Winter is still here 5-9-2020.

Brrr,

This morning the temperatures outside made it to the 20s. Yep, winter is giving one last slap to my face (backside?).

I bought some Berry bushes (raspberry and blueberry) to put in planters on the deck — add a little color. I have these self-watering planters I brought up from Florida that hold a couple gallons of water at the bottom and make it so you can go a week or so without watering, even when it doesn’t rain. But, I sure don’t want to put the new plants in them and have them freeze immediately… So, they sit in the garage. Based upon forecasts, Tuesday may be the last Freeze for the season. I’ll transplant them then.

My little wood chipper also arrived yesterday. I am not standing out in the cold wind trying to chip up the 1-2 inch branches that I’ve got piled in the yard. I do figure it will be useful throughout the year as branches seem to drop almost daily. Trees are finally starting to leaf out now. (Oaks and Maple).

This week, before the cold, I did get out there do lots of trimming and weeding. I transplanted a rose bush from against the north side of the house (touching the house), where it would never see the sun, to a spot in front of the out-building where it will get plenty of sunshine — if it ever shines!!

I even hosed down the out building with some mildew/mold killer. It looks “better” but not great. Just still too cold (both the water and the air temps) to get in there and use a brush and possible get myself soaked.

Also put down 10 pounds of grub-killer and another 5-7 pounds of general insect killer, across the lawn — and being sure to get right up to the house walls. If the grubs croak, hopefully the moles/voles/gophers? will leave, and the yard will be less lumpy. The yard guy is supposed to do this too, but seems to have a new excuse every week as to why he can’t get out to trim trees and put down lime and killer and mulch, and all the other things I’ve put a down payment to get him to do. — And his company had top reviews!! —

I will keep hounding him, and keep doing more and more myself — then renegotiate his price…

What I haven’t done, is replace the deck boards. Yet. Just a little fearful that I’ll make some really bad cuts and make it look worse. The original boards are all 16 foot long (well, 1 1/2 inches short of that because one edge was trimmed). And I have 8 footers. I will need to trim that edge off, and use 2 boards, or, cut the center out of the existing board, and use all 8 foot. The measuring is easy. Cutting a straight line, not so easy for me… But it will get done — once I can do it without shivering (which will make the cuts even worse!!).

Oh, update of duct cleaning. The company was here last evening for the estimate. Because of the Arzel zoning dampers, I need to make sure I choose a company with experience working around them. This company does. Anyway, the price is a touch higher because of the dampers, but I expected that. I really wasn’t expecting that they, as well as the other companies I called, would be so far behind because they were locked out as non-essential. The ducts at this house will remain icky until July 15, 2020. I did offer an extra $$ if he picked this place earlier when someone had to cancel…

Ah, on a brighter note, I have seen some wildlife around the yard — on my security cameras. There are a few cardinals (red birds) that like to land on my deck — a male/female pair have posed for the cameras a bunch. Also, got a shadowy view of a fox the other night. And a doe (female deer) has made 2 appearances. Plus, a couple of bunnies, tons of bushy tailed squirrels and a chipmunk or two.

I finally unpacked my camera equipment and hope to get some good shots of the critters someday. The security camera pics are okay for smart phone chats, but I want good photos for here.

See, when it isn’t freezing, I really do,

Enjoy Life

Just another snowy day — May 9, 2020 at 12:30 pm

Post script time — It is now 6:20 pm on 5/9/2020 — A little bit ago, the Duct Cleaning company called. Seems they have a cancellation for May 15th (this coming Friday), and I am now penciled in for noon that day. Yippee, clean air for me coming within a week… Something good for a change.

And I’ll be able to

Enjoy Life