Showing posts with label Humble Abode. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Humble Abode. Show all posts

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Wildlife

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I'm nothing, if not a procrastinator. Procrastination and laziness are probably my defining qualities, unfortunately. I never said I was an admirable person.

Case in point:

Anyone who has been to my house in the last year will have noticed two very large boxes sitting on my porch. I ordered them from Walmart.com last year, and kept meaning to open the darn things and assemble the contents, but there was always something better to do, or the weather wasn't right. So, there they sat, as week after week and month after month passed, and they were exposed to the elements. The poor boxes got mushy and droopy, and there was evidence that some critter tried to make one its home. I was sure the contents of the boxes were being negatively impacted by all that neglect. A couple weekends ago I finally got around to opening those boxes and putting the contents together, and each item took all of fifteen minutes, at most, to assemble.

And so instead of a couple of huge, mushy boxes taking up space on my porch, I now have two very nice places to sit:

Rocker
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Rockin' Loveseat
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It's funny that after all that procrastination, they were so darn easy to assemble. Ten screws and and ten little wooden plugs for the screw holes, and voila', all done! What's also funny is that during the time that loveseat rocker sat in its mushy box on my porch, it was recalled by Walmart for being unsafe. (Apparently, if you rock too vigorously, the thing will tip over backwards). What's funniest of all is that there isn't enough room on my porch to rock vigorously (or even somewhat calmly) in either rocker, as doing so will cause it to bang against the back wall, or worse, the window. Ah well. They look nice, anyway.

In the aftermath of tidying up the porch a bit, I've noticed that other wildlife have made their homes in and around the place.

Tangled web
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Hmmm.... what's this?
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Aha!
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So, what do you think? A purple finch egg?
So sad that it never hatched.

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Some other flora and fauna around the place:

It's that time of year!
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But there are still a few roses left
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And the wildest critter 'round these parts, my baby girl, Ali:

A knitting bag is as good a place as any to sit


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On a more serious note, I see that there's been an earthquake on the Big Island of Hawaii, where I lived for a few years, and that they've had to evacuate patients from Kona Hospital, where I used to work. I've emailed my old roommate, but don't expect to hear from her for awhile, as it sounds like the power will be out for awhile. Keep them in your thoughts, folks!
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Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Awash

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Crap. crap, crap, crap, crap, crap. Sorry. Have to vent.

Into each life some rain must fall. Today, as I was washing pretty much every towel I own, I heard the washer go into a spasm of loud poundings during the spin cycle. This is nothing new. That stupid agitator somehow winds itself off of its little post at least once every ten washes, and so, as I've been trained to do when that happens, I got up from knitting on the couch to stop and restart it. And walked into an inch of water in my bedroom and closet (where the washer lives). Of course, I have no towels with which to sop up the water because they're all in the washer, wet. Aaaargh!

Enough. I've had it with this washer. I thought I'd bought myself another year or more with it after I had it repaired when it broke down in June. But that was not to be. Tomorrow I go to Lowe's to order a new one. And a dryer to match, because my dryer is also on its last legs.

And now I'm wondering how I will dry myself after my showers over the next few days, before the new appliances arrive. Maybe I'll pick up some towels while I'm out....

Money grows on trees, right? Right?
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Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Ants!

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HELP! I can't take it anymore! I got home tonight after being out of town, and despite all my best efforts, the ants are taking over my kitchen! Even RAID doesn't keep them away anymore!

Anyone in the Richmond area have a pest control recommendation, please comment here!

I blame it all on global warming. It has nothing to do with my Martha Stewart-like housekeeping skills. [Suzanne, (who has seen my house) -- I'll pay ya a million bucks not to call my bluff here!]
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Thursday, June 01, 2006

!#$%&*!

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This came on, (or stayed on after I started the car, I'm not quite sure), yesterday as I was driving home from the train station:


I don't have time for this

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'98 Toyota Corolla, ~90K miles, no previous engine problems, very recent oil change.

Now what do I do?

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[Belated update: Took it to the dealer, who replaced the oxygen sensor. All better now!]