My Tireless Retirement – Week 172

 

How is everyone doing?  Are you able to handle the heat of summer okay?  I am grateful for A/C units and ice cubes in my water, let me tell you.  We’ve had some really hot days here.

 

Before

After

These guys have room to spread out now

Last week I was able to get outside ahead of the heat one morning and get the flowerbed cleaned out where the maple tree had been.  I realized that the reason I couldn’t get motivated to re-landscape that area was because the vinca was overgrown and to me it felt like chaos.  I originally had planned to keep the vinca and just cut it back, but the more I thought about it I decided to go ahead and remove it.  Once I was done it just felt so much better to me that I knew I’d made the right decision.  Now I’m planning what to do there next.

 

So long old friend

The old A/C unit in my bedroom finally gave it up.  A bearing went out and it sounded absolutely horrible.  It was howling in pain.  Even though it was still cranking out cold air, and if you could stand the noise, you just can’t keep running it that way because eventually the motor will burn up and you could risk a fire.  Fortunately, about four or five years ago, maybe longer, I had picked up a brand new unit on clearance for $50.  At the time I figured as old as mine was its days were likely numbered.  I never thought the new unit would sit on a shelf in the garage for as long as it has, but I am sure glad it was there.

 

The new unit

Now I have even more open space in the garage

That old unit was used when I got it from a friend.  She was told it was twenty years old when she got it and she used it for about ten years.  I got it in 2004 and used it every summer since, so you do the math.  That sucker was old!  I can tell you they don’t make them like that anymore, that is for darn sure!  It was a very basic unit with a switch to flip it on and off, that was it, no settings or temperature selection, but it cooled really well and surprisingly it didn’t cost much to run either.  It definitely earned its keep.

 

The little ones are growing up!

On my list this past week was to get the young ladies integrated into the coop with the old ladies and it went fairly well with very little squawking and hen pecking.  I feel better having the little ones out of the brooder and into the coop as they are more secure and have a lot more room to move around.  With that done I figured it was the perfect time to remove the ramp and put on some new treads (on my winter ready list) and give the exterior a bit of a cleanup and refresh.

 

New treads for the ramp up to the coop

I love this little coop ⭐

With the upgraded ramp back in place I grabbed the hose and gave the exterior a bath removing a lot of the dirt from our recent storms and a ton of spider webs.  Then I got ready to take down the brooder, clean it up and put it away.  When I moved the brooder apparently about a dozen field mice had taken up residence underneath it and I sent them all scattering across the yard before they decided to head under my fence and back to the field.  Good Lord!  What a sight that was.

 

Oh my gosh you guys, I cannot tell you how nice it is to do my little projects now that the garage is all decluttered and reorganized.  I can easily go right to what I need, gather it all up and complete a project so much easier and more efficiently.  Even cleaning up afterward and putting my tools and supplies away is so much easier.  What a time and aggravation saver!  I love it!

 

I worked all day Friday then Monday for four hours and Tuesday evening I drove a group of seniors up into the mountains to Garden Valley, Idaho for the Starlight Mountain Theater’s production of Singing In The Rain.  We had a box dinner prior to the performance at their picnic area.  The show was so good and we had a really nice time.  I would happily do it again.

 

One of the projects on my list was to re-pot a couple of my houseplants.  At Fred Meyer I chose a new pot for my pothos and a bag of potting soil.  I like this brand because it isn’t full of wood bits and I don’t end up growing mushrooms.  After potting up the pothos I was able to use that pot to repot my new peach lily.  Then I used the pot the peace lily was in to replant some of the basil I inherited.

 

One of the volunteers at the senior center thought I would be the person
to revive these poor basil plants.  She obviously doesn't know me very well.

Two days later - maybe I can?

I did something else that is pretty dang exciting, but I’m going to wait to share more about that with you all until next week because this post is already getting really long.  It will be worth waiting for and heck, it may not even excite you, but I am super happy about it.  With that I’m going to wish you all a wonderful weekend and I hope you have a great day today.