a remarkable week

Good evening.
 Sorry for the lack of posts. I guess I've just been lazy.  :-)
I cleaned the Salon this morning. Craig and I went for our power walk, and back home, we mowed the yard and I weeded and deadheaded.
It's been quite the week nationally. First, I get to keep my health insurance thanks to the supreme court ruling all states can get a subsidy, and then the most unexpected supreme court ruling that says the 38 years Craig and I have been together means as much as any other relationship.
I've never said anything like this on my blog before, but Craig and I feel we're as much of a committed couple as anyone. And although I've seen on Facebook that a number of my 'friends' don't feel the same about these issues, maybe it's time to rethink who really are my 'friends'.
But enough of that.
At the Salon, we have been coerced into upgrading our charge card terminal.
Starting in October, we have to have a terminal that will accept the new charge cards with a computer chip.
Our current one.....

the Zon jrXL can only swipe the magnetic cards. Our new one....

The Djavoo X8s will do both of them.
We got it set up Wed. and I really like the ease and simplicity of it.
In other news....
We settled on a Realtor, and she is coming out tomorrow to discuss the listing. Also, we are going to start looking at apartments, to get an idea what's available, and what we might like.
But now, I'm getting tired, so time for bed.

my house isn't worth crap!

Good morning.
It was a busy weekend. Monday morning, the tech showed up from TDS and determined the wire coming from the box by the road to the house was bad. So he ran a temporary wire and someone is suppose to come out later to bury it. We'll see.
The realtor also showed up and gave us a really thorough presentation. I was impressed. So far we've had 2 presentations, and I'm expecting a third sometime this week. Unfortunately, it's appearing our house isn't worth near as much as I was thinking it might be. I look at the house and see all the really good things about it and ignoring the important  negative things, like it's a really small house. And it's in an industrial zone.
Sooo, reality is setting in on what we can actually get for the house. I'm one of the many home owners who think their house is worth more than it really is.   :-(
Oh well, it is what it is.
And with the reality of maybe moving in the near future to an apartment, we are again going through closets and cupboards, really taking a hard look at what we want to move. And here's a bunch more stuff for the next sale.....

And I had already gone through the kitchen. At least I thought I did.  :-)
Tuesday, Craig mowed the yard, and I did more weeding and deadheading. We received another nearly 3 inches of rain between Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning. Fortunately, no bad storms or damage here.
Now, it's back to work.

a busy Sunday

Good morning.
It was a beautiful day yesterday, and we spent the biggest part outside.
We burned up a pile of branches and boxes and boxes of papers.
During the winter, when I went through every closet, drawer and cupboard, I neglected one area......Craig's closet.
Mainly because he stores all the papers from work in there and I don't mess with his stuff.  :-)
Well, he discovered he had a few things I could have put in our past sale, like his old 35mm camera and tripod and a slew of old papers he didn't need to keep any more. Like stuff from 1993!
Soooo, he went through a lot of it and  kept just the last 7 years. I had enough paper to fill a hundred shredders, so I hauled it all out to the burning hole and burned them up. Took a big part of the afternoon, but will save me weeks of shredding.  :-)
And the camera and stuff I'll add to the already growing pile for our final sale. I'm already running across more stuff we won't take to Vegas or an apartment.
This morning, I worked on the storage/compost area of the yard. Bagged up a bunch of old pots and stuff to haul into the dumpster at work this morning.
 Then we need to be back here for the realtor at 10am.
So time for me to go.

almost the weekend

Good morning.
It's been a fairly busy week in the Salon, although I have a short day today. After work, we'll go for a walk and have a late lunch at Reno's. It's suppose top be partly sunny and 78 today, and Reno's has a nice outdoor patio. Then we'll head over to Staples to buy a new paper shredder. Ours is about worn out, and Craig has a lot of papers that need to be gotten rid of before we move.He saves everything way to long.
And here's a few more pics of the yard.....

