More Yard Debris

Jodi loaded up another load and we took it to the wood recyclers.  This load was much fuller and lots of blackberry vines.  Good thing we both remembered our gloves. 
She estimates two more loads of yard debris and one load of fencing. 
Turns out Rose likes the new hedger also. She does fine work.

Trimmings

Jodi and I made the first trip to the wood recyclers.  Jodi commented on how they are double dipping.  They charge us to drop the yard debris into the correct pile and then they make it into compost and sell it.  I don't care.  We got rid of the first load.  They have the job of making it into compost and the space for that.  Our goal is to get rid of the trimmings off all those hedges. 
Betting there are at least two more loads. 

On His Way

I dropped Pat off at the airport this morning.  He is going back to MN to go to the celebration of life for Fred and to support the family.  I had thought about it for a quick minute.  But I was just there.  So I opted to stay home and let him have this time with the cousins. 
It's a quick trip for Pat.  He will be home on Sunday. 

Paid For

The invoice came in this morning.  I got right on it.  There is still no extra charge for using a credit card.  So I called the roofer's office to pay.  Right off the bat the woman who answered asked me how my trip was.  I told her it was lovely.  I had had a brief conversation with Tim when I first got a bid about my trip.  They also have family in the Midwest.
They were happy to take my money and were actually surprised.  I guess most people wait till the last minute.  I look at it like the work was completed, they are a small business and I have the money to pay for it.  And so I did.  I'm happy with the work.  It takes a lot of worry off my mind.  You can only go for so long with an old roof before you start having problems and they cost a lot more than a new roof.

Roof is Done

The roofers finished up the roof today.  It looks fabulous.  I picked a great color.  Next week the soft wash gets done and then I think I am done working on that house.  Other than a couple of trips with Jodi to take the yard debris to the wood recyclers.  We'll see if that happens this weekend. 

Roof

Nothing ever goes according to plan.  The supplies for the roof arrived last Tuesday like scheduled.  I got a call on Friday that work would begin this morning.  Either at 8 or 10 depending on the job they were finishing up on Friday.
So I got up and out the door to check on the work.  Arrived at bout 10:15 a.m. and no workers.  Well that was all right.  I had a Walmart errand so ran and did that.  Arrived back at 11 and no workers.  Okay I wanted to do some banking.  Did that.  Arrived back at noon and no workers. 
Sometimes I am a doormat.  But today I decided to call and check.  I hate using the phone. But I did it.  Tim had to check and would text me.  I got the text saying around 1 p.m.  The job from Friday turned out to be not so nice for them. 
They must stop at 4 for the day because no one was there when I pulled back up at 4:30.  But  at least you can tell that they had started.  So tomorrow there should be a nice new roof all the way around the house. 
I'm excited to have a new roof, but I'm most excited about the pressure washing next week to get the siding looking better. 

A Search

Brenda posted this picture on her facebook page to honor Fred.  This particular photo has really gotten around in our family.  I think we almost all have a copy.  And no one got a copy until after my grandparents had died.  Her posting it again brought up the other photo that we all remember from my grandparents' house.  Grandpa and a couple Starr uncles had been hunting and so there is a bear and a deer hanging on a board between two trees.  None of us have it.
So I made a couple calls.  First to Wayne and Helga and they do not have it.  Then I played phone tag with Nila. She doesn't have it and thinks it actually might still be hanging in the farm house.  She was going to make some calls herself and see if she could find it.  If she finds it she will give it to Pat or make a copy and give to Pat or something when they are at Fred's service.
I personally think this picture of my uncles and Fred is a totally badass picture.  And I'm glad we have it.  It hangs in a lot of houses now.

