Tag Archives: chores

Because I sod we would…

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Rock wall repair completed, it was time to tackle the grass-less section of dirt. We’ve been abnormally dry for the past few months and our lush green lawn was anything but. The weeds? They’re doing just fine. 😡

We tried seeding the bald area, but of course the minute we did that… we had a gushing thunderstorm that washed it all into the ditch. Enter some strategically placed sod.

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I’ve never sodded anything before so the fact that it came in nicely rolled little burritos tickled my funny bone.

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The color doesn’t exactly match….

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But it’s close enough for a ditch and will hopefully blend over time.

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Trying to keep it moist enough to root will be a bit of a challenge with the drought….

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But for $40 it was a quick efficient fix.

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Because I’m evil that way.

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Since the husband wasted our entire July 4th holiday weekend rebuilding the stone wall, before his helper left on the last day… I had my revenge.

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And got them to put up the two missing shutters. You know, the ones that had blown off the house 4 years ago and the husband never got around to fixing.

That’s the husband stuck in the unforgiving shrubbery under the shutters.

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Getting a ladder in there was no easy task.

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But together they made quick work of it.

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And the (extremely old, faded, really need to be painted or replaced with new) shutters were back in place.

It didn’t totally make up for missing fireworks and alcohol fueled celebrations, but I take what I can get.

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From Hell it came….

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Moving around the corner of the house with the husband’s new toy….

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More shrubbery was tamed. (Yes, I’m aware we’re missing a few shutters. They’re in the garage, where they’ve been since they blew off the house 4 years ago. That’s how long I’ve been bugging the husband to put them back up. 😖 )

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And in the other corner?

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The flowering quince bush from Hell. I annually curse whoever planted this abomination of a plant.

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Every year we wack it down.

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And every year it grows back up to the roofline. If we let it go unchecked? I believe it would swallow the house in one gulp.

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It’s pretty when it blooms, and yes….

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It produces (inedible) quince fruit, but it’s an utter nightmare the rest of the year. Did I mention the beast is also full of thorns? Good times when you have to gather it up, stuff it in a garden cart and haul it down to the woods, over and over again.

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The woods that are wayyyy down there. At times it seemed like the trimming would never end.

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But we finally got it down to the last few branches.

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Before….

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And many sweaty hours after….

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Is it pretty? No.

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Heck, with the husband wielding the trimmer it isn’t even straight. But it’s smaller… and we can see out the windows again.

That’s a win when battling demonic shrubbery.

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Guttering and gardening.

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The new guttering installation continued and moved to the back deck.

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Where a lovely rose I planted last year is starting to bloom.

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And since things were not going smoothly with said installation….

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I concentrated on the gardening.

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Look… my first gay feather!

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Installation complete, it was time for the hose.

The water test did not go well.

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Not well at all ….

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So…. peonies!

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And Lord Dudley Mountcatten who was watching water leak from the gutters through an open window. When the cursing started, I moved around front.

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To the old stone garden bed under the crabapple tree the previous owners had made. I added some hostas and New Guinea impatiens this year.

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And constantly wonder why they didn’t use the same size stones all the way around.

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Of gutters and baby woodchucks.

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Last weekend I was reading on the barn porch, enjoying the view of the neighbor’s farm…

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And of our other neighbor walking by….

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When suddenly my view changed.

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Because the husband decided it was time ( after I bugged him for 7… Yes, 7 years. ) to put up a gutter.

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I’ll spare you the four hour nightmare of angles, cutting, bracketing, ladder placement and yes a good bit of cursing as well…

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And get right to the cute stuff.

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A baby woodchuck.

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Make that two baby woodchucks. It’s summer and the little scampers are peaking out from under the barn. Totally adorable. And much more fun to watch than this…

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Especially since the gutter leaked like Hell the first time it rained.

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More notebooks we all need.

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In case you’re still searching for stocking stuffers.

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Does that come in extra large?

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That one will fill up quickly.

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Admit it, you’ve had a few of those yourself.

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Sad, but true for a lot of people.

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“…. because I spend too much time blogging”.

Is there a notebook for that?

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I’m going to require an extra large one of those as well.

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My husband mistakenly touched my vinyl album collection last week. It’s large, and alphabetized.

Need I say more?

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