May 2008 - Posts

Sunday, May 18, 2008 10:44 PM

The reality of house ownership sinks in...

I wasn't sure how long it would take, but I think the reality of house ownership has hit me.  Not home ownership - that hit me that first full summer of the condo when multiple large kitchen appliances had to be replaced within the span of a month.  No, this is the reality of house ownership.  You know, with all of the extra work associated with a house.  Why do I say this?  One word: yardwork.

Last time I cut the lawn it was a quick affair since I had the mower at the tallest setting and left it in 'recycle' mode (tangent - was I was younger, I'm pretty sure we called these 'mulching mowers'.  How did this all of a sudden become a 'recycling mower'?  What kind of jumping on the watchword of the day is that?).  This time the grass was so long I thought that leaving it there would suffocate the rest of the grass and encourage more fungus.  So, brilliant me decides that I'll just bag the clippings and no worries.  That was great until ten minutes in when the mower had died three times because the grass was so tall and still a bit damp and kept filling the chute quickly.  Some people would be discouraged by this - they may have done yardwork more recently and aren't too naive to recognize the way the next several hours of their life is about to be spent :(.  Or would have thought about how they were going to get rid of the clippings - rather than relying on the smallest "yard waste" container our garbage folks provide.

Let's hope the optimism doesn't dim before we get rid of the woodchip pile (this will make more sense when photos are online).  I have a bad feeling it's going to be a lot more work turning it into a herb & vegetable garden than originally anticipated.  At least I'm planning in advance for trying to keep the rabbits out of the garden rather than realizing it after the fact...

Posted by greg | with no comments
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Saturday, May 10, 2008 6:25 PM

Moving on over... to the eastside...

Yep, after years of derision directed at east side dwellers, Clodagh and I have packed our bags and headed to Redmond where we're now the proud owners of a house with yard and all.  And now a lawn mower.  And, I suspect, soon to be other yard-related tools too.  And many a Saturday and Sunday spent trying to get and keep it presentable.  Have I mentioned neither of us really know anything about a lot of house-related maintenance and/or yard care and gardening?  We seemed to do quite well with small pots off of the balcony though :)  Can you tell what's likely to be the source of a lot of blog posts over the coming summer? :)

How's the unpacking going?  Well, after a week or so here there's not a single room in it's "final" disposition, but at least the set of full boxes is getting smaller and smaller.  And we're now sleeping on a proper bed instead of an aerobed that deflates three times a night.

In the meanwhile, if you happen to be looking for a condo in Eastlake, I might happen to know someone who could hook you up.  Trust me, it'll be "friend" prices and all :)

Posted by greg | with no comments