I should say *we* instead of *I* since my uncle helped me with all of it. But Wow! I wish it was light out so I could go stare at what it looks like! I can't believe how such a little change can make such a big difference. It wasn't little in terms of the energy and time, but still.
So, after driving around all over the place looking for the black mulch I wanted (*nobody* had the recycled rubber stuff left), we finally got started around 2pm or so. We decided where the line should be, marked it off, pounded in the edging, and started digging up the grass. He started at one end and I started at the other, but there were way too many worms for my comfort level so I just dug and he shook the dirt off of the grass clumps (hence why I need help when I do these things - I'm such a girl sometimes.) After that, we planted the hostas and I thought it looked a little bare, so I grabbed the phlox I bought a month ago and planted those inbetween. Then we spread out the mulch. It was still missing something so I decided to add a line of white rocks where the mulch met the driveway. My uncle was skeptical but I thought the contrast would be amazing and it worked out perfectly. :)
After that, we planted the rhodies - one on the side to replace the one that drowned during the flood and one in the corner near the driveway and all the work we did. Then we hit the flower beds - Boy were they a mess!! I completely weeded those out and mulched them both. I had originally planned on putting the white rocks I bought right where the rain drips off of the roof to help stop the corrosion of the dirt there. But, I could only put a thin layer since I had used so many on that new section. But let me tell you how good it looks! I think it's supposed to rain Thurs or Fri so I'm going to wait until the mulch gets settled and then add more rocks to that line.
Doesn't really sound like much but my back is sore so I know it was more than I should've done. I can't wait for that procedure I had done to fully kick in. :)
After we were done, we stopped by my cousin's house to say hello. We hung out there longer than we planned since I still had to drive my uncle back to Peabody (he's legally blind), but we had a great time. :)
I pulled into the driveway slowly so I could admire our handy work. While admiring (in the dark I might add), I noticed that someone had cut my front and side lawns! I have no idea who but I think it was my neighbor John. We were talking this morning while breaking down the tents and I mentioned how I hadn't received my tractor or push mower back from the repair shop yet (they were both totally flooded out.) I'll have to catch him in the morning and thank him. :) If it wasn't him, I'll have to ask around to see who I need to thank profusely! I certainly live in the best neighborhood in the world. :)
Well, it's way past bedtime but first I'm in serious need of a shower! I'm going to light my Lemon Verbana candle before jumping in so that when I tuck into bed it'll be gloriously refreshing in the bedroom. :)
D
Sunday, June 11, 2006
Plans for the day
Would you believe the sun is already shining?!?! I haven't seen that in, well, it seems like forever!
My uncle is coming over today to help me try to fix some of the landscaping that got washed away in the flood. I'd like to extend my sump pump hose and bury it along the driveway so it doesn't undo all that I plan on doing. :)
The plans are to plant the new Rhododendrons I bought to replace the ones that got flooded and stepped on, on the side of the house. Then I want to separate the section of lawn along the driveway and plant the hostas along that strip. After that, I'm hoping I can get in to the front gardens and get that back to looking half way decent. Right now, it's a mess. The only thing that looks pretty are the hanging plants in front of the house. So, hopefully we can get all of that accomplished. :)
But first, I'm going to go check on the basement and potentially put the fans back on to help dry it out. Maybe my uncle will be able to open the one basement window that has a screen on it. I've tried but it's really stuck.
I have a bunch of dishes to do as well from the BBQ. I'm trying not to think about them for the time being. ;) Ok, off to be productive!
D
My uncle is coming over today to help me try to fix some of the landscaping that got washed away in the flood. I'd like to extend my sump pump hose and bury it along the driveway so it doesn't undo all that I plan on doing. :)
The plans are to plant the new Rhododendrons I bought to replace the ones that got flooded and stepped on, on the side of the house. Then I want to separate the section of lawn along the driveway and plant the hostas along that strip. After that, I'm hoping I can get in to the front gardens and get that back to looking half way decent. Right now, it's a mess. The only thing that looks pretty are the hanging plants in front of the house. So, hopefully we can get all of that accomplished. :)
But first, I'm going to go check on the basement and potentially put the fans back on to help dry it out. Maybe my uncle will be able to open the one basement window that has a screen on it. I've tried but it's really stuck.
I have a bunch of dishes to do as well from the BBQ. I'm trying not to think about them for the time being. ;) Ok, off to be productive!
D
Saturday, June 10, 2006
Despite the rain...
... a good time was had by all!
