On this lovely
morning, I worked with the French doors open. It always feels to me like those
open doors bring the outside in. This morning they brought in a cacophony of
bird song, including one hen who was apparently indignant about something. No
kidding—she crowed so loudly that it sounded like she was in the cottage. I did
get up to check that she wasn’t caught in the fence or in that narrow enclosure
between her yard and my cottage. All appeared fine, but when the hens crow that
much, the dogs bark. It was a bit noisy around here for a while.
We have lots of
birds in our back yard this spring, several with songs so distinctive I wish I
could identify the birds. I have discussed this with Sophie, but she has been
of little help.
I spent much of
the day grappling with life’s little problems, mostly those associated with
being a homeowner. We are plagued by dirt washing onto the sidewalk every time
it rains. The yard guy has tried taller edging, mulch, etc. but nothing helps.
Today he announced the problem comes from runoff on the roof where there is no gutter.
Strikes me as logical that we were looking at the end result of the problem and
not the root cause. We do that so much in life.
Lewis Bundock took
a jack hammer to the jagged concrete in the driveway where tree roots have created
a great chasm in the driveway This has been an ongoing dilemma, and what he did
today was a temporary but most welcome fix. The problem won’t go away, and the
tree continues to grow. We are reluctant to take it down because it’s a
beautiful tree and it casts wonderful shade over the house. I’m sure years ago,
long before my ownership, it was a volunteer that someone let grow too big.
Taking it down now would also be big-time expensive. Meantime, tonight friend
Subie tested it when she came to pick me up and said it is much improved.
The floor man was
here today, and I am gradually getting a grasp on how replacing the floor will
go, what the time frame is, etc. It will take about three days to rip up the
carpet and put in the new floor. I will have a moving company come take the two
or three heavy pieces of furniture and store them for that short period of
time. I will sleep on the hide-a-bed in my living area while the work is done.
Got to figure out what to do with Sophie—I think her crate will come out of
hibernation for this project. Cost? I don’t want to talk about it. Fortunately,
thanks to Lewis Bundock, the carpet is almost dry and there is no mildew or
mold odor. And the a/c is fixed and supposedly won’t do that again.
Dinner tonight
with the small ladies’ group that I always enjoy—Carol Roark, Kathie Lang, and
Subie Green. We went to Doc B’s at Clearfork. I tend to avoid Clearfork—it’s
kind of foreign territory to me, and I have never gotten comfortable with the restaurants—or
their pricing. But we got there in time for happy hour tonight, so I had wine
and a cheeseburger from the happy hour menu. Not my favorite dinner but good. Subie
had a crab stack that looked wonderful. I’m thinking I may have to go back
there again soon.
Whoosh! I’m glad
this day is over. Tree, carpet, and runoff problems now in hand. Am I dreaming?
No comments:
Post a Comment