174 - Relaxing

... seems to be an impossibility. I try, but I get bored so I get up and find something else to do.

Plumbers finally came yesterday evening and hooked up the tankless water heater. It's connected to the propane so we no longer use electricity except to power the display, and it's on demand so we only heat what we use, when we use it. The crew was here until midnight, so it was a long night for all of us, but I am glad they came. We had a leak somewhere under the kitchen sink and it has been seeping into the subfloor, so replacing all the plumbing with Pex pipe solved that problem, and the water pressure is much better now that the piping doesn't go all the way around the perimeter of the basement, with perplexing branches that are capped off and serve no purpose. Jeff will come back Monday afternoon and install the box and hook up the pipes for the washer, and he will vent the dryer to the outside. I guess some people around here use boxes to collect the lint, special boxes you get from a hardware store... first time I've heard of that.

So this morning I slept in a bit, made lunch... always takes longer the first day because I have to tear up two heads of lettuce (one green leaf and one red leaf) and make the dressing, but it's always worth it.

And I was going to wait until evening to mow, but it was overcast so I decided not to put it off. I've found that my initial mindset about anything seems to be "no." I love to cook, but sometimes I find myself making excuses... I'm too tired, it takes too long... in most instances it's quicker to cook than to grab food elsewhere, especially around here. Once I get going I'm fine, it's just getting over the hump. So, I mowed the back yard (to the driveway).

More of the side yard

The other side of the yard... and found that the hill going up that side is a real workout.

Also, flying ants are dirty little bastards that won't leave you alone. I made a homemade bug repellent with lemongrass and lavender oil in coconut oil, and until I started to really sweat it seemed to work... about 3/4 of the way through the back yard I guess I sweated it off, because there they were again. Like gnats, but they land on you and if you swat them they laugh and fly away, or bite.

More views of the side yard...

My fig cutting is growing roots!

And then I made lemon-chive biscuits. I have chives left from making the dressing and invariably they go to waste, so this was a way to use them up and make something scrumptious. I love these biscuits... this was a slightly different recipe than the one I normally use, but it was just as tasty. I love the flavor combination. And having biscuits for dinner reminds me of post-Thanksgiving when we have rolls for dinner because they're so good. I need to check and see if I have my mom's roll recipe because, aside from the egg noodles, they're my favorite.

So now I'm going to really attempt to just sit on my butt and relax... but the rest of the front yard is taunting me and there is an 85% probability that I will go out there and get it finished this evening rather than waiting for tomorrow... yeah... 90% likely that's going to happen...

173 - It Worx, or does it?

The hubs said it wouldn't work, but I wanted to try it anyway. I bought an electric mower. I figure if I'm the one who has to use it, and 85% of the time I'm here by myself, I wanted something virtually maintenance free. And something I could return without worrying about emptying the gas and oil if it turned out to be a dud. Not to mention it was one of the less expensive options out there and the brand got consistently good reviews. My decision had nothing to do with being "green" because if greenies are honest with themselves, most electricity is not green.

The only awkward thing is the cord. I could have gotten a cordless model, but the batteries are high maintenance, you have to charge them every two weeks and only for so long because they don't automatically stop charging, and the battery increased the weight of the mower. I figure as much grass as I have to tackle, weight eventually becomes a factor, especially on hills (which yes, you mow side to side, but I challenge you to pick a side that doesn't slant out here...).

Keep in mind we haven't mowed since we've been here, Mike edged once and even then, the edger wasn't up to the task.

The challenge: The tall, tall grass

The challenger: The Worx electric lawnmower

Starting out it looks like an uneven match, with the grass having a decided advantage. Can The Worx make it past round one? It seems impossible to believe.

The Worx seems to be holding up, and the grass is going DOWN.

The battle is intense, the grass won't give up... The Worx could be outnumbered!

But wait - what looked like a sure thing is suddenly anybody's guess.

Will there be a new champion here tonight?

And The Worx is victorious! The crowd goes wild! Or just Kristy. But not like those girls in the videos.

