Another Repair! Wooden Steps!

I was stepping down the steps (I only have 2) on my back porch when part of the wood gave way! Of course I attribute this to all the rain that we have been getting in the Philadelphia area - in fact we have gotten quite a bit of rain in the last few months!

I would guess that the back porch is at least 10 years old and the whole back porch is made of wood and I'm really thinking how grateful I am that it was just the steps and not another part of the porch that gave way! (I just thought about this as I was typing this blog post!)

So now I have another repair that has to be done! I wonder how much it is going to cost me? No matter though because it is a repair that has to be done!

Mentally I'm going to have to remind myself to step carefully when I use those steps!

Taking Out The Trash!

I'm always in this mini dilemma about when to take out the trash. If I put it out the night before then I'll put it in one of the recycling buckets so the cats can't get at it (we have a LOT of cats in my area) and then I won't have to worry about getting up earlier in the morning to put it out.



On the other hand there are those times when I just don't want to be bothered with it and I vow that I will get up earlier the next morning so that I can put it out - which sometimes I do and sometimes I don't. There have been a few times when I have awoken to the sounds of the trash truck going down the street and in that instance I remember that I didn't put out the trash and then I sign and vow to have it out the next week. Sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn't.

Weeds, weeds and more weeds!

Yes that's right I have been weeding away at the weeds! I never knew weeds could grow so strong! They managed to grow along the stone of the garage! It kind of looked live a vine and I may be wrong but I think the roots were trying to tell me to leave them alone - they were so thick! I was also breaking branches (still have some to go) that were from the tree and they fell during some of the storms.

One thing this has taught me is patience! The more that I struggle and huff and puff the more I seemed to be getting nowhere. But when I take my time it seems that more is done so I'm practicing patience as I clear away the weeds. But I have come to find out that this is part of the process because I'm learning a lot about maintainence outside the house. For instance today I did some more planting and I also did some weeding and it all goes together. You can't have a garden without doing some weeding. Plus its just good to be outside. I have my trusty chair and my trusty trash can and I just sit there and get it done. I do need a new rake though because I have worn the old one out. I cleaned out the birdbath. Since it sits under our tree which is a 100 year old maple it gets a lot of debri in it.

I don't remember if I mentioned it here on my blog but I was feeling kind of jealous of my neighbors who were out in their yards cleaning and such but now I am one of them too. Plus the township where I live kind of frowns upon unkept property - so at least they will see that some work has been done.

This is one of the reasons why a lot of people that like apartments don't want to have a home because they say that they don't like the maintenance part of it. I'm just the opposite. I have never lived in an apartment and I don't think that I would like it anyway. I'm a house kind of person. (-:

The Resuming of the Outside Work Has Begun!

Well I am quite proud of having started where I left off last fall! I am working my way around the house because truthfully speaking that is the best way to do this. It's a slow way but the best way. As I work myself around the house I can see what has to be done. For instance there are a number of smaller trees but with very thick trunks that I just can not cut down my self. It's better to know all of the ones that have to be cut down as opposed to just getting them cut down one tree at a time.

Just in case you're wondering what it is I have to do on the outside of the house let me tell you. This should kind of be a lesson to those that don't know but when you let the outside go without maintaining it what you will get is a lot of overgrowth and a lot of weeds - and I mean a LOT of weeds! If you let those weeds continue to grow then they start to turn into trees and then you have a bigger problem - which is what I'm learning. So around the house I go digging up and clearing away the weeds. There is a rosebush that is at least 20 years old on one side of the house and if that isn't properly pruned then the branches grow out and then the heavy weight of them bends the branches while they continue to grow and before you know it the branches start working their way next door! So at the side of the house I'm digging up and clearing the overgrowth. I'm thinking of putting some mulch or some brick walk plates to stop the growth. Once I work my way around the sides that brings me to the back of the house where I have my garden and the hedges. I haven't had a garden for 2 years so you can imagine that there is a lot of overgrowth, debri and weeds to be cleared up! But as I work my way slowly around I managed to clear enough ground to start planting - yipeeee! Now I can think about that as I'm clearing away the rest of the ground!

Since we're not at the end of our frost free date I started planting some cold weather vegetables.

So now I'm onto the other side of the house where there is more clearing to do. Once I finish that side then there's the driveway/garage area that has a lot of tree branches from previous storms that have to be broken up. Whew! Sounds like a lot doesn't it? I'm still not finished though because next will be the front of the house! That involves cutting the grass (after I clear the branches away) and cutting the hedges!

I know it sounds like a lot but hey I have a house! I should be very grateful for that because not everyone can say that. Plus I know from neighbors about the terrible experience of losing their home - something that I vow not to go through.

But back to more pleasant talk..............It is a lot of work but I do want to do it. It also gives me the pleasure of deciding what kind of "do-dads" I want to add like windchimes and a birdhouse and what kind of flowers I want to plant.

So I have a lot of work to do and I plan on having a lot of fun while I do it (-: