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Chronicles of Home |
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Monday, April 10, 2006
I can barely keep up with the dirty dishes these days. The dishwasher upstairs was inconvenient since the dirty dishes were downstairs, and now it's not in usable condition anyway. Not having a dishwasher is good for less water consumption and energy conservation and what-not, but it means that every few days a little moldy civilization flourishes in the sink and I have to go in and do battle with it. I'm also holding my own against the fungi in the refrigerator. But this is getting old. brawl The dog got into a fight with the neighbor's dog. Somehow I think Chester was the one attacked, since he was on his rope in our yard, as he always is, and the neighbor's dog was roaming around. I didn't even hear anything, just I ran my hands over Chester but didn't find any blood. Only several hours later did I notice he had a patch of bloody fur on his chest. There appeared to be some kind of puncture wound. Maybe from a tooth, or maybe from something else -- a stick in the yard, a piece of wire from the fence he insists on squeezing under. I don't like the dog, since he's always stealing food from the table, eating things which are not food, and licking the comforter on our bed, but that doesn't mean I want him to be attacked in our yard. Jaws of Life The girls were playing outside Sunday while Rick was mowing the lawn, and Thea came running in saying there was a bird stuck under the fence. When I got over to the fence, I saw what had happened and felt pretty guilty. A bird had gotten its foot completely tangled up in some twine tied around a large stick. This stick was part of my dismantled handmade trellis from last year's garden. In trying to get away, the bird had managed to squeeze underneath the fence, but the stick -- and his foot -- remained on our side of the fence. The bird lay there with its head twisted around looking evilly at us. There was some blood around the place where the twine was cutting into its claws. I went inside and got the scissors, came back and carefully clipped the twine where it wrapped around the stick. As soon as the twine came free, the bird took off flying, so I guess it was OK. Home Projects So much to do and so little time. I have only four weeks left of school, so maybe I'll get a huge second wind when I have all the free time that graduation will afford me. Here are what I think are the most important things to do:
I've been doing bits of gardening when I can (I'll be updating Adventures In Gardening soon with the latest) and fortunately most of the planting comes after graduation. The kitchen, though, has gone to hell. I need someone to help me (HINT HINT) with the little jobs like scraping crusty stuff off the floors, pulling up remaining carpet, taking down paneling, and just helping me organize thoughts and tasks. Rick is unfortunately even more embroiled than I in school -- all his spare energy is taken up with it so he can't really help. As for the hallway, I need to finish just a few feet of tiling, and paint and put the trim and molding back. I feel like it could be a weekend job, except that I really don't know what I'm doing. And if you know me at all, you'll know that major cleaning and organization are just not in my cards. Crime Rates Not reflected in the running tally since it was not within a 1/4 mile of my house, we still had an ugly few days with a cop getting shot down in the projects by the train tracks, and a gang armed with baseball bats beating the crap out of some people. That actually happened across the line in Baltimore County, which is supposed to be better than the city. Hah! In better news, though, a new library opened this weekend in the county, pretty close to us. I'm excited to get over there and check it out. They even have wireless internet access in case I can't separate myself from my laptop long enough to go. Sunday, March 26, 2006 Growing Season We finally got some planting done today -- you can see pictures at Adventures in Gardening. The weather has not been terribly cold but it's still a bit too chilly to be plunging your hands down into damp cold dirt.
I cleaned some things out of the refrigerator this past week -- plastic containers that once held leftovers but had turned into biology experiments. Instead of getting emptied and washed, the containers sat out on the kitchen table, where they were exposed to sunshine. Today I noticed that one of the containers was making a hissing noise. That was my cue that the experiment had taken a dangerous turn. All the containers were put outside in the trash can. Clean Sweep My father was very neat, and I don't understand why I did not pick that up at all. I seem to be messy all the way from my genes. It seems the best I can manage is to keep one room looking decent at any given time. And unfortunately the girls seem to be taking my cues. Their rooms are even worse than mine. With both Rick and me in school full time, we just don't have time and energy to devote to keeping the place clean. I keep thinking that when we finish the kitchen and dining room upstairs, things will get better, but it's taking so long. Right now, the dishwasher is still in the middle of the kitchen floor. The carpet hasn't been pulled up in the dining room. The walls haven't had the paneling pulled off. The old clouded windows are still there. I had hoped to have the work done by July, when friends from California are coming to visit, but right now it just doesn't seem like it will ever happen. Showtime The drive-in IS opening next weekend. Yay!
Mouse Hunt Unfortunately mouse sightings are getting more frequent. We're reluctant to set out traps -- I sure wish the cats would just do their jobs! A few weeks ago Thea says she saw the mouse sitting on the table in the kitchen. Last week Rick left a bag of candy on the futon, and in the morning he found the mouse cheekily sitting there eating it. We also heard it moving around in the kitchen, not being the least bit quiet, while we were eating dinner just one room over. Movie Nights With the approach of warm weather we're looking forward to Bengies Drive-In reopening. As of now the tentative date is March 31. Kitchen Progress Check out the kitchen project page for some pictures and updates. I'm hoping the major portion (floor, walls, and cabinets) will be done by the summertime and we can concentrate on the little design touches. 
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genocide or fungicide?
happened to look out the upstairs bathroom window and saw the tangle of fur and paws. I ran downstairs but by the time I got outside it was over. The other dog was at the end of our driveway, and Chester was going nutso wanting to go after him.
Mad Scientist 
A few days of warm weather and spring has started busting out all over. Yesterday the temperatures went into the 80s, and today I saw trees and bushes that had flowered in that 24 hour period. Now I'm itching to start in on my garden.