a quick post

Hello,

I got out of work early today and decided I should do a post.
It was pretty much a non-event weekend. After a crazy busy week in the Salon, we stopped at Reno's after work Saturday for a beer and popcorn.
 Over the weekend, I washed the mo-ho and 2 cars, weeded and deadheaded in the garden, cleaned the bathroom, vacuumed and mowed the yard.
It's been a very rainy summer with above average rain fall every month so far. I've never seem the grass look so green this late in August.
We've been walking nearly every day, and with blood tests tomorrow it will be interesting to see how much it's helped, if any.
And still no word on the house. Next Monday will be 5 months.  :-\
 We did manage to try a new dish Monday,

 Honey-Sriracha Chicken Foil Packet. 
It was quite tasty! And very easy!  If your interested, the recipe is here.
Now time for dinner. I have to stop eating by 7pm so I'll be able to do blood tests in the morning.

It's always something

Good morning.
It's been another very busy week in the Salon.
To top that off, yesterday, while I was finishing up a customer, I hear a loud noise coming from the back supply room, then a cry for help!
I run back to find a geyser shooting up from the sink where a faucet handle use to be. I quickly opened the door underneath and turned off the water.

The handle had corroded through and snapped off when she tried to turn it on. During a small break in customers, I ran out and picked up a new one. Surprisingly, the old one came off quite easily. I expected all the connections would have been corroded too, but I got lucky. Until trying to disconnect the water lines and the connector on the cold line disintegrated while removing it. I did manage to get the hot line reconnected so we at least could use the sink. I'll stop at Menard's on the way to work this morning to pick up another water line.
It's always something, right?
Now time to go.

a busy week

Good morning.
I can't believe it's been a week since I last posted! But then It was an extremely busy week.
I was completely booked last week even working late Friday and Saturday.
Came home Saturday afternoon and just vegged on the deck.
Sunday morning, after I cleaned the Salon, we headed over to Muskegon to spend the day with my Mom. August is her birthday month, and I usually can't make it there on her actual birthday due to my work schedule, so I go when I can. Cut her hair, took out her trash, and went through a pile of folders and papers she didn't know what to do with. I saved a few items but most I shredded or threw out. Most of them dealt with her rehab and accident back in 2010.
Then we went to lunch at Applebee's and then over to the VFW.
Stopped at the store to get  a few items for her and got her back to her apartment. The drive home was long due to a lot of traffic, road construction, and an accident that stopped us dead on the highway for about 30 minutes. When we finally reached the accident site, all I saw was a van on it's back in the median and fire trucks, police, and an ambulance on the side of the highway.  But we made it home safe.   :-)
Had a couple of cocktails on the deck, then Craig did a quick cash-out from last week, and I made us a light dinner.
Oh, and last Thursday, I received an email from our Realtor in Vegas. One of the reasons this whole short sale is taking so long is the mortgage is held by Fannie May. She said they are notoriously slow.
The listing agent escalated the file with them due to their slow response.  She said when that happens they typically see some action in about 7 days. So maybe we'll hear something this week. It's only been 4 1/2 months.  :-)
And now, time to get going.

weekend update

Good morning.
Last Saturday after work, we went to a 'celebration of life/memorial' for a customer of mine. It was a beautiful afternoon, which was good since the memorial was in their backyard. It was very nice with a few speakers and  food catered by Carrabba's.
Sunday, I did my usual Salon cleaning, and we did our walk and shopping. We also stopped at Kohl's. I had gotten a $10 coupon in the mail, and downloaded a 15% off coupon. Craig wanted some new work shoes. He didn't see anything he liked, so we hit the clearance racks and found 2 shirts. With coupons we spent $6.54. Good price!  :-)
Sunday afternoon, we mowed the yard and had turkey thighs on the grill with peppers and zucchini.
Monday, we were able to get our walk in before rain descended on us for the rest of the day.
Sooo, I spent the day indoor cleaning.
Today looks to be another rainy day. we'll see what we do. Of course, it's suppose to be sunny the rest of the week when we go back to work.   :-(
And a few more pics of the yard......

And that's it for now.

did it!

