Progress on the Tiny House, Sort Of

Things are finally starting to move forward out at my property again.  Some of you may recall that I put around $10k into the old mobile home in 2015 so that my nephew and I could live within the school bus boundaries for our preferred school district. 

This is how it looked before:

This is after (before the other furniture and cabinets.

This was my mom making curtains.

Then, I let a guy rent the place at the recommendation of the dog rescue.  He had 2 dogs and 2 cats and needed a place asap.  That was ok but he smoked and cleaning was not high on his priority list.  He moved into the 2 bedroom rental house that I bought and then moved to Brazil last year.  In the meantime, my nephew decided that he wasn't ready for college and returned to Arizona.  I felt he needed to learn some responsibility so he is currently renting the mobile home from me for a small sum plus electricity monthly and buying his own food.  I had hoped this would encourage him to get a job.  He did have a seasonal job for the past few months but that's over now.  He is learning how to budget his money, conserve food and water and live minimally, so at least he is learning something. 

Yesterday I took the afternoon off and met the electrician out at the property, finally, since he had to reschedule 3 times.  He was fantastic.  He changed the RV outlet into a dryer outlet, moved the dryer into the back room, listened to my plans for the barn-shed tiny house, looked over all of the electrical power available, figured out how we won't have to dig under the mobile home (yay!) and told me what I need to do and what to buy before he can come out again and bring power to the barn-shed.  I am so happy and now I have a lot to do if I want to get it done before summer.  The plan is to steal the power from the greenhouse/hot tub pump.  That's 70 amps.  I need to rent a trencher and dig an 18" deep trench from the greenhouse to the barn-shed, about 45'.  I hope it is easier than it sounds.  I can also pay someone to do it but I don't know how much that would be.  My nephew and I will attempt it first.  Then I will buy PVC to use as conduit and exchange my indoor power box for an outdoor box.  I bought the wrong one but I still have the receipt.  He also said he would wire the inside which is awesome because although I could learn how to do it myself from a book and Youtube, it is even better to learn from a professional, especially when electricity is concerned.

This is my preliminary sketch of the electricity needed:

And here is the picture of what I am talking about.  #2 is the mobile home where the dryer was installed.  #3 is the barn-shed tiny house which I am trying to get electricity to.  #1 is a storage shed.  #4 is the 3,000 gallon water tank.

And, my nephew mentioned that he is almost out of water.  He started out with a little less than 3,500 gallons last April and has been stretching it by not showering, doing laundry, or doing dishes.  Hmmm... that's not good.  He buys drinking water from the store so that isn't included.  I told him he would have to pay for the water delivery when he ran out.  That's $150.  But, there are a ton of chores he can help me with out there so he can work it off starting with helping me pick up another water tank with his pickup truck (which used to be mine).  My main water tank is 3,000 gallons and the water truck delivers 3,500 gallons which I have to pay for whether I have room for it or not so I am going to buy another 500 gallon tank so that I can get all of the water.  That is a chore for a Saturday but not this Saturday since it will be rainy and cold.  The next Saturday will be back up in the 70's so I will plan for that.

A Typical Week

My goal each week is to go straight home after work as much as I can.  This week is already filling up.  Typically, I visit my mother on Tuesdays and Thursdays and I feel bad when errands get in the way.  One rental house was having trouble with the stove so I arranged for the repairman to come by between 12 and 3.  I work nearby so I drove over to pay the repairman, twice actually, once for the estimate and once again to pay because he had to go pick up the part. It would be nice if he took credit cards over the phone but I guess they aren't that advanced.  $388 for the ignition switch replacement.  That was right on the border of replace rather than repair but the tenant likes the stove, she actually hugged it when I mentioned replacing it, and I didn't see the same style online.  It isn't that special, it just has a place in the middle to rest pots, kind of like the ones with a 5th burner except it doesn't have a burner in the middle.  The repairman said that the ignition switch was the main thing that goes out so it should last for a long time with a new switch.   

I cancelled another after-work vet appointment for my new dog.  His digestive system has finally acclimated to the new food and even though he still licks at his leg where he had a lump removed, I am going to make him wear the soft collar and give it more time to heal because the vet doesn't have any sure-fire solutions, just more antibiotics (he has had 2 different kinds) and expensive blood tests ($330) to compare to the blood tests he had last month. 

I also need to go out to my property and take some photos for the electrician.  My nephew is still living in the mobile home on the property and he has finally started doing his laundry.  This might seem like a simple thing but the washer has no water hookups so first he puts the drain hose out the window, then puts his clothes and soap in, then brings the water hose, which is hooked to the water tank, inside and fills the washer (top-loader).  Then repeats filling the tub with water for the rinse and voila!  Clean clothes.  That is the way I used to do it when I lived out there back in 2010 when I still had a washer and dryer in the old garage, before I had is taken down.  The electrician is coming out a week from Saturday to install a dryer outlet. 

 

Dryer will go in this room which is at the end of the mobile home in the picture below.