Today was the day of our Thank you BBQ. 3 city employees showed up. Not the number we were hoping for, but it actually worked out for the best that way. We had set up 2 EZ up tents in my driveway next to my house because of the number of puddles in the street. That and if anyone wanted to have a beer, it needed to be on private property. So dry space was limited. :)
I spent most of my time grilling - I love hosting BBQs. :) We had 2 types of steak tips, kielbasa, burgers, dogs, and wings. I even called in a few reinforcements to come and eat up since there was so much food. :) Thankfully, all the neighbors took something home so my fridge isn't as packed as it was going to be. :) I do, however, have enough burgers, dogs, fruit, beer, and soda for the next 3 BBQs. :)
While throwing a few things in the dryer for my friend's kids, I couldn't help but notice that there was a couple of inches of water in the basement. Apparently the industrial fans had thrown a breaker, the same one the sump pumps were on. So, I spent some time in the basement during the fun. I shut off all of the fans so the sump pumps could concentrate on doing their thing. :)
Once the party was over and all the food was away, I crashed. I watched a few movies with the kids under a blanket. Now, it's definitely time for bed as I can barely keep my eyes open. :)
D
Today was the day of our Thank you BBQ. 3 city employees showed up. Not the number we were hoping for, but it actually worked out for the best that way. We had set up 2 EZ up tents in my driveway next to my house because of the number of puddles in the street. That and if anyone wanted to have a beer, it needed to be on private property. So dry space was limited. :)
I spent most of my time grilling - I love hosting BBQs. :) We had 2 types of steak tips, kielbasa, burgers, dogs, and wings. I even called in a few reinforcements to come and eat up since there was so much food. :) Thankfully, all the neighbors took something home so my fridge isn't as packed as it was going to be. :) I do, however, have enough burgers, dogs, fruit, beer, and soda for the next 3 BBQs. :)
While throwing a few things in the dryer for my friend's kids, I couldn't help but notice that there was a couple of inches of water in the basement. Apparently the industrial fans had thrown a breaker, the same one the sump pumps were on. So, I spent some time in the basement during the fun. I shut off all of the fans so the sump pumps could concentrate on doing their thing. :)
Once the party was over and all the food was away, I crashed. I watched a few movies with the kids under a blanket. Now, it's definitely time for bed as I can barely keep my eyes open. :)
D
Thursday, June 8, 2006
Oh well..
So early afternoon didn't happen. Afternoon, evening - same difference. :) Hey, at least this post is technically in the same day. :)
So let's see, what's happened since May 30th? Well, I did go into work for 1/2 a day last Wednesday. I met with the guy from FEMA, who's personality was the best comparison to a wet mop I've ever seen. I asked questions and got very little for answers. He asked questions and cut me off after the first 3 words. He wasn't interested in seeing any of my receipts or pictures. He hobbled down the cellar stairs, looked at the electrical panel and left. He asked me more questions about the upstairs then he did about the basement. Odd, I thought I only had damage in the basement...? Whatever, as they did come through with a direct deposit for about 1/4 of the total damage costs (not including the cost of lost personal items.) That wasn't the way I was told it happened, but help is help so I won't complain.
Thursday & Friday were filled with doctor stuff and phone calls. I had my radiofrequency ablation procedure done and after that, my time was filled with a drug induced coma. I'm still sore, but am hopeful that it will go away soon. At least I'm now off the pain killers. :) I really dislike feeling all woozy and slow like that. I'm the type of person that needs to be hard pressed into taking an aspirin for a headache. The pain has to be there and very, very real in order for me to take anything for it. But, that's all done and I'm hopeful that this time it will last a year or more - pain free time is wonderful. :)
I didn't do much over the weekend because of the drug induced coma. I rented some DVDs and watched those. No cleaning got done. No work got done. Nothing. Nada. Null. Zip. I finally had some time to do nothing after the last 3 weeks of pure physical, emotional, and psychological hell so I took advantage of it. :)
Sunday, I took Freddie to flyball practice. Can you say "Dawn is stupid"? I can. Stupid. Note to self, don't perform any strenuous activity after a back procedure. Sooooo stupid. I paid for it the rest of the day, even with the help of those pain killers. So, I again became one with the couch. Stupid.
I was supposed to go back to work Monday. Didn't happen. I was then supposed to go back to work Tuesday. Again, didn't happen. On Monday, in addition to the pain, I had the ins. guy and the adjuster come to the house. On Tuesday, in addition to the pain, I had the ServPro guys come to the house to clean and disinfect the basement. Again, one with the couch.