Lost My Routine

I had settled into a nice little routine before my road trip.   A nice cross between working too hard and being too lazy.  When I got back from my road trip my routine was gone.  Part of it is Rebecca finished moving in while I was gone.  And with her was her friend Gordy.  Just threw me off.  Well Gordy isn't gone, but he isn't here either. 
So I am trying to find a new routine I guess.  I'm so not used to living with a roommate.  Pat doesn't count because I have lived with him before.  And it isn't anything to do with Rebecca, it is just used to being by myself and with the littles. 
So I am back to trying to unload the dishwasher while I am waiting on coffee.  I'm always feeding the dogs and my cats.  I haven't quite figured out the laundry flow and that's why I bought Pat another pair of bib overhauls.  Got to have more than one if I can't start a load of laundry in the morning. 
Once all the work is done on the rental I think I will need a new project.  I would say a job, but I have too many things planned from now until Christmas.  Maybe I need to go to the beach.

A Repeat for Glenna

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

RIP Trevor

The family in MN are attending the funeral for Trevor today.  He was the son of my cousin and Mike's second cousin. He and Mike were born nearly the same time, so my Aunt Nila always kept me up to date on Trevor. Obviously the two boys took different paths. Trevor was in the army. Mike spends time in jail.  Trevor played sports and did Explorers. Mike played sports and did Scouts until he discovered drugs. Trevor was good kid who was out in the world. Mike was a good kid who made poor choices and lives with the consequences.
I think about his mother and can only imagine the pain she is in. Trevor was her only child.
I think about me. I have been waiting for the call Glenna got since my child was14. And each day I am grateful not to have gotten it. I doubt she was waiting for that call and was in no way prepared for it.
So my thoughts are with my family as today they lay Trevor to rest. I can only hope that eventually Glenna will find peace. Life is unfair. There is a lot of sorrow. Rest in peace Trevor.

On a Roll

Today Jodi started tackling the big shrub on the house side of the driveway.  It is a big undertaking.  Josh used to trim it up back when he cared about such stuff.  But that is many years ago and I'm not sure he ever did the top.  I helped her a bit by hauling limbs from the other side.  When the rain started she had the house side done and almost all of the top.  She cut the top down to the fence level.  There are still a few more to get off the top from the other side, but it looks tremendously better. 
The neighbors are seriously going to be expecting the house to go on the market. 

She Enjoyed Those Toys

I posted the first picture before, but to show the fence.  Notice the little shrubs in front of the fence and then compare to the second picture. Jodi said the new toy made the job so much easier and now she can keep up on it so it will be easier next time.  Still gave her a back ache but that is because of the height of the shrubs.  I'm just happy it's not me doing the work and that she is happy with all the upgrades even if she is doing the work.   

Fun Toys

Jodi commented a couple of different times about going to the hardware store and getting an electric hedge clipper.   A few years ago she had trimmed the little hedges in front of the fence in the front yard with a hand clipper.  The job got done, but she said it was a lot of work and gave her a back ache.
When Dan was over using his chainsaw to cut down a couple of trees he also had a looper that the handles extended on.  Jodi commented on handy that looked and it really did especially when she is trying to cut branches over the fence. 
Since it is my fence and my hedges and my trees I decided to head over to Home Depot and see what was up.  I had already been to Walmart and they are clearing all the yard stuff out.  So there were no loopers or fiskars that I wanted.  They did have a hedge trimmer with no price. 
Home Depot had the extending looper and the fiskars and lots of hedge trimmers.  Now I don't know anything.  This is beyond my skill set.  I looked at the battery operated ones.  They are a bit more spendy and the one they had that interested me didn't come with a charger.  Those are an additional $70.  No thanks.  I understand separating the two things for consumers who already have one component and only need one component. 
Then I checked out the electric ones.  A bit of a range.  I did not get the cheap one as it felt cheap holding it.  If it felt cheap to me it must really be cheap.  I ended up with a black and decker.  Not the best brand, but one that has been around a long time.  $50.  Even if it only works one season I think the price is adequate. 
Dropped them off for Jodi, except for my fiskars.  She and JJ were both sleeping.  I'll have to check in with them tomorrow. 

