I am a retired 44-year veteran of the Real Estate Assessment field. As with real estate assessing and how it applies to real estate taxes, one can make many acquaintances, but not many real friends. It was a great career choice.
It has been nearly 10 years since I reclaimed my home and my real passions within my home. I enjoy it more each day and tip my hat to those who I left behind.
Each day I try to stretch myself with the use of my computer as it relates to this site and using it to print out labels for quilts for trying to incorporate photos into my sewing. Life is so full and I know that I have room for more.
Fuzzy and Harry, totally wore out from following me around as I worked in the yard. They can’t be picked up as of yet, but they sure are afraid they will miss out on something. We can get within several feet of them as we come and go, so it is just a matter of time. They sure don’t mind the domesticated nest.
Now that we have had a tasty supper and there is a load of very soiled dish towels in the washing machine, I must say, Dennis and I are amazing.
First order of business this morning was, of course, coffee in the porch. We had talked last night about a few items in the job jar. Stripping both beds in the home down to the mattresses, meant that Dennis was on call. Dennis shook his piggy bank for quarters and he was off to the launderette with two very bulky mattress pads and one three yard long polar fleece blanket. Stackables do have their limits.
I began the hour-long process of sterilizing my supply of catheters. Yes, I would be able to receive free catheters that I need for the bladder augmentation of the late 1990s, now that I am on Medicare. My conservative nature knows that they can be used multiple times with the proper procedures. Not one to watch a boiling pot, I got the vacuum cleaner up from the basement to begin vacuuming the mattresses, inner springs and everything else up above and down below.
Dennis arrived home with a smile on his face and a huge basket of goodies. To begin the drying from the get go in our stackable would just not work, but to stuff in the bulky items one at a time, using the lower setting reset several times, finished the job. In the meantime, the Magtag was doing due diligence with the loads of sheets and pillowcases.
Dennis gathered equipment for washing his pickup in the driveway. It seemed that having it sit out for several weeks as we awaited a new garage door really put a layer of airborne gunk on the little red truck. Not to let me sit idle, Dennis had the wooden cover that we use to partially shade the Koi pond sitting in the garage ready for me to give it a new layer of paint. It will be quite a treat to take it out of the potting shed next spring, bright and white, ready to take its place on the pond.
So, how did we get a load of really dirty dish towels? Dennis had washed off the porch walls and three patio doors last night and today seemed like the right time to get the water spots, the bug spots and the kitty nose prints off of the patio doors. Our city water is really hard and the water spots are nasty on windows. Kevin had shared with us a product called Fresh Start. It has multiple uses in the home and it does wonders on water spots. Using a nylon scrubby with the Fresh Start is the first step, plus a bit of elbow grease and some dish towels. I have never known that there was a lot of difference between windshield washer fluid and Windex, and today, the windshield washer fluid was the next step to cut and clean the Fresh Start off of the glass. My sister, Elvera, swears by vinegar and today I put it to the test for the last test of sparkling windows. Vinegar in water followed by more dry dish towels. It was cloudy all day. The proof of the pudding will be when the sun shines either in the morning from the east or the afternoon from the west. Will they stay clean for a long time? No. They will stay clean long enough for Dennis and I to enjoy the porch after we get home from our road trip, which is coming up this weekend.
The forecast for the next two days is rain. Rain bouncing off a dirt-encrusted sidewalk means the patio door to the north will suffer. After Dennis looked over the situation, the dirt and the sidewalk were on an even level. Over time, the sidewalk that was several inches higher than the soil was no more. Dennis remembered that he and his brother Roger had put in three drain tiles along said sidewalk, many years ago. Dennis began digging a trench along the sidewalk, allowing rain a spillway and also to find the drains. Found them, he did. I raked all the extra dirt farther to the north and made nice.
Supper time was near and we decided on a great fast one. I highly advocate it: a batch of instant potatoes divided into two bowels, each covered with a divided can of Chicken Pot Pie soup.
I am very proud of Dennis and me. We are the amazing team on Stauffer Avenue, being good stewards.
Fleeting Thoughts: Trying to keep flies brushed aside while enjoying an autumn evening is like trying to herd cats.
A quiet Sunday that came with a mixture of sun and rain drops that shone through the sun rays. Dennis felt the need to take out some of the grass that has flourished with the recent rains. I was happy to take the day off in the kitchen and work with some wonderful leftovers from last night for supper. Gosh, I love leftovers.
After a very chilly morning, the sun came out and so did the energy levels at Stauffer Avenue. When the skies are gray and there is a chill in the air, as there has been for a day or two, a clear vision is hard to come by. What both Dennis and I realized in the sunny afternoon, is that the acre will need yet another mowing sometime this next week. We may be swapping out the snowblower within a month for parking the lawn mowers at this rate.
We are planning on taking a bit of a road trip later this month and several things came to mind for today. Out came the pickup with the shop vacuum right behind it. Spending time in a vehicle always feels better with a tidy environment and the pickup seats serve both of us better than the softer seats of the car.
We have made several longer trips this summer to take a check on how my back will handle a much longer trip. Having a tender back does not mean that being confined to St. James is necessary. With that being said, I decided to tuck a few items into the potting shed and not leave it all to a possibly weary body on the return to Stauffer Avenue. Of course, there was plenty of help. Butter Ball follows me around when I am outside and Fuzzy and Harry are right on his heels. Fuzzy and Harry thought they had died and gone to heaven when they explored the potting shed. I have found out that when I leave a few items I want to get rid of, all I have to do is put them on the east side of the potting shed with my “Free” sign. Its been pretty good luck in lightening the load of items that are not of a lot of value, but too good to put in the garbage.
