Lazy bones

It's been a long time since I have posted any progress that we have made with the house, long enough to have to put up 10 photos.

Morgan contracted with a lawn care service which has sprayed a herbicide to kill the myriad weeds that have set up shop in our front lawn and a fertilizer for what little grass remains. We need to start overseeding once this cold snap moves through.



The plants that we put in during the fall have come up and we have added scores more in the front flower garden. It's starting to fill in, but we haven't had many days warm enough to get things going.



There are now fish in our fish pond and a very understated waterfall to keep them with enough air. The lily of the valley, Vinca and the ferns that we planted are quite happy. I'm not sure if we want to plant the Hosta and the coral bells here, though, since it gets a bit more sun in the middle of the day than I think they would like.



Morgan is not happy that there are ants on her peonies, and telling her that ants are always on peony buds hasn't helped much.



The pansies from the fall are still hanging around and the tulips didn't amount to much, but the peonies that we planted have come up and are doing well.



The shade garden along the east side of the house is coming along nicely, too. The first Hosta on the left side was tiny before we planted it in the nice soil that we made and now look at it!



Morgan's garden is slow to get going, but it's early yet. She has tomato, bean spinach and a bunch of stuff that we haven't put out yet.


We have been working on making a bed along the east fence in the back yard. I got a bad case of poison ivy after pulling all of the poison ivy out of the bed, but it's coming along. We're not sure what to plant in here once we get it filled with some topsoil, but I'm thinking some daylilies and burning bush.



We have bamboo that sprouts up overnight and grows so quickly. This has grown this much in a week.

Creepy.


The 2009 ice storm knocked down several trees in the back yard, this one included. I smoothed the ground around it and it's ready to be ground up.

The dummy heads

Morgan is in Arlington, Texas, for two weeks of training, so I thought I would upload a video of the cat and dog for her to see.

Isn't this fun?

St. Valentine's Day

For part of Morgan's present for St. Valentine's Day, I built for her a shelf in the garage where she can store stuff. Not very romantic, I know, but for someone who frequents auctions to the point where she has her very own seat saved for her for each auction, this might be a handy addition. She bought so much at the last auction that she put herself on auction probation. I didn't ask how much she spent. I didn't want to know.

Considering that I didn't sit down and draw this out before starting to build it, it turned out nicely, and should house all of her stuff once she gets off auction probation.



I even added a heart. In orange, no less.



Morgan borrowed a carpet steam cleaner from her parents that we used to clean the carpets in the wake of adding two pets to the family, though I'm not sure if our landlord cleaned the carpets before we moved in. I doubt it seriously judging from what this thing pulled up.



With the carpets cleaned, and they really look great, Bubba has to be good. His house training is going OK, but he hasn't yet started letting us know when he has to go outside. We work with him and have him on a schedule of sorts, but he's still only a few months old so it might be a bit.

While I was cleaning the carpet in Morgan's office, I brought Bubba in with me so I could watch him. Well, I was keeping an eye on him; I was too busy to watch him. The next thing I know, he'd made a pile right where I had just cleaned.

Groan.

Birthday Redux

Andy's birthday is January 28th and mine is January 29th. Last year there was a great big ol' nasty ice storm that rolled through NWA on January 27th, knocking out the power for most of Northern Arkansas. We weren't able to celebrate our birthdays together (we weren't living in sin at that time). We celebrated them a few days later at the Days Inn which was one of the few places in F'ville that had power.
I am pretty sure that's why Andy fell in love with me - I found a place with electricity.

So what happens this year? Big ol nasty storm comes blowing through on our birthdays! Again! It's not nearly as bad as the one last year but it's still pretty impressive by Arkansas' standards. There is several inches of snow on the ground already, this coming after a night of freezing rain and sleet. Poor Andy is out working in this crap. At least I get to work inside.

We've had a nice couple of days despite the weather. We had friends over for dinner the 26th and the 27th. A bunch of friends whose company we really enjoy. Everyone had a good time and the food was fabulous. Of course this year I am missing having Tad here for my birthday - a first ever for me since I had him 15 years ago. That makes me sad. But other than that, it's been nice except for the crappy weather.

I've enjoyed today though. I always love my birthday. It's such a cool day. I've successfully completed another year of my life. I've laughed and loved and cried over another 365 days that I was gifted with. I've stumbled some with a failure here and there and had great successes as well. A few more wrinkles and gray hairs. A thousand more beautiful moments of love and joy. How freaking cool is that! It's why I love love love my birthday. I am now 43 years old. That's a lot of memories and laughter and tears I've been gifted with. I am blessed. Birthdays rock!

So today I've been in charge of potty patrol with Bubba. I would have bet money that this little shih tzu would hate the snow. He's a toy breed, right? Aren't they supposed to be frail and girly and fragile and sort of wussy? Oh no, not our Bubba. He LOVES the snow. He goes racing around in it, happy as a polar bear. He buries his head in it, snaps at the flakes flying in the air, carries around chunks of it, digs stuff up out of it, the whole nine yards. If I had a sled his size I am sure he would use it. He is really turning into such a delightful addition to our family.

That's my update. Now I am off to eat some more of my yummmmmmy mushroom soup. I already had my favorite - cold chocolate birthday cake for breakfast! YUM!

Love on!

Bubba

Bubba is a Shih Tzu puppy who showed up at our house without a collar or a home, so we took him in. That is, his name is Bubba now that we decided his name is Bubba. Clearly, he's a Bubba.