The sun was hot and the bugs were fierce, I'll go back out tomorrow and finish up the front. I did the driveway side already, or at least the portion I intend to do. After that I'll get to the back of the house and around the RV.

The house can't sell fast enough... we need a riding mower. I don't know what people mean when they compare the sound of it to a vacuum cleaner... sounds like a mower to me. But all in all I am pleasantly surprised by its performance. I was expecting to have to return it and get a gas powered version.

172 - Starting to look like home

Took a break from websites and spreadsheets today to finally start organizing the house. It's been hard with everything going on (both good and bad) to focus on it, but I'm tired of looking at piles of mish-mash. So today, I did this:

Hung a shelf on the wall and arranged a few things. It hangs behind one of the loveseats where there would otherwise be a blank wall. Blank walls are boring...

Finally hung my coffee mug rack and... pictures? They're 3-dimensional so I don't know what to call them, tiles? Moved the baker's rack closer to the tv, which centers it more... I need to figure out how to deal with the cords. The dvr was kind of hanging off the side sitting next to the toaster oven before and it just didn't work. So I rearranged things and now it doesn't call so much attention to itself.

Moved the parsley and cilantro outside and balanced everything a little better. The blue bottle adds a little height, a little interest.

Put the screen behind the Hooker. Yes, Hooker. I love my Hooker, she was expensive and she's beautiful... one of the first quality pieces of furniture I bought on my own since most everything I had was hand-me-down. And when I say that, I'm not complaining, I rarely buy "new" things, if it wasn't directly handed down to me I usually found it at an antique store.

Not so exciting, but I hung stuff on the wall. The paint color doesn't excite me, but it will be a while before I decide what shade to replace it with, or can afford to. Whenever we find the hardware I have a shelving unit that will sit in the corner on the other side.

Zoomed out pic of the living room wall. The vacuum cleaner really ties it all together I think.

This is now a pretty shelving unit, but it was an organ that belonged to my grandfather. I zoomed in because there is a motorcycle seat sitting where the other shelf will go. :) There was a lot more crap sitting on it, we just sort of sat things where we could find a spot as we unpacked, so even if you can't tell, it's less cluttered than it was.

I decided this will now be the temporary bathroom mirror. It's still not perfect, but at least the room will look like an actual bathroom instead of a temporary room.

But it needed to be painted first.

So now I wait for it to dry.

And this is the guy who thinks he's going to sting me every time I walk out the door. He has apparently made our welcome mat his home, and when I step out I hear angry buzzing and he goes on patrol. It's cute. For now. I try to imagine him as a Disney character and it helps somewhat. If he stings me I'll kill him as he's dying, just so he knows it was because he stung me. So far I've made it past him about five times without incident.

I can't blame him, there is a tomato plant, some lemon thyme and basil in that corner. He picked a nice spot.

In the meantime I cleaned up the buffet. Trust me, it looks better. And yes, those are all cookbooks. I love to cook, and I love books... you do the math.

New bathroom. Looks almost like someone lives here. It doesn't look this cluttered in real life... And actually I hung the towel somewhere else and that helped. The towel rack is behind the door, and if the door is open, it's pretty useless.

It's level(ish).

The entry. I got a cowboy hat rack so we'd have a place to put (some) of Mike's hats, and the floppy garden hats are hung on a smaller rack next to it. The table was my grandparents', I like having stuff around with history, stuff that belonged to family. Makes me feel like they're still with me. And it makes a perfect place to put shoes and keys.

And nothing says "welcome!" like kitty litter!

So that's it for now. I think I've earned a little R&R and I'm going to take advantage of it.

171 - All Consuming

The website has been submitted to Google, Bing and Pinterest and that should help bring it up more often in searches. I figure Pinterest is a biggie... I know when I'm bored I sit there for hours and pin recipes and pictures of houses and then I get notifications of other people repinning what I have pinned so things go viral pretty quickly.

I also changed things up a little more, redesigned the links, added a gallery and updated the blog. Then I spent the rest of the day trying to get prices so I can finish the bid sheet. It's hard since I don't personally use the products and coverage rates vary, so I'm having to write a lot of formulas to take that into account. But mostly it's tedious.