Upon the completion of each trimmed block, it was a matter of not over thinking the placement of one block to the next. The fact that they were all perfectly trimmed made matching up the seams very easy as row upon row built the quilt top. Patchwork to me means randomly placing the blocks. There was no new yardage cut for the making of this scrappy quilt top and none will be cut for the backing of this scrappy quilt. It was my intention to ease the feelings I had that scraps could be made useful. My family, finding fabric scraps, might have no problem throwing them away at sometime in the future, but throwing out a quilt . . . that is another thing.
There was one more project that needed to be literally sewn up before we take our trip: the patchwork quilt top I have been puttering with. I do have an appointment for the first part of November at the Old Alley Quilt Shop to have the patchwork king sized quilt finished on the long arm. Store owner Sharon does not want a lot of quilt tops in her shop at one time, thus the appointment schedule. I made the appointment in July. That speaks to how far ahead she is booked. The back of this quilt will also be of a patchwork 
nature with blocks sized at seven and a half inches – the same size as the blocks on the front. The difference is that each block will be of one color or print of material rather than the multiple fabrics that made up the seven and a half inch blocks for the front. I knew once the more time consuming top was pieced, the backing would not be a problem to complete in time.
Many good things were accomplished today. The icing on the cake is an oven meal that is in progress as I type. It is a cool enough day that heating the oven for several hours will not make it uncomfortable in the remainder of the home. Right now, I can tell you that the scalloped potatoes, meat loaf and squash are wafting some pretty good aromas throughout the home. Dennis pitched in with peeling potatoes and also some cucumbers. This most definitely will be the last batch of cucumbers. Hmm, I said that last week.
Yesterday, for the greatest portion of the day, the humidity made it miserable to be outside. It didn’t take long and I was soaked to my skin. What a change in today’s temperature as we awoke to 52 degrees.
I am seriously thinking of dumping the pots of flowers. Yes, yes, I know that we could be enjoying them until the first killing frost. Plants in the ground continue to pull moisture for as long as the roots continue going deeper to find it. Potted plants demand water and a lot of water as the dirt in the pots literally can disappear. In the warm weather we have had, twice a day watering seems unreasonable.
I was going to begin putting some of the garden art into the newly tidied potting shed – until the rain set in. Not a lot of rain at one time, but enough to make the mid sixty air feeling quite chilly as I was getting damp. Enough of the outside thoughts.
I can always while away time in the sewing room and then have something to show for the time. A while ago, I took a three week vacation from Facebook. I was surprised how easy it actually was. This last week, I knew I could wish several people birthday greetings via Facebook, as I did not have an email address for them. Again, I was surprised how little time I could spend on the site to do my business and then close down the site. Time on Facebook compared to the positive returns for that time did not balance out. I have it under control.
It is cool enough today to have a hot dish going in the oven. Ah, comfort food . . . you can’t beat it.
— the mother of invention, until the rest of the repairs can be done on the springs that will keep the washing machine door open. The good news is, all other aspects of the laundry area are working.
The pickup garage now has a new insulated door and a new garage door opener installed. My job was to have coffee and cookies for the fellows. It was a very hot and humid day. We had all additional doors open for ventilation as well as a fan going. Dennis just gave me a demonstration. The entire door mechanism and the opener are super quiet. One door in and the second door will be going in the first part of October in the Lincoln garage. The end of the repairs is now near.
The before photo.
The after photo.
From corner to corner and side to side, today the potting shed was totally unloaded and then will be ready for some restocking. It is a good thing that tomorrow is recycling pick up day. I do have several items sitting next to Stauffer Avenue that will have a “Free” sign on them. Many plastic pots from many years will no longer be taking up space. Fall is upon us and the potting shed looked more like a “panic room” than a tidy storage shed.
A time in the past, after I had retired, I was visiting with someone and I mentioned, “Today, I am taking it easy.” The other’s response, “From what?” It just makes me smile when the thought may be that retired people don’t put forth a lot of local effort to keep their property tidy. I may not be as fast as I have been in previous years, but I still fulfill my own expectations.
With all of the extra rain we have had this fall, the grass just keeps on going. Flowers seem to have a better timeline. As I was getting ready for morning errands, I looked out to the square garden and thought it could use some shaping up. Iris, lilies, and phlox have had their hay day. The extra rain made for taller foliage for the winds to tip them over.
Autumn Joy, my favorite plant for this time of year.
As soon as I got back from the eye doctor . . . by the way, I had a great report with no change in lens needed, I changed clothes and found my garden shears. My eyes had been dilated earlier; it was a good thing to put that head down and start the task of making the gardens tidy. It didn’t take long, Butter Ball and Snuggles were right in the thick of it with me. I finished with a huge pile of foliage that will need to dry down before it finds its way to the burning barrel. The hosta are holding their own and will live to enjoy a bit more time in the gardens. The Autumn Joy, a wonderful sedum, now can claim the spotlight.
Butterflies love the Autumn Joy. It is sad that we have so few Monarch Butterflies to adorn them.