Oh Yeah. He Got a Boat

After many days of perusing the marinas, looking on craigslist and going and looking at boats, Pat finally found one that he liked and wanted.  The price was right and better than some other ones that he was looking at.  Something about how much the electronics cost (fish finders, etc) and if they needed to be added to a boat.
Now it is only 23 feet, but it just feels huge.  We need a ladder to get in it.  Pat said it is a little intimidating, but I'm sure that will go away as he puts it in the water a few times.  He and Dale took it out for its maiden voyage last week.  They learned some things right off the bat and then had an enjoyable ride on the river.

Even the cat had to use the ladder to check it out. ;p

Wow

I don't talk much about religion, politics, abortion, Covid, BLM, or the hashtag save the children.  I believe that mostly we can't change anyone's mind on their own beliefs.  I try to come at it from a place of understanding that everyone has their own history and thoughts and those reflect in the ways that they believe.  I try to be respectful and would hope that others would also.  It sure doesn't feel that way most days though.
Back in April when Norman died of the Covid 19, I had a friend on facebook who unfriended me and blocked me because I disagreed with him on a meme about the Covid.  According to him I was questioning his intellect and he could not have that.  The meme compared the Spanish Flu with Covid and I simply said I thought it was comparing apples and oranges. I said that because most of the people who died during the Spanish Flu did so of a secondary infection being pneumonia.  The Spanish Flu was before antibiotics.  I was actually shocked to be unfriended and blocked.  But I got over it pretty quick because if that is all it took to end a friendship then there really wasn't a friendship. 
I don't unfriend people who disagree with my opinion.  I may unfollow some who post way too many disrespectful memes.  I don't need to see it all.  And I am still friends and can check in anytime I want to.  I can change back to following if I want to.  I do sometimes unfriend people for other reasons. In fact this week I culled my facebook friends again. If I haven't seen you or talked to you in three years, I don't feel the need to maintain your presence on my page. 
I was trying to add Cassie as a family member and facebook wouldn't let me unless I gave her a relationship label that isn't true.  Now that's annoying.  But it got me looking at other things and I realized I had been unfriended by a family member.  Like this week.  I had already been dismissed and I knew that, but I didn't realize the unfriending.  So let's talk about that.
A video was shared of LOL dolls whose bodies, when placed in cold water, have outfits on.  The lady in the video thought this was totally inappropriate.  I thought it was pretty cool.  So I went on a search and found an article on truthorfiction.com about how these particular dolls had been around for a couple of years and they were advertised as some changing in cold water and some changing in warm water depending on the doll. So I posted the link so it could be read or not. I didn't comment or interject my own opinion. Well my post was removed and that dismisses my opinion or input. Stops any dialogue. Now anyone can post what they want on their page and they can certainly remove other peoples posts on their page.  That doesn't mean that their opinion is the only valid one...they just don't want other people to think differently or say something that contradicts their opinion. 
Today I realized she had also unfriended me.  And for a moment or two that hurt my feelings.  But it certainly doesn't change my opinion.  If you think those dolls are inappropriate then don't buy them.  This really isn't about that hashtag save the children.  This is a way to keep people living in fear.  That their kids are going to get kidnapped in Walmart while shopping with the parents.  I've seen way too many of those posts.  If you do the research you will see that most sex trafficked kids are runaways.  There were like 115 stranger abductions in 2018.  Statistics show it averages out to about 100 a year.  So if you really want to hashtag save the children....put your money where your mouth is and mentor teens, be a big brother/sister, get involved in places that support vulnerable youth.  Don't just post videos and memes and live in fear.  Do something. 