Normally, I would say, just hang your clothes to dry but I want a dryer outlet for myself when I eventually move out there and the electrician is also going to advise me on bringing power to the barn-shed.  After a crazy year, I finally have a little bit of time and money to think about improvements on my property.  I wish I could snap my fingers and have everything done like fences, the interior of the barn-shed finished, porches and rainwater collection set up, etc....  It's a big wish list.     

House Hunting Again

Things have slowed down and sped up at the same time. The day to day things like high school stuff, grocery shopping, making dinner, doctors appointments, college prep, etc... have slowed drastically, which is a relief. My nephew has his class schedule for next semester but he needs to change one class because they signed him up for Survey of Math and he has already taken Calculus I in high school. He is waiting to find out his score on the AP Calculus test (not until July 9) so he will know which math class to add or if he doesn't need anymore math, maybe he can get a natural science core out of the way. 

The big goals have sped up. The porch cover was finished on my barn-shed. Gutters and water collection tank will be attached some time in the future. There isn't a desperate need for it since my water tanks are pretty much full right now and it is so hot that I don't want to go out there to do it. 

My mother and I went to look at houses for sale in the neighborhood close to where she lives. We weren't expecting to find any that would work for us but a couple of them did. We are going to put an offer in on one on Monday. The yard is not as large as I would like but there is a large Arizona room where I can make an "indoor dog park". It connects to the master bedroom and bathroom and then there is a walk-in closet and then the closet has another closet! I think I will have enough storage space. My mother will have the other half of the house including 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, kitchen, dining room, and a big living room with a fireplace.  

 Big enough for my indoor dog park. Just needs a dog door.

The walk-in closet has it's own closet. I think that would be enough room.

The kitchen needs some style help but it is big enough.

I'm still looking for new listings though because one of those houses with the extra large lots is going to come up for sale one of these days! I just know it.

Summer is Losing Its Grip

September.  The weather has cooled some.  Not cool enough to use the oven, but enough to be cool at night so that I can sleep well.  My dog who drinks a lot has been sleeping through the night too so I don't have to let him outside to pee at 1am.  His walking has improved somewhat on the Tramadol so I don't have to help him stand.  We had a vet appointment last night and his blood pressure has come down on the medication.  The vet is going to look in to other medications we can try.  For now, we will just wait and see.

Only 2 1/2 weeks left of the first quarter of my nephew's senior year.  He gets a 2 week fall break between quarters and will be going to visit my sister in California like he did last year.  She will help him write his paper for his video game designer career presentation which is due at the end of the year.  She also says she has work for him to do to earn money for his computer fund.  He has $250 so far but I think he will need at least $550 for an Alienware computer depending on if he wants to risk buying a used one.  We took a pile of books to sell to the used bookstore last weekend but they only paid 50 cents a book which came to a whopping $4 for the ones they wanted.  

He was disappointed and so was I.  I will be donating or selling the rest of them on Ebay/Amazon instead. 

The tenant in my mobile home does not complain which is good except when I start wondering if no news is bad news.  So far, it is all ok.  Home Depot had a rebate on paint, $40 off a 5 gallon bucket, so I bought 2 buckets.  Obviously, since I have already spend my surplus money for September on previous vet bills, I am borrowing money from my mortgage repayment plan but this deal was too good to pass up.  I got 10 gallons of paint for the same price (after rebate) as I paid for 5 gallons the first time.  5 gallons was not enough paint and I thought the original yellow color was too bright.  This time, I bought a much lighter yellow and 10 gallons should be plenty of paint for the second coat.  

My tenant will have plenty of painting to do for me.  It's a good job for him because I don't need to be there to supervise.  I hope to take a day off while my nephew is gone to continue cleaning out the storage room of the mobile home.  If I bring everything to my house and put it in the living room, I can sort and toss/give/sell more easily.  At least, that is the idea. 

I added up my debts and assets, like I do every month, and it is motivating to see how close I am getting to my goal.  I love dreaming about all the projects I can do after the mortgage is paid off.  I get ideas from blogs and vlogs and add things to my Amazon wish list like a gas-powered water pump and a Berkey water filter.  For now though, I should stay focused on de-cluttering.  On Saturday, I am taking my foster dog to an adoption event.  If he gets adopted, I think that would count as de-cluttering.  Aww, sorry foster-dog.  You know I'm probably going to keep you forever.

Hot Dog Wheels

My dog has wheels.  He hates his wheels.  I suppose this will take some getting used to.  I found this used dog wheelchair through the Best Friends Mobility website.  I don't think it was used at all because the wheels were set up as two left sides and it took a hammer, pliers and WD-40 to loosen the bolts so I could fix it.  I suspect the previous owner of this rig got too frustrated putting it together and sold it.  It took me two hours to put it together and I haven't even adjusted it for my dog yet.  It isn't much good indoors since the wheel span is too wide.  He gets snagged on everything.  I intend to use it for walks so that he can go with us on our usual route.  He isn't paralyzed yet, just very weak in his back and hind legs.  

After researching wheelchairs for a while I decided on this Sitgo model because it is hinged and suppose to allow the dog to sit and lie down.  We will see if he can get the hang of it.

