Little project: landscape lighting

 I was finally able to deal with this pile of parts to my solar landscape lights.  I had taken them apart and cleaned with some sudsy Simple Green cleaner, then let them air dry on a towel in the garage.  Then I ordered batteries so each one would have the same bright light.  Then they sat in here for a couple of weeks!

When I pulled them up from the landscaping, my little voice said "don't forget the stakes", but I got lazy.  You need needle nose pliers to get those suckers out of the dirt.  This week, I was happy to find all of them, and even a couple from a previous set - still embedded in the landscaping.

I cleaned those up a bit, too, just so I didn't make a mess in my garage.

I gathered everything together to get each one assembled and ready.  I bought some black Gorilla tape for reinforcement, as well.

 A few of the posts have split over the last three years or so.  Probably from me moving them so much, trying to get the spacing right.  Also the Texas heat!

Split or not, I wrapped both ends of all of the posts.  I used the edge of the tape to act as a sort of gauge for the height of each light when I was putting them back outside.  Worked great.

Its hard to see them during the day, but at night, they are lovely.  And all of them have nice bright lights now that the batteries have been replaced and the clear plastic cups cleaned.

The next day I mowed and edged, and the yard doesn't look as sad as it did in the winter.  I still have more weeds than grass, but everything is green.  I also sprayed deer spray on all of the shrubs.  I'm not running a deer buffet over here.

The lights in the backyard work the same way, they are just heavier.  I only have two of them at either end of the deck, and getting them cleaned up was super easy.  They are so pretty at night.  Now all that's left to do is power wash the concrete slab and clean and reseal the deck, and those are on my bucket list for summer.  Once the weather gets too hot, I plan on relaxing out here more than working on projects!

Gina

5 thing Friday - Rusa, landscape lights, reading, unfinished projects, eating in

One of the ladies I work with brought me a Rusa on Monday. 

Holy cow was it good.  It's made with fresh orange and lime juice, chamoy sauce, Tajin, fresh fruit, and citrus soda, topped with a chamoy straw.  A little sweet, a little spicy, very refreshing!  I need to buy the ingredients so I can make these at home this summer - they are delightful!

This week has been all about starting, then stopping, on projects.  Exhibit A are the pieces to the landscape lights.  I washed the spiders and dried mud off and removed the batteries to reorder fresh ones.  The bottom part to the stakes are still sunk in the landscaping.  Part two is to dig those out and reposition the lights.  I will also need to use black Gorilla duct tape to reinforce the pole part of the stakes.  

Also.  You would think the rainy days mean I was getting ahead on the photo album project, but you would be mistaken.  However, I did give it at least three hours this week, and I am currently on album 3 of hopefully only 4.   Its a very slow process involving editing, trimming, and tears.

I have reading to catch up on for book clubs. Which wouldn't be hard but I got a couple of chapters through the top book (When Two Feathers Fell from the Sky) and realized it was meh.  Still, I want to finish it so I can contribute to the discussion.  The next two books are for the clubs that meet at a brewery.  I finished 4 books in April - a lot for me.

(friend me on Goodreads if you are a reader!)

And lastly, sewing - I need to hem one of the new tops I bought recently since it's too long and needs a couple of darts added - otherwise I love the color, print, and fabric. I probably should have ordered a smaller size.  Oh well. Hopefully I can get to that today.

But not before I do some random cross stitiching.

Yesterday I was going to take myself out for breakfast, then I realized I had everything at home to make migas with green chile salsa, homemade refried beans, sausages, and skillet potatoes.  It kept me full until lunch and cost me zero dollars of eat out monies, not to mention time I can spend on leisure activities.

And it was delish.

Happy weekend!

Gina

5 thing Friday - onions, Happy Meal, shopping, tiny wall project, plants

Years ago, my mother would pile up sliced onions into the crockpot with butter and let them go on low all day.  She would eat them cold out of the jar, or put them on everything.  And I did it a few times, too, then forgot about it.

But, Lo and behold, this blogger did it one better by adding three types of onion and seasonings and I was all in anew.  I made a batch last week and I am almost done using them up in quesadillas, on burgers, added to dinner, scrambled eggs...its been a delicious reminder to keep buying onions.

I like McDonald's, okay?  Don't come at me.

I treated myself to a Grinch adult Happy Meal and got the red socks.  Yes, I will be wearing them to work.  And I noticed several nurses sporting them at work last weekend.  So its a THING.

It was time for new flannel PJ pants since Old Navy had them at 60% off.  (I realize they mark them up just to put them on sale.)  Literally every retailer does the same thing.  But it made me happy to have such vibrant fun prints to snuggle into at the end of the day.  I cleared out the two top drawers of Mark's dresser so I could start folding my jammies and sweaters.  The dresser takeover begins.

