Winter is Coming

So, I went out to put down the Heat Trac mats, in preparation for the winter and found that my extension cord had ruined the outlet! Yikes!

 Ben, the wonder son, stopped over and relaced it in no time at all. I purchased a new extension cord with heavier wire (10) off of Amazon and we're good to go again. 

There! All plugged in and good to go!

Ringo thinks it looks pretty good. I had stored the mats rolled up in the boxes they came in, but they seem to be laying pretty flat now that they are warmed up. I guess I better go blow some leaves away pretty soon, it never ends, does it!

Week One-Retirement Part One

 So, I don't have a retirement plan at this time. But I do know that home repair continues...it never ends.

In this picture, you can see, I replaced the top drawer rail bracket in the kitchen, it was broken, just like the one below it....I ordered a replacement plastic rail holder part from Amazon, and it worked great!

SO, now that I know the part fits and works great, I ordered more. In the meantime, I pulled out the broken part and just screwed the broken one back in place, it'll hold until the new parts get here. 

On day two, I went shopping with my DD. I told Hubs, a couple of years ago, that when I retire I want to get a big ol diamond ring. He said, you better go look and find something you like! So off DD and I went. 

That one on the far right, with the two big honking European cut diamonds, is a vintage ring-waaaay out of my budget, but I sure do like the setting. 

We went to, I think, 6 jewelry stores. I figured out what I don't like and what I do like and there is just so much to consider!

I didn't buy a ring yet, but it was so great to spend some time with Darling Daughter, and to narrow down the field. And I did buy this.....

It's a 2.36 carat Emerald cut diamond.

I can't get a good photo of it, but boy oh boy does it sparkle. I can see why there are diamond heists in the movies. It's just a really beautiful stone and I got a really good deal on it too! There's an "event" at the jewelry store in May and I'll look for a custom setting then. 

There's more to come. Wait till I show you what's next!

It's a deck!

 So a few weeks ago, we had the cement pad poured for our deck improvement project.

Remember back in 2020, August 10, 2020 actually,  we had the derecho and that caused a big branch from our front yard tree to fall on our current deck. 

Anyways, at long last we have a contractor to do the work and look! We have materials!!!The lumber and decking was delivered on June 3. 

And then this got started......

Our contractor is also an old school chum of DD's. Missy and her Hubs have been operating AA Reynolds construction for quite a few years. 

SO DD took the opportunity to use power tools. 

Who doesn't love some power tools? I know I do.

Look at the pretty railing that's going in. And we're using Trex brand decking. It's a composite material so it's supposed to be no maintenance. 

A lot of work got done on the 1st day of work. Unfortunately, decks are the contractor's side line, during the week they work on houses. SO they will be back next Saturday.

And here's how we finished up last Saturday. 

I love it! That new aluminum railing is so good looking!

And we got the pergola! 

THe only thing left is the trim around the outside edges. That is on backorder. BOO! And they are going to add trim around the bottoms of the cedar pergola posts.

Bob seems to be OK with the Trex decking.

It looks so good. 

I like it all a lot. 

We had 6 2X8 boards left, the lumber company is supposed to come pick them up. SOme folks say the price of lumber would make this little pile like gold, but I don't think the prices are too bad here. I took my folding chair out and sat on the new deck and it was so nice! Hmmmmm, maybe I need a couple of deck chairs?! 

Finished Projects

Well since I stayed with my Brother in in last hours, I've been exposed to Covid. So I am on self quarantine from my work. Since the start of the pandemic, my work has had rules in place to prevent spread. One of those rules is that you need to answer the questions to be admitted to work. One of the questions is, Have you had close contact with any people who have covid? Anyways, 10 days of self quarantine.  I've been trying to get motivated to finish a few projects around the house.

I finally got going on a project I've been thinking about-and procrastinating about-for quite a long time. We have two window wells out front in the driveway. They tend to collect leaves and debris and look terrible! I pushed some wire in them to try to keep junk out of there, but it's not working too well.

So I used some treated lumber to build a frame-I used the Kreg jig to put it together.

I made one and then just repeated the steps to make the 2nd one. Then I used a fine wire mesh to cover it.

Nott too bad. 