In mobile home news, my tenant ran out of water so I had to ask the neighbor if I could get water from his water meter.  The water meters are a mile away and people who have them will haul water to their homes as needed.  I was planning to use my two 55 gallon barrels to make 2 or 3 trips so that I would not have to bring water out from my house, 30 minutes away.  My very generous neighbor offered to bring 500 gallons of water over in his tank.  It was 100 degrees again and we were all sweating but he brought the water and I was thrilled.  Then he went to start his super-duper water transfer pump which would have emptied the tank in 15 minutes, and the rope broke on the starter.  Ugh.  We managed to get the water out with gravity and my little, slow sump pump.  It took an hour and a half.  I was so fried by that time.  My main reason for going out there was to clear out my stuff from the storage room where the (now dead) mice had invaded.  I only got one box and one bag, my head was pounding, and my nephew needed to be picked up from his school event so I left.  I'll go back in a couple of weeks.  

This week Chase bank updated their website and now I can't access my account.  It is driving me crazy.  I usually check my account a couple times a week.  It's almost the end of the month and I need to move some money around.  A call to customer service got me nowhere.  They put in a trouble ticket 2 days ago.  Still no answer and no access.  I could get to my account on my smartphone briefly, but not today.  It is unsettling to be cut off from my money.  I need to know if I have enough for my extra mortgage payment this month.  Vet bills + wheelchair cost around $2,000.  I can absorb that if I spread it over a couple of months.  Next month is my biggest bill month though because of property taxes.  Sure, I could pay half the taxes now and half in December but December is not a good month for paying bills.  I like to get taxes paid and out of my head for another year. 

Tomorrow I get to visit our manufacturing plant in Mexico.  it is always fun to see the people that I talk to on the phone.  I should bring candy.  Maybe mini-Twix.  Chocolate always helps international relations. :)

If I Do, If I Don't

I took another half day off to take Jimmy-dog to the vet.  He had two appointments today, first at our regular vet for blood pressure and then to the surgery consultation.  They took 5 blood pressures and some were normal and some were high.  I'm beginning to wonder if their machine is broken.  The surgeon was not happy with the grainy ultrasound images that the other vet sent over so he had his own technician check the tumor.  Good news is it isn't invading the vena cava yet.  Bad news is with Jimmy-dog's heart murmur, the surgeon does not think he will survive surgery.  He would be willing to try surgery with an anesthesiologist which adds another $2k on to a $3-5k surgery with no guarantee that he will survive or that is will fix his issues. The cost is high but I had to think, if the surgery was free would I go for it? No, the odds do not sound good.

The surgeon suspects that the weakness in his hind limbs is from a different issue, a degenerative disk in his spine and it may eventually cause paralysis.  He came to this conclusion after feeling Jimmy-dog's spine and at one point Jimmy-dog yelped and turned to bite him.  So, I think we should focus on treating his symptoms.  His lack of mobility is his worst problem at the moment.  It has improved with pain medication.  Maybe there is more they can do to help him with pain management.

So, that's the Jimmy-dog update.  While I was in the vet office it was pouring rain outside.  I emailed the tenant in the mobile home and asked him if the gutters that we put up last Saturday were working.  He said they were 98% good.  It was so hot on Saturday that we just tacked the gutters up and he was going to add more gutter hangers later on.  He hasn't finished yet.  I even got my nephew to get up early on a Saturday to help hang gutters by paying him $10 and hour.  He is saving for an Alienware computer for gaming AND homework.  We only put gutters on one side of the mobile home, approximately 60', but any water collection will help.  Next step, gutters on the small shed, the barn-shed, and the green house.  The water tank that we connected to it was filling up.  It only holds 125 gallons and I told him that he should transfer the water to a larger tank now because we are supposed to get another storm tomorrow.  When I was there on Saturday, I noticed a new stain on the ceiling.  That means water leak.  That's another thing for my to-do list.  I don't have to do it myself per-se but I need to go out there and show him where the roof patch and tools are and perhaps supervise because I don't want him falling off my roof or anything. 

The back storage room where the cats used to be has been invaded by a mouse or mice.  That just kills me because we worked so hard last year to clean everything.  My tenant offered to bring two mouser cats that he had at a friend's barn.  I said an enthusiastic yes.  Maybe these cats won't disappear like my cats did.  So, now I need to organize the storage room again and remove anything that can be knocked over by cats chasing mice.  I want the cats to have easy access to all hiding places.  At first the mouse invasion kept me up at night thinking about what they could be ruining but now I have accepted the situation as helping me downsize.  After all, that was my goal for this year, right?  Get rid of stuff so that I can sell my house and move in to my tiny house after my nephew goes to college next year.  I just hadn't planned to tackle these jobs until it was at least in the 80's again.  But, mice wait for no one and I must go save my stuff and my sanity and get those chores done now.

The Price of Compassion

A lot has been going on and I haven't written about it because when I finally get in to bed at night I just want to play Bejeweled and snuggle with the dogs until I go to sleep.