Good morning.
Well, I got home from work early and tackled putting back together the riding lawnmower.

A picture of the bottom of the deck and the missing spindle.

The top of the deck and the missing pulley.

New spindle installed and new blades put on.

New pulley

And good as new!..........Well, maybe not new, but it works! We lost the 'hood' a number of years ago when the supports rusted away. It doesn't look pretty, but runs just fine. And $65 beats the cost of a new one.
Oh, and if anyone noticed, The pic with the new blades? I put them on upside down. I didn't realize it until Craig got home and asked....."did you put the blades on right?" I thought about it and wasn't sure so I looked at these pics I took, and sure enough, I put them on wrong. Sooo, I had to go back out and reverse them. At least I didn't need to take the deck off. I was able to tip the mower up and get to them with Craig's assistance.
Now it's back to work for my last day this week, and after work, we are going to a celebration of life/memorial service for a good customer of mine.

hoping to get it fixed

Good morning.
It's been a busy week so far in the Salon.
I'm out a little early today, and happily have received the parts I need to fix the riding lawn mower.

The spindle on the left is how it is suppose to look with the bearings sealed inside.
When I get home this afternoon, I will attempt to put the mower deck back together and reattach it to the mower. Wish me luck!

It doesn't look too hard does it?   :-)

another weekend over

Good morning.
Well, it was a rather wet Monday and Tuesday, but the rest of the week should be sunny. Of course, I'm back to work.  :-\
We've had so much rain, I haven't watered the pots in the yard for nearly 3 weeks!
 I did manage to get a little yard work done and I discovered more of the foreign pond plants in the pond. So I dumped the rest of the granules in to see if I can shock it to death. I was careful not to over do it the first time, but now I don't care. What's the worst that can happen? I kill off the frogs?
Anyway, here's a few pics of the yard.......

And here's a pic of the tree in the back yard that was severely damaged by last winter's ice storm....

It's been leafing out furiously! I don't think it actually looks to bad now.   :-)
Now it's back to work.
And still no news on the house in Vegas yet. Day 127. But who's counting.   :-)

another project

Good morning.
While I worked late Saturday, Craig came home to mow.
When I got home, the front yard was done, but not the back. Craig was a sweaty mess. 
Apparently, when he started to mow, a horrible noise came from the deck of the mower, so he shut it off and did the front yard with the push mower. I fixed us drinks and we relaxed on the deck. I mowed part of the back yard with the push mower while he prepped dinner. We made a tasty taco salad.
Sunday, after I cleaned the Salon and we went for our walk, I tackled the riding mower to find what went wrong. I found this.......

A bent pulley and a destroyed spindle.

The spindle connects to the blade and goes through the deck and attaches to the pulley which is spun by the belt attached to the motor turning the blades. Whew! That was a mouth full!
The seals on the spindle for the bearings failed causing the spindle to wobble and the pulley to jam against the pulley shield bending it.
Sooo, I went online to upstate outdoor power equipment. 
They carry parts for just about any mower ever built including my 17 year old MTD mower. I ordered a new pulley and spindle.
So when the parts arrive, I'll try and put it all back together again.   :-)
I then finished mowing the rest of the back yard with the push mower and did some trimming.
I hope the parts come soon. I have a big yard to mow.   :-)

hail in August?

Good morning.
It's been a crazy busy week in the Salon and today is packed also. I'm starting at 7am this morning and going non-stop until about 3pm.
Got home from work yesterday afternoon to experience this.....

That's right, hail. In August. In Michigan. It's been the craziest year for weather. Most of the summer has been cool and wet.
We had a meatless tasty meal for dinner. I wish I would have taken pics. But we had Fajita's. We used Morning Star Farms Grillers and roasted green peppers, red peppers and onions with flour tortillas.
Sliced the peppers and onions, tossed with olive oil and baked at 450 for 20 minutes. Cooked the grillers until the outside was crispy. Sliced them into strips. Added them to a tortilla coated with a light sour cream and mayo coating. Added the veggies. Added some 2% shredded Italian cheese. Folded and micro-ed for a few minuted to melt the cheese and ate. Delicious!
Now off to work!