And I installed a bidet attachment to the toilet this morning. Yes, I did some minor plumbing. Surprise, surprise the damn thing works and it doesn't leak! Sometimes I amaze even me. So bidet... you're probably asking why. Well, it makes you feel cleaner, and it cuts down on the amount of toilet paper. I figure that saves money and it helps minimize what ends up in our septic tank. It was $45 so in six months or so, it ought to pay for itself. That's about all the gratuitous buying I can do for now... I figure anything that cuts expenses is a good move as long as it doesn't cost much to implement.

It rained a bit today but I made it to the creek between drizzles. Even explored a little. Then I overdid it and brought home a large rock. Yep, almost died again.

This little guy almost gave me a heartattack. He was RIGHT next to me but I didn't realize it until I heard a thump and then he scampered by me and into the weeds.

Then I saw red. But I wasn't mad, it was just a cardinal.

More moths. Yeah... I've given up the delusion that they're butterflies.

Mike and I explored the creek once, and this time I went the other way. Not far, but it is pretty and I see where people have been four wheeling down it.

You can see a corn field in the background. This is the part people drive through. It's not bad except that the gravel is slippery and it buries your tires.

Just a pretty branch.

Another moth.

Today's haul. The big rock almost didn't make it back with me. It may not look heavy but it is. And I got dirty. I guess it's time for my monthly bath.

My vase of creek sand.

Was going to grill hamburgers but it started raining so I made patty melts on the griddle instead. This griddle makes me giddy.

So tonight I'm catching up on Game of Thrones, although I think I watched the season finale first somehow... and listening to the birds chirp in the rain. Someone call the cops, me and Gracie are tearing it up in here!

170 - A Nothing Day

I didn't walk to the creek today. Got busy doing other things and saw a few people headed that way late this afternoon so I decided to skip it. I'm going to try my Total Gym out instead. I haven't used it since we've been here and I keep seeing it as I walk by the room. I still need to fix one of the handles, and the padding needs to be replaced, but it should work... I may not be able to do much anymore, but I used to love using it and I've missed it.

This afternoon I repotted the pepper and tomato plants. I ran out of soil the first time around so they've been on the porch in their original containers until I could get more. They have perked up considerably. The parsley and cilantro I had inside have now been combined into one pot outdoors, if they don't do any better out there I don't know what to do except try to put them in the ground. If they don't die first.

The lettuce isn't doing much, but it's still early in the game. And just in case, I planted some arugula and a red leaf lettuce variety this evening. It's going to be a while before anything happens in any case, but I hope to eventually harvest my own lettuce instead of having to go to the store. I'm pretty well stocked up on everything except produce at the moment.

So my Sears card was apparently cancelled in December. I've been waiting all this time for it to show up so we could get a mower, and just ended up wasting time. I'm going to have to buy a push mower at Walmart, something cheap that I can push around the front yard since it's getting pretty high out there. If I can't see the dirt I worry about snakes. I figure I'll take it in stages, depending on how hot it is outside. The area in front of the house. The area in back of the house. By the propane tank, and then the other side. By the time I'm done I'm sure that rotation will start over again. Eventually we will need a riding mower. And I found some cheap raised bed kits, so I am hoping to accomplish a few things... not having to wait to till up some dirt in order to start a garden... replacing three 3-1/2 ft x 3-1/2 ft grassy/weedy areas with a garden plot... and growing my own food so that I don't have keep making trips to the store.

If it works, I save money and time and I can grow a wider variety of food. They don't have arugula or mache at the stores here. If you don't go to Walmart, you don't get anything but iceberg, which is weird given the number of farms here... but all anyone seems to grow is corn. Probably GMO corn. Arugula and mache are just the tip of the iceberg though, no pun intended. I've got a whole bunch of seeds I bought in anticipation of this very thing and I need to research which ones I can start putting into the ground. Unlike my old self, who would throw seeds into the ground and see what happened, I want to be smarter about it and learn the best conditions for the plant to thrive. Tomorrow I need to pay more attention to the sun and where it is throughout the day, for example, and then see what can be planted at this point in the year. I figure greens are a safe bet. Probably too late for tomatoes, but I have two plants to get me by this year. Radishes? Carrots? Don't worry, I'll google it.