1)  I was so confident that my nephew would get his license (yes, he did) and be able to drive himself to school thus enabling us to stay at the house instead of traveling back and forth to the mobile home so that he could ride the school bus like the did last year, (run-on sentence alert) that I got a new foster dog. 

He is a 12 year old long-haired Chihuahua with Cushing's Syndrome (like my other dog has, or so I thought).  He is a bit of a brat when it comes to food and not wanting to go in the bedroom at night but otherwise, he is very soft and cute and his vet care is covered by the rescue.  Maybe he will get adopted even with his age and issues.  This does mean I will eventually have to take him to PetSmart adoption events.  He got neutered last Saturday so I don't have any more excuses except lack of time.

2)  Someone in the dog rescue group asked me if I could provide temporary housing for a handyman and his 2 dogs who were getting evicted at 1pm that day.  I have been burned before when believing sad stories but I decided to take a risk and help someone again.  He had references and I printed out a standard lease along with some extra rules for the mobile home.  He was thrilled to have a place for himself and his dogs and he has busied himself with the list of projects I gave him for fixing up the mobile home and property.  The biggest challenge has been organizing the projects and finding time (and money) to buy the materials.  After I dropped the foster dog off at his neuter appointment last Saturday, I went to Home Depot to buy gutters and attachments and wood boards for the steps.  Originally, I had planned to drive out to the property immediately but it was so hot I went home, took a nap, picked up the foster dog at 2pm and then my nephew and I went out to drop off materials.  This Saturday I plan to go out and help install the gutters.  We have had a lot of rain this week and none of that water is being collected.  It's a shame.  And also, he needs water to flush the toilet, so, gutters are the #1 project.  I had planned to start these projects in the late fall when it would be cooler but now the gutters can't wait.

3)  My black and tan dog (the one that I did the DNA test on and found out he is a bloodhound, Austr. shepherd, Austr. cattle dog, and chow chow) was diagnosed with Cushing's Syndrome last year.  

He has gotten worse in the last 2 months and can barely walk.  I took him to the vet again yesterday and the vet says he has a Pheochromocytoma tumor which has some of the same symptoms as Cushing's but the best course of action for this tumor is surgery.  I have a surgery consultation next Tuesday.  I have no idea how much that will cost or how much I am willing to spend.  I guess it depends on how long they think he will live if the surgery is a success.  Usually, dogs are diagnosed when they are around 12 years old but he is only 7.  If I could buy him another 5 years, that would be awesome, but I don't want him to be miserable.  One of the reasons I did the DNA test when I did was because I was worried that he wouldn't live long.

So, to sum up, I have no money and no time but I do have someone to work on projects for me.  That is a bit frustrating.  I'll get through it even if it means adding a few months on to my mortgage repayment plan.  That is why my plan is flexible after all.

My Enthusiasm for Painting has Dwindled

I had high hopes for last week but, sadly, it didn't cooperate.  Thursday was good.  After work I picked up my nephew and we met my sister for dinner.   Afterwards, we went to her hotel for some lovely night swimming, or I should say "floating" because that is mainly what we did.  I took a vacation day on Friday and my sister gamely met me at 8am out at my property for more painting fun.  I was excited to try out my new paint sprayer.  Unfortunately, I didn't read all of the reviews so I missed the part where it doesn't work well with latex paint.  The description said "thinned latex paint" but when I thinned it, it was so thin that it didn't cover and just dripped everywhere.  After 3 hours of messing with it, I switched to a brush to get the edges covered before I roasted in the sun. 

I still didn't get the upper panel done in the back.  My sister was a big help and painted the groves on the south side of the barn-shed.  That afternoon it rained.  Oh well, The back side is just going to have to wait until I have time to go out there again.  Later on I read all the reviews for the paint sprayer.  The one I bought cost $75 and the one that says it can spray latex costs $130.  I don't think I want to even try another sprayer.  I was just as messy with a sprayer as I was with a brush and I worked at about the same speed. 

I had also scheduled a permit inspection to close out the current permit which is just for the barn-shed to be legal on my property.  I waited until noon but no inspector showed up.  On Saturday, I remembered to check the inspection results online.  It said FAILED.  The reason was that the inspector couldn't find the address and said that I didn't answer my phone.  That is so frustrating!  I never got a call and this was the same inspector as last time so you would think he would know where it was or use google maps or something.  Next time I will have to leave explicit instructions on the recorded message and hope that he can find it.

Besides those two disappointing things, we have been trying to get my nephew's 10 hours of night driving practice done before he goes on his summer travels.  As of today we have 2 1/2 hours left and we plan to do an hour tonight.  He has come such a long way since those first terrifying trips back in February.  A friend wants me to drive around with her son who is learning to drive because she is too nervous.  I can't say I'm eager to do that.

Tomorrow I need to sneak out of work for an hour while I go pick up my Zaycon Fresh 40 pounds of chicken and stuff it in my freezer in my mobile home.  I'll sort it in to smaller bags when I return from my niece's wedding.  Good thing I have 2 freezers because the one at the house is already full of chicken thighs.  So much to do and organize!  I thought my life was going to slow down when school got out but so far it hasn't happened.  