The Pena print hanging so far out from the wall was bugging me.  I think it was because the nails in the wall anchors were too long.  And I couldn't adjust them as the nails were stuck like chuck in the anchors.  So I had to remove said anchors, reinstall new ones, patch the previous giant holes, find smaller screws to hang the art on, and repaint.

You can't even tell.

Then I hung it again (not shown) and the frame still sticks out a tiny bit at the top.  So I will add Sticky Tac to the underside of the top corners of the frame and call it done, because I don't want to fool with this any more.

I moved my plant babies - some to the garage, some to the guest room. (I was over having to load up my window seat in the kitchen every winter)  For the ones in the garage, I will water them once a week and let them soak up the morning sun a couple of days per week.  I also might arrange them differently, depending on how the sun hits the garage door.

I relaxed my "no new Christmas ornaments" rule for a carved snowflake at Hob Lob for a couple dollars on sale.  It made me smile and brought me joy.  Cheap thrills.

Gina

Cleaning up the back patio for cooler weather!

Working on the back patio area is something I've been meaning to do for a couple of weeks now.  It kept getting put off due to shoulder pain and major lack of get-up-and-go.  The list of things to do out there seemed long: trim up Lariope and re-mulch it, clean the table and chairs, move the plants around to accommodate the firewood holder, blow the leaves out of the red rocks, power wash all. 

But yesterday I decided I had reached a point where everything was prepped and there was no time like the present to haul out the power washer.  You can see the line marking the dirty slab from the newly power washed - what a difference!  I also hit the deck a lick or two and took care of lots of spider webs.

The day before I had leveled out the pavers with paving sand, so all that was left to do was blow the leaves out and wash the pavers.  Here they are drying.

And as for this small area, those Lariope needed a good haircut, new mulch, and a watering. The ones under my bedroom and bathroom windows got the same pampering.

done! Now to water the grass, which I also raked.

The point of all of this was to create a clean space to enjoy the firepit when cooler nights roll around.

Its not perfect (in some places the slab is stained), but its very clean! No more bird poop or mold. And my shoulder did not hurt at all!

I moved the Ficus tree to make space to set up a firewood holder.  In the process I disturbed a large nest of yellowjackets that had made their home in the branches.  I murdered every one of them, not sorry.  I will likely leave the Ficus here until spring rolls around.  It is way too heavy for me to keep moving it and I can just protect it with a tarp for winter.

I got this firewood holder from Amazon (easy to put together) and ordered a load of pecan wood cut small enough for my little firepit.  It should be delivered in plenty of time for Thanksgiving.  I am so looking forward to sitting out here on cool nights with a glass of wine.  Simple pleasures after a bunch of hard work! 

Gina

5 thing Friday - BTS, book club, deer, tire woe, end of physical therapy

I pride myself on not having to know when the first day of school is now.  For years, the back to school prep for four kids during the hottest part of summer almost sent me over the edge.  When I see moms in the store, list in hand, kids trailing behind them, I feel thankful.

Some places are calm and quiet now, like Half Price books, where I sold back almost all of the DVDs, a couple books, and a puzzle while I picked up a copy of the next book for book club.  I figure I will keep book club, even though they lean towards Sci/Fi.  It was fun to meet other adults for a beer and talk.

I was noticing that this particular shrub out front didn't look as full as the others.  Was I not watering it enough? (we definitely need rain) Same with the Wandering Jew pictured below...

A bunch of the tops were gone and I noticed a leaf now and then outside of the edging.  Then early one morning I noticed two deer in the front yard, feasting.

A quick order to Home Depot and a painless pick-up process got me a spray bottle of deer spray.  Do you know they make a spray for just about anything you want to discourage in your yard?  It smells so bad, but it actually works.  I am OK with the deer peacefully chowing down in the nearby greenbelt.  But in my landscaping, they are giant rats and need to mosey on.

Brigid managed to run over a carpet razor, slashing herself*.  I should have taken a photo of it - it was impressive.  Props to Traveler's roadside assist who sent someone out in 6 p.m. Austin traffic within minutes to change the tire.  Then it was off to Discount Tire the next day for a new tire and the hazard certificates on all four tires.  July and August have been pricey months.

*note: I think I handled that pretty well!

This week was my last in physical therapy for my old lady shoulder.

The PT asked me how I felt and said she thought it could be graduation day for me - yay!  I got through my routine in record time and banged the celebration gong while everyone applauded, then signed the banner.  I have been a bit sore here and there, but feel back to being strong.  I will continue my home exercises and be mindful of body mechanics.  Work smarter, not harder, Gina.

Happy weekend!

