Tag Archives: Yard Work

3/29/2020 Update

29 Sunday Mar 2020

Posted by in Cycling, Diabetic, diet, Gym, Weight Loss

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How is everyone doing during the quarantine? I’m doing fine I guess.  I did something stupid the other day and I really hope that it doesn’t come back to bite me.  I’m expecting a house painter to come early next week to start painting my house.  In order to do the front, I had to get rid of my hedge bushes.

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They’ve been there for years and have grown quite big and tall. I took a chain saw to them which made for quick work and after the front was exposed I noticed a large hole that went underneath my front stoop.  I had to purchase some bags of dirt to fill it in before the painters showed up.  The stupid part is when I went to Lowes to purchase the dirt.  The place was packed.  It looked like they were going to have some sort of give-away.  I should have turned around then but I didn’t. When I went to check out the line was over twenty people long.  With my health the way it is, I should’ve turned around but instead, I stood in line with all those other people.  I won’t be doing that again.

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The house looks bare now but at least they’re cut down now.  The only thing I have to do now is pull up the stumps.  I’ll do that later on.  The grounds too wet to get in there with my truck and I don’t want to ruin my yard with ruts or worse get my truck stuck.

As of this morning, I’ve lost 9.2 pounds.  I’ve got to get back on my treadmill so I can lose the other five pounds so I can get on my bicycle.  Plus, with the virus going around and us being quarantined, I’m making more and more trips to the refrigerator which is not good.  I’ve still got this nagging cough which when I get out of breath makes it hard for me to breathe and I have a coughing fit.  I’ll either start back this evening or wait until Monday to start.

I have a doctor’s appointment come Wednesday.  I’m sort of excited about going.  I’ve been keeping up with my sugar and it’s down from 9.9 to 7.2.  I’ve already seen the medical test report.  So I’m pretty excited about that.  My triglycerides are high and I need to do something to get it lower.

I’m near to 400 followers now.  When I started this blog I never thought it would be this high.  I’m about to go through and delete a few because some I have found are nothing but spam and sex promo sites.  I have no idea how I got those followers.  Anyway, thanks for following me.

Stay home and stay safe everyone!!

The Never Ending “To Do” List

05 Tuesday Feb 2019

Posted by in Photography, Retirement

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When I retired a few months ago, I knew what I would be doing.  My ideal thoughts were to be traveling to far off lands and seeing the world.  That was never to have happened.  I knew that.  Be that as it may, my fate was already sealed.  Some may call it a ‘Honey Do” list but in actuality, it’s my list.  It’s a list of projects that only I can do or at least pay someone to come and do it. As a family with twins in college, we really can’t afford to pay someone to do something that I might do.  With the disability looming in the foreground, I have to be careful as to what I actually am able to do.  If that makes sense.,

The problem I have is that I start a project and before I finish the project, I start another one.  Now, after several months of being retired, I have several unfinished projects and I was getting stressed out about having all these unfinished projects about.  I think I have come up with a solution to my problem and so far it’s working.  I’ve come to the conclusion that if it’s cold or rainy outside, I can permit myself to do some woodworking projects.  That is if and only if I get the chores done.  If it’s pretty outside, I need to be doing some of these outdoor projects such as painting and yard work.

What I’ve started doing is creating a task list with all the projects that need to be done around the house.  I sit down and list them by importance.  I check the weather for the next day and add a couple of tasks to the calendar.  I don’t add another task until either that task is done or the weather changes and I can’t go outside and work on the project.

I had a fairly large limb come down a few months ago and for the last three days, I’ve worked trying to get it down. It’s down now but I’ve still got some clean up to do.  This weeks weather calls for a pretty good chance of rain each day so I’m having to work around that.  After that I’ve got the exterior doors to paint, sidewalks to clean, the deck needs pressure washed, hedges need to be trimmed, I think you get the jest of what all I need to get done at least outside the house.

 

 

Retirement Is Close At Hand

07 Saturday Jul 2018

Posted by in Cancer, Leukemia, Nature, Photography

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I’ve been absent of late and for a good reason.  Although the doctor stated during my last oncologist appointment that my medicine is not working, I’m still feeling pretty good so I’m taking advantage of it and getting some things done around the house.  With that being said, I had to increase the dosage by 100mg and it’s starting to take a toll on my breathing.  Not much mind you but just enough to where I know that eventually, I’ll have to have more fluid drained from around my lungs.