Cooler Fun

Last Thursday, when we loaded up the luggage and dogs for the last time of Junior year, we arrived at the house in town to find water dripping off the roof.  If it had been raining, this would have been normal, but it wasn't raining.  After unloading the car, I got out the short ladder and looked for the source.  I saw a spray of water coming from the evaporative cooler.  Since I had already taken the tall ladder back out to the property, the only thing I could do was turn off the water and wait.  The next day after work, I drove out to the property to get the ladder.  I didn't get around to climbing on the roof until Saturday and I couldn't find anything obviously wrong.  I went back down, turned on the water, climbed back up and saw water spraying from where the copper tubing goes in to the cooler.  I moved it and it sprayed more water and I could see a hole, then the tubing broke off.  I turned off the water again and attempted to unscrew the fitting but the water float on the inside of the cooler just spun around.  That's when I knew I needed to call the professionals.  Of course, it was 4pm on a Saturday on a holiday weekend so they couldn't come out until Tuesday.  Luckily, the temperatures were only in the low 90's and not 108 like they predict for next weekend.

It was hot in the afternoons and I remembered that I had a broken portable cooler in the shed.  I got it out, cleaned it off and re-attached the water pump hose.  Ahhh....it worked and we had cool air for the living room, at least.  On Monday, my mother, nephew and I went back to the mobile home and collected up all of our things like food, clothes, and bedding, and cleaned as much as we could.  I nailed a board over the dog door and I hope that keeps any critters out.  I covered the south windows with extra sheets and insulation.  

There is more that I want to do, like reinforce the areas where pipes come through the walls (which is where a mouse got in) and put an awning of some sort over the door that leaks when it rains.  But 108 degrees makes me lethargic (and it hasn't even happened yet).

On Tuesday, I used a vacation day and took my nephew to get his 4 wisdom teeth extracted.  He was a sad puppy for 5 hours and then up, eating and playing video games after that.  He didn't even ask for pain medicine last night.  I know they say that the younger the better but that was amazing.  I hope the rest of his recovery goes as smoothly.  The cooler repairmen arrived at noon, replaced the copper tubing and the float and gave me a bill for $102.  Ouch, but at least it is working.  I got a nap since my room was cool again and my mother even helped pick up dog poop in the yard.  Thanks Mom!  Today I am back at work and looking forward to another weekend coming soon!  I don't have any plans outside the house so I hope I can get more de-cluttering done.  We already cleaned out both of our closets and gave the clothes to a friend.  Next, maybe I can tackle all of those surfaces that attract mail, broken things, and cool doohickies that I will definitely use one day!

Almost Over

So many responsibilities... Next month will slow down, right?  Nope.  The days just keep filling up.  Last Monday I attended my nephew's choir performance.  It was nice but long.  On Wednesday, I brought my mother to the airport for her flight to California.  On Friday, my nephew and I went to his awards banquet for choir.  They said it would be 3 hours.  I thought it might end early.  It ended up being 4 1/2 hours long and I got home at 11pm.  My nephew stayed for the all night movie lock-in while I went back to the mobile home and set my alarm for 7am so that I could pick him up at 8am sharp.  We loaded up the car with luggage and dogs and drove to the house where I took a nap and he didn't crash until 4pm.  Then, I met my sister for dinner.  She was driving through on her way to vacation in Texas.  On Sunday, I finally tired of looking at my nephew's tattered and paint splattered shoes and took him to Kohl's where for $130 we bought shoes and two pairs of jeans, one black and one dark blue, which he can wear to dressy-casual affairs such as the up-coming wedding of his cousin.  The items were on sale but, still, I hate spending that much money on clothes.

Sunday night we drove back out to the mobile home for the last time of the junior year (and hopefully forever if my plans go well).  This is finals week until Thursday and then we get to go back to the house for a long time.  It will be nice to give my brain a break although I seem to be coming up with all sorts of plans for the property now that it is too hot to do anything out there.  Building a deck, planting trees, finishing the skirting...  All of that needs to wait for later.  What I really need to do is finish painting the barn-shed, figure out how to make the tie-downs tighter (I'm not sure if they need to be tight or not), and put some sort of drip edge over the front door in an attempt to keep rain from leaking in like it did last year.

June is filling up now and I don't even want to think about July because school starts up again in July.  So, I will just think about this Thursday, the last day of school, and be happy for a little while.

Like Sand Through an Hour Glass

These weeks are flying by again.  Only 5 weeks to go until school is out.  That means only 5 more weeks of being at the mobile home during the week and only 4 more weekends of traveling between the house and mobile home.  I wonder if the dogs will miss the car rides.  I will not miss being at the mobile home as it is now.  I am looking forward to the day that I can move out there permanently and have the time and money to fix things up the way I have been dreaming about for years. 

Last week, my nephew took the ACT test.  It will be a few weeks before he finds out how he did but he is hoping for a score higher than 21 which is the score he needs for the college that he wants to go to.  If not, he will take the test again.  We spent the last 3 Saturdays going to his ACT prep class so I hope that preparation paid off.

