Enter At Your Own Risk

Della said:

I would let my dog out the back door and she would sail off the back porch doing a belly buster into the grass -- the shihtzu owners said they could see her barking before she hit the ground.

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Yep! That is Chloe, half spaniel/half havanese. She barks to go out, I put my hand on the door and she is jumping around and onto the door. I now latch the screen door because she will blast it open at full speed. Once, there was a large deer just a few feet away which could easily have killed her with one kick.

The shihtzu doesn't run anywhere. He may trot but it is beneath him to run. A dignified old feller, lol.

I took today off. Ha! Did a bit of straightening up, then went to the local hardware store to see if they would accept some returns without receipts. I do have the receipts, all stuffed into a binder, no particular organization. It would probably take hours to find the particular receipts for this stuff, which I purchased last fall. Spoke to the manager first and she said, "sure, bring it in." I told her I would be fine with a store credit. Two hours later, I received a phone call stating a cash card awaited me at the front checkout. $204.00!! Woo hoo! And best of all, more room in the storeroom.

The dumpster was tipped again today. The deal was rent it for a month and that included two tips (empties), every other week. I called them yesterday to ask a few questions and she said, "You are in luck. July has three every-other Wednesdays so the price includes three tips. I had to call them for an extra one last week, an additional $49 cost. She told me she could push that one to the last Wednesday and there would be no extra charge. Hooray! I have to go to town on Monday and will stop in their office to arrange final pickup and see if she will do that with the charges.

I love living near a small town. I have always been nice to the hardware store folks and they are always nice, too. Of course, I have spent a lot of $$$ in their store but still...they are always very helpful.

Tomorrow, depending on the weather, I will either put away tools and such OR start patching screw holes and caulking seams etc. to get prepped for paint. Or both. There are several wildfires not too distant from here but not a threat (yet) and the smoke is a bit thick outside. Just in case, I remounted both dog carriers in the back of the minivan, which had been removed to make room for materials hauling. I will put together a go bag just in case we have to evacuate but I doubt that. I would be seriously pissed to have this place burn down after all the work that has been put into it.

My back has been whispering to me for the last few weeks. I know I am not supposed to lift "heavy weights", whatever that means, but I have done so. There has just been no avoiding it. Last night, I bent over and "wham", it seized. I was outside and am glad it was in the front garden close to the house. It took a while to hobble back into the house, downed the max dose of ibuprofen and applied two capsaicin patches. Managed to get into bed and to get the 15# shihtzu up there without making things worse. This morning it is better but I am being very very careful, moving very slowly and trying not to bend over or turn the wrong direction. It's a balancing act.

So...today nothing much will get done. Maybe put away a few small hand tools. Then again, maybe not. The best course of action would be to stay in bed, lying flat. Just the idea of that makes me laugh.

As yesterday progressed, back felt better and better. Ended up sorting, clearing, cleaning up the storeroom, getting rid of some items, reorganizing things. Managed to get most of what was previously stored in the hot tub room moved into the storeroom. Nothing heavy, some items were bulky. Anyway, that's finished.

Plan for today is to start the patch/caulk of the board/bat siding, in preparation for painting. Most of the painting will be touch-up. Not sure if that will happen today because it did rain a bit this morning and I'm not yet sure what is wet out there. Will see in a couple of hours.

Caught a mouse last night. They have been really prolific this summer. A few more weeks of this and I will be calling in an exterminator. I see no place left where they can get in. Maybe that was the last one? IDK.

Didn't get much done yesterday due to the back deciding to be the boss of me.

I think about HollyDolly and chastise myself for complaining. This is nothing compared to what she is experiencing right now.

Spent two days just sitting around doing nothing. Argh! How do people do that? So yesterday, I bucked up and worked on the board-and-bat part of a wall. It went well, all things considered, since there was one board that required a lot of work (probably should have been replaced but that would have become complicated very quickly) but it is finished and ready to prime/paint. I am a little concerned because painting that entire wall will require a ladder to reach the top. Careful, careful.

Not sure if that will start today because (Hooray!) the electrician is coming this morning to run the lines for and install three wall outlets in the former hot tub room. It may mean opening more wall but wth, I can do that in pretty short time with the multi-tool. I love that tool! A little more dry wall to repair. The guy I hire to do that is sooo good at it. He is weird but Oh Wow, his work is fantastic.

