Sunday, July 28, 2013

WASH CLOSET

So I tripped the other day… being so agile and dainty, I reached for the towel rack and ripped the sucker right out of the wall. It somehow exploded on contact.I don’t know how I manage these things, I really don’t.

 

Needless to say I ran to TJmax and bought a new towel thingy. It seemed a bit to fancy and traditional but I decided it reminded me of ponies and now I like it. RIP former towel rack. Perhaps I will stop being taking my beastly rage on bathroom accessories. (sorry M+N about your towel rack!).

 

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Does anyone else love those cheap soap bottles from target by orla kelly?

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That time I did something like cleaning.

 

Because of all the rain/ flood/ monsoon like weather we’ve been having around here, our brick patina has morphed into a slimy green algae monster.

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and the front of the house aint’ looking so hot either:

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Gross right?

My dad thoughtfully let me borrow his pressure washer so I could clean her up a bit. This was a double blessing because I finally got some more free bricks to finish the patio project. I was short about a hundred and thanks to my mother in law we have the rest. They even match for the most part (what are the odds?). The ones we found were covered in mortar, so the pressure washer was an easier tool to get that off before laying them.

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My first step was to lock my dog in the bathroom ( I’d usually say chicken coop, but seemingly juneau now understands that she’s trapped and communicates via BARK BARK BARK (( I’m upset, let me out)) times like 700. ). In the bathroom she just thinks she has personal control over our air vent. I’d usually just let her in the house but since we have a bunny now,  we have to make sure there's at least two closed doors between those two. Juneau has the cunning of a velociraptor from Jurassic park when it comes to opening doors.

She actually opened the backyard gate and went on a grand adventure this week. I’d tell you about it but you can just read this story instead because it’s like 95% the same thing.

Having never used a pressure washer before, it’s surprisingly very tiring to squeeze the handle for long periods of time. I’m a weakling, I know! I found that there was a magical height between holding it to close and getting to little done, and holding it to far away where it lost it’s effectiveness. None the less it was actually kind of fun in that it’s-a-flamethrower-scorch-those-algae-enemy's kind of way.

And rewarding?! see her sparkle **zing**zing

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generally speaking I’m against lists and agendas and plans but for the sake of getting er done, here’s what's left to do on the patio:

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1. move around and adjust the existing bricks so they are straight again (since they've  been outside with everyone walking all over them and nothing to hold them down).

2. switch any bricks that are too close in color, and mix up the two loads so you can’t tell they are two batches.

3. putty knife off any remaining mortar

4. possibly rent a wet saw for the end corners nearest the wall

5. wait for a dry day with no chance of rain (which might be next year at this rate)

6. fill in with polymeric sand, brush off top

7. wet the sand with a hose and let it work it’s magic

we’re still debating the fire pit area as weather to move it and fill in that corner with bricks and relocate it farther from the house/ or make a pizza oven instead of fire pit.

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Ultimately my plan for the back yard might involved building a table that we can use during gatherings. I’d love to spray something on the bricks so they don’t' collect so much mold. Also, just mowing the grass every once in a while…perhaps I shouldn’t be so ambitious if I can’t get that done regularly! I swear it grows a foot a day.

If it gets to tall there's always the fear of this:

 

(I figure you get extra blogging points if you can fit dinosaur references in your posts twice.)

Friday, July 19, 2013

BAXTER the BUNNY

 

It’s always amazing to me how many animals we rescue at the park. Someone took a litter of bunnies and let them loose near the picnic shelters. One of the camp councilors caught this little fellow and he came home with me because the shelters are full. After a  little loving and bribing with lettuce, he’ll come sit in your lap. He’s very cautious, which probably helped his survival since we have so  many coyotes and foxes. I think that since he’s so young, he’ll recover and be a friendly little fellow.

I really wanted to keep him, but we’re in the process of finding him some parents. Turns out I am very allergic to rabbit fur. Also Juneau would consider him a tasty snack and he doesn’t need the stress in his life.

The cutest part is watching him clean his paws after he eats.

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Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Garden

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Scrugger’s Web

 

There was a morning, not too long ago, where I scrambled out of bed and threw on my work clothes and dashed out the door. from my car door handle to the porch, a spider had slaved over a masterpiece. Geometrically connected gossamer strands, rhythmically attached at intervals. The spider crouched, enjoying the morning and the dew drops… waiting for her bug-snack.

I would have noticed all of this and appreciated her art, excepted I walked into it face first. the frantic spider squirmed and wriggled to get free but she  was permanently wrapped in her sticky web to my face. After a fantastic rendition of the “footloose” dance, e few eews and eeeehs! We recovered, the spider was send scurrying off. The poor thing, all her work from the night was ruined, but not in vain.

Boom: life lesson. From here on out I shall remember to do two things always:

1. Check for spiders

2. Slow down

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