Dementia for 2

Fall is in the air here in Elvisland. Cooler nights and tolerable days. I love it!! This summer was not the usual humid,rainless summer that is the norm for us. I am curious as to how that will affect our winter.

I have managed to get more accomplished this summer than I thought I would. Before I list my many accomplishments, I must tell you I am a shameless dumpster diver. I know it sounds tacky and somewhat desperate, but I just can't help myself. I see perfectly good stuff at the curb, and I am compelled to bring it home. This summer has been an especially profitable one for me. So far, I have collected:
1 rather large clay flower pot that I used to plant some annuals in
2 matching urn pots for more annuals
2 mountain bikes that need a total of about 30 bucks worth of work done to them.
1 whiskey barrel for my yard.
1 glass top patio table to set in my yard.
4 matching patio chairs from a different location.
2 mix matched patio chairs.
1 box of dress racks.

All in all not a bad haul if I do say so myself! Hubs tilled me a new flower bed in the backyard and I was able to use my compost to enrich the soil and move some of my plants from my very crowded front yard to the back. So that was free. With the addition of the smaller patio table and chairs, I have a nice sitting area in the back yard away from the deck.

I have also cleaned out the attic and am now almost done with the storage unit I have. Most of the stuff has been donated. That is good for me as a tax write off, and good for the Vietnam Vets which is my charity of choice for these type of items. I have also put some stuff on Freecycle that the Vets can't take.

I also planted a very small garden this year. So I have put up tomatoes and used peppers in my salsa. I managed to frequent the Farmer's Market some this year and was able to get some blackberries and other assorted fruits and veggies. I have a friend that was able to locate some inexpensive peas for me already shelled no less, and I put some of those up along with some green beans I acquired from my mom's garden. Since this was my first year to do this type of thing, I learned a lot. The main thing being I need a bigger kitchen.

I am already starting a list of things I want to do inside this winter, so maybe I will have it all together by next spring. Hubs is going to just love that.

I certainly hope this morning is not a pretext to my week. I was so busy last week that I did not get a chance to start all this painting I have to do. I had planned to start it today. I get all my paint ready, clear the room and decide to move all my painting equipment inside before I prep the walls. Well, I can find everything except my friggin' paintbrushes. Where are they, you ask? My hubs has decided to use them in his little home repair venture and now not only are they no where to be found, but I am almost positive they won't be of any use to me when they are located.

This is a serious pet peeve of mine. Don't touch my stuff. We both know you (a) won't put it back where you found it and (b) if you do somehow remember that it isn't yours to just throw anywhere, it won't be fit to use again because (c) you didn't clean it properly.

I know that some of you will comment and tell me I should just talk to him and ask him to not use my things if he cannot be considerate. After 18 years of marriage, this horse is dead. He doesn't take care of his own things, so I already know that he won't take care of mine. That is why I have said on numerous occasions, "Leave my stuff alone." Usually he listens now since I have really lost my temper over things like this. But something possessed him to take my brushes and now I have to go buy new ones. I am really angry over this and since I don't want to say something I will regret later, I am passing this on to ya'll. I hate to dump on all of you but at least I am avoiding an argument and I am getting this out before I talk to him. I hope. Besides, I know ya'll will understand and I can move on to bigger and more important things like what sounds good with the Cornish hens I am cooking tonight.

My Internet service was briefly interrupted last week, so I have been out of commission for awhile. I was able to check my email with my phone, but I did not want to use all my battery power answering them.

Now that things are somewhat back to normal in my neighborhood, I realized just how much time I spend on the computer. I spend a lot of time on here. Between my own blog plus all the blogs I read, is about 2 hours a day. Then there is my email account, my face book account, and numerous social trafficking sites.

Since I work 2nd shift, I have kidded myself into believing that I don't really spend all that time on here. But...I do. So, I have decided to spend a much smaller portion of my free time on the computer. I won't be blogging as much or checking in to all my other favorite sites as much. I think this will work out for me and all the things I really do need to accomplish around here. I have been able to free my house of a lot of clutter the past few days and I like not having all that junk around. I still have some more really deep cleaning to do and I really want to get it done this week.