Our home phone is acting weird. When someone calls, instead of the usual ring, it has a very short ring. Then, there is no caller ID showing and the answering machine doesn't pick up. There is also quite a loud background buzzing noise. I went through the trouble shooting that was listed on the website. Unplugged every phone and modem and replugged each and checked. I even went out to the outside box and plugged a phone in there and still the same. So they are sending out a tech on Monday. We're also meeting a second realtor on Monday. He will be presenting a marketing plan. We're received one yesterday and a third should be sometime next week. It will be interesting to see how close they each are.
Well, time to get going.

well, it's Wednesday

Good morning.
Well, it's Wednesday, so that must mean back to work.  :-(
But, it was a fairly productive weekend. We had two Realtors out to look at the house and property. One on Monday, and one on Tuesday. They both commented on how well the house will show. Guess I've done a good job cleaning and  clearing. I had read that removing as much 'stuff' off counters will make the place more appealing and less 'lived in'.  Everything in the kitchen is off the counters and put away, and the bathroom has only a soap dish on the counter. I remember looking at homes in Vegas and some peoples kitchens and bathrooms were chocked full of crap.  It takes a wee bit more time to fix food and get ready in the morning, but once you get used to it, it's really quite easy. And it sure looks nice and neat!  :-)
I've even removed any pictures that have people in them. They say you don't want prospective buyers having a mental image of the owners. That supposedly lets them more easily visualize the home as theirs. The Realtors will be back next week with their recommendations on price, sale time and such. I'm hoping to get another realtor here later this week.
Here's the spot where our well was..... 

Filled in with dirt and seeded.
For dinner on Monday, I grilled chicken thighs and Craig made pasta salad.

And here's a couple of garden pics....

I also cleaned out the eve-troughs and did a bunch of weeding.
Also, Rose Pest Solutions came out to check the termite bait stations and..........no termites!
Now time to get ready for work.

another rainy day

Good afternoon.
Well, another rainy day. At least it was dry this morning and we were able to get the grass mowed before the rain started.
And here's a couple of pics showing how fast our little creek rises and falls

The big rock in the lower right corner is the same one in both pics.

 And the Peonies in the bottom of the top two pics are the same. I was just a little closer in one pic.
So the water has dropped a lot in one day. Should be back at a normal flow in a couple more days.
In other news.......
Rose Pest Solutions came out for our twice yearly bait check.
Yay!  No termites!
And I'm not sure I mentioned this in a previous posts, but we've decided to sell the house early and move into an apartment.  We had a realtor come out this morning to check out our house.
 We decided since it could take time to sell the house, we wanted to get rid of it now and then we won't have the hassle of trying to do everything when we are finally ready to move to Vegas. And I certainly won't miss all the yard work!
We have another Realtor coming out tomorrow morning. We plan on 'interviewing' several before we settle on one.
And that's all I've got for this afternoon.

too wet

Good morning.
I've just returned from cleaning the Salon.
It is pouring rain this morning. Actually, it's been raining pretty much since Thursday evening. My rain gauge says we've gotten 4 inches since Thursday. 3 of those inches since yesterday.
On the way home from the Salon, I've seen standing water where I've never seen it.
But it was a busy week in the Salon. Glad for the weekend.
I did finally sell the counter top dishwasher. I hope. They are suppose to come by this morning to get it.
And with the forecast, it looks like it will be an indoor day today.
I think I'll do more downsizing. I'm going to go through closets again and see if there is any thing else I really don't use/need. I like lightening up my life.
And no pics, maybe if it ever stops raining.
That's it for now.

And then, the well

Good morning.
After our usual running on Monday morning, I put the dresser and night stand on Craig's List. I was surprised it didn't sell during the yard sale. Anyway, I priced it a bit higher than the yard sale, and with-in an hour, it was sold.  :-)
I also listed the counter top dishwasher, but no takers. Not sure what I'll end up doing with that.
I spent the rest of the day working around the yard.
Monday afternoon, while enjoying cocktails on the deck, my chair did a slow motion collapse. It was really quite humorous. First, the back gave way which led to arms separating and finally the legs giving out until it was completely folded flat.
So that was first on our Tuesday agenda.
Went to several places looking for an inexpensive replacement with no luck until Menard's. I dislike those Adirondack chairs. They're to low and the back is too angled. Found a nice green plastic high back chair. Ended up buying 2 of them so they at least match. Will keep the other for company.
Also, the well company came out and pulled the old pump from the well.
The well is located in front of the shed, behind the garage.

 The truck was able to get to it down the side of the garage where we use to park the mo-ho.

 And finally, the pump itself. 185 feet of pipping they pulled out to reach the pump.

 I dug out the patio stones around the well, and now it's ready for them to cut off the pipe once the concrete is poured.

Today, they come back to pour concrete in the well to permanently seal it. Then they will cut the pipe off one ft below grade. Then paperwork is submitted to the state that this abandoned well has been properly sealed.
That was one more thing that had to be done before we can sell the house.
I also finished painting the trim around the garage doors. Slowly but surely getting things done.   :-)
Now it's back to work.

yard sale success!

