A long time - and not really back

I've been car-less for 5/6 years (I forget exactly how long by now, the transmission went out on my minivan ( I LOVED THAT CAR) and my mechanic refused to work on it (I LOVE my mechanic as well) and told me to take the money I would spend on him fixing the transmission to get a new car. Yeah, we donated the car to NPR. Now we are a one car family. We've been saving to either put a healthy down payment on a new vehicle (I've only owned 2 cars in my life and I bought my first at 19. I drive them till the wheels fall off) or a decent used vehicle. I got a new roof on my house a couple of weeks ago. Good bye car. But the upside is I don't have to worry about the ceiling areas in my house having any "new" water spots. Which, quite frankly, is more important. There are many times when I wish my community had a good bus system. I would definitely be willing to use it. (Sigh) There's ALWAYS an up side. Of course, the fascia and soffits are rotten and have to be replaced as well (they were rotten when my ex and I bought this house and he was going to fix them - no). My new roof is pretty. And yes, I am glad that's where the money went although I AM tired of working my life around other peoples schedules. Life is odd. But my "baby" is graduating from high school and my other D1 is going to Italy this month and taking 2 classes. Life is good. I typed all of this with spacing between the paragraphs. Where the fuck is the spacing? I hate change (sometimes) And the dawg's name? Yeah, he's called Mr. Happy. We've have 12 calls from neighbors in the last year from him escaping under our own noses and hauling his cookies down the street and through the neighborhood. He is a lover.

A New Friend

We've been busy. His name is Dawg. He's very friendly, very slobbery and extremely needy. This morning when we opened the gates to leave he hauled his cookies down the street and we had to chase him - in the rain.

Go Dawg!

Our Final Crop - Meyer Lemons

We didn't really have a garden this year. We did have basil, sage, garlic chives, oregano and rosemary. But that's the herb garden and that stuff either never dies or re-seeds itself every year. My favorite kind of garden.

All we had this year was the lemon tree. Given the treatment the tree received from the plumbers digging up the yard and nearly ripping it out of the ground I'm surprised we got any lemons at all.

Boy did we get lemons. We've delivered three grocery bags full of lemons to our respective offices, I've got two gallon zip lock bags full of lemon ice cubes in the freezer and my husband brought this in the house last night:

Yes, that is a bag full of Meyer lemons. And this is what the counter looked like:

Four bags. We actually ended up with five bags total and the tree is bare for the winter. It probably needs a break.

If you need me I'll be in the kitchen, figuring out what to do with nine thousand lemons.

Winter?

It's hot.

It's humid.

I'm in shorts and a t-shirt.

The leaves are gone from the trees.

The grass is still green and growing.

I'm contemplating turning on the A/C.

Happy Winter?

Making a List

No, not as in Santa. I am a list maker. I feel like I should be in a support group.

"Hello, my name is Karen and I'm addicted to making lists."

"Hi Karen!"

I have a list for everything. I have a special notebook I keep with me at all times in case I need to add to a list or start a new one.

Going on vacation? I begin a list the day I make the reservation or we choose a destination.

Grocery store? A list is always in the works.

Home Depot? A separate list for each project.

House Stuff? One list for each room, each project.

Have a day of errand running? Listed neatly one by one.

Big project to do at work? List of tiny steps necessary to complete said project.

Freezer contents? On a list.

Procrastination through list making - I've got it down to a science.

Soffits

I have finally learned that the things I call boxes in my kitchen are actually called soffits. They are rough wood because they were once covered with two layers of wallpaper.

Now that the paper's off we've been doing a little experimenting with how best to cover them up.

I was all for the spackle (since I seem to be obsessed with it) but it really didn't seem like a good idea. I have no idea how well that stuff actually holds up and have no desire to re-do this project once it's completed. There are a lot of edges that need to be smoothed in some way.

So we bought some joint compound and sheet rock tape and taped one corner and secured it with the compound. Our concern is that the tape will eventually loosen and we're back to square one.

Then we bought some corner bead. Meh, I guess it's okay but it seems like a lot of work for an area of the house that's not going to touched by anything.

Then we did some corners and edges with just the compound and when it was dry gave it a little sanding. I actually like this one the best but my husband doesn't think it's going to hold up.

No, I will not put wallpaper back up.

Any ideas or suggestions? Other than blowing up the kitchen and doing a $25,000 remodel.

I'm lucky I can stimulate the economy buying paint, spackle and joint compound.

Three Down, Thousands To Go

During the holiday time we did do some little things around the house. One is that I painted part of the house under the carport and my husband hung a new storm door for me. I need to be able to get breezes through my house when the weather's right and like my doors open - minus the bugs.

Love this door. The screen rolls down when you open the window. The little joys in life.

I also painted my sons room, okay I only painted three walls. Why? His furniture is huge and weighs a ton. That furniture will come out of that room once - when we put the wood floors in. At that time I will paint his "accent" wall. (It's white.)

Yes, the closet is currently doorless as the door is curing from being painted.

The hubs also installed three new light fixtures for me in the kitchen entry, kitchen bath and the laundry room.

On sale at Lowe's. Can't beat it.

And that is as good as it gets. Right now.