Rotten Apple (tree)

I'm extremely late in posting this but one of our spring projects was trimming our apple tree. The right side was not sprouting any leaves and when we touched it, the branch nearly fell off.

We decided to use our trusty sawzall to trim up the tree a bit.

Or a lot.

While the beau was cutting, I was chopping the branches into little bits:

Into our new outdoor fireplace.

And our old fire pit.

And the rest we chucked behind the fence :)

(don't worry, it's still our property)

Sprinkle On

Here's our sprinkler control system:

See all those sliders? Each represents a zone on our property. One of the reasons we don't use our sprinklers often is because I'm not good with numbers. As in, I don't deal with them if possible. See those numbers all over the sliders? Yeah.

So this is how I can actually deal:

I made a chart to show which numbers are which zones. It's probably an accurate way of seeing how my brain thinks - in colors and shapes.

Do you have the same dilemma?

Snake Along

Look what Rylie found on our walk through the area behind our property:

A snake of some kind (not rattlesnake). Any idea what? Something ate off its head, I'm guessing coyote, but why would they leave the rest of the body behind? Maybe it was venomous and died after eating the head and before it could finish? I'm really curious...

On Borrowed Grass

Since it's been raining a bit, we actually have a lawn now! Who knew that grass required water? Even after nearly depriving it of the wet stuff for 2 years!

Here's a picture of what our lawn looked like before we moved in (and ripped out the evil Creeping Fig):

Here is what our lawn has looked like the last 2 years:

Now add this:

(photo credit: Scott's)

And here is what our lawn looks like now:

The only drawback is that the dogs cannot be near the fertilizer for 24 hours. And I covered every inch of grass on our property.

Whoops.

Looks like we'll be using the neighbor's lawn for the dogs to potty on...

On its Last Legs

Warning: this blog post does not have a happy ending.

Yesterday, when I let the dogs out first thing in the morning, I saw them not pottying, or chasing woodland creatures up the incline, but instead they were standing underneath the blue spruce tree, tail wagging playfully, watching something with intense curiosity.

It was this little guy:

He was being stared down by 2 border collies and was trying to move away but clearly had a badly injured leg. So the bf and I went on auto pilot and strapped on a pair of gloves, and picked up the rabbit. He was docile. He did not put up any sort of a fight. He looked like he had just given up and was surrendering and accepting his demise. But because we're not cave men, instead of eating him, we put him in a dog crate and made some phone calls and brought him to a local wild life center:

It's awesome that these places exist and all the good work they do. They save so many creatures: squirrels, opossums, rabbits, herons, deer and even coyotes.

I called up the next day to get an update, and it was not good. He was euthanized because his leg had been injured for so long, at least a couple weeks. His bone was exposed and there were maggots all over his leg. He must have been hit or run over. So the only thing they could do was put him down. I'm glad that he's no longer in pain, but I'm sad the little cotton tail I named RabPi, didn't have a happy ending like Hendrix the squirrel...

Shedding

We don't just work on our own house, we help friends as well.

Three men with 2 ladders and more hammers than you can count - roofing on a hot day...

They are building a shed. That looks like a little house. Does that make them little gnomes?

Sticky Legs

Some great shots of a big spider web on our spruce tree outside:

Anyone know what kind of spider this is?

Mending Hoses

For over a year now, I've had this awesome kink-free hose. The only problem is that I bought a cheapo nozzle and it calcified onto my rocking hose:

So one day the bf and I got fed up and snipped the damn thing off:

Then we slipped on a hose mender (which can be purchased at any hardware store):

We inserted the male part into the hose and put the loosened collar around the hose:

Then we pulled it up to the end of the hose and tightened it with a screwdriver:

But wait the fun doesn't stop there. To prevent the calcification (is that a word?) from happening again, we also installed hose quick connects (also available at any hardware store). One end goes on the hose and the other goes on the nozzle:

And then I installed my favorite hose nozzle back on:

And then hose away! Whee!

