She Ain't Singing, But She's Warming Up...

The painting continues; I think it will go on forever. Todd and I spent the day at Blueberry today working on the paint...Still. He, doing the fine-line cutting in where the walls meet the ceiling (I don't have the patience for that); me painting trim. Of course we are still finding areas where the paint did not completely cover and re-touching them as we go. We will probably find these for a long time. Monday, I will continue to work at the trim.

On Tuesday morning, the carpet cleaner is coming to clean the carpets (so I want to have all of the baseboards done before he comes). I really do not think that the last people living in the house (renters) ever vacuumed. Each time that I vacuum I think that the carpets look a bit cleaner. Yet there are still the heavy foot traffic areas and the places where food has been spilt and not cleaned up properly. Hopefully I will see a big difference once they have had a good cleaning.

Yesterday (Saturday) evening I went to Home Depot and bought a new kitchen sink, faucet, garbage disposal and two ceiling fans...$$$$$. These are scheduled to be installed on Wednesday. I still need to buy a doggie door to have installed so the doggies can go out to their dog run any time they want.

I have ordered window coverings for the master bedroom and family room, which are due here on either Wednesday or Friday...I'm hoping that they arrive on Wednesday. I still want to go and buy window treatments for the living room and dinning area, and get them hung. I also need to get new towel bars and install them, (I threw out the old ones!) I also have new rods for the shower curtains...the fancy curved ones like they put in hotels...they give one a bit more room in the shower. Of course they need to be installed too.

Also, last night, I replaced three of the four mechanical sprinkler heads in the front lawn. The ones that were there were no longer moving; resulting in browning of the lawn. Now if I can just get some fertilizer on the lawn I should start seeing green.

And...The garden has grown this week, and not just in height but in size. I have added more cucumbers, beans and peppers, as well as another row of Roma tomatoes and a row of 45-day cabbage.

So I will not lack for things to do this week, and I want to get them all done, as next weekend I should be leaving to return to California to pack. The following weekend, the movers are scheduled to pick up the furniture and move it to Idaho. Then I will have some sense of completion!

It Ain't Over Til the Fat Lady Sings...

And I Wish She Would Start Singing!

I know that I said in my last post that the next time you hear from me the painting would be finished....Well it ain't! I just thought that I should post something before you all got the idea that I had fallen into the paint bucket and drowned!

Todd and I (well...mainly Todd) got quite a lot done over the weekend. In terms of area covered it is nearly done, but there is still a lot of cutting-in and touch-up work to be done and two bathrooms to be painted...At least a couple more days of work...maybe more at my speed. The family room has been a real problem; it seems as if the ceiling in there had maybe never been primed. It just kept sucking up the paint. Yesterday, I put the fourth coat of paint on the ceiling and I think that may be the final one. Everything is looking real good and I am very happy with the color choices.

So if you see the Fat Lady...Tell her that I am just waiting for her to start singing, so that I can stop painting!

My Little Tinny Garden

Progress at the house continues...

Yesterday, I planted my little tinny garden...And it looks really little when you see this tinny square area of plants inside of the previous garden's 10 or 12 feet by about 62 feet of space! But it is a little late to be planting anyway, although Fred Meyer is still getting new plants in. My next door neighbor said that the previous guy had a really awesome garden out there...Maybe that will give me a goal for next year! I did plant tomatoes, green beans, squash (yellow and zucchini) cucumbers and peppers...Not bad...And I have seeds for fall lettuces yet to go in!

I have finally finished washing all of the woodwork (I hope). When I think of how Mom used to wash all of the woodwork and window coverings in that big house on 18th, and then look at what a job it has been washing all of the woodwork in this comparatively small house, I wonder how she did it!

Today I will attempt to find the county dump, as I have the back of Todd's pickup full of yard debris...too much for the garbage (although they don't seem to care how much garbage you put out here!) Then, next on the project list is to buy the tape and plastic and start preparations for spray-painting the entire of the house; Todd is going to help me with that...Thank God! (And thank God Todd loves projects...He must, or he would never of bought that big old house he has!)

So wish me luck folks, and hope that the next time that you hear from me the painting is finished!

Back in the Land of Milk & Honey...and SPUDS!

After a brief visit back in Desert Hot Springs, I have returned to Idaho where the sun shines all of the time (at least for now) and the temperature is perfect.



I left DHS in July 4th and managed to drive as far as my favorite place in all of the world...Ely Nevada. I have to say that the people there are very nice and they must have been expecting me this time, because just as I arrived in town the most beautiful fireworks display was started; nicer than most I've seen in recent years. It lasted for about an hour and ended with an all out blow em out pyrotechnic showoff display. (I wonder what they will do for me next time I stop in town?)



As for Blueberry Avenue, I've been busy there since I arrived back in town; mostly pruning and yard work. The funnest part was pruning the pyracanthas bush outside of the front bedroom window. They say one should put those in to deter burglars, and it should work as they are also a good deterrent to pruning! Then there was the tree in the backyard, which looked more like a huge overgrown shrub than a tree! It is now pruned up about five feet off the ground and actually look like a real tree! I still don't have a clue as to what kind of tree it is though. With all of this pruning I've been doing I can see a trip to the dump in the near future.



Next up is to get back inside. I was reminded today that I never finished washing the woodwork (and no little ferries came in to do it while I was away!) Then there will be plastic and taping off all of the interior for painting. Todd said that this should take about two days...At the speed I move it will probably be more like a week! Where are all of my helpers?



Of course one must also squeeze in a little time for job searches, which are done mostly online these days. I had an interview today at the Boise Accountemps office. All of my records and test scores have been transferred from California and I'm ready to go to work...just as soon as they find me some work to do...

So if you find yourself with time on your hands, and don't know what to do...Come over and checkout my to-do list...I'm sure I can keep you busy!

What A Week It's Been...

Well...

After being down for the first few days of my week in California, I didn't get as much accomplished as I had planned to do, but I did get a few things packed...Mainly pictures.

I also got a few chores done around the house...Drained and cleaned the hot tub, mowed the doggy grass, took the dogs for grooming, did some weeding...the usual kind of 'around-the-house' chores.

So now it's time to head back to Idaho in the morning; I'm ready! There are chores to do there too! Primarily painting the interior of the house and getting the kitchen sink and disposal replaced. Oh...I guess the doggies want a doggy door installed too!

And if all goes as planned, my next trip back to California will be for the final move to Idaho...

Please God...Please God...Please God...

Perfect Health...

According to my doctor, I am in picture perfect health!

Blood pressure in the low range...slow even heart rate...oxygenation 95...couldn't be better.

Her best guess...Stress and anxiousness over the move.

Treatment Schedule...Slow down...Take it easy...And take some Xanax...

Well that could be fun...Don't know if I'll get anything done on Xanax though...

(It is true however, that most of this started on the drive to CA from ID...Maybe I should just head back to Idyho!)