Good morning.
I've just returned from cleaning the Salon.
It's a wet rainy morning.
Fortunately, yesterday I made it through the yard sale with only a few sprinkles here and there.
Here's a pic near the start of the sale.....

I had 6 tables full of stuff and numerous boxes more. Then a whole bunch of larger items I spread out on the gravel area next to the driveway.
When we packed up what was left at the end of the day, I was 40% over what I had hoped to get.   :-)
We kept 2 boxes of things I think I can sell in the next sale if I redo the prices, and the rest we bagged up and I took it in to the dumpster at work this morning. I'm always amazed at the stuff people buy. I would guess nearly 75% of the stuff I sold I would have easily thrown away. Remember the portable decking I tore out on the back patio? I sold all that in the sale!
Anyway, we got rid of a lot of stuff! Our next and last sale when we sell the house should be a bit more manageable.  :-)
Now time to go and do our usual Monday running.

Rain, rain, stay away. At least until later.

Good morning.
Finished a busy week in the Salon and headed over to Reno's for a late lunch and to enjoy the mild sunny weather.
Came home and finished a few things around the yard.
Here's a few more pics.......

And no cleaning the Salon this morning. That will have to wait until tomorrow morning as I'm having a HUGE yard sale today. I've spent the winter clearing out closets, drawers, and cupboards. The garage is stuffed! The forecast is for rain this afternoon. My sale is listed for 8-4.  Hope it stays away a little longer.   :-)
Now time to shower and get the driveway set up!

garden pics

Good morning.
It's been a fairly busy week in the Salon, and I'm booked today and tomorrow.
And here's what's currently blooming in the garden......

Now I'm off to work.

another busy productive weekend

Good morning.
It's been a busy 2 days.  I painted the front patio on Monday. I also replaced a vent cover. More on that in a bit.
I took a bunch of pics for my yard sale next Sunday. Craig's list now lets you post unlimited pics for your sale. Very nice.
I also placed an ad in the local paper. $28.00 Want to get as many people here as possible. Now, I just hope it doesn't rain.  :-)
I got an e-mail this morning about a breach at Sally Beauty. One of the several places we buy salon supplies from. So now I need to check my charge card statement several times a week to make sure I wasn't one of the compromised accounts.
I also cleaned the grill. painted the vent cover,  re-caulked the picture windows, and spot treated the lawn.
Here's the before and after of the grill......

 The vent cover is in the lower left of the picture.

 Back in the 50's, it had a door that milk, which was delivered back then, was put in side of it. The metal door had rusted years ago, and we covered the hole with a board, and a gable vent cover since we couldn't possibly match the brick.
Over the last 30 years, it had gotten bent and worn, so time to replace.
We found a plastic cover, covered the vents with trim board and caulked it in place.
Looks good!
Then I scraped and re-caulked the 3 picture windows. They almost look like new!

 And for dinner, Craig made another delish meal!
Grilled pork cutlets, 0ven roasted Cauliflower.

And grilled seasoned potatoes

Yummy, Yummy!
And the mommy duck that was nesting under a holly bush about 20 ft from our deck finally hatched her babies. We came home yesterday to find her and 4 little duckling in our pond. They hung around a bit, then mommy duck led them across the yard and out toward the back woods and fields, never to be seen again.
Now time for another work week.....at the Salon.

indoor Sunday

Good morning.
Well, yesterday was definitely and indoor day. Although the rain subsided in the early afternoon, it was windy and cold, with a high of only 51.  :-(
Sooo, I spent most the day painting. I finished the living room ceiling. Now the entire house is painted except a few doors.
And as what is fairly normal for crappy weather days, Craig fixed a tasty dinner.
 he made a potato, ham casserole and I did oven roasted carrots.

These carrots are really easy and really good!
clean the carrots, cut thicker ones so all are about the same size. Toss in a zip-lock bag with 2 Tbl olive oil, 1 tsp each of balsamic vinegar, garlic and thyme. Bake at 400 for 30-45 min. or until tender. Yum!

For Craig's casserole, he used one box of scalloped potatoes, one box of hash brown potatoes, sauteed onions and peppers, leftover ham cut into bite sized pieces, and baked at 325 for 45 minutes.
I also went online and ordered a medicare brochure. Craig will be 65 this next Jan. and we need to start figuring out all there is about medicare and the different parts and costs. Craig also had a customer Saturday whose on medicare and said to call the Tri-County Office on Aging. They can sit down with you and help navigate all the different parts. I think he'll do that as he gets closer to signing up.
And today looks to warm up a bit, so hopefully I'll get out and get some outside stuff done.
Now time to get going.