I didn't have much of a choice on Wednesday. I was starting to think of the couch in ways you shouldn't think of a couch and the stir craziness started to kick in, so I took 1/2 a pain pill and went into work. I got beyond nothing done between getting email caught up on and checking in with my co-workers to see what had happened in my absence. Surprisingly enough, not a whole heck of a lot happened, thankfully. The Access application I built kept blowing up - I still can't tell you why - but that was really it!
Today was another day of not being productive. I went through every inch of code in my application and *nothing* is wrong. Sigh. Just another reason to hate Microsoft. :) I did, however, manage to get all of the necessary documentation in for the next 2 quarters of school. Yay. I have to start off the Fall quarter with Algebra - a subject I was beyond not good in in high school. Anyone want to tutor me for home cooked meals and beer? :)
While all of this was happening, a few neighbors and I have been planning the block party for the city workers. I'm not sure if I mentioned this before or not....? Anyway, we decided we were very thankful for all of the city personnel that went above and beyond the call of duty during our time of need. So, we got the appropriate licenses to close the street to the public and started planning on having a big BBQ to thank them all. I put flyers at the fire stations, the police station, the DPW offices, City Hall, had the Chief of Staff send out an email to every city employee, and called a few of the people I had business cards from to let them all know. We asked for everyone to RSVP so we'd know how much food to get and so far we have 6 people. Yup. Six. I'm not sure what to think as we made it very clear in the flyers and the email that this was our way of saying thank you to everyone who helped us out - and that we would have beer, lots of beer. But, so far only 6 people have said they were coming. I guess small and intimate will be a lot cheaper for us anyway. :)
The only other thing of significance that has happened, happened today. I got a call from my lawyer from the cement truck accident 2 years ago saying the ins. company would like to know if I would be interested in settling before going to court. I'm completely out of my league on this one and really have no idea what to do. So, besides asking everyone I think has a clue for advice on questions I should ask my lawyer, I'm going to speak to another lawyer up here. Maybe they'll be able to let me know what I should be watching out for, what questions to ask, etc., etc. Yeah, I know that's what I'm paying the lawyer in CT to do, but that ain't happening. I'd like to make a decision based on what's in the best interest for me, but I don't even know what that best interest is. When it rains it pours.
Speaking of which, I have a few choice words to share with Mother Nature when I get my hands around her skinny little neck. I've had all I can take with the amount of rain that's fallen and it needs to be done. Now. I'll backhand the first person that mentions the word "drought" to me this summer. And not that I'll have to water the lawn for the next 20 years, but if I decide to at any point, people better just keep quiet about it. The commercial fans that ServPro have in my basement are making ripples in the streams of water running through my basement now. It's sickening. Needless to say, I will be looking into flood insurance very shortly.
On a lighter note, I went over to my grandparents house for dinner after work tonight. Today was their 65th wedding anniversay - an amazing feat in this day and age. My grandmother cooked even though I offered to take them out to celebrate. Neither of them like going out at night so I understand why she chose to cook instead. And since I'll never complain about eating my grandmother's cooking, it's all good. :) Afterwards, we had a great time talking over cake and coffee. I really enjoy hearing stories about my grandparents youth. :) Society was so different then. We had a great night. :)
And now that I've typed my fingers to the bone and have given you all plenty to read, I'm going to bed. :)
D
So let's see, what's happened since May 30th? Well, I did go into work for 1/2 a day last Wednesday. I met with the guy from FEMA, who's personality was the best comparison to a wet mop I've ever seen. I asked questions and got very little for answers. He asked questions and cut me off after the first 3 words. He wasn't interested in seeing any of my receipts or pictures. He hobbled down the cellar stairs, looked at the electrical panel and left. He asked me more questions about the upstairs then he did about the basement. Odd, I thought I only had damage in the basement...? Whatever, as they did come through with a direct deposit for about 1/4 of the total damage costs (not including the cost of lost personal items.) That wasn't the way I was told it happened, but help is help so I won't complain.
Thursday & Friday were filled with doctor stuff and phone calls. I had my radiofrequency ablation procedure done and after that, my time was filled with a drug induced coma. I'm still sore, but am hopeful that it will go away soon. At least I'm now off the pain killers. :) I really dislike feeling all woozy and slow like that. I'm the type of person that needs to be hard pressed into taking an aspirin for a headache. The pain has to be there and very, very real in order for me to take anything for it. But, that's all done and I'm hopeful that this time it will last a year or more - pain free time is wonderful. :)
I didn't do much over the weekend because of the drug induced coma. I rented some DVDs and watched those. No cleaning got done. No work got done. Nothing. Nada. Null. Zip. I finally had some time to do nothing after the last 3 weeks of pure physical, emotional, and psychological hell so I took advantage of it. :)
Sunday, I took Freddie to flyball practice. Can you say "Dawn is stupid"? I can. Stupid. Note to self, don't perform any strenuous activity after a back procedure. Sooooo stupid. I paid for it the rest of the day, even with the help of those pain killers. So, I again became one with the couch. Stupid.
