AtomicMrX

I have some accumulated points from perfect attendance at work (8 years mind you). I cashed in $200.00 in points (1 point = $1.00) and got them on Home Depot Gift Cards. Shannon and I are going to build a compost box and I figured that would pretty much cover the cost of supplies and maybe have a little left over.

We went to Home Depot last night after a very inexpensive Chinese buffet! The food was great. They recently were bought out by someone and the food quality has greatly improved! Back to the project. We bought pre-made sections of fence to use for the box walls and all the other things like hinges and quickset cement. Shannon also wanted to get the soil for the garden (food/flower) that will be on the side of the house with the Arbor. So we got 40 bags of top soil (only 98 cents each and they are big bags!).

Apparently the cashier didn’t know much because she should have pointed out to us that the fence we were trying to buy was a “special order” only and so that caused a bunch of problems. Then wen we get to the top soil area to load up 40 bags they only give us 38 but that isn’t discovered till we unload them at home. The cashier also charged me for 6 posts when we only had 4. I have a very confusing bunch of receipts! I have the original, the credit for the 2 posts, and then the credit for the fence sections.

We will have to go to another Home Depot tonight that carries that same fence in stock (not special order like the Lee’s Summit store). I’ll be able to use the store credit from last nights purchases to get the fences.

So now the fun begins. We have to clear the area for the compost box and then dig holes, pour the concrete and hope the 4 posts set up nice and purty - not all crooked.

Happy Easter everyone! Should be a good day for Easter Egg hunts! Beautiful sunny 72 degrees.

I took Monday off so this is kind of a vacation weekend! Shannon has Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off so we put this weekend to good use.

We did a lot of work in the yard Saturday. There were a couple of plants that needed to be transplanted to a better, more permanent location and a couple of plants that we bought and needed to get into the ground.

We put vining red roses next to the Arbor. We planted ivy next to the fence to cover the neighbors junk heap. We transplanted a vining flower plant to a trellis next to the side of the house.

I was tired at the end of the day and we didn’t do that much. I’m just too overweight for all the work. Jaki was pooped from being outside so long and so much activity to keep track of.

Here we are soaking the roses before planting.

Holes have been dug for the roses next to the Arbor.

Shannon working in the yard.

Trellis on side of house.

The Arbor.

The rose holes by the Arbor.

Shannon.

Me working on the holes for the ivy with Jaki guarding the area.

The planted roses next to the Arbor.

Today we are to pull up the bulbs in the front flower beds and put them in the basement till next year. We are also going to get flat rocks to build up the walls of the front flower beds.

This is a little late in appearing on my blog but I was busy, okay?

On March 28, 2006 I had my old kitchen window and sliding door replaced using my income tax return money (like all of it). I used a builder that my friend Jim used for his kitchen update and also a co-worker of mine got her kitchen updated by the same builder.

Here’s the pictures of the day. I took the day off so I could record and observe (maybe learn a thing or two and I did). Click on any photo to see a larger version in a new window.

The new window and door leaning on the side of the garage:

John and Lee taking the wood shingles off the house:

Out comes the old sliding door:

Big gapping holes in the side of the house:

John sizes the opening, holding the new slider in place:

The deck is their work shop:

The new window is in place and now to piece the wood shingles back on:

“Builder Bill” sweeping up during the install and Lee piecing shingles around window area:

The new window is finished and shades hung back up:

The new slider is finished and vertical blinds hung back up:

The finished look from the outside. Also there is our new gas grill (first gas grill - all others were charcoal):

Once the shingles shrink up a bit and we caulk up the gaps, prime them, then paint the whole house it will look like it was always there. The house is going to get painted here in the next month. We have the colors picked out - just need to wait for the weather to behave.

I can already tell the difference with the new kitchen window and slider. The hallway thermometer can say 68 and the kitchen use to say 65 with the old window and door. Now the kitchen is the same temperature as the hallway. It will make a big difference in the heating and cooling bills!

Well, it has been awhile since my last post. Let me explain. We have been doing a lot of volunteer overtime. So I have been working 10 hour days and after getting home don’t feel like getting back onto the computer I was just on from 10 hours. In addition I got a cold or allergies acted up last weekend to the point I was not worth much.

If the weekend is nice I should get all the extra leaves/mulch out of our side yard bagged up. We have way too much to make good use of in the gardens. We are going to bag and take to the dump next Fall when all the leaves drop. Too much for composting!

There is some really cool software out called Google Earth and it is fascinating! It is available FREE for both Mac’s & PC’s so go here to download it. This is some really cool software. You can do fly-byes and take tours of foreign cities. The satellite pictures were taken about three years ago and are spliced together to form a continuous image. Check it out!