The List

The thing about yard work ... I love something about it, it's one of those "chores" that I find very gratifying.  Always ... I can count on it. Removing dead wood, tending what's there, weeding, nice clean edges ... bulbs from previous plantings ... plans for new bedding plants (what color theme this year ... hmmm) ... I like it.  You can always see the improvement, and, unlike housework,  it stay "put" for awhile.  Yesterday my little hand tool broke.  I'm going to have to get another one today, and I like even that ... I like tools.  Hahaha ... silly, but true.  The sad truth is those home improvement stores are my favorite stores ... I like just walking around in there looking at their stuff.   I've got a little list working up for a trip to Lowe's ... or Home Depot.  My hands hurt from yesterday's efforts.  Even through the gloves I acquired a couple of nasty thorn tears ... one in my index finger is reminding me to look carefully at what I'm grabbing.  Today I have planned to work inside.  The pine pollen is kicking in ... and my muscles ache today from that and the strain.  Here's my little project for the morning:

I don't know how things go in a new house, but in an old house, things are just waiting to break!  This is a towel bar holder ... the bar broke.  "Hardware" isn't installed like this anymore.  All the new stuff mounts differently ... better I would say.  This piece had to be chiseled out, and as I worked I noticed that the glaze on tile very near to the hole was chipped ... the caulk will cover that as it did on the first installation ... umm, back in the fifties.  So ... I carefully broke the seal and removed this piece.  There are bars that are spring loaded, but none of them fit this distance ... and I probably wouldn't like that anyway 'cause I suspect it would move around the room like the toilet paper spring loaded dowel.  So ... I sawed the replacement bar off to fit here.  And I enjoyed "whittling" out the old adhesive gunk.  Maybe I should have been a dentist.  Ewwwie ... probably not!

This stuff is something I keep on hand all the time.  It's the white caulk for sealing the bathtub ... anywhere tile stops and something else starts this is the seam filler.  In the kitchen, where I have dark counter tops,  I use clear DAP ... last month I accidentally resealed an entire bathtub with the wrong tube ... and saw the next day that while it "came out" white, it dried clear ... looked "moldy" ... not the look I was going for. Anyway ... this stuff is the stuff.  Don't blow dry it though ... it cures slowly and may need a couple of touch ups because it seems to contract as it dries.
This morning I had everything all ready for the big install ... everything except a tape that will adhere to tile. Once I get it set in place I'll secure it with tape til it dries.   Duct tape  ... on the list.

Yep, 95 bucks later ... .
In a way it's totally worth it to pay someone to do your home repairs, because they already have the "right" stuff ... all those little things add up.  As I work at trying to figure out what "to do" with myself I have thought of ... in passing really ... starting up a little handy girl thing.  To get an electrician out here to install a fixture would have been fairly pricey ... course he probably wouldn't have shut down the internet in the process, but getting that set up for an upgrade is just one of those little services provided ... . And, it is loading faster even if no one around here is in a big hurry.  I am able do a lot more home repair type things then anyone would believe possible.  My buddy H has suggested that I put the word out that I will organize closets.   I am pretty good at making things look and feel right as far as home organization goes.  She says women who work outside their home would love to hire me to re-set their messes.  And, not just their messes, but re-envisioning how and where stuff goes in a house ... I'm not fond of looking at other people's stuff ... I don't think that would really be up my alley.  My husband has suggested I run for City Council.  It's true that doing volunteer work in support of family activities has acquainted me with most everyone in town ... and I do especially like people ... again though, that seems like it amounts to settling little squabbles.  I'd like less of that and more sitting around counting fireflies from my new deck (which currently does not exist).  I've been looking at real jobs ... those 8-5 things.  My husband says do what I want to do, but he doesn't see how it could possibly be worth the sacrifices ... unless I feel really passionate about it.  He and I both know that flying is the only thing like that that lights me up.  The check out lady at Lowe's just told me that she really wishes she could be at her house today putting pine straw on her flower beds ... she told me that she lives in an apartment. Well ... I'll figure it out eventually.  In the mean while I am catching up on all these little to-dos.  Still working at organizing the garage, but it's getting to where we can find what we're looking for.  I secretly want to uber organize that garage ... a little bit at a time.