My daughter is going to visit some of her fiends in Florida next week, and I want to redo her room and bathroom while she is gone. I won't be able to do as much as I would like due to a lack of funds, but I will be able to do quite a bit. She is excited to know that some of the things she and I have talked about doing will finally be done.

I hope all my followers understand that I am not abandoning ya'll but I do need to get some of this stuff finished before it starts getting cooler and I won't be able to get it done if I don't start now.

I will try to post some of my update on Granny later this week. She has been a real riot this past week, and I have really enjoyed her humor.

I will also let ya'll know how many projects I have been able to finish since my computer detox.

My local radio station has the usual "morning show" type format. Usually it is pretty mundane but on occasion they do have some interesting interviews.

Recently they interviewed the author of "Throw Out Fifty Things: Clear the Clutter, Find Your Life" by Gail Blanke. After hearing this short interview, I thought I would try and throw out 50 things. She does say you should recycle, reuse, donate or throw out. So I went through my junk drawer. I hate that drawer! I did manage to get rid of quite a few things in there including several sets of old keys. Next on the list was my kitchen utensils. Since I go through those on a pretty regular basis, not much there. Then I headed to my closet. I have a large walk-in closet that is FULL. So I started going through my clothes first. I have several suits that are "classic" in their design that I no longer wear. Since I didn't want to just give them away in a yard sale or donate them to Goodwill I called Dress for Success. Next hubs and I hit the garage. This took a full day. But when we were done it was a beautiful thing.

All this cleaning has gotten me to thinking about my cluttered mind. Do I have 50 things in my mind or heart that I need to get rid of? Don't we all have at least 5? So this week while I am continuing the cleaning of my home, I will be focusing on what I need to throw out that is cluttering up my relationship with God. I know that this "spring cleaning" will not be as fast as the physical cleaning but it will be far more rewarding in the long run. I may have to take these things one at a time. My list in no particular order is:

1. My thoughts. I let my mind get away from me far to much. I need to stay focused on what the task at hand is for me in God's eyes and not what others are doing. The "Martha Syndrome".

2. My words. I can be unduly harsh towards others far too easily. I try to blame it on other things like fatigue or stress. The truth is I am not thinking before I speak at these times.

3. My countenance. My mouth can be saying one thing but the look on my face says something else. I need to reflect the love of Christ to others through my expressions.

I think these 3 will keep me busy for quite awhile:) I hope this post has encouraged you to really look at what you are hanging on to both physically and emotionally. If so, there are several places that you can donate a variety of things and recycle centers are popping up everywhere. Maybe, just maybe while you are at it, you will have the desire to clear your mind as well. Good luck and happy cleaning!

My deck is in awful shape. To be honest, my whole house is in awful shape. We are trying to remedy this but it takes time and money. So, one project at a time.

The problem is what do we do first? We have some projects inside and out, that are in different stages. We finally decided to finish the last inside project this winter (still not done), and work on some outside projects this spring/summer.

About my deck. The deck is composed of the type of decking lumber you can get at any home improvement store. I personally think this type of wood is bad for a variety of reasons. It is not cheap if you are doing a large project. It can splinter, warp, or rot if not taken care of properly. Even then, you will still have to replace it eventually as in our case. The most important reason is it is treated with arsenic.

So I started researching. If we go with wood, we need a good hard wood. Cedar seems to be the wood of choice. Cedar is very expensive. I really don't want to use wood. The maintenance on wood is costly and time consuming. Not to mention that I don't know where this cedar comes from so I am not sure it is the most environmentally right choice for us.

Next you have your composite decking. This sounds good but, is it really? This decking is made of plastic and fillers such as sawdust, rice, grain etc. So now you have natural products combined with synthetic products. Because this is made mainly with wood by-products, you still are susceptible to the same problems you have with wood. Also, if this is not installed properly, you can have splitting, cracking, etc. I have seen photos of this type of decking with warped boards, molded boards, etc. So I don't think for the cost this is the best choice.

Then you have plastic lumber. With this type of decking you still have to be careful. Not all plastics are the same. If you go with PVC plastic, you will have problems because it can become quite brittle in heat. The biggest problem is the health hazard related to PVC.

I think the best alternative for us is plastic lumber. This is made from 100% recycled milk jugs, water bottles, juice bottles,etc. This is commonly known as HDPE