I've learned that not all hoses are created equal. Do yourself a favor and skip the medium duty and go straight to a heavy duty kink-free hose, and it should come with a lifetime warranty (I got mine at Lowe's). You can go cheap with the nozzle if you wish, as it's dropped often and won't matter. But make sure you do not store the hose with the nozzle attached for any long periods of time (especially if you have hard water). The best way to go about the hose situation, is to get a kink-free heavy duty hose, high quality nozzle, quick connects from the faucet to the hose, and from the hose to the nozzle, and a hose caddy.

Any other advice to share? Any hose caddy recommendations?

Sprinkles

We have all kinds of sprinklers on our property. We've got the standard pop up kind:

A slightly taller and older pop up kind:

The really tall stationary kind:

The kind that I mow over:

And the old timey kind:

The last one's my favorite. Because it sprays high. And you can run through it. And so can dogs. Know anything about sprinklers? Do they have more technical names?

VD

I know I'm really late in posting this but this is what I found outside on Valentine's day (aside from dog poo):

Fascinated? Need a close up?

Where's it's head? What's wrong with it's face?

Oh, that explains it. It's part of it's skull.

And to answer any possible questions, yes I found this fascinating. But still gross. So I didn't save it like I did the katydid, hummingbird or mouse skeleton. Would you?

Wish List

Each year for the past several years, we've requested no gifts for the holidays. Why? Well here, let me list the reasons, I love any opportunity for a list:

1. We don't live near any family, so everything would have to be shipped
2. Space is precious and limited (especially when we still lived in the apartment) so we don't need any more 'stuff'
3. This automatically eliminates any possible stress (did I mention I hate shopping?) on what to get us
4. This saves everyone money (we couldn't be happy knowing our gifts are breaking our loves ones' banks)
5. If gifts are a must we've suggested options of consumable items, handmade items, or inexpensive items
6. This directs the holiday's focus on the more important things rather than the materialistic, like sending a card with a nice message that we are missed and loved
   
7. And if a card was forgotten, a phone call would make us just as happy
8. Cash. We will accept cold hard cash. Just kidding. Or are we?
   

Since we've started this tradition of breaking tradition, we've received handmade items, food baskets, wine. And everyone has been on board with the idea!

Even though we request no gifts, it doesn't mean we don't like to dream. Here is my wish list of items I need or would love to have! Uh oh, I sense a list forming:

Image from Amazon.com

1. Bathroom vent because the one in the powder room is about to die any minute now, and it would be nice to upgrade to an integrated light
   
2. Pendant chandelier to replace the ancient one in our stairway
   
3. 2 storage ottomans to replace our coffee table which is heavy and bulky
   
4. TV console because ours is currently too low and Rylie has gnawed on the edges (thanks Rylie)
   
5. 3 bar stools to replace the ones that I sold. These have a smaller footprint.
6. Lever for the entryway door to the garage, it's the only one left in the house to switch out
7. Dimmable CFL bulbs for the chandelier in the dining room, surprisingly expensive and hard to find
8. Area rug for the living room that actually matches stuff and didn't come from a dead guy's house (we bought our current one at an estate sale where the homeowner passed away)
9. Buffet/sideboard/credenza/server/console/bar cabinet to store infrequently used kitchen things that are currently in the back of the coat closet
10. Electric hedge trimmer to keep the Creeping Fig in check
11. Roundup to show Creeping Fig who's boss
12. Power core aerator to loosen our compacted lawn (thanks dogs)
    
13. Soil pH and moisture tester to know what amendments our lawn needs
    
14. Fireplace draft stop balloon to well, stop drafts
15. Latex Window Glazing, because if you haven't noticed it's really drafty here
16. Caulking gun to apply said glazing
    
17. mailbox and new post because our mail box is rusty and won't close all the way and attached to a post that is hanging onto a retaining wall by 1 loose nail
    
18. A hard-sided cooler with drain plug to keep beers in during parties, and to keep our food in at flyball tournaments
    
19. Chiminea or outdoor fireplace because the firepit is really smokey on windy nights
    
20. More solar lights
21. Outdoor lights over our garage
22. An integrated hose and reel for the front spigot, so I can stop toting the one from the back
    
23. Artificial grass for the incline
24. Wheelbarrow for future lawn redo and possibly to cart around a dog or two around the neighborhoods so that we can cement our role as the neighborhood dog freaks

What's on your wish list? It's fun to come up with one even if no one reads it...

