Burn baby burn

Yesterday was "Burn-The-Burn-Pile" day.

All.  Day.  Long.

I went out there at 8:00 a.m.  Came in a little after 4:00.

Sorry there are no before pictures but imagine the following.  In the middle of the pile are wood poles and, I think, railroad ties. The poles are from previous berry vines, about 6" in diameter and 6' long. Between the poles and ties I'm guessing about a dozen. Then throw in at the west side of the pile there are blackberry vines intertwined with weeds (some thistle, oh hooray).  At the east end are various yard clipping and leaves. On the north side was a bunch of crap: an "artistic ladder," some other wood things (like two lathed poles). 

Worst part was down into the lower northwest section.  I think the prior owner was doing some compost layers.  A pretty good job, really: some sod, layered with branch cuttings. But it didn't belong with the burn pile. Oh, and more berry vines roaming through the mess.

So now we will start a new pile.

More storage

Reconfiguring the house for proper storage, part 4 (or five or six or something):

Today was putting up some storage in the garage.  The previous owner had two flimsy "ClosetMaid" wire racks that are intended for "linen storage."  Interpretation: linen storage means light weight, a couple of towels! So I took one down, and I'm so sorry there's not a 'before' picture. It is all packaged up and ready to go to either ReStore or Goodwill.

The replacement is Rubbermaid's Fastrack system, supposed to hold some ginormous poundage. Not difficult to install, except I've been running into problems with any installation here because the wood is old enough to have to go back and make bigger pre-drills than the directions call for.

One finished rack:

There are five shelves, and room on the right side to add a hanging cabinet or tool hangers or ??? The step ladder in the picture goes back out to the shop. A 4' long rack will go on the other side of the garage (The racks in the picture are 4', but the overall system is 7'.)

We have already made enough room in the garage to park one vehicle, and we are getting close to being able to put both inside!

Guess I still owe a post on the grab rail fiasco. 

Short commentary on Livestrong

I know a few people are disenchanted with the Livestrong charity because of the latest events around Lance Armstrong.  I've never been enamored of Lance or a follower of any bicycle racing.  His work in setting up Livestrong, however, is admirable in that the mission has always been to support cancer survivorship, plain and simple.

I still STRONGLY support LIVESTRONG!

More non-exciting: cleaning

So it's taken me three days to do a thorough vacuuming of the house. What's thorough?  Not just the floors! I used the edge tool and the small brush to also go after cobwebs and the window troughs. 

Would you like to know the body count on picking up dead flies?  No?  I didn't think so.

The process can be a little slow when Sweetie is sleeping ('cuz I don't want to wake him, of course) or if he's watching TV ('cuz then I either work elsewhere or work around him during commercials).

But in the last three days we also got a new battery in the riding lawnmower, so the yard got a haircut! And I trimmed the birch tree back from the house some more and back from the driveway. And we got more items onto the new storage shelves in the shop. And - wahoo - I cleaned three toilets. The joy of retirement.

Surely the highlight was when I made cinnamon rolls Wednesday evening.  Luckily a small pan of 6 went into the freezer.

Oh and I separated a bunch of hostas and a day lily for B/N8.

We got hardware ( a whole $1.95 of materials!) so we could finally attach the new 'bowl' to the dining room light fixture. It turns out the old bolt had been sheared off, so I got to play with the extractor toy.  I mean tool.

Mike and his friend Jeff plan to torch the burn pile on Monday. The previous owners had a soaker hose out to the pile, so I located the connector end. My tarp had blown off the pile with the last big wind, so I got it pulled back over before the rains started again yesterday.

There's more but I know you appreciate getting the highlights.

A non-exciting update

Today's activities (Wednesday 10/10/12):
#1: I declared today a no-drive day. I've been driving about two hours a day OR MORE. Tomorrow is a trip to Vancouver. Friday is a trip to Salem. So today was no-no-no-go-go-go.

#2: Finally conquered grab bars in the master bathroom.  That will be a post all its own when I have a few more minutes.

#3: Assembled one of the storage racks in the shop.  I could have done both, but the second one had a 'crush' so it is going back to Lowe's tomorrow.

#4: Did a little bit of spraying, but it clogged up.  Need to get some more done, somehow, before the rains come in on Friday.  Mike was kind enough to disassemble and clear the sprayer.  Then fell down outside the shop and had to call me for help.

#5: Yesterday I posted free moving boxes available.  I man came and got a few last night, and then another texted about picking up ALL the boxes today -- I expect that person any minute now, and hope they have a big empty car or truck so they really can take them away. But a woman called about the packing peanuts, which I had her come to get because box-man only specifically said he was taking the boxes.  Or maybe it's box-person.

#6: Cleared out the Royal vacuum.  Mike said it didn't have a bag in it and was "packed with dirt." It did have a bag, but had become disconnected from the dirt tube.  Not too hard to clear.

#7: Little headache.  I think because I didn't drink enough water today.  And maybe from all the various dust.

#8: put the new license plate on the trailer.

See, not too exciting. But some plodding progress.

Awesome daughter

We moved out of our old house on a Thursday, and on Sunday my awesome daughter (with granddaughter) came to stay with us in the new house for almost a week.  If she hadn't, my life might have become a conversation like this:

"Hello boxes.  Yes, we've been good friends all summer.  I started packing all of you in mid-June, when we made the offer on this nice house we are now occupying.  And I continued to pack through July, when we listed and immediately sold the old house, and continued to pack through August as moving day approached. You were acquired high and low, through craigslist and (gasp) the cardboard recycling bin behind KFC/A&W.  Some of you were handled nicely by the movers, others were handled roughly, sorry.  I know, what part of a huge black arrow on each side of the box is not understand as 'this end up?' 

"But NOW I WANT TO SIT AND VEG and I don't care if you stay packed for THE NEXT TEN YEARS!"

No, no, thanks to my daughter, my wonderful driven daughter, the front room/sitting area is set up and the bookshelves loaded, the kitchen unpacked (and reorganized by her while hubby and I were out to dinner), and the master closet torn out and rebuilt.  I should have taken before-and-after pictures.  Oh, oh, don't forget the den episode: the movers couldn't get the roll-top desk into the den, so I was on the verge of switching den and guest room #2.  Actually, we were part way into the switch, as middle son and I hadn't taken the two twins out, and moved the roll-top in.

Lovely daughter said that just won't do, "I will just take off the whole den door frame so the desk can go in."  And she did! So even though the den isn't completely set up, we have the desks sited.

So much more, but it was a very productive week. Oh, and did I mention she did this while working (partly from home, but two days on the road for training in Portland), and the baby to care for, of course!

Thanks B!

wow, time to update!

I haven't been on here for quite a while! Soooo much to catch up on.
June 29 was my last day of work.  Paid work. I've been a-whirling ever since:
Sweetie's doctor appointments
Little sweetie (granddaughter) play dates
But mostly packing excess stuff, more packing, storing, staging, cleaning, thankfully-helped-by-middle-kid, arranging contractors (staging consultant, carpet cleaning, stove repair, door repairs, HVAC, etc.), rebuild 40' feet of fence, runs to the dump/recyle, spot painting, meeting with realtors (and finally getting agreement with Sweetie to list with one of them).  Plus continuing paperwork exchanges on the new house purchase.
Too bad the new A/C won't be in for another 10 days, because we will be pushing 100 today.
Gotta run. Need to shower and set off to this afternoon's baby shower!