I think they look pretty good! And they look like they'll do the job well.

See those old leaves, they gather in the space around the window wells. 

I sweep them away and in a day or two, they're back.

I also went and did a little work to straighten up the flag pole. It was leaning a little bit as a result of last years derecho. I'll wait until the tulips are done and see if it needs a little more of a boost.

I used the shovel to dig out the cement around the flag pole, and then shoved some rocks under there to level it out again, Look at all the pretty violets out in the yard!

I just love these violets! 

 

Repairs Continue

 I was heading out of town to go to work the other night and there was a big grass fire South West of town.

It looked like it was across the road, so I turned around and went to work the other way. 

I guess the farmer had it under control, the next day it didn't look like there was any abnormal damage. 

Anyways, I was going to talk about our new downspouts and gutter covers. 

Mr. Gutter-that's the company's name-came out last Saturday and got the downspouts replaced and installed wire covers on top of the gutters.

They installed a larger size and I think that will be a good thing. We often had our gutters running over in heavy rains, so maybe it will help drain it faster.

And I hope the metal stuff keeps the leaves out!

The To Do List--Easter edition

So, DD is moving, and there is a couch and loveseat left in her condo that is just awful! I put getting rid of that mess at the top of my to do list. I warmed up my muscles and loaded them up in the pick up-reclining couches are NOT light- and made a trip to the local dump. Yes I hate to add to the landfill, but honestly, these pieces were just too awful to pass on to anyone! Buh bye awfulness!!

Then my next item was to get the riding lawn mower ready to go-the grass is growing like crazy! I knew I had a slow leak in the front tire last summer, I aired it up every weekend for my gardener. SO I got the wheel off and took it in to get it fixed. Unfortunately the leak was in the sidewall and couldn't be fixed so I had to get a new tire.

SO I got the tire back on and checked my fluids and thought I'd be ready to go....well darn it it won't start. I really should take better care of the battery, it was pretty corroded, so I got the baking soda after it and, I put the charger on it and hoped for the best!

 

Well the charger says it's good to go, but still no starting for the mower, so I went to town AGAIN! and bought a new battery.

Now only one more thing, get the old battery out and put in the new one. Wouldn't you know it the cable on the positive side wouldn't un-bolt for anything! I WD-40'd it and tried every tool I have to get it loose and ended up breaking the cable...now I wonder if my cable was bad to begin with, Oh well, I've got the battery so now I need to replace or repair the cable. Off on ANOTHER trip to town.

The cable has a little fuse wire on it and I couldn't locate a cable like that anywhere! So I just got a new end loopy thing and put that on and I got some new bolts too. Those things are a pain! You'd think there'd be a better way to connect a battery. I don't have a crimping tool, and it was HARD to get it on there but I got it!!!

Looks good-fingers crossed.....And Hallelujah! It started right up!! Too bad it's raining now! Mowing will have to wait until Sunday when I'm expecting about 14 people and 6 dogs to come for dinner. So the next to do list item is to get a table in from the garage.

This antique table belonged to my old friend who now is in assisted living. When she moved I helped her sell and move and donate almost her whole house. Nobody seemed to want this table, but I really thought it pretty cool. SO I just stashed it in my garage all this time. Don't judge...and no hoarder references please! It has two leaves and the ends drop down so it doesn't take up much space.

 

I think it was happy to have people sitting at it after all these years! It worked out perfectly!

I also needed some springy/Eastery table decor, so I whipped up a couple of the 15 minute table runners out of some fabric I had on hand. I mean, my to do list was almost done so why not stop and sew a little, right?! I love this ice cream print and paired it with the Iowa shop hop fabric from a few years ago that I had been holding on to for no good reason. Pretty! That pretty much covers the to do list for last weekend!

Other than the non blog worthy-ness of things like vacuuming, and cleaning the bathrooms. And I was totally negligent and didn't take food pictures! Hubs made one of the best hams I've ever eaten and a wonderful macaroni and cheese and cole slaw! Julie brought a delicious pasta dish, Bean brought ice cream and strawberry shortcakes for dessert and we all had a great meal. Mom brought her deviled eggs-an Easter favorite! Amen!