I was supposed to go back to work Monday. Didn't happen. I was then supposed to go back to work Tuesday. Again, didn't happen. On Monday, in addition to the pain, I had the ins. guy and the adjuster come to the house. On Tuesday, in addition to the pain, I had the ServPro guys come to the house to clean and disinfect the basement. Again, one with the couch.
I didn't have much of a choice on Wednesday. I was starting to think of the couch in ways you shouldn't think of a couch and the stir craziness started to kick in, so I took 1/2 a pain pill and went into work. I got beyond nothing done between getting email caught up on and checking in with my co-workers to see what had happened in my absence. Surprisingly enough, not a whole heck of a lot happened, thankfully. The Access application I built kept blowing up - I still can't tell you why - but that was really it!
Today was another day of not being productive. I went through every inch of code in my application and *nothing* is wrong. Sigh. Just another reason to hate Microsoft. :) I did, however, manage to get all of the necessary documentation in for the next 2 quarters of school. Yay. I have to start off the Fall quarter with Algebra - a subject I was beyond not good in in high school. Anyone want to tutor me for home cooked meals and beer? :)
While all of this was happening, a few neighbors and I have been planning the block party for the city workers. I'm not sure if I mentioned this before or not....? Anyway, we decided we were very thankful for all of the city personnel that went above and beyond the call of duty during our time of need. So, we got the appropriate licenses to close the street to the public and started planning on having a big BBQ to thank them all. I put flyers at the fire stations, the police station, the DPW offices, City Hall, had the Chief of Staff send out an email to every city employee, and called a few of the people I had business cards from to let them all know. We asked for everyone to RSVP so we'd know how much food to get and so far we have 6 people. Yup. Six. I'm not sure what to think as we made it very clear in the flyers and the email that this was our way of saying thank you to everyone who helped us out - and that we would have beer, lots of beer. But, so far only 6 people have said they were coming. I guess small and intimate will be a lot cheaper for us anyway. :)
The only other thing of significance that has happened, happened today. I got a call from my lawyer from the cement truck accident 2 years ago saying the ins. company would like to know if I would be interested in settling before going to court. I'm completely out of my league on this one and really have no idea what to do. So, besides asking everyone I think has a clue for advice on questions I should ask my lawyer, I'm going to speak to another lawyer up here. Maybe they'll be able to let me know what I should be watching out for, what questions to ask, etc., etc. Yeah, I know that's what I'm paying the lawyer in CT to do, but that ain't happening. I'd like to make a decision based on what's in the best interest for me, but I don't even know what that best interest is. When it rains it pours.
Speaking of which, I have a few choice words to share with Mother Nature when I get my hands around her skinny little neck. I've had all I can take with the amount of rain that's fallen and it needs to be done. Now. I'll backhand the first person that mentions the word "drought" to me this summer. And not that I'll have to water the lawn for the next 20 years, but if I decide to at any point, people better just keep quiet about it. The commercial fans that ServPro have in my basement are making ripples in the streams of water running through my basement now. It's sickening. Needless to say, I will be looking into flood insurance very shortly.
On a lighter note, I went over to my grandparents house for dinner after work tonight. Today was their 65th wedding anniversay - an amazing feat in this day and age. My grandmother cooked even though I offered to take them out to celebrate. Neither of them like going out at night so I understand why she chose to cook instead. And since I'll never complain about eating my grandmother's cooking, it's all good. :) Afterwards, we had a great time talking over cake and coffee. I really enjoy hearing stories about my grandparents youth. :) Society was so different then. We had a great night. :)
And now that I've typed my fingers to the bone and have given you all plenty to read, I'm going to bed. :)
D
I haven't died...
I've just been uber busy. I'm still dealing with house stuff , back stuff, and I probably haven't despised rain more in my life than I do right now. In order for the walls and ground to dry out properly, I need about a month of nothing but hot, sunny weather.
I don't have time to post more now, but I'll log in early this afternoon and finish up. :)
D
I don't have time to post more now, but I'll log in early this afternoon and finish up. :)
D
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
