Act One of Midsummer: check. Today, Act Two.
The eventual delivery of the O’Keefe & Merritt stove has set up all sorts of subtasks. Isn’t that always the way?
Cleaning under and behind the stove. Cleaning the walls. Deciding to paint the wall before the stove arrives so we don’t have to move the stove for future painting. Picking out a paint color. Deciding I need to paint the trim around the windows as well. Don picked up the yellow paint yesterday, along with the primer. I need to buy some TSP and trim paint today.
Don came in the house yesterday and told me that he had decided that we needed to open up access to the back of the house, where the propane tank will be. So we opened up the fence, then we assessed the area directly behind the kitchen and decided we needed to pull all those weeds and perhaps put some gravel down so that there will be a flatter surface for whatever we put the tank on. Which means I may have to buy some gravel. And Don bought some pavers to make a little path in that area.
Then, as we stood outside, I asked Don if he thought it would be a good idea to take down the fence that we originally put up to keep Scout in the lower part of the corral when she began to have difficulty walking. At first, he said no because he considered it part of the Memorial Garden, but then he rethought the whole thing and we took it down.
It looks so much better! We reminded ourselves that our memories of that section of the fence are not happy ones, as Scout often fell there when she lost her balance in her final days. The memorial garden is not the fence, it’s the plants and the ribbons and the prayer flags.
I tracked this beauty to the butterfly bush, late yesterday afternoon. Since he was completely absorbed in the blossoms, I was able to snap a few pictures.
Beautiful.
Then, as I was walking around the house, I saw these tiny bugs on the milkweed plants.
Aren’t they incredible? The markings and colors are beautiful!
A closer look. I’ve just identified it. It’s a candy-striped leafhopper. They’re pesky little eaters that often feed on plant sap. I’ve never seen them before!
But they’re pretty.
I’m off to make another list. I leave a week from tomorrow, which is too soon.
Happy Wednesday.
You are getting so much done inside and out before you leave. That bug is pretty and I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s a bit cloudy here today so might be a good day for indoor chores and some time spent painting! Hugs!
I think it’s going to rain later today – time for some mowing!
Candy-striped leafhopper! Well I never. A handsome little pest, though. (I’ve been watching The Photo Ark on PBS, so I believe that with the right background and lighting, any creature can be shown to be beautiful.) Nice shots, Claudia.
I think so, too. I find most creatures to be beautiful.
Have any of the grease buster suggestions worked?
I haven’t tried any of them yet!
You know, if it’s a waxy sort of greasy buildup on your wood floor, I think I’d first try rubbing a straight-from-the-bottle soap, like Murphy’s or Dawn, rubbing it into the grease and letting it sit for a while. Then I’d try scraping it up with a non-damaging plastic scraper or spatula, to get to a point where a soapy water cloth would take up the rest. At least that’s what I’d try.
I have Dawn and I have Murphy’s so maybe I’ll try that tomorrow. Thank you, Shanna.
It is always surprising to me, that when one adds something to their home, it sets off a chain reaction of smaller things that need to get done as well. It happens to all of us, in one form or another. Must be a law of nature or something…lol! The candy-striped leafhopper is a stunner! Hope you get some more items checked off your list! ;)
Slowly but surely, I’m checking them off!
Ahhh, the butterfly photos; my Heaven. As you may have heard me ‘talk’, I do SO miss seeing butterflies, even after we planted a wildflower patch this year, have fruit trees, colorful bushes…but, nothing; no butterflies. I’m sure pesticides from our prolific, local agriculture has probably killed them all off around where I live (which then makes me consider what it might be doing to water supply, food supply, my airways; but I just can’t go there today…the CNN special last night about climate change with the well-spoken & sincere Al Gore was so sobering, yet hopeful with some good solutions if we just had a leader who’d support those solutions and believe in the subject!).
Yes, it’s like when you begin to remodel/renovate a house, especially an old one, one layer of tasks leads itself to another layer and more decisions. But, you know what Claudia? It’s providential the way this has all gone down for you two. Mutual decision on a big purchase; Don’s there with you to put heads together and be proactive before stove delivery; and you’re going to have everything done and in beautiful order by the time late Fall/Winter arrives for all that great home-baking, sheet pan suppers and a pot of soup simmering on a back burner when the weather has cooled off and your cottage will be transformed with tantalizing aromas and the warmth of the stove to cozy-up your kitchen. I think it’s all gonna work out perfectly for you! And I just can’t WAIT to see that wonderful stove in your little country kitchen; it couldn’t be more ideal for your fine cottage. Very happy for you. And I’ll enjoy looking at it because it just spells childhood all over again for me! It’s so heartening to see people loving the old things and wanting to preserve them…the stove being the heart-throb of kitchens past and built to last.