RIP Fred

Fred died this morning.  He was diagnosed with lung cancer last winter.  He opted to not treat.  He wanted to live his life to the fullest without being sick from chemo.  I saw him while I was in MN and he looked good, but got tired easy.
Right after I left he took a downturn.  He went on hospice this week.  And then this morning he went to join his wife Doris, parents, my grandparents, my parents (and hopefully Mom apologized for their argument) and Dave.  There will be a lot of gabbing up in heaven today.
It seems like every trip to MN is different as family members leave us.  But Fred has always been a staple.  So it will be weird to go to parties back there and not have my cohort to talk to and sit with. As we get older we realize how much our family loves us.  And I certainly felt that this trip.  Fred even told me so.  I'm so glad I added to the roadtrip and took the time to go to MN.
Fred was 78 years-old.  He left behind Brenda and Dave, Tammy and Curt, and Melinda and Pete.  He has four grandchildren and two greats.  He was very blessed with his family.
Light and love Fred on the journey.  Give all my loves a hug as I miss them.  And I will miss you.

Motivation Lost

So I had plenty of things on my list to do today.  Starting with installing my coat hanger.  First thing was to find the charger for the cordless drill.  I have seen it at least three times since I moved here.  Could I find it today?  No, no I could not.  And that just caused the motivation to fly out the window.  I also wanted to hang the bull whip.  I found my hammer and my nails.  And that was about as far as that got.
I did cook dinner.  A tri-tip roast.  On the bbqer.  Next time I start a lot earlier.  The meat tasted good where it wasn't burnt.  I got to quit cooking things with lots of fat.  I always get fires.  Anyway it was okay and I did learn how to cook it to the right level. 

Clean Up Started

Jodi has started the clean up.  She removed the shrubs from in front of the fence and the dead tree from behind.  We never got a before picture, but the dead tree has blackberry vines and volunteers around it.  So that corner is tremendously different.
A neighbor offered to come with his trailer and help haul all the trimmings and the old fence boards to the wood recyclers.  Sounds like a great plan and cheaper than the dump.  Better for the earth also.
Now we have to figure out how to get the rest of the shrubs pruned.  Some of them are way outrageous. 
The roofing company called and they are coming next week.  Making great progress.

Fence Work Completed

Well almost.  We still need to install a latch on the gate so the bucket can go away.  Cody was almost done when he told me he needed a few more boards.  I teased him about his math being off.  So I ran back to the lumberyard and got the last 12 boards they had of that size and grade.  Still no screws so I also made a quick stop at the supply place and bought another box.
Once Cody had the last of the supplies he made quick work of finishing the fence.  Looks beautiful and makes the older sections look not so good.  We had a few boards left over and we will use those for replacing a few bad ones on the back fence in the fall.  Right now we can't get behind the fence due to overgrowth. 
I stopped at Lowes and picked up a latch and a handle.  I noticed they had tons of boxed screws also.  So there really isn't a shortage of screws, just the loose kind that you buy in bulk. 

Slow Going

Cody ran out of screws.  So I ran to the lumberyard where we bought the lumber for the fence.  They were out of screws.  Wait...what?  Said it was all because of covid.  Well maybe so.  But then I was on a mission.  The fence can't get done without supplies.
Went to the local building supply place.  Bought two pounds of screws. And yes, I'm sure they costed more as they came in little boxes.  But now we have screws and the job continues.

So Far

Making great progress.  The side is almost done.  Cody was two boards shy of finishing. I believe he plans on two more days.  Could have been one but there is more cleanup on the other fence that needs to be done.  I think the hardest part is going to be the yard clean up when it is all over. 

Fence Replacement is Started.

I actually remembered to take before pictures. The decision was made to do the replacement in sections.  That way hopefully the dog doesn't escape.  There is also a lot of clean up along the fence line that has to occur. 
I still think that when we are done with all the work the neighbors are going to think the house is going up for sale. 

No Boat Yet

Pat has been looking for a boat.  He wants one he can fish in.  So it can't have indoor outdoor carpeting.  He wants a solid bottom that can be sprayed out.  He is hoping for one big enough that he can take it out for tuna fishing.
He keeps watching craigslist and whatnot.  He is excited at the prospect.