I really want to get moving on that room, even though it would be best to wait a few months money-wise. Also, I want to work on the front garden, a bit of a mess due to the work done the last couple of weeks but no way, since my back is still whispering to me. The garden work will require shoveling and lifting large-ish rocks. Not now, Luigi.

Next year will be windows and fencing. If I'm not flat broke by then.

Did a bit of work on The Wall yesterday. One window sill needed some attention, peeling paint and a little bit soft in spots. Sanded and applied wood hardener. It is ready to prime and paint. I ran out of a certain type of caulk so this morning, will make a trip down to the hardware store. In the Old Days, I would have had this wall finished today, or several days ago. Once that is done, will go around the rest of the house and touch up.

The electrical lines are run in the former hot tub room. I will place the bat insulation, easy peasy, then line up the dry wall guy. Not for a few weeks, at least. Maybe months. We shall see.

The Wall is ready for paint. Except... (lol) There is one spot where I think adding a piece of trim would make it "feel" more finished. I have the materials and may do this. The devil is in the details. I will finish everything else on that wall first, though, just in case.

Another discovery yesterday... There are four windows in this house that are very unusual. I noticed a few weeks ago that on the outside of one, the frame that actually holds the glass needs sanding/painting. Okay. Yesterday, I took a closer look at it and it definitely needs repair. I believe I can do it with a bit of construction glue and screws. Will do that after the wall is finished. It has been moved up on the priority list.

Hooray! The Wall is finished except for painting a window sill (different color) and frame, and some caulking where the wood meets the metal. Probably not necessary but "Overkill" is my middle name. Tomorrow.

Nope, not tomorrow, nor any day soon. Back siezed yesterday and I am flat in bed with ibuprofen and heating pad. A bit better this morning and I can at least get to bathroom.

Damn.

Slowly getting better. Up and around, very carefully. I know if I move the wrong way, it will come back with a vengeance. Have an appointment today for PT. I am not sure I will be able to do much but am going anyway.

PT was cancelled yesterday due to the therapist going home sick. Rescheduled for tomorrow. Felt much better yesterday until last night when I bent over the wrong way and WHAM!!! here we go again. Made it to bed with the heating pad. How I hate this! Am able to very carefully get around this morning. How long will this go on? I am hoping the PT will help.

PT yesterday was Fine. Learned a lot. Seems one leg is shorter than the other; an insert was placed in that shoe. In addition, due to the pain being mostly on one side, I was leaning in that direction to lessen the pain, which weakens the muscles in that side. I was walking crooked which worsens the pain. Everything she said made such good sense; was given three different maneuvers (not exercises, per se) to do. Also, a once-a-week appointment schedule has been set up. The PT seemed to think this can all be managed. I hope she is right!

Yesterday, I decided to do some finish work on The Wall and other areas outside. Touch up paint and caulk. The problem is that the areas to be caulked are positioned such that I have to either be on my knees or bend over. Did a bit of both but then, yep, the ole back started acting up again. I was so tempted to just push through it but didn't. Later in the day, doing the PT maneuvers was a definite warning so I wasn't able to do as much as ordered. Hope to work my way up to that, at least.

The next door, uphill-from-me neighbor, is rearranging the gravity fed irrigation system so that I will have four lines with higher pressure instead of two. I'm not exactly wild about what he has done. I don't think he understands that it will require more physical effort to move things around. I may make a few changes to accommodate that.

He has never liked what I did on my end (using splitters to cover more areas) and the way he has now set things up, he has disconnected from the splitters. I did tell him that I liked using the splitters, it gives me better control, and his response was okay. It's just that he thinks everybody else should do things the same way he does. BTW, this is my brother... He is tweaking things uphill from me. I will now, in a few days, be forced to change things around out there and I know it will be a painful process. I will say that what he has done has improved water delivery. Just don't think I needed that much.

I hope to get outside and finish the caulking today, the most difficult part of what is left to do on the almost finished exterior walls. It's where the top of the wainscot metal trim meets the bottom of the upper board/bats. Probably doesn't need to be done due to the way the trim is made, etc., but again, I am the Overkill Queen when it comes to moisture potentially getting into the walls. Pooh on that! It's been raining off and on since yesterday, just small showers. We shall see.