On one of my lunch breaks from work, I scored a $5 timer at Goodwill, still in the package. I knew exactly what it was for. I installed it last weekend on my mantle/front deck lights. I sat down tonight with a snack and waited, thinking about that very scene. At about 5:20pm, the little redwood tree lit up, followed immediately by the rest. My reaction was pure delight.
I'm easily amused. And very grateful now to come home from work with the deck lights already on so I don't have to fumble in the dark. Exactly what it was for.
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| Fan sends the warm air out into the room. Brilliant. |
It's another non-trialing 3-day weekend. Stoked! What to do after sleeping in? Well, coffee. Duh. After which I got out a ladder and went up on the roof and swept off a whole bunch of redwood crap. And cleaned the gunk out of the wire screen that surrounds the chimney top so the smoke would go up and out, and not into my living room. The chimney is on the edge of the front of the roof. Once my neighbor asked me why I was on my roof. I was thinking about that today. Well ... gee ... because who else is going to do it? It needed to be done and the redwoods and the smoke don't care that I have a fear of heights. And the back side is 2 stories high. eek.
I got a bonus this afternoon. A few weeks ago I noticed that a bay tree in my back yard had decided to bend at a 90* angle about 4' up its trunk, and hang the rest of its 30' or so across my back yard, parallel to the ground. Very strange. Concerned, I asked my neighbor if he might help me take it down. Welp, this afternoon he came over and felled it with a hacksaw. YESSS!!!! Then cut it into pieces with his chainsaw, and piled it up in the yard. With a smile and some good conversation. I'll happily clear the pile out.
First big smile I had all day. The second one was when the mantle lights came on.
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| Hey lady! Where's the agility equipment? |
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| View from the back of the deck |
I also cleaned up the back deck. Swept out years of cobwebs from beneath the eaves, and the ever-present redwood leavings off the deck. I need a new deck pdq. When my foot went though a board this afternoon, I marched out to my bike shed and grabbed another piece of wood to cover the hole. Again. That's the 4th hole. Two quotes last year came in too high for this homeowner, and of course more to replace the funky, breezy sliding glass doors, flimsy fence and broken gate. Opportunities abound!
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| Two of the four holes |
I work hard every day. I love my job and don't want to find another. And it doesn't pay enough for a new deck. I've been struggling with that for awhile now. Ignore it? RIGHT. Sell the house? MAYBE. Rent with dogs? HAH! NOT IN SANTA CRUZ! The most dog unfriendly county ever when it comes to rentals. And even if I had the energy to get a second job at night, it could take a few years to fund it. So, thinking of setting up a GoFundMe. Only it feels so selfish - it's not for anyone but me - and my wonderful renter. Well, it is for the dogs. They're worth it. Right?
I'll think about it some more over some popcorn and Downton Abbey.
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