And back to work

Good morning.
Another cold wet morning, thanks to Sandy. Winds have dies down a lot, but the clouds and rain are expected to continue for the next couple of days.
Sooo, another day stuck inside. We of course did our usual running around. Looked for a replacement belt for our lawn mower, but had no luck. Back home I searched online to discover our mower is 15 years old. The model number I punched in showed the mower was a 1997 model. Didn't realize we'd had it that long.  I was able to find a belt online. It took a little searching to find a decent price. You have to be careful, because a good list price will not reflect the actual cost when shipping is figured in. I found shipping costs anywhere from $8 to $19. I'm thinking they get you with a low list price, but you end up paying the same or more than other sites. The companies web site wanted $53 with shipping, I found it at Upstate Power Equipment for a final cost of $48.
Spent the rest of the day playing on the puter.
We did try a new chicken recipe for dinner. Herb Chicken with an apricot/mustard sauce with roasted butternut squash and onions.

We added steamed broccoli for a very tasty meal! Of course, if your interested, the recipe is here.
I'm heading into the Salon early today. Our calendars were delivered yesterday, and I need to count, divide, and write up invoices for each staff for their share of the order.
So time to get ready and get going.

the Sandy effect

Good morning.
Yes, I'm going to talk about Sandy also.  Former huricane Sandy that is.
Here in Michigan, we're really feeling the effects this super large storm as it's spreading through the entire Northeast, into the Midwest.

At 6am this morning, you can see the wind bands extending all the way back into Michigan. The wind started picking up yesterday morning, and right now we have wind speeds of 20 -25 with gusts to 40. It's forecast to be like this all day.

The purple area shows we are under a wind advisory

You can also see that clouds cover the entire great lakes down through the Ohio valley.
So for the last 2 days, it's been cold, cloudy, and windy, and this morning, rain/sleet. Yuk!
I should be happy we have power and no flooding.  :-)
So the last couple of days, I've got a lot of indoor cleaning done. I've finished puting all the mo-ho stuff I brought in, into plastic tubs for winter storage.
I took the mo-ho in for an oil change, generator service, and a 14 point inspection. They said plugs, hoses, etc. all looked good.
I also got Craig's homepage switched from igoogle to Netvibes.
I also picked up a new leaf blower/vac. My old one was getting to be a real hassle to keep running. The new one will be nice.  :-)
Though I won't be using it anytime soon, with another day of wind and rain forecast. Looks like I'll be indoors again today. Maybe next weekend.
That's all I've got for now.

It's time for my weekend

Good morning.
 I've just returned from cleaning the Salon, and it's a crisp 38 out this morning, going for a high of only 48.
I got out of work a little early yesterday. Early enough, to come home and get more leaves up.Yesterday was going to be the nicest day of the entire weekend, as daily temps are forecast to plummet the next few days. The trees are getting quite bare now and It should only be one more mowing in about a week, and they will all be done. That will be nearly a record for having all the leaves done so early. In past years, I'm mowing them right up into Thanksgiving weekend.
But before that, I'll need to replace the belt on the riding mower that broke.  :-(
I had to finish mowing up the leaves with the push mower.
With that done, I still had time to clean up the portable gas grill we take with us in the mo-ho.

Looks pretty good for a 7 year old grill.
Ans I've even got another late bloomer in the yard.

This is called a Toad Lily. Cute little flowers on a mass of plants. For some reason, they are blooming a little later than usual.

And Craig made pizza for dinner. Yum!

And the the guy came out about the water heater. Apparently, over the years, I have sealed up our house to the point the dryer has no surplus air to exhaust without pulling it down the water heater exhaust, so he's going to raise the vent 6 inches, and add an outside air return in the laundry room with a valve we can open when we do laundry, and close when we're not. That will supply the dryer with the extra air it needs without bringing air in to the entire house.
Okay, now it's time for a shower and get lazy bones up.   :-0

Really?

Good morning.
I'm pleased to announce, my back is back!   :-)
There was no aching yesterday morning.  I will continue to do the exercises, at least for a while and will  try to do them semi regularly to keep my back in shape.
In other news....
I've got a customer I've done for many years. She's divorced and lives alone. Her one daughter lives in Dallas. She comes in every 4 weeks for cut and color. Occasionally, she asks to post date a check for a week as she is sometimes low on cash. She has been helping support her daughter in Dallas while she was in law school. She's been helping her daughter for years. I think she's coddling her too much. Any time she calls, her mom sends her money.  I'm thinking, come on! she's 38! She should be supporting herself! Anyway, yesterday she comes in, say she too poor to get the haircut. And could she post date a check. She's been sending a lot of money to her daughter. I find out her daughter has just gotten a divorce after just 10 months of marriage where the husband never had a job. I also find out my customer sent her money for an abortion too. I'm thinking, this girl woman is a mess! So I say when do you want the check deposited. She say could you hold it until Nov 9th? I'm thinking 2 weeks? Really? I say "sure. That will be fine".
 I know, I'm such a nice guy.  :-)
It's been a busy week in the Salon, and today I'm  working later than usual which is fine as our short warm spell has ended and we may even get some of that icky white stuff before the weekend is over.
And here's a few pics from the yard I took last weekend...

Pretty late fall colors.

And surprisingly, as late as it is, grass coming in nicely in the second flower bed reduction area.
After work today, I've got another person coming out to take a look at the water heater issue. We decided to try the guy that put in the new water heater at the Salon. He seems very knowledgeable and very reasonable.  I'll let you know what we decide to do.
Have a great weekend!

back and weekend update

Good morning.
Well, it's been a nice warm last couple of days, but also very wet.

After mowing up all the leaves on Monday, it rained Monday night, and this is what I saw Tuesday morning.

Even more leaves than when we arrived home Monday.

Fortunately, although it threatened rain all day, it held off long enough to do another leaf cleaning. I blew all the leaves from the side of the garage into the back yard, where I took it real slow with the rider, mowing them up.

There, cleaned up again. For now.

These are the 2 maples that will continue to give me leaves for another week or so. They are right along the lot line, and the wind has not been good to us this year.
We did go out to lunch for our aniversary. Nothing fancy. Actually, I was in the mood for a good burger, so we went to a local bar and I had their really good olive burger, and Craig had a cheese burger. They hit the spot!
Back home, after the blowing and mowing, I finished removing the rest of the stuff from the mo-ho, including all the batteries from the various things. Clock, remotes, safe, flashlights, etc.
It's now ready to take in for an oil change and generator service before parking it for the long Michigan winter.
And as late in the season as it is, there's still a few things blooming.....

A climbing rose that hasn't bloomed all year. Weird.

Another late bloomer, Monkshood.
In other news.....
My back continues to heal, although very slowly. I'm done with physical therapy, for now, at least. After discussions with the therapist and my concern for the cost, she thought I was progressing enough that I could continue home therapy, and I should be okay. I still awake with some aching and stiffness, but that too is lessening, and I am sleeping very well now and able to sleep in any position.
And after going much of the summer with almost no water heater issues, it's been venting indoors now off and on for a couple of weeks. We've decided to go with the second recommendation and have the water heater vented straight up through the ceiling, and then over to the chimney.  We were doing laundry yesterday, and it vented inside 4 times. Craig is 'over' it.
I'll call them this morning and set up a time and day.
And with that, time to get ready for another work week.