Month: May 2012 (Page 1 of 2)

I’ve been riding my scooter every day that it isn’t raining. I must say it was chilly today – both to and from work. Usually the ride home is warm, but I had to stop after a few minutes and don my headband because my ears were getting cold! Still, lots of fun.

Today was senior fitness day, so we had special treats at work. It was also “bring a friend to class” day in aerobics and we actually had 5 visitors, both classes combined. I thought that was good!

I finished cleaning the part of the house where we live yesterday and had some hives on my face again today, but I really think that was from the cleaning. So today I’m not doing any cleaning and not going upstairs where it is still dusty and I’ll see how I am tomorrow! Except for my face, the rest of me is about 90% hive-free. My face improves as the day wears on, though. And I’m not constantly itching – what a relief!

We are one day from done with our first month of trying to become debt free. We paid off over $2,000 in debt last month, so we are off to a good start! We did our June budget last night, and if all goes well will get the Menards card paid off, Gary Mohr over half paid off and just pay the minimum on the Chase card. But starting in July, we will put most of our extra money toward that darn Chase card and watch it slowly dissolve!

We are 90% sure we have renters for 126 East North street (across the street). They were going to fax their app, and it didn’t come, but they called Dad and said the fax wasn’t working, so they dropped it in the snail mail.

Also, good news. We knew the roof was leaking at 123 Stout and thought we’d have to get the flat part redone (to the tune of several thousand $$) But they came and looked at it today and said, no, we don’t need it replaced. There are just a couple things that need to be fixed. That is such a relief!

We now have a dust barrier between the kitchen and the work areas. And I cleaned, cleaned, cleaned – wiping every surface with disinfectant wipes and scrubbing the floors on my hands and knees. But it is worth it, because my hives are almost gone!

Ah, such a messy pantry. What to do, what to do….

I say some pantry doors would do the trick! Nice, huh?Aren’t the columbines prolific this year? This was one I transplanted here last year and it really seems to love this spot – so many blooms. Too bad they don’t last all summer.

Hope you are all having a wonderful day off.  We have been getting quite a lot done. It occurred to us sometime early this a.m. that my hives might be caused by the dust from the remodeling, so we spent a lot of time getting the plastic up and then cleaning things really well to see if that helps at all. I’m really glad we finally have the plastic up. Wouldn’t it be great if we have finally found the cause of the hives? As I look back, it does seem to coincide with when we started pulling down the ceiling in the piano room and since then have been living with that dust on everything. Pray for me that we have found the cause, because my hives have just been getting worse and worse. But, if nothing else, I feel better just being proactive about something rather than just stumped and frustrated.  (And wouldn’t it be something if it turned out my mom’s hives were also caused by dust and she could have been rid of them years ago by just keeping the house cleaner?)

We also got the gardens dug up and everything planted. I didn’t plant much, because we don’t have much room, but I got all the flowers in pots and gardens and got the beans (3 rows) in a garden and the spinach, carrots and zucchini planted (a little late). It is great to have that all done.

We are going to grill brats for supper and have them with German potato salad and homegrown asparagus and rhubarb crisp for dessert. Then we are going out to the property after supper when it is cooler to do some raking and mowing.

We have a three day weekend and nothing in particular to do, so we are having a nice, unhurried and yet productive Saturday. We got the phone switched over to the new house during the week, so Dad has spent quite a lot of time getting the computer hooked up so we could go back on line. We also have the phone operational at the house where we are.

We had prospective renters look at the house yesterday and we liked them and I think they liked the house. They were on their way out of town for the long weekend, but they will get their application to us as soon as they return. If all checks out, we should have the place rented by the first of July.

We’ve had an off and on rainy day, so aren’t getting any outside work done. I really need to get flowers planted and the garden spaded, etc. But I guess it will have to wait for dry weather. The grass really needed the moisture, although not quite that much all at once!

Hope you are all enjoying your long weekend! Happy Memorial Day!

Recital today. Only 6 students, but one had a vocalist, so there are 7 in the picture. We just put the hummingbird feeder out today and I waited and waited for that picture. Actually I took a ton of them once it got there, but they aren’t all good. Then, of course, pictures of my flowers, etc.