Fencing Supplies

I am so not usually a flake.  I sure was today though.  I was suppose to meet Cody to go buy the supplies for the rest of the fence at the rental house.  We had the back installed and one neighbor replace what was between her house and the rental.  The last side is pretty dilapidated and greatly in need of replacing.
So I went looking at boats with Pat.  And then we got some food to go from Giuseppe's.  Just starting to head back home and Jodi called.  Wondering where I was.  Oy.  So we drove back home in rush hour traffic. 
I met them at the fencing place.  Got all the fence boards, 2x4s and screws bought.  As long as Cody did his math correctly it will do the last side and the two fronts, plus the one section left where the neighbor repaced most of it. 
I think Jodi is right and we should consider putting on some stain or something. 

Second Day

Cassie said the second day went as well as the first.  I am just amazed at the growth my littles have done since they moved to live with their mom.  I think it is the combination of all things.  Mom, two parent household, structure, and siblings. 
For right now I think they have the little woman on the right meds for her anxiety.  And obviously it is helping so much.  She is not school resistant.  She handled her trips to the dentist.  She just seems calmer and happier. 

First Day

Three of the four littles went to school today.  I heard that my little woman was ready half an hour before she needed to be.  Happy and excited to go.  What a change. 
I talked to the kids after school.  I was interrupting the little man, but he said his day was good.  The little woman said she liked her teacher and there are seven other kids in her class.  When they are at their seats they do not need to wear their masks.  That is a positive. The littlest woman just said it was good and she liked her teacher. 
Day one down and going well so far.  Makes my heart happy.

Anniversary

I celebrated my anniversary by going out to El Rancho Viejo with Jodi.  We have been going out for dinner every couple of weeks.  Mostly to El Rancho since we feel comfortable there.  They are following all the safety protocols.
So Dave and I got married 36 years ago.  I'm amazed at how many lifetimes have fit in that 36 years.  People coming and going change the landscape and make new lives.  I've just started a new one that seems pretty simple in its being.  Fewer responsibilites, more freedom. 
Anyway I brought Jodi a loaf of Zucchini bread and her car charm.  The charm is a dragonfly with a breathe reminder.  She sure seemed to like it.  I kind of knew she would when I spotted it in Milaca. 

School

The littles start back to school this week.  Cassie had a choice of more online schooling or onsite schooling.  She choose onsite.  The little woman needs a little more specialized help than what she can get online.  And Cassie is like me.  Not a lot of patience for the nonsense and when the little woman's anxiety goes up so does the nonsense.  We haven't been trained for teaching so I think Cassie made a good choice. 
She also says she is playing it by ear.  Reading the rules of how in school will go make her a bit nervous for how they will do.  But she is going to give it a good try and see how it goes. And if it doesn't go well she can always revert back to online learning.  Here is hoping it goes well.

Another Quick Bear Story

I almost forgot.  So bears were the discussion.  A little up the road and across the street from the farm is a swamp.  And in that swamp grow wild blueberries.  As a child these were the only blueberries I was aware of and they made really good pie.  This is where my grandma picked them.
So the story goes she went to the swamp to pick berries.  Then all of a sudden she comes home and gets a gun.  She got scared out of the swamp by a bear.  But golly gee she was not done picking berries so she was going back to scare the bear out of there.  The thing about my grandma is she was a little woman.  And yet she had no fear. 
Since there were people left to tell the story, I think she probably did not go back to the swamp to confront the bear. 

Mowing

I knew I needed to mow for Betty when I returned from my trip.  It was too hot at first so it got bumped until today.  The weather forecast predicted cloudy all day and low 80's.  Perfect.  Until the sun came out from behind the clouds.  It did stay in the low 80's. 
First I had to make a run to the gas station.  Then I thought I had lost my credit card.  I was quite happy when I found it under the front seat of the car.
Took 3.5 hours to mow.  If it doesn't rain we might be good for a few weeks now. 
Afterwards I picked some blueberries.  Enough for a couple batches of blueberry pancakes or muffins or just to eat. 
And my back is sore now. Going to be a pill night.  Sometimes mowing just beats you up.