We may have almost every room in the house to unpack except the kitchen, but we have been enjoying our life in the country. We are climbing over boxes in our bedroom, bathrooms and offices, but that hasn't slowed down the planning of the garden! We are thrilled to be back in the land where they sell cotton hull compost. We are trying to control the size of our garden. It doesn't need to be humongous the first year. But we do need room for plenty of tom's, tomatillos, peppers of all kinds, pumpkins, and CORN! I really want a few rows of corn. And gourds. The kind that look cool dried and possibly painted.
As for wildlife around our farm, Todd or I have seen or heard:
Frogs
Toads
Cicadas
The tail of a red fox
Crawdads (itty bitty teeny tiny!)
Barn swallows
Dragon flies
Super huge walking sticks (on steroids, these thing are huge)
Owls
Possum
Moles
Hummingbird
Squirrels
(snakes)
Earthworms! Oh how I have missed them!
LOTS of dogs
We have taken plenty of time to have fun. We've had a few friends over. We've gone to the closing pool party for the last volleyball game of the season in the old hood. We went out to celebrate Mitch's birthday. We've been to the local farmers market. There was a pinball competition where we made a special appearance. We have had Oklahoma Joe's Z-man sandwiches, and Sheridan's custard. We had a real home warming dinner last night--super yummy prime rib, the last one until Christmas day. It already feels like home and we are barely settled in! We are dreaming of landscaping designs and future changes we want to make around our home and property.
We haven't planned out exactly where the chicken coop is going to go, but we have time before next spring. I HAVE been thinking of chicky names. How about you? What suggested names do you have for some of my future chickens?!?
Monday, September 19, 2011
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Oh LOOK, There's A Moving Truck!
Today feels like Groundhog Day. Dogs barked all night. I got up several times to tell them to shut up. I'm such a spoiler. They had something really COOL, up in a TREE for crying out loud! One does not have to wonder for long why we have no stray cats around this farm. One neat thing though, I heard an owl hooting several times. And it sounded like it was right up THERE. I can't really be mad at the dogs for long, it's their nature, and this place is the ultimate playground for hunting dogs. I'd love to see a yippee barky dog try to last in THIS hood! Ha. Not really.
Woke up early, cause the movers would be here about 8. Possibly as late as 10am, but we knew they would be closer to 8-something. And I knew the flipping idiots wouldn't COMMUNICATE to the driver that they can't possibly drive a semi onto our driveway for two reasons. 1. Stinking cable Internet company hasn't raised the line tall enough for practically our lawn mower to pass under (only slightly sarcastic--Todd can reach up and touch it in one spot), and 2. The corner is to sharp for a semi to make the turn. Now, we warned them. Todd called our contact last week to make sure the truck was on the way, and most importantly that the driver knows they have to have a smaller truck to offload stuff onto to get it to the house. You think this helped the situation that Todd proactively called? Nope. The poor driver had no clue. They have a serious issue with lack of communication to their drivers, and I can't wait to get THAT survey. Have you ever heard of Process Improvement?!? The root cause of their communication issues are costing customers THOUSANDS of dollars. I would LOVE to do a study and quantify what a few improvements could save them. But why bother with common sense. It's really not very common, anyway.
Currently, the movers are getting another truck. I am trying to make just one room "put together", so that I don't feel like everything is still chaotic. In good news, we have the kitchen entirely unpacked! It may be all over the countertops, but there are no cardboard boxes in the kitchen. That's progress. We will be hanging our new shampoo dispenser, my 12th anniversary present, soon. We tried a new restaurant last night to celebrate our 12 year mark. I feel bad that I didn't get Todd anything fun, but can't think of anything good at the moment. Maybe we will go dishwasher shopping. Cause that damn thing has just got to GO! I have to reflect that we are probably both happier now than we've ever been, and after 12 years, that is really something.
I wish that I could say that at the end of today, our Great Migration Back To The Midwest would be over. But Todd still has to go get his storage unit stuff. At least none of that goes on the main floor, and for that I am grateful.
Forgive any typos for lack of a spellchecker. Really Apple?!?!!
Woke up early, cause the movers would be here about 8. Possibly as late as 10am, but we knew they would be closer to 8-something. And I knew the flipping idiots wouldn't COMMUNICATE to the driver that they can't possibly drive a semi onto our driveway for two reasons. 1. Stinking cable Internet company hasn't raised the line tall enough for practically our lawn mower to pass under (only slightly sarcastic--Todd can reach up and touch it in one spot), and 2. The corner is to sharp for a semi to make the turn. Now, we warned them. Todd called our contact last week to make sure the truck was on the way, and most importantly that the driver knows they have to have a smaller truck to offload stuff onto to get it to the house. You think this helped the situation that Todd proactively called? Nope. The poor driver had no clue. They have a serious issue with lack of communication to their drivers, and I can't wait to get THAT survey. Have you ever heard of Process Improvement?!? The root cause of their communication issues are costing customers THOUSANDS of dollars. I would LOVE to do a study and quantify what a few improvements could save them. But why bother with common sense. It's really not very common, anyway.