I’ve got 39 more days to work and boy am I ready.  It can’t come fast enough. I’m supposed to meet with HR on Tuesday to discuss my retirement and post-retirement insurance.  More about this later.

The last four years have really played havoc around my house.  I’ve been fortunate to have a wife who is willing to cut the grass around the house but the other duties have gone by the wayside. My deck on the back side of the house needed cleaning four years ago and now it’s, well, pathetic.  The deck was black with mold and some of the hand railings needed to be replaced.  For the last three weeks, I have spent the afternoons and weekends cleaning this deck.  I have finished with the inside now to do the outside and then paint or stain next.

I have found the time to do a little bit of photography in the last few months.  I’ve really taken a liking to lightning pictures.  I’ve spent hours waiting on a storm to come through just close enough away that it would make a good picture while staying far enough away that I won’t be a target for a lightning strike.  I’ve had a few storms to come through.

There was a Fourth of July celebration up the street and I was fortunate enough to take some pictures of some fireworks from my front yard.  I didn’t get all I wanted because at the same time I was trying to get my drone off the ground to video the event.  My phone kept locking up so I had to settle with just the pictures.

I am currently sick with a sinus infection.  I went to the doctor today.  The drainage is making me cough and my chest is hurting.  I had plans on washing my truck and cleaning the outside today but that didn’t happen.  Maybe I’ll feel like doing it tomorrow.

Until next time.

365 Day Photo Challenge 285/365 “And on The Seventh Day”

11 Sunday Oct 2015

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After an exhausting day yesterday cooking I had already decided that I would sleep in a bit this morning, and I did.  I woke up with every intention to unload my ovens so that they wouldn’t be riding around in the back of my truck all week.  I do have another cookout this Saturday and there is no way I would allow those ovens to ride in the back of my truck and risk them getting damaged.  After lunch I did eventually get off my rear end and unload the ovens from the truck.

I must have gotten a spark of energy because after I unloaded the truck I retrieved my pressure washer and cleaned not only my side walk but my driveway as well.  That took several tanks of gas and several hours to do.  I’m not exactly sure what got into me.  I was close to being too dark to see anything but I did manage to finish.

I did manage to get some rest today but I also got some stuff done that needed to get done.  My wife want’s to have people over this Saturday to celebrate my daughter’s birthday so I’ve got to get some yard work done this week.  It’s going to be tight but I think I can swing it.

“Life Goes On!”

365 Day Photo Challenge 256/365 “Yard Work”

12 Saturday Sep 2015

Posted by in Photography

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I don’t mind yard work.  In fact, I really enjoy it especially when you work several hours and after you’re done you can actually see that you’ve accomplished something.  I had plans on doing a ride today but because I was on my feet for several hours my feet swelled so much that I couldn’t get my cycle shoes on. So, I opted to do some yard work.

It’s been a while since I’ve done the edging.  My wife likes to cut the grass so I let her but as you can see the grass has started growing over the sidewalk.  I’ve been so busy as of late and I just haven’t had the time to get to it.  We won’t discuss the condition of my backyard.  I’m waiting for the cooler weather to let everything go dormant so that I can see where I’m stepping.

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After the trimming was done I even spent some time cleaning a propane gas grill.  The scouts had let this thing get so nasty that I had to use Easy Off and then a pressure washer to get the thing cleaned. I even spent the time testing it out just to make sure the grill would light up.  It did.

365 Day Photo Challenge 171/365″I Really Need a Break”

19 Friday Jun 2015

Posted by in Photography

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I am physically and mentally tired tonight.  The last two mornings I’ve been getting up at 3am to be ready to leave the office by 5am.  Getting to my destination hasn’t been a problem as much as the commute back to the office at the end of the day.

I’ve been so tired that even if my feet were not throbbing with the Neuropathy I would have been too tired to ride my bicycle.  I’m going to try to do some much needed yard work tomorrow before it gets to hot to be outside and if my feet feel like it I may try and get some much needed mileage in.

“Life Goes On!”