We are trying to find his home, but he and Morgan think that he already has. Ours. He has no microchip, no collar, and there is no one looking for a Shih Tzu puppy in the city or county. No one has responded to our ad on Craigslist.org. There are no signs for missing dogs in or around our neighborhood.

Stinky thinks that we should drop him off at the nearest truck stop and wish him well.

Admittedly, he's sort of a wimpy dog, but he's lovable and sweet. Why a pure-bred Labrador puppy couldn't show up is beyond me, but that's how family works sometimes. We don't always get what we ask for. We don't always need what it is that we want. Bubba found us and we found him. He's in our family now, and he's already comfy with everyone.

Except Stinky, who hates his guts.



After hanging some furring strips, I put up two sheets of peg board in the garage for Morgan and I to hang our stuff on. Directly behind my truck is a two-foot-by-four-foot wide strip of peg board cut from the end of this one above my work bench where I am putting the string trimmer, extra line and two-cycle oil. Very handy.



I like the blue. We had weighed gray, taupe and considered a bamboo green, but the blue won out.

My favorite hardware store is getting rid of a bunch of hangers and selling them for 10 cents apiece. I bought 40, but it looks like I need about 40 more.



As for the riding lawn mower, it turned out really well. The carburetor came out of the cleaner looking brand new and the rebuild kit went in without a hitch. It started on the first pull, though the idle circuit was tuned a little fat. I leaned it out and it runs like a top.

With a new fuel line, float bowl, fuel filter and muffler (which looks bad now that the paint has started to burn off after running for a bit), it should be ready for spring. I'll be happy if I can mow the lawn without having to hop off the mower to shake the needle loose.

On a sad note, the air compressor died. Though the crank case seemed full of oil given how oily everything was, it had been run while dry quite a bit before ending up with me. I fixed it up and then cracked open the crank case only to find that it was filled with metal dust. The connecting rod was worn completely through, so I had to scrap it.

Working inside

After Morgan redid the master bathroom, we were left without a toilet paper holder; mostly because we found one that we liked, but it costs $45 and partly because, well, we just never got around to buying one. Then one showed up today both on the floor of the bathroom and on my chore list.

I hope that is the last time that I have to use a screw driver whilst sitting on the toilet.



Morgan and I marked our first year of knowing one another on the 15th. At least that's when we decided our anniversary was. It's hard to believe that it's been a year already. It's hard to believe it's only been a year. Funny how it works that way when it's good.

As a present to mark this and my upcoming birthday, Morgan bought a table saw for me.

I'm not good at receiving unexpected gifts, especially ones this large, but it is a very nice gift and one that I will use and enjoy. After growing up in a house with a wood shop, it's been difficult to live without a table saw.



With said table saw, I have begun to hang cleats in the closet in Morgan's office to put up shelving. She's good at going to The Home Depot and sweet-talking the men there to use their radial arm saw to cut the shelves, so I'll let her do that part.



I used caulk to fill around the cleats, and will paint them in a few days with some wall paint that I found in the garage. The paint has aged a bit, though, and even with good shaking and stirring it still fails to match perfectly, but it's close enough for a closet.



Morgan picked up this old handmade air compressor at an auction for $8. My best guess is that it was made in the 1950s and charmed me immediately. The surplus motor needed some rewiring, the belt was shot and the air hose was rotten, but after a bit of work and some parts from Lowe's, it works well enough to fill a tire.



This is probably a project that is more my speed, the Ariens riding mower is getting a modest overhaul during the winter months. I get along with gas-powered objects. The carburetor was rather lacquered and needed to be rebuilt, but I have it soaking in a carburetor cleaner and it's looking very good so far. I will also replace the belts, the fuel line and the spark plug wire; sharpen the blade and try to fix the three flat tires with some new inner tubes. I might even move that weird ground wire that someone decided just had to go over the manifolds.

The engine had a bad tendency to surge, and the float would stick shut, but it always started, though it took a bit of pulling. Several times while mowing, it would lean out and I had to give it a good shake to break the needle valve free. Our neighbors must think we're really odd, but with a pirate flag flying over our deck, shaking the lawn mower is probably the least of what all that has made them think that.

Pics

Preparing the Mentos blast off




Tad's truck on Christmas morning. White Christmas!



The aftermath at our house.


Even Stinky Cat got a present, a stuffed mouse toy.




Tad and I burned this wood eagle puzzle toy thing. Because burning stuff is always fun!



Tad and Stinky.


Our 1st Christmas tree.



Antique toy tops. Neato!




Tad, Andy and my mom. Weirdos.




Andy and my mom. Earlier Andy was wearing the pointy hat which is actually a xmas decoration. Weirdo.



Tad in his snuggie and welder's mask. Weirdo. I have no idea where these people get it from. No idea.


My mom and the girls, Micah and Myriah. They got new chewy toys for presents.


Everyone was pleased with their haul at Mom's house.

Andy was not pleased with this haul of junk I bought at an auction back in the Summer. We left most of that box's contents there.


Tad and Andy checking out loot.

My mom and her fabulously wrapped presents. She always does these elaborate wrappings and decorations on her presents. It makes you a little sad almost to open them. Almost.




Andy opening a box! Neato!


Tad and Andy. That's what happens when you've been bad - Santa makes you wear the Christmas dunce cap.


Tad, Andy, Josh, and my dad.


My mom and her Christmas tree. It leaned a little.

Hope everyone had as much love and laughter over the holidays as we did over ours.

Love on!