On Wednesday, we went to the county fair to see TobyMac in concert.  I was not impressed with it but then hip hop and rap are not my style of music.  It was so loud.  I wonder if my hearing is permanently damaged.  My nephew thought it was ok.  He has to write a 2 page review on it for his choir class.  We didn't get home until 10 and I didn't get to sleep until 11:30 because of the caffeine I drank for dinner.  The rest of the week I was dragging.

So, last Sunday, I finished my taxes and it turned out that I am getting $150 back from Federal and $500 back from the state.  I was worried that I would owe money like last year but I think that my rental house being vacant for 2 months and then having to pay the maintenance costs for the tenant turn-over reduced my tax liability.  For state, I pre-paid $400 last December, half to my nephew's school and half to our parish school so I get that money refunded.  That was a huge relief that I didn't have to pay. 

I really wanted to stay home last Saturday, and, since the tax worry was over, I decided to treat myself to a little present.  I could stay home if I had a plan for finishing the barn-shed painting.  I used my credit card rewards to buy an electric paint sprayer to paint the grooves on the barn-shed.  The idea is that painting will go much quicker with the sprayer which made it ok to stay home on Saturday.  We will see if that is true.  The paint sprayer arrives today.  Saturday was lovely.  I napped, pulled weeds, attempted to get on the roof to start up the evaporative cooler but found that my ladder was too short.  Next week I will bring out my tall ladder.  I've never started up my evaporative cooler by myself but everyone tells me it is easy and I can do it myself rather than pay someone $50-$80 to do it for me.

This week I am looking forward to getting my paint sprayer, starting up the evap. cooler, and attending a meeting about the career-shadowing project that my nephew has to do next year.  A meeting for next year's senior parents already!  He wants to do the project on playing video games professionally but he doesn't know anyone who does that so he might have to pick a less glamorous occupation to research.  Reality gets in the way of dreams sometimes.

The Saga of the Table

Do you remember when I bought my bar-height table for the mobile home back in July?  The box arrived with holes and chunks missing.  

The instructions said to contact the manufacturer instead of returning it to Home Depot, so I did.  Since it was the table top that was damaged, they said they would send a replacement but that it was back-ordered.  I assumed that meant that they wouldn't do anything, but they took my information and I forgot about it.  That was around 8 months ago.

Yesterday, I arrived at the house to water the plants, check on the quail, get the mail and fill up my water bottles.  There were two large boxes under the carport.  First, I checked the name because I thought they might be at the wrong house.  Nope.  Then I called my mother to see if she had something shipped to my house.  Nope.  Then it dawned on me.  The table top.  But why were there two boxes?  For a moment, I thought they might have shipped me two whole new tables.  I opened the first one.  It was a very well wrapped table top.  I opened the second one.  It was another very well wrapped table top. 

We use the original damaged table top at the mobile home.  It sits against the back of the couch and has a table cloth so the dent on the side is not noticeable.  Now I have two more table tops.  Well, since I have to buy legs, I guess I could make them any height that I want.  I could have a matching coffee table and computer table.  More projects!  But more cost for legs.  For now, they will sit in my living room taking up space.  I haven't exactly embraced tiny house minimalism just yet, so I just keep everything for now.  Downsizing is on my to-do list for next year.

A Day in My Life

I took Thursday off of work and I thought I would show you how my day went.

The main plan: Take down the pool! First step, pump the remaining water out.

I used the long extension cord from the mobile home to the pool since I have not added the right outlet down by the pool.

Next, I need the water pump which is in the shed. While in the shed, I notice light coming in from the corner. There is an inch wide gap that shouldn't be there.

Mental note to get ladder and steel wool since I don't plan to replace the wood at this time.

Notice tree that my co-workers bought in remembrance of my father.  Give it some water and admire the spring leaves which mean I haven't killed the tree, yet.

Go look for ladder in the barn-shed. Remember that I was going to cover that window. See sheer curtain that my mother left behind but don't have any screws for a curtain rod.

Go in the storage room to find screws
 Notice that the cat area needs more food and water. Let the dogs help clean up the stray cat kibbles, fill containers and find screws.

Back in the barn-shed, put up the sheer curtain although you probably can't tell the difference.

Wonder why I can't find the ladder and then remember that it is on the barn-shed porch, not in the barn-shed.

Use steel wool to plug the hole, then cover with plastic from a water jug and plenty of caulk. Also used Gorilla glue to glue down the loose shingles which may have been the way the water got in and warped the board. Added "fix shed corner" to my mental to-do list for someday.

Check on pool which has been slowly draining this whole time.

Ran out of room in the water tank which feeds the kitchen and my bathroom. Decided it was time to clean out the extra tank. Ick.

 Mopped out most of the dirty water but since the water going in wasn't clean, didn't spend that much time on it.

Was able to save around 80 gallons to water the trees later on.

Started dismantling the pool but soon realized that the pool cover was fused to the metal bars which make up the top frame. Since I won't be able to fold up the pool liner as compactly as I had planned, I decided to see if anyone I know wants my pool. No takers yet.