Gina

5 thing Friday - XR earrings, cooking, memories, window plants, World Market

One of our PRN techs at work has an Etsy shop and gives us her fun things for free.  She has given me a sparkly XRAY marker holder for my badge lanyard and these cute R and L marker earrings:

If you know, you know.  Thanks, Marlene!

I have made very tiny steps forward cooking for myself.  One night this week I made a smashburger with sauteed onions on the last two pieces of butter bread, sweet potato fries on the side.

I also cooked what felt like a vat of taco meat, to freeze in 5 ounce portions.

There was a little bit left, so I plopped it onto my French bread pizza and drizzled with Mike's Hot Honey for lunch.  So good.

While I was rooting around finding my gum parker, I also found these two lovely ladies from 1975ish.  I bought them in Chinatown in San Francisco on a road trip one summer.  My mother, brave woman, took my sister and brother and I cross country from Galveston.  Along the way we saw the Grand Canyon, Calico ghost town, Las Vegas, the Hoover Dam, and Alcatraz.  It was like a field trip on steroids.  Mind you, this was before cell phones and internet.  Just a single woman and three kids under the age of 15.  I remember it as being an adventure...

The plant I had in my mother's planter bit the dust, so I am trying my hand at succulents.  Anyone got any tips?  So far, these two love the hands off approach of little water and sunny window.  I will never be accused of having a green thumb.  There are a couple of pretty rocks in there for color.  One of them was from my youngest who thought of me on a field trip to a rock show may years ago.

The World Market near me is moving, and so everything in the store is at least 30% off.  Since they will be there thru June, I will visit again close to the end of the month for some last minute deals.  Meanwhile, I scored some sugar-free Torani syrup for cheap as I have kicked my creamer habit.  Might be a good time to get stocking stuffers!

Gina

Little project - planting shrubs

 I have gone round and round with the small area of lantana in the space between the sidewalk and grass, trying to get it to prosper.  {here and here and here}  It was so beautiful with the gold lantana once upon a time.  I think I have figured out that this area just will not do well with a sun-loving plant as the oak tree shades it a bit too much.  The lantana I planted last summer never did thrive despite my efforts, and a final freeze killed them outright.

So last week I raked this whole area out, removing debris and extra rocks and such.  Then I planted 14 dwarf nandina that should tolerate the part sun situation much better.  They should grow to about 2 feet tall and 2 feet wide, filling in this space nicely.  {I'm basing this on another neighbor's nandina which looks very nice in the same type of spot} Once they are established, they will be drought tolerant.  Which is a good thing as the sprinkler system is kaput and I will be hand watering.  Fingers crossed this time around, it was a lot of hard work.  I would like for the landscaping and grass upkeep to be less of a chore. The neighbors probably wonder what the heck I'm doing over here - just trying to figure it out as I go along!

Gina

5 thing Friday - yardwork, cactus, music, new shoes, cooking

 I spent a fair amount of time out in my yards this week, pulling weeds and raking and bagging leaves and debris.  An hour or two at a time.  I'm going to wait for the grass in the back to seed itself before I mow.  Then I might scatter more grass seed and call it done.  I'm going to do my yearly deck maintenance, too.

Meanwhile, the front yard was so packed with leaves and crap that I gave it a gentle rake through, then mowed with the bag on to collect as much debris as I could.  For years I thought "what pretty yards we have" - they looked so great.  I look at other neighbors' green yards and think, what is their secret?  Literally all they do is mow and edge.  I think a hands off approach is where I'm headed - I am pretty much done worrying about it.

My Highlands barrel cactus died, so I replaced it.  I might have to find another place for this to live, though.  The rocks in it are not deterring the squirrels.  I like to sit out here in the mornings and sip my coffee.  My little place of peace.

I did figure out how to get the CD player to work, now I need to go through the CD's.  There are some crazy ones in there - a lot that were purchased for the kids (Tarzan soundtrack, horror sounds for Halloween) and some that are ambient music (ocean waves), along with a lot of jazz.  It looks like I have right at 200 discs, but I will whittle that down.

I was shopping for new work shoes and thought, why not check Ebay?  I found these brand new Alegria (my favorite work shoe!) in the box, in just the right style and size.  They normally sell for $130 and I got them for $46 with shipping. Alegria has saved my feet at work.  They have a rocker bottom which reduces foot and leg fatigue.  I haven't had plantar fasciatis since wearing them.  As my mother would say, these are "jazzy".

I'm trying to reframe the whole issue of cooking in my mind.  Instead of seeing it as a chore, I am trying to see it as an expression of love and care for myself.  Though I can easily go down the path of resentment that I have always been the one responsible for meals, and there is no one here to pamper me with cooking, I also see that I have the choice of eating exactly what I want.  I am only limited by what I feel like eating and what I have on hand.  Its a work in progress, for sure.

Gina