It's Almost Over

Ahhhh...the joy of fall. Today turned out to be a pretty good day once the nip of frost was chased away. I was supposed to go to a birthday party today but it was postponed a week. In place of doing that, I decided to play Mr. Fix-It and repair the hot tub that has had a serious leak in one of the hose drain-out widgets. I went to the hot tub place and, of course, they didn't have said replacement widget. On the up side, the nice young man did have the name of a man who does general maintenance and repair for hot tubs so next year, when I have a little more money, I can have that penny on a piece of tin sound repaired. Anyway, I headed for Home Depot next, thinking that they have spa stuff, surely they would have the hose drain-out widget that I needed. No such luck. Adding insult to injury, I couldn't even find the thin furring strips I need to weather-proof my windows. This kind of stuff can't be that hard to find...or at least it shouldn't be. Having struck out at Home Depot, I headed for Fred Meyer where I found my hose drain-out widget in the garden center, plumber's tape...and I got a free cookie from the nice bakery lady! One-stop shopping...ya gotta love it! So now we drive home and put on the gloves and see how capable we are in the fix-it department. Obstacle #1 turned out to be the fact that in order to replace said hose drain-out widget thing...you have to drain out the entire hot tub because if you squish the rubber hose with vice grips to block the water you could crack it which would open up a whole new can of worms...so...drain it I did (crap!). It takes a couple of hours to drain, so I figured I'd get the lawn mowed...front and back...since it has rained and the grass is now nice a green and deep. The front lawn was really easy, since it hadn't grown as much as the back, but I did discover that I need to clean out the gutters again. The back yard was a little more serious, but I whipped my new mower into rabbit mode and was dragged screaming around the yard in fine fashion! I had to dump the grass catcher every second row, but I don't think I hurt myself this time (but it's still early so the verdict is still out on that one). By now the hot tub is drained, old widget removed, hose end cleaned, dried, plumber's tape applied, and new hose-drain-out widget applied. Not too hard...and it worked. So now to re-fill the hot tub and heat it up...because you know I'm going to need it later! A few more trips around the yard in rabbit mode and the lawn is finished. I replace the fire pit and bench, got rid of the piles of dirt from the mole hills, and...CRAP...I forget about the hot tub filling up and now it's over flowing. Let's test out that new little hose drain-out widget...works like a charm. So tub is drained a little, chlorine added, and all is as it should be. I really have to see about replacing that lid, it weighs about 2oo pounds.

I also had my lawn service guys start giving my trees and shrubs some tender loving care. For the low-low price of $54 per visit, they show up 7 times a year and treat, feed, fertilize, and otherwise care for all my trees and shrubs. They have done a tremendous job with the lawn so far, so I figured I'd have them take care of my trees and shrubs as well. It's one less thing I have to worry about, they will do it properly and in a timely fashion, and my property value will increase because my trees won't be dead. It's a win/win situation as far as I'm concerned.

Anyway, it's getting dark now and I need to go grab a cup of tea and unwind. It's been a good day. All my children have called me, my brothers have called me, life is good. Here's hoping everyone had a great Saturday.

Love Me