So, the pool is in pieces but still out on the concrete slab until I either put it in my shed or find it a new home. When I need water storage again I am going to buy some of those square tanks in the metal cages that have been recycled.

Next chore to tackle, the barn-shed tie downs. After many frustrating attempts at crimping these ferrules, I went inside and looked up a YouTube video for instructions.

Turns out I was not opening the crimping tool wide enough. Unfortunately, when opened that wide, it was impossible to get the necessary leverage while under the barn-shed to adequately crimp these things.

I gave up after one pitiful attempt. I added a bolt type cable attachment to help my first try. I have since decided to try crimping a loop on to each end of the cable out in the open where I will have plenty of room to work, running the cable from one anchor all the way across to the other anchor, then attaching with detachable metal clips which I haven't bought yet.  Tie-down saga to be continued...

So, that was my day. It was very typical for me to get distracted by other chores that need attention and de-railed by plans that don't work out and/or need more supplies.  All in all, it was a good day.

Never Enough Time to Relax

Last week , I got to stay at the house while my nephew went to California with his school choir.  This is them performing at Disney's California Adventure.

  It was a nice break for me from the rural life out at the mobile home. No dirt roads, noisy water pumps, unfinished projects.  Just water on tap, laundry facilities in the house, a house that is reasonably OK to look at, landscaping, a full kitchen.  Someday soon my mobile home property will be like that but I need more time and money.

This week we are back out at the property, hauling our drinking water, taking super short showers, trying not to think about all of the things I want to do to this place.  I'm considering taking a half day on Friday to finish emptying the pool, finally, and putting it away. The bungie cords have deteriorated from the sun and the tarp that was covering it is hanging on by a string. If I don't save the last bit of water soon it will just evaporate from these warm temperatures we have been having.  I'd do it on Saturday except we are going to the Renaissance Fair for another school assignment.  I can't wait for school to get out.  I'm so tired of being homework monitor.

Anyway, I seem to be just complaining but really things are going as planned.  This is just the long stretch in the middle if the semester. Almost to spring break and then another 9 weeks until the end. We can do this!

Still Time for a Pool Party

What did I accomplish on Saturday?  Let's start with what I didn't accomplish.  I didn't take down the pool.  I know, I know, that was my #1 priority.  I had estimated that there were 500 gallons left in the pool so that when I filled up the 500 gallon water tank which feeds my nephew's bathroom, I would have an empty pool.  It took 2 1/2 hours to fill up the tank and when I looked in the pool, there was still approximately 3" left.  If I had done a little math beforehand, I would have found out that there was over 1,000 gallons left in the pool.  So, I didn't need to take down the pool yet because it wasn't going to blow away in the wind.  3" of water is plenty heavy to weigh it down.  My next free weekend I will fill up my 400 gallon tank which is half empty and then move my 300 gallon tank to a shadier spot and put the rest of the water in there.  Then I will take the pool down.  The good news is that I have more water than I thought so we shouldn't have any problem making the water last until the end of the school year in May.

While I was waiting for the 500 gallon tank to fill, I worked on the snake-deterrent fence.  The 1/2 inch hardware cloth is rough to work with. My thumb was getting sore and I couldn't figure out why until I looked at my glove.  I was very surprised to see a hole.  

These were my favorite gloves, inherited from my Dad.  He even wrote his name on them when Alzheimer's disease made him paranoid that people were taking his stuff.  Oh well, time to get new ones.

I finished most of the perimeter but I have another 2 hours of work near the main entrance.  I couldn't find my wire cutters but I did have tin snips and they worked even better.  Still, digging, cutting, tying little metal ties was tedious work and it was over 80 degrees.  I had to stop at noon and went back out at 3pm when it wasn't as hot.  I know half of the country is freezing right now.  We, Arizonans, didn't mean to steal all of your heat.

Here's the other gate that I finished.  I was more worried about this side because it is close to the open area under the mobile home and I have seen a snake on this side before (years ago, but still).

It feels great to have made a lot of progress on a chore that has been hanging over my head for almost a year now.  I hope to finish it soon and move on to other things.

It was a fun to be able to work on chores around the mobile home.  I look forward to the day when the house in town is sold and I have money to work on big projects out here again.

Planning Another Chore Weekend

I saw this article in one of the local newspapers, Caution Rattlesnakes  Guess who's waking up?  The temperatures last week were in the 50's.  This week they are in the 80's.  That means the rattlesnakes are waking up and looking for love.  I've been trying to work on clearing the weeds out of the front yard (or is it now my back yard?).  The yard I am speaking of is the old yard in front of the sliding glass door where I had the snake issue before.

                        

Here is the view from the sliding door.  The weeds under the tree are especially worrisome since I can't tell if there are snakes hiding in there.  You can see the pool from this view and my extra water tank that really needs to go next to one of the buildings, although, it would be helpful if the building had gutters first.

Hopefully, the cat that visits my back room is also keeping an eye out for mice and rats under the mobile home which attract snakes.  The dogs love running out in to the old yard in the morning and evening but I'm going to have to stop that practice unless I am out there with them.  And I really need to work on finishing the 1/2" hardware cloth barrier around the chain link fence in the new front yard.  I'll be working on it this Saturday (as well as putting away the pool) since my nephew is going on a choir trip and I need to pick him up from school at midnight on Saturday.  On Sunday, we will go in to town for church, youth group, laundry and grocery shopping.  Oh, and probably a shower at the house to conserve water out at the mobile home.  Another busy weekend and they are all going to be like this until school is out in May.  I'm looking forward to summer.  Not the heat part of summer but at least I will have more free time.

White and New

I used up my last extra vacation day last Friday. It sure was nice to have so many 3 day weekends at the end of the year.  I hope it works out that way next year too.  So, what did I do?  Slept in until 9 and then looked around for a medium sized chore.  The stairs for the old entrance have been bothering me.  I let the dogs go out in that yard and sniff around because it is cold and, hopefully, the snakes are sleeping.  The stairs have been slowly rotting away but because the bolts are rusted, I couldn't replace them.  One step gave out last week.  I have bolt cutters now which I bought to cut the metal cable for the barn-shed tie-downs.  I also had one piece of wood which I bought over 5 years ago and 3 replacement bolts.  I cut the bolts off, drilled the holes, painted the wood, and fitted the step back on while the dogs supervised.

Can you tell which one is new?  The third step needs to be replaced next but I need another piece of wood and more bolts.  Eventually, I want to make a porch to attach to these steps.  Another future project.

Then I ate lunch and watched the very first episode of Battlestar Galactica which wasn't as corny as I thought it was going to be.  Since I had the paint out for the step, the next chore I tackled was painting the wall panel white.  I used a brush instead of a roller because I didn't want to use up a roller so it took a little longer to paint it.  Then I finished the trim along the ceiling.  There are still some visible seams on the wall that need to be patched but it looks so much better white.

After that, I was tired but there wasn't enough time for a nap before my nephew came home.  I was watching Rockford Files when he came home and he said, "Have you been sitting on the couch watching TV all day?"  Oh boy, if he ever says that to his wife he won't be married very long.  I said if he turned around he would see that the wall had magically turned white.  I doubt he understood the effort that went in to it. Most of the projects I need to do require a lot of effort for not much pizzazz but they are satisfying to me because I can check that project off in my head and move on to the next.

Today was a trip to the vet for Sassy for her Valley Fever test.  I'll find out on Tuesday or Wednesday the results.  Hopefully she is getting better.  Then I did the usual pulling weeds and grocery shopping.  I made turkey pie filling over rice with corn bread.  My nephew thought it was delicious which is good because I have a lot of leftover turkey and turkey broth to use up.  I think I will try turkey soup and biscuits next week.  

This week I need to get my Christmas shopping done so that my gifts don't arrive in January like last year.  My nephew has a choir performance but other than that it is a regular week of early mornings and homework in the evenings.  It sure will be nice to have a break soon. 

Busy Holidays

Four day weekends make me forget what day it is.  I've been thinking it's Saturday for 3 days now.  At least, today it really is Saturday but that makes me sad because tomorrow is Sunday and the week begins again.

Last time I told you about the pull test and the electrical system.  I forgot to mention that I put trim around the door.  It is a big improvement.  It would look even better if I painted the panel next to it.  On Friday I put trim around the window.  It needs more work though and some touch up paint.  I didn't take a picture.  I continued to put up trim around the living room until I ran out of time.  Someday I will get all of the trim off of the hallway floor...someday.

My nephew made Tirumisu for his history homework.  It was totally his idea but I amended the recipe so that it didn't include raw egg or rum.  People actually ate it.

On Wednesday I got out early from work and decided that it was time to let the cats out.  A few nights ago, I heard what sounded like mice or pack rats under the mobile home.  The cats have been nibbling on a curled edge of the vinyl flooring so I thought they might like some adventure.  I blocked off other exit-ways and build them a cat ramp to get in and out of the back room.  I sure hope they come back!

When I checked on them 2 days later there was evidence that they are still using my litter boxes and eating my cat food so maybe this home-base idea has worked.

My next project was to fix the leak in the water tank pipe.  I cut the pipe and tightened it by hand as much as possible.  There was still a slow leak.  I really didn't want to go to the hardware store on Black Friday but I did it and surprisingly, there weren't many people.  Even more surprising, the $30 wrench that I bought only cost me $16!  I am thrilled to finally have the right tool for the job.

My nephew and I had Thanksgiving at home.  We decided to have a movie marathon starting with Stand and Deliver (my choice) and ending with Avengers: Age of Ultron.  We made it through 5 movies but moved Avengers to Friday because it was 3 hours long and we were a bit burned out on movies.  My turkey was still frozen even though it had been in the fridge for 5 days.  I tried ordering pizza but they were closed so I settled for filet minion and chicken cordon bleu from Walmart.  I'm sure glad they were open on Thanksgiving.  We finally had our turkey with all the fixings tonight.  That was my first turkey and it turned out great but next year I'll probably cook something different.  I only got the turkey because it was free with my groceries.  I'm tired of cooking, standing in the kitchen, and cleaning up leftovers. I need a day off!