Moving

After much thought, I've decided that trying to keep up different blogs isn't working for me. Obviously - I hardly have time to post on any of them. And so many things I would post on this blog relate to the other ones as well.

So, I'm going to start doing all posting (except for my business - Redux Designs) on this blog.

Eventually, I'm going to move these posts over there as well. Please come along------

Quick Update

Life has been very busy lately - and one result is no posting. Work is keeping me busy during the week, and last weekend, my social life was busy!

My son is with me this coming weekend, and he often wants to hang out at home - and I'm about ready for that. He does want to see a movie Friday, and I want to attend an open house on Saturday morning, but other than that.......the apartment needs to be cleaned, and bread needs to be baked, stuff like that.

And the open house - it is for a house that is being auctioned the following weekend. I have a friend who lives in the neighborhood. She was over for dinner Saturday night, and told me about it. We drove over to take a look - then she realized that the floorplan is the same as her sister's house around the corner - so a quick trip there to take a look. It is a two bedroom, two bath one level. Pros and cons, but I haven't even begun to think about financing, so I don't think this will be the house for me. However, I want to take a look inside, get more details about how the auction works, and let my son take a look and see what he thinks about the house and the neighborhood. More information gathering than anything else, but a place to start.

One more quick update - my patio garden is going well!! In fact, Saturday night when we returned from looking at the house, a woman who lives in the building next to me was outside, and commented on how nice it looked! I'd never thought about it that way - I started my container garden for me to enjoy, but my neighbors can enjoy it as well. Nice!!

Defeated

Last Sunday evening I wanted to tackle one last chore on my "to-do" list of the weekend - cleaning the clothes dryer hose. I've been in my apartment 6 years, and since I have never cleaned the hose I decided it was long overdue. I do clean out the vent every time I use the dryer, and I don't dry that much - maybe two loads a week, average. But still--------

My mom got me this a few weeks ago (thanks Mom!), and I used it to clean out what I could. However, my dryer still wasn't drying very well, so I decided to clean the hose.

Moved stuff out of the way in my kitchen, pulled the dryer out and removed the hose. Clean and cleaned (geez, no wonder it wasn't drying very well!) Then I attempted to put the hose back on and.......it wouldn't fit right. DAMN!!




I worked on it for nearly an hour. I searched the internet for hints and tips, and I pulled out the manual to see if they suggested anything. What did I learn - the hose that I have is not what is recommended. (Hey, don't blame me, I rent!)

After several attempts, I realized that the more I worked on it, the more it was tearing the vinyl. I finally called defeat. Since I do rent, I could call the maintenance office the next morning and have them send someone over to fix it. If I am home when they come, maybe I can learn how it should be done.

But it is stuff like this that really frustrates me. What if I owned my place? What then?? I could call in a handyman, but I don't have much extra money, and would hate to spend it on something that seems like it should be rather easy. I also don't have a husband, boyfriend, brother, or guy friend who could teach me how to to it (and yeah, this is just another reminder of how lonely I am - what a great way to end the week). My dad and brother-in-law live elsewhere, and somehow I doubted a phone call at 11:00 pm on a Sunday night would be appreciated.

Of course, if I owned my place, I would have a better hose for venting the dryer! And I do remember when I was married and we owned a dryer that we would remove the hose and clean it occasionally, and I was able to reattach it with no problem.

So Monday I called maintenance, and a few hours later, it was reattached. A large part of the problem was that whoever put it on originally used a piece of wire to hold it on. That was one of the problems I had reattaching it - if I got the hose on, I couldn't get the wire wrapped back around.

So maintenance put on the correct clamps to hold it in place (so hopefully the next time I clean it I can also reattach it!). I was busy working so I forgot to watch to see how he got the hose onto the vent, but anyway----------

And tonight I washed a load of towels and dried them. Drying time - about 1 hour!!! This is a huge improvement over the 1 1/2 to 2 hours it was taking before. A couple of the larger towels were a bit damp, but everything else was dry. Hopefully, the reduced drying time will be reflected in my next electric bill.

Um, What Just Happened?

My son is a bit of a night owl. The only reason he goes to bed when he does is because he has to get up and be at school by 8:00 the next morning. Weekends, he stays up much later. We've tried an earlier bedtime, but he usually just tossed and turned for awhile before going to sleep.

So Monday night, something odd happened. Twenty minutes before his bedtime he announces that he is going to bed early because he is tired.

HUH????

After telling him good night, I began to wonder - is he, at 12, growing up enough to recognize that he is tired and should get more sleep? Was he getting sick? He hadn't complained about not feeling well, but to voluntarily go to bed early?

