Held Hostage!

Like last spring, this spring has been a bad one for mosquitoes. However, I can't remember being held hostage inside the house last year! They are bad day and night--at 8am this morning, I went out to turn on a lawn sprinkler and couldn't get the chore done fast enough...I was bit at least twice in the few minutes I was out.

To top it off, my home's air conditioner has chosen to blow only warm air--currently that's 74 degrees--in 80+ degree weather. So, I have all blinds on the sunny side of the house closed. That happens to be just about all of them, since my house faces east (pictured below are all 9 of the east-facing windows). I'll spend the day following the sun and closing blinds as the sun arcs overhead towards the west.

As anyone with a home knows, particularly if you have a country home, there isn't time to waste in the spring. There are simply too many chores to do to be sitting in the dark house waiting for mosquitoe season to pass and for Monday to come so you can call the a/c guy!

Later Saturday...

Well, it seems I've jumped the gun on the a/c issue; for some reason it seems to be cooling today, not well, but it's cooling. Laying a digital thermometer on several air vents this morning revealed that the blowing air was 55 degrees. Not sure what it's supposed to be, but it's cool-ish.

Also, went to WalMart and purchased an arsenal of mosquitoe control products, one being their new product that you wear, or keep near you, and it is supposed to repel mosquitoes. I've been wearing it while outside working, but it's windy, and so the problem isn't as noticeable. When the weather is calm, we'll see how it does.

Then the other thing I got was a yard repellant that applies via a hose-end sprayer. Can't wait to try it when the wind calms down! And, finally, some good old Off with Deet. This product I use for tick protection as much as mosquitoes. In the yard ticks aren't a problem, but I wear tall boots and plenty of Off when I'm out tending to my trees.

The green cabinet

The green cabinet above the toilet in my "new" guest bath is a treasure that my brother Rick made me for Christmas one year--I wish I could remember what year. He (as brother Tom also is) was a superb craftsman and for awhile years ago, we siblings decided to draw names for Christmas. Everyone wanted Rick to draw their name, assuming they'd get a great wood product gift, which they usually did. This cabinet was mine.

I hung the shelf in the living room of my previous home and one day it came crashing to the floor. For some reason, Rick made a very odd choice for the cabinet backing. You can't drill through it to hang the cabinet (hence the crash). I don't know what kind of wood it is, but I lovingly repaired the cracked shelf and tucked it away until I could figure out how to safely hang it. Well, one day I did find a way to very carefully hang it again. But there were long periods during which it was absent from view.

Rick didn't visit often--I lived in the city, he lived in the country 150 miles away and he hated coming to the city. But when he did visit, I'm sure he wondered why I didn't display his handiwork. Rick is gone now. He was killed in 2002 when his motorcycle crashed. Does he know how much I love my cabinet? I hope so.

A purty bath

Fit and finishes in manufactured homes have a bit of a reputation: they are not always known to be the best. In my home this is best demonstrated by the kitchen and laundry cupboards and the bathroom vanities. I recently updated the guest bath and found that the vanity was actually built in place.

While the cupboard boxes are pressboard, the doors are some sort of wood (yes, real wood!). Surprisingly, the pressboard paints up quite nicely, in spite of the fact that the woodgrain on them is a sort of paper veneer. I made the mistake once of taping something to the side of one of the kitchen cupboards. When I removed the tape, it removed the paper "grain."

Anyway, below is the bathroom "after." What did I do? Paint vanity, medicine cabinet, and mirror frame, lay new flooring (vinyl tiles), replace vanity hardware, install new accessories (towel bar and ring, TP holder), hang 2 prints, purchase accent towels, and new floor to ceiling shower curtain and liner. What remains is painting the laminate counter and installing base molding.

I wish I had taken a "before" shot, lest you think the "after" is less than spectacular. Knowing what I started with, I can say with conviction that it's now pretty darn awesome!

Happy Birthday to Me!

All Decked Out

My dear brother, Tom, drove from his home in Oregon (7.5 hours away) to help me build a deck. And it's spec-tac-u-lar.

Becase I live in a manufactured home and you cannot [legally] attach anything to it, I selected a floating system using Dek-Block brand piers.

I had plans to build it myself, but when Tom agreed to come help, the size increased considerably...it is a lovely 12 x 21. The odd width is because I didn't want the deck to extend beyond the house. The deck hides the exterior water faucet so he extended and split the water line so I have a faucet at both sides of the deck.

The decking isn't sealed yet, though we did seal the bottom and sides before installation because I'm freaky about not wanting to have to replace this deck in 10 or 15 years. It has been perfect weather to finish the job, but I got sick when Tom left and now it's raining. [sigh]

I'll build a 6' step centered on the patio door, and another smaller step off the right side of the deck. Then I'll prepare a planting bed and plant shrubs to hide the piers, probably some boxwood since deer aren't known to nosh on boxwood unless absolutely necessary.

I LOVE MY DECK!