely brown cement.  I donned disposable gloves and covered the leaf.  I used a 2" piece of the tube form and mounded cement around it.  Then mixed up more cement to make a pedestal.  I cut the form 18" but I think when I put in the cement it's more like 14"; no big deal.  I cleaned up and now I have to wait 48 hours before I can safely turn it over and see how it looks.  I fear there will be "holes" because of the darned rocks in the mix, but it was still worth going ahead with.

It's still early in the day.  Do I do more gardening (even though the bin is overflowing) or do I make something with the clay I brought home this week?  I suppose I could also do some needed-housework.   Hmmmm....

The Cabin - After

Oooh...almost forgot.  I snapped a couple of pictures of the finished upstairs at the cabin, at least our room and the dorm.  In our room, the only change is new carpet.  In the dorm, there's the new paint, new bedding, and new carpet. 

In the dorm we still need to finalize the accessories (I proposed vast editing of we previously had, especially in the stuffed animal department) and put the pictures, etc. back up on the wall. 

Looking forward to enjoying the cabin this Fall and Winter when it's nice and cool and cozy.  I still have to paint the 3 doors upstairs but there wasn't enough time AND it was too hot to paint.