Currently, the movers are getting another truck. I am trying to make just one room "put together", so that I don't feel like everything is still chaotic. In good news, we have the kitchen entirely unpacked! It may be all over the countertops, but there are no cardboard boxes in the kitchen. That's progress. We will be hanging our new shampoo dispenser, my 12th anniversary present, soon. We tried a new restaurant last night to celebrate our 12 year mark. I feel bad that I didn't get Todd anything fun, but can't think of anything good at the moment. Maybe we will go dishwasher shopping. Cause that damn thing has just got to GO! I have to reflect that we are probably both happier now than we've ever been, and after 12 years, that is really something.
I wish that I could say that at the end of today, our Great Migration Back To The Midwest would be over. But Todd still has to go get his storage unit stuff. At least none of that goes on the main floor, and for that I am grateful.
Forgive any typos for lack of a spellchecker. Really Apple?!?!!
Saturday, September 3, 2011
And The Answer Is...
I recently asked a Trivia Question. And the answer is...
My DISH-WASHING DRAWER!!!! So Mrs. Irritation, it was in the kitchen, and it did relate to water.
I am NOT a fan of a "dishwasher drawer". It's the "special" kind where you basically have 2 dishwashers in the space of one. Do you know what that means? Neither are big enough for even a small cookie sheet, so that means hand washing way too many things. WTH is up with that? Plus, the bottom of each drawer collects a serious amount of water that just sits there growing calcium deposits and mold. It was the most disgusting thing I have ever cleaned. Except that one time Roscoe got sick all over the living room, but he couldn't help it. This whole dishwasher fiasco COULD HAVE BEEN HELPED had the previous homeowners ever cleaned the dang thing. The stalactite calcium deposits, or whatever they were on the bottom of the metal plate at the bottom of the drawer, were so old, disgusting, and prevalent, that THEY WIGGLED. Todd had to take the metal plate outside and pressure wash it. Then I got to continue scrubbing. This took 3 hours, 10 rubber gloves, 12 toothpicks, 1.5 rolls of paper towels, and one GALLON of vinegar to clean. I only did the bigger drawer. I have not cleaned the smaller one and I refuse to use it. Disgusting. I did the dishwasher-buildup-cleaner you can buy at home improvements stores today. Had one of these been used each YEAR over the past SEVERAL years, it may have been a worthy cause.
On my list of things to buy... a normal dishwasher. These drawers can go back to Australia. I could kick whoever thought of this BRILLIANT idea. They obviously eat out.
My DISH-WASHING DRAWER!!!! So Mrs. Irritation, it was in the kitchen, and it did relate to water.
I am NOT a fan of a "dishwasher drawer". It's the "special" kind where you basically have 2 dishwashers in the space of one. Do you know what that means? Neither are big enough for even a small cookie sheet, so that means hand washing way too many things. WTH is up with that? Plus, the bottom of each drawer collects a serious amount of water that just sits there growing calcium deposits and mold. It was the most disgusting thing I have ever cleaned. Except that one time Roscoe got sick all over the living room, but he couldn't help it. This whole dishwasher fiasco COULD HAVE BEEN HELPED had the previous homeowners ever cleaned the dang thing. The stalactite calcium deposits, or whatever they were on the bottom of the metal plate at the bottom of the drawer, were so old, disgusting, and prevalent, that THEY WIGGLED. Todd had to take the metal plate outside and pressure wash it. Then I got to continue scrubbing. This took 3 hours, 10 rubber gloves, 12 toothpicks, 1.5 rolls of paper towels, and one GALLON of vinegar to clean. I only did the bigger drawer. I have not cleaned the smaller one and I refuse to use it. Disgusting. I did the dishwasher-buildup-cleaner you can buy at home improvements stores today. Had one of these been used each YEAR over the past SEVERAL years, it may have been a worthy cause.
On my list of things to buy... a normal dishwasher. These drawers can go back to Australia. I could kick whoever thought of this BRILLIANT idea. They obviously eat out.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Trivia Question
What takes 3 hours to clean AND:
- 12 toothpicks
- 10 rubber gloves
- 1.5 rolls of paper towels
- 1 GALLON of vinegar
?????
Give up? Check back after I've gotten 3 guesses or Saturday evening, whichever comes first, and I'll post the answer. Good luck! And Todd, you can't participate.
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