House Decency - part 9

It may not seem like it after cutting out old drywall and putting in a new piece but raking and general cleaning outside was a lot of work. Let me list the reasons:

1. Raking on an incline is not fun.
   
2. Raking a mostly dirt area is dusty.
   
3. The incline is full of not only dirt, but also little rocks.
   
4. Piles of leaves and little rocks can be heavy.
   
5. At the bottom of the incline is our patio. which meant it got really dirty before getting clean.
   
6. Ditto for the patio furniture.
7. It's autumn so the wind blows. Wind made plants move and therefore I got poked - make that stabbed, directly in my right eyeball by a stiff New Zealand Flax.
8. It's autumn and the leaves won't stop dropping so it's somewhat futile. And the results are really short lived.

After all that labor, we were able to start cleaning it up:


We swept the patio. Hosed off the patio furniture. Hosed down the patio. Scrubbed the cooler.



And then I scored these door mats at Target for $2.50 each (I got 1 for each set of sliding doors). They're great because not only are they dirt cheap (pun intended) but they are wider than most mats, and the boyfriend has a thing for roosters.

The front patio required very little work. Just sweeping, moving some plants around, and placing a couple chairs and moving the coffee table under here:

We decided to hang my house number sign here. It matches the coffee table and the door. And makes sense to put it in the front of the house, right?

Does it look like a lot of effort into this? Probably not.

Garden Grounds

A few weeks ago, I came across this at Starbucks:


I hadn't seen this in over 4 years, so I thought they had stopped doing it. And of course 4 years ago I did not have a garden. Or plants, really. But now, I have a use maybe even a need for this!

This is a bag of old coffee grounds that can be used in your garden. It's supposed to be beneficial to your garden. And best of all, it's being kept out of a landfill.


The bag states that it can be used directly to your garden or plants or your compost. Since we are regular coffee drinkers at home, I already have a regular supply of grounds going into the compost, so I decided to use this for my Azalea shrub.

So I guess we'll see what happens in the spring...

Dung It

This post is about excrement (doggy doo - excited?). And more specifically, how I choose to bag it. If you have read this post and this post, then you would certainly understand this post.

I don't buy poop bags because I'm cheap. And it's just money into the trash (I was going to say down the drain but that wouldn't be technically correct). So I reuse existing bags that otherwise would go into a landfill empty.

1. Newspaper bag (I shred and toss the newspaper into the compost)
2. Small shopping bag from Jo-Ann (watch out for those cut out handles!)
   
3. Bag that SOLO plastic cups come in
4. Bag that Rite Aid plastic cups come in
5. Bag that Shoppers Value plastic cups come in
   
6. Hardware store bag that hold nuts, bolts, screws (extra tough but a little too short to tie big poo)
   

1. Bread bag (long and sturdy for those messy poops that require pulling up grass with it)
2. Tortilla bag (not quite long enough to tie easily, so reserve this for little dry turdlets that can be contained with that thin ziplock seal)
3. English muffin bag (a slimmer version of the bread bag)
4. Shredded carrots bag (same use as tortilla bag, see #2! No pun intended)
   
5. Produce bag (this is the ultimate, it will never fail you if you snag them unused. They're long and can be stuffed easily into your pocket and have a large capacity. One of these suckers can rid a whole yard of well-formed-excrement in one go. The only downside is that they are clear so if you are on a walk, others will see the lovely contents you are toting around.)

With 4 dogs here for a week, that meant a lot of poop at various times of the day in assorted sizes, shapes, colors and smells. So I got creative with my turd baggage. If you have any other suggestions, let me know - gosh dung it!