Tuesday morning, he seemed fine. No complaints about not feeling well,

I have to accept the inevitable - this is just another sign that he is growing up.

Sometimes I feel SO old---------------

The Aftermath

The freeze - not so bad. YEAH!!!! All the plants seem to have come through in good shape. In fact, a couple of the petunias are blooming, so there is something nice to look at even now!

Now, I had planned to post more this week, but my head got in the way. Rather, a migraine headache got in the way. By the end of the day, when I usually post, I was so tired from fighting the pain, and feeling so bad from the pain, that I was laying on the couch praying it would go away soon. But all is better now, my head no longer hurts and I have enough energy to get stuff done. I even managed to get some stuff done this morning before heading out to work at the part-time job.

It is very quiet around my home this weekend. My son is at his dad's. After being here the last two weekends (including having a friend spend the night last weekend), it is very quiet. One nice thing about the part-time job is that it gets me out of the house on the weekend and puts me in contact with people. Oh, and I also get paid! Not bad at all!!

Happy weekend!!

How My Garden Grows

About 15 years ago, I worked with a woman who loved to garden. She talked about plants for her yard, drew up plans, and actually began working on them. Listening to her, I became interested in gardening as well. A couple of years later, I had a house with a rather large yard. I was also pregnant, and not much gardening got done. I managed to do a few things, but a lack of money and time kept me from doing more.

Now, all these years later, I'm finding I want to create a garden-like atmosphere on my apartment patio. Since I don't have a yard to dig in, I'm making do with some planters and pots. Last month I headed to Lowe's and returned with potting soil, small gardening tools, gloves, and a variety of plants. I'd researched what would work in my zone (seven) and conditions (porch faces east; patio faces west, so wherever I put something, it gets full sun half the day). I then spent a couple of very happy hours playing in the dirt.


OK, so they don't look like much now - I bought the smaller plants because they are cheaper and they will grow.

Well, they'll grow if the weather doesn't kill them!

The week after I'd planted them, and carefully watered them, and made sure they were in a good place, it got cold one night. I knew the weather called for lows in the mid-30s that night, but was unhappily shocked to find it was 29 when I got up the next morning! OMG, I'd left them out thinking it would be fine.

Sadly, some of them didn't make it - the sweet potato vines planted in the center of each planter were removed, leaving an empty space there.


I may replant them, but I'm waiting until I'm sure they will survive.

And, according to the weather forecast, it may take a bit longer. We are under, get this, a freeze WARNING. That's right, on April 14th in Memphis, we are expected to get below freezing tonight. The average last frost is March 23rd - why are we getting a freeze three weeks after that???

Anyway, I'm not taking chances this time. The plants that survived the previous freeze and the excess of rain since then, are coming inside. Well, the planters are going up against the building; the pots are coming in. And since I have a rather curious cat, I finally found a safe place to keep them:

Yes, the top of my washing machine has another use - keeping my plants out of the freezing weather. Hopefully, this is the last of this weather for several months. Soon I am sure to be complaining about how hot it is, and how much water my plants are needing to stay alive.

Such is gardening.

A Small Change

Between my sofa and my desk is a wastebasket. It is used mainly for the paper I need to throw away while working and other odd bits. What goes in there usually isn't very heavy, and I try to empty it every day or so.

But really, the thing has had it.


Please ignore the computer cords - that's another issue for another time.

It's hard to tell from the above photo, but the bottom is separating from the sides. Take a look at this one:



How sad is that! One day, I'll go to pick it up and the bottom will fall out and trash will be strewn on the floor. Plus, I'm just tired of it.

So in my shopping trips lately, I've been looking at various wastebaskets, trying to find what I want and what I can afford. I haven't really found one that I like, which is a good thing, because the only ones I can afford are plastic. No thanks!

Then last night, I was looking around my living room. Actually, I was trying to figure out why my cat was banging against a wall. Turns out he was chasing a bug in the corner. Watching him so involved in the hunt took my mind off this. Then, I noticed the brass umbrella holder.



I've had this thing for years, but I don't need it. The umbrellas can sit in the hall tree. I mean, there's even a metal pan under there to catch the water!

Hmmm, maybe the holder could be used as a wastebasket?

So, I gave it a try. What do you think?



I like that it takes up less room than the other one. I like that it is taller and attempts to hide the cords a bit. I like that I cannot see the trash in there when I walk in. Only negative - the opening at the top is small, so I'm more likely to miss when tossing things in there. Guess I'll have to work on my aim.

I'm still thinking I would like to have a dark wood one, that would blend in more with the furniture. Until I find it, however, this one seems to work well, and the price was certainly right!