Yes, the vintage stove decision worked out well. Don was actually with me when I saw the storefront. He was there looking at the same stoves as me. So, rather than me telling him how much I wanted one, he wanted one as well. And now, we’re doing what needs to be done before I leave and he’ll be here when it’s delivered (hopefully, me as well, if I can swing some time off rehearsal that day.)
We are very excited!
It really is like playing with dominoes. Just push the first one, and there is no stopping what follows. I’m sure you will be glad to have such great deep-cleaning completed. I know at our house, cleaning like that only happens when there is something pretty big in the works!
It is so much easier to make decisions ~ such as taking the fence down ~ when there is someone to talk through it as you ponder. Making a decision like that on our own is always difficult, so it is good when we hear what the other person/ people involved with it have to say. So many emotions to consider.
It is very humid here today. We have had several days of dry weather and it looks like we have rain in the forecast for tomorrow and then some lighter chances for several more days. The corn is much higher than an elephant’s eye, and there is green everywhere. That is unusual for this time of year as we are usually crunching when we walk on dry grass. The rain has certainly benefited us in that regard.
Hope the remainder of your Wednesday is wonderful!!
Cleaning like that doesn’t happen here unless everything is changing for some new item.
Very humid here today, as well, and we just had a big thunderstorm.
We’re not getting the rain but we have otherwise monsoon-y weather in SoCalif; I hope it breaks soon. I really don’t know of anyone who actually ENJOYS high humidity! It was 82 degrees outside at 10pm; swampy. Lots & lots of clouds, all day long and all night long. Muted sun, which is a great way to get a really bad sunburn at the beach. (We spent a lot of time there today because it’s what my Pennsylvania guests wanted to see of SoCalif; I winced at the number of bad sunburns I saw, even in this age of sunscreen ala SPF 45.)
I do not like high humidity. I’ve never coped well with it. It makes me irritable and my brain feels fuzzy.
You sure are kept busy waiting for the stove. Having that stove will be worth the work involved. That butterfly is gorgeous.
Marilyn
And we have no idea yet, when it will be delivered! But, yes, you’re right – it’s absolutely worth the work.
I have a circa 1956 Kenmore gas stove. It was here when we moved into our house close to 40 years ago.I like my old stove a lot, but the oven knob was getting harder and harder to turn off and on, until it wouldn’t budge. I couldn’t find any new stoves that I liked as well as my old stove. I made a last ditch effort and tried calling some repair places to see if we could find someone to repair it. I finally found one repair man who listened to what my stove’s “symptoms” were and he told me that they don’t make parts for my stove anymore, but I asked if he could come out and look at it anyway. He told me he could, but it would cost $75. I said ok. He looked at it, and in the time it took me to turn around and get my little dog out of the way, he had the stubborn oven knob off, had sprayed wd40 on it, cleaned the built up gunk off of the rod that the knob was attached to, put the knob back on. The oven knob was working perfectly. I was so happy, despite my red faced embarrassment about someone discovering fossilized greasy stove gunk that I didn’t know was there. I didn’t even know that knob came off for cleaning. He charged $50, instead of $75, and it was the best $50 I ever spent. I’m a big user of splatter guards now.
I always wondered what those pretty little bugs were, and now I know. Your butterfly picture is beautiful.
We used to have Kenmore appliances in my childhood home! Loved them. Don is using much less oil now and spatter guards and I’m hoping this will change things for the better! Thanks, Susie!
I really hate to see you leave home this time due to the fact that the stove might arrive while you are gone!…I have wanted an older stove for many years…that is what my Mom used until the day she died…around here you can find them…they may not be refurbished but many of them have every part still working and are ready to use!…Maybe some day!
Some day! I hope to know in advance when the stove is being delivered and, unless it’s impossible with the rehearsal schedule, tell them I have to be home for the delivery. Fingers crossed!