It's chilly out tonight. You can hear crickets and frogs and all kinds of noises out there now. It's actually a little loud. For not having a central a/c unit, it's been nice in here for the past few days. Speaking of a/c... I keep hoping my house will sell soon... really, really hoping. There was a day this week where we had three showings, but I haven't heard back so I guess no offers yet. Not sure what to do about it. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by everything. Things are going to get better... I keep telling myself that... but I'm not seeing results yet so it's hard to maintain the optimism. Today was *that* kind of day.

169 - Eh

Today was beautiful. I don't know where the cool weather came from, but I loved it. It was one of those sunny, cool days where having the windows open invigorates me. I don't quite know how to describe it except that it makes me feel more alive. When the air is crisp, I have more energy and ambition.

I spent the greater part of yesterday learning about SEO (search engine optimization) and learning to incorporate the parts I could understand. Admittedly, most of it was over my head, but I made simple changes here and there that should get more traffic to the website. The biggest change will be updating the blog to showcase each job. I decided that instead of cluttering up the pages with picture upon picture upon picture, I could post several pics of each job as a blog post and it would serve two purposes - updating the website more often to keep the webcrawlers happy, and showing more detail about each job without constraining myself to just a couple of pictures. I even sound smarter, huh?

I realize few people will subscribe to the blog, but as a potential customer I think it would help me to understand the process and feel more comfortable if I could see a project from start to finish, and at that, see several projects. At Mike's request I also intend to add a gallery of all the pics on the website.

So today I designed business cards:

The design underwent a minor change after I took this screen shot, separate cards for Jason and Mike, but you get the gist of it. On the back there is an appointment reminder. Vista Print is pretty awesome. I love that I can use Jason's own art piece to promote his business. I think it really stands out.

After that I took a walk to the creek to clear my head.

Didn't almost die this time. I actually made it up the hill without stopping, but it was still a struggle.

Today's haul. (still loving the bag)

I guess I really need to stack the stones on the porch and continue to fill the grassy area with gravel. The stones are for the fireplace after all. The big ones anyway. The mid-sized stones can probably stay where they are as a border. This is Mike's project. I'll let him decide. :)

And then I made dinner. I really thought this would be tastier than it was. I know it looks like shrimp, but it's chicken. I marinated chicken in a puree of cilantro, garlic, sea salt and olive oil, then instead of grilling them I cooked them on the griddle. Just seems like a waste to grill for one person, but I *am* dying to try out the grill. Anyway, after they were a little caramelized I tossed them in chili sauce - which I love... I used about 1/4 bottle of it when we went to the Thai restaurant in Friendswood... not quite so much in this dish. I even sprinkled some sea salt on it... still a little bland. I was expecting a flavor explosion. I added some sriracha and lime juice to it... still didn't pop. It was edible and it looked pretty. I paired it with more buffalo fries. So basically my mouth was on fire at the end of the meal, but that's about all I can say for it.

This evening I have been working on the bid sheet. They are looking at more suppliers so I'm trying to get it all set up and ready to go. Still have a lot of work ahead of me but it's mostly waiting on pricing so it should go pretty quickly.

So I guess tomorrow is Monday... I don't hate Mondays anymore and I even get up earlier most days than I did when I had to be up by a certain time. It's nice keeping my own schedule, I just miss having Mike around at the end of the day. Eventually he'll be working closer to home, but for now... we are doing what we've always done... taking distance out of the equation and making it work. It's not for everyone, and it's not what we want to be doing, but we've been doing it for 3-1/2 years now and we're still happily chugging along. Last week, can't remember what day, I looked through the photos from my past blogs, and even though we had a supremely crappy year, we did make a lot of good memories. I guess that's how we got through it, we still managed to have fun.