Another week gone, and a busy one at that. We had a great time on our little trip yesterday. The weather was quite nice, compared to the rain that was predicted. Everything went according to plan and all had a good time.

Today was very nice, although a bit hot for my taste by mid-afternoon. I wear a jacket riding the scooter and I was very hot if I wasn’t moving. I rode to Chetek in the a.m., then to Cameron and back when I had free time before practicing with the choir, then home. So I rode about 2 hours today. My back is a little stiff.

High school spring concert tonight. It should go fine. I’m playing 7 pieces, I think.

What wonderful weather we have had this week. I have ridden my scooter every day so far. I got a bit cold this morning, but it was great weather for the ride home. We probably need some rain, but I am loving the warmish, sunny weather!

Tomorrow is the first of our summer trips with the senior citizens. We are going to Yellowstone Cheese, then to Chippewa Falls to eat and do a little shopping, then north of Chippewa to a very big greenhouse, then home (hopefully in time for my piano lessons.) The next trip is June 6 to Duluth.

Piano recital with my students Sunday, so this is the last week of lessons before summer. I’m ready to be done. I don’t have enough students to make much money, but the lessons two days a week keep me from being outside doing fun stuff on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Next year I have to try to get them all on one day in Chetek. I think I’m going to teach at school every week, because it is more convenient for the students and the piano is actually better than the one at the Center. But I have to figure out who to ask for permission.

I had such a fun weekend, but it just sped by. But Monday is my one easy day this week, so I’m enjoying it. Monday is my front yard mowing day – mow both houses, but just the parts you can see from the street. Then Tuesday or Wednesday I finish up the back yards. I also want to go out and rake up some nice green grass that we mowed yesterday for the goats at the property, but I think I’ll wait for it to cool off a bit. I got really hot mowing. Not used to the heat yet.

Some pictures for you:

The flowers Luke and Krista sent on a day by day basis, starting with Friday right after I opened them, than Sat., Sun., and Mon. in the morning. They really opened fast, I thought!

Who has Chloe’s blanket???

Josiah LOVES to eat!

I have a short day on Wednesday and am usually able to be home for most of the afternoon. Today I made a list of all the outdoor things that need doing for the yards to look great. I got right to it and have a lot done already and it is only 4;15! I’ve clipped, weeded, pruned, hauled, trimmed, raked, and, yes, sweated a bit. But the place looks much better. I even cleaned and bleached the bird baths. I need to quick throw some pennies in them, because that is supposed to keep all that awful mold from growing in them. Not sure how, but certainly worth a try.

We got the bed over Monday evening and slept there for the first time Monday. I’ve got most of the pink film off the cabinets – only 4 small ones to go and the garbage can cupboard front. Looks better in white. I’ve run two loads in the dishwasher. So nice!! Now I’m off to work on the flower beds over there!

I guess Dad is really taking all this financial stuff to heart, because he is trying to figure out how to get all his properties paid off. So the plan now is to try to sell a couple of them — the ones with the most equity. Then we would pay them off (of course) plus have enough to completely pay off our credit card debt and have enough for a huge downpayment on another rental here is New Auburn that is at an excellent price and that we could give just the basic care, like paint, yard work, etc and have a nice income producer in just a month.  Then we would start saving big-time so we could build our new house using cash and not a mortgage. That is all Dad’s idea and I totally agree. I’m excited. Check out my ad on Craigs List – Eau Claire area. Go under homes for sale by owner and put in New Auburn as the location. It is near the top because I just posted it today.

Other than that, the big news is that we moved into the kitchen across the street yesterday. We may get into the bedroom by bedtime tonight. Not sure – depends on when Dad gets home. But here are some pictures for you.

So you have here pictures of the kitchen, then the dining room, which is pretty much full of stuff for now, and the pantry, which is very full and doesn’t have doors yet, and the bedroom with Sherlock providing some “interest” since it is absolutely vacant, and finally the bathroom. Everything looks much “yellower” than it really is. The colors are actually beautiful, so I wish they would come out better for you. Anyway, you can see that we are slowly getting the pink and blue off the cabinet fronts, but it is harder than it looks. We do two or three a day and that is all we can take. I finished the pink and blue lowers in front of the microwave today, so that side is almost all white now. Just over the fridge to do and that is awful hard to reach!