Busy Times

Here it is mid-October and I haven’t posted here in several weeks. I’ve been busy with house renovations, yard projects, and Master Gardener activities and meetings.  I don’t have any pictures today, but I’ll list some of the things going on.

1. Three weeks ago we decided to enclose the upstairs bonus room, turning it into a usable bedroom.  So we’ve built a wall, hung drywall, put up a door, and the next step (so I’m told) is mudding and sanding the drywall.  I’ve never done any of this before and I can’t say I’m enjoying it, nor looking forward to learning about finishing the drywall, but I am going to enjoy using the finished room.  David has friends coming to stay for a visit in late November, so the goal was to have this room ready to use.  Unfortunately, the loveseat/sleeper bed that we ordered might not arrive in time, in which case the guest will sleep on the downstairs couch, as he has in the past.  Maybe, with any luck, the loveseat will defy predictions and arrive early.
2. September 30th was our last day of swimming – the pool temperature dropped down to 82 and that’s just too cold for me.  I’m trying to remember to still test for chemical needs, still throw the robot in once a week to clean it, and still check the strainer for leaves.  We’ve decided to leave the cover on to catch the leaves, rather than using the leaf net – it’s much more effective at preventing the leaves from decaying in the water.
3. I’ve started work on the north back fence flower bed – laid down cardboard and outlined it with landscape blocks.  I should have time next week to begin adding some leaf mold and then compost and soil.  I have just a couple of weeks to get it done and then transplant particular plants from the south back fence flowerbed.
4. The second compost bin has been set up.  Next week I’ll move the top half contents of the other compost bin into the one that’s set up, hopefully find some usable compost in the bottom, and then be able to set up the foundation for that bin.  It is super convenient to have them just a few steps from the back door.
5. This Saturday is the DCMGA Fall Festival.  I am helping in the children’s area, the butterfly booth, for 3 hours, and then will float the other hours to see where I can help out.  Tomorrow I work with a couple of Master Naturalists doing a two hour program with preschoolers.  I tried working with preschoolers last spring and didn’t really care for it, but I thought I’d try again with this new leader, just in case the reason I didn’t like it was due to the way it was organized.  Time will tell.
6. Plans have been made to travel to Alabama in November for about a week.  We’ll be helping the auction crew catalog all of Dad’s personal items for the auction that will be held online later in November.  Hopefully that will go well, but neither of us is looking forward to dealing with it all.  It will be nice to see Charles, Rebecca, and Liana, though.  It’s been over a year since we’ve seen them and that was only a couple of brief evening visits.
7. I mentioned earlier that David had friends coming to visit.  They are his former roommates from when he lived in Phoenix.  We enjoy their visits and won’t mind at all that they plant to stay 10+ days.
8. David is looking into applying to the local two year college just a couple of miles from us, probably majoring in database administration.  Hopefully he’ll make this leap and get on a better career path.
9. My weight loss efforts are beginning to pay off.  I’ve been much better lately about no snacking between meals, plus consuming much less sugar – I’m avoiding Starbucks this whole month – and I’m happy to report that I’ve released 4 pounds in the last two weeks.  I’m releasing them rather than “losing” them, as I intend to not “find” them again!  Someone else can have them!