Oct 5, 2009
Good Morning World.  It is a whooping 42 degrees outside this morning.  Had to put the comforter back on the bed.    I cannot believe the temperature swings from day and night.  If temp's get much lower the garden will be toast.  At least it warms back up nice again during the day.
 

Sorry, but I have to show off my favorite tree in the back yard. 
Check out the size of them grapefruits

This Rubbermaid shed is the newest addition to the yard, another great $75 craigslist purchase

How is this for an eye sore.  Old shed will be coming down soon.  Almost completed transferring all my stuff to the new shed.  Besides the rust, floor falling in, and vermin residing inside it is time for a better looking garden shed and garden space to takes it's rightful place in the yard. 

.  I can hardly wait to get the land prepped for the garden, especially with all the compost and horse manure I have staged and ready to go now.

       I still have to ask myself
       How did I work and got anything else done?

•  Old screen room still to be removed and replaced. 

•  I got a great deal on craigslist.  Five (5) yards of free red lava rock.  So I am tearing up the small side yard and replacing it with the lava rock (less yard maintenance, watering, and gravel crunches when walking under our open bedroom window-night security.)

•  I got another pickup load (3 yard plus) of white rock along with the lava rock the following day.  I started planting flowers in the front yard and will fill in the beds with this rock.

Wife started staining the kitchen cabinets so we could get a better visual on what counter top color we wanted.  Counter tops, new sink/faucets, garbage disposal should be getting installed within the next two weeks.  I will post ongoing work pictures as the job progresses.
 

So, are you sore yet?  My shoulders, back, and hands are taking a beating right now.  Thank the lord for multi-tasking.  In my case multi-tasking is approved because it allows me to use a different set of muscle groups shifting from one job to the other without wearing out what I have.  LOL

I am still making claim to be in great shape especially considering the type of work I have been taking on.  I do have to laugh because most of the people I come in contact with are impressed with all the energy, stamina and drive I still have.  I actually had to give a man about 42 years old and his teen son a break while loading the lava rock.  People keep trying to hire me.  Almost 61 and still have it.
 

Oct. 6, 2009

Great news:  My favorite east coast niece's airplane had a flat tire so the airline had to reroute her onto another flight.  So we got to pick her up at the airport and she spent the night with us prior to traveling onto her final destination.
 

Even better news:  Her mother, my sister and niece will be traveling back through our area heading back home so we get the benefit of another overnight visit before they return to the east coast. I am excited, to say the least. 

 

craigslist $10

It already had a baby.  You can see it,  bottom right of the plant is the smaller baby plant.  I was told if I plant it in the ground it will keep producing babies and cover a large area. 

Another picture showing the difference (on going) with the new stain next to the old cabinets. 

Helen is doing a great job and finished all the lower units today.

It is going to look so awesome with the new counter top,

Believe it or not we have only had the use of one sink, no garbage disposal or dishwasher for the past year.  Soooooo, Overdue........
 

Oct. 18,2009

OK!  It is either me or them.  I would like to throw a fit, curse, rant and rave, but I don't have time for such ant-tics right now.   They are small, brown/black, numerous in numbers, very invasive, and I like to call them piss ants or more appropriate, piss me off ants. 

In reality, I believe they are Argentina ants (you could refer to them as sugar ants) which are normal to this area.  You will never get rid of them because of the numbers.  You can destroy them in high numbers but mostly displacing them back outside so as not to be an indoor nuisance. 

After the landscaping and then the big rain storm we just had, mother nature and I must have disturbed there homes in the dirt along the house.  So that along with the rain they decided to take to the home for a dryer and more comfortable place to live. 

Well !  They did not like the greet and meet we had for them.  The war has lasted for 2 days now but I believe that we have finally dispersed them to either ant heaven or a better place than our home to reside in.  They definitely have to be communicating with each other saying, stay away from the short humans they are unmerciful.  So far we have only spotted one ant this morning with our goal being, no more sightings for a whole day. 

Late note:  Most of the day I have been raking up the old beauty bark and trimming all the bushes from the back of the house.  You guessed it, fighting off more ants.  They are on the move and we are expecting some rain so the party is not over yet.  We are still managing to keep them at bay from the inside of the home so I will leave it at that for now.    
 

Tomorrow should be an interesting day.  My plans are to remove the old counter tops, disposal, sink, and faucets in preparations for the installation of the new items coming in on this Wednesday. 

To save money I will be removing  all the existing items.  This is to ensure I do not find any underlying problems before the crew shows up to actually start work. 

They wanted three days notice if we had to cancel for any reason.  I had them put in the contract that we wanted to only give 24 hour notice so I would have a time buffer if needed on my end.
 

Oct. 19, 2009

Like I said, today is the big rip-out day for another phase of the kitchen remodel.   This actually is a great day for this work since it is raining outside today.

As you can see I am laying down on the job and my right knee already got into the wood stain.  I also have some on my forehead.  Don't ask.      

I am doing good so far with the disconnection of all the water supply lines, drain line connection to each component, along with the electrical wiring to the garbage disposal.  I also have all the fasteners removed for the counter top and sink removal. 

Notice the level on the frame work to the right.
  Another story. 

Oct.26, 2009

OK so you ask me, what is a piss me off ant.  Since we now believe that we have control of the interior of the home, we are now starting to work on displacing them from the homes exterior cement walls. We feel we are winning but, by the pictures you would not think so from seeing all these ants. 

We have mixed up a brew that is attracting them big time out of hiding. They will be taking food back to the nest and they will feed it to the other ants including the larva and queen ants. 

This line of ants actually goes about 10 feet long and is 3 to 4 abreast.  In about 3 days the rest is history.  We can only hope.

Actually I have to admire them as a working team.  If you look closely at the picture you can see the piece of meat they are moving along a vertical wall.  It is taking probably about 12 ants working together to move it.
 

I won't tell you what the brew is, but it does consists of protein and fat.  Why?  Research indicates this is what they will bring back to the nest to eat.  It is supposed to work better than sweets. The queen prefers this better than sweets and she is female.  No flowers and chocolates for this one.  LOL

Did you know that all the worker ants are female and that they are born sterile so they cannot breed.  Only the queen lays baby ants.

Our goal when this works is to eliminate them from the walls of the home.  The cement structure has tiny little hole openings that the ants seek out.  Once I identify these openings and eliminate the occupants then I will fill the holes with cement patch.

Oct. 27, 2009
I have been demolishing the old shed removing all the existing electrical wiring, lighting, insulation, and wood interior  wall boards.  This is taking a lot more time than I expected.  Of course I have to account for every nail and screw.  Of course you knew that already.  I am going to take another approach with craigslist to give away all the wood scraps for hobby wood along with the metal shed to someone that wants to sell it for scrap.  It looks like I will take a couple days break on the outside work with 20 to 30 MPH winds already starting and continuing over the next two days.  I will have lots of leaves to rake afterwards I am sure. 

Finished cleaning out the shed and posted everything on craigslist for free this evening.  WOW!  ad was only posted for 5 minutes if that and I already got rid of the lights, scrap wood, insulation, as well as the entire shed.  Stuff to be picked up tomorrow so it is going to be a busy day.  Everything should be gone and cleaned up by the end of the day.  I will have to cut up the old flooring and haul it out front for the garbage if the person doesn't take it along with the shed.  With luck about Thursday I should be able to start dumping compost in my new garden area with plans for my spring crop.  I believe my next major project is going to be to start replacing the 4x4's along the fence before it blows down for good. 

So what does a guy really do with all his free time when he is retired besides watch ants? 
Speaking of ants it looks like they are still eating but appear to be slowing down and running out of gas.  Maybe, just maybe the stuff is working.  We can only hope.
 

Oct.28,2009
The first person that wanted shed did not show up so I got a hold of the back up person.  Of course I did not wait and started dismantling the shed myself.  I was about 90% complete when the 2nd guy arrived so we just loaded it up and he took it away.  He did not want the flooring because of the condition.  I stated that it was all or none like ad said. 

The person that wanted the hobby wood and insulation panels tried to only take panels and I had to tell him all or none especially when he originally called he said that he wanted it all. 

That is one problem dealing with craigslist free type people.  After you delete your ad you can't repost for at least another 3 days so you are stuck getting rid of stuff immediately.  The people try this all the time but you just have to be firm and say no.  If you have something they really want then they will take it all.
 

Bought candy but did not get a one trick or treater at this house.  They must know where all the good housing developments are at Sand go there.  Oh well we will figure out something to do with the candy.  It is very tempting to get into so we will either give it away or put it in the safe and save it for our grandkids when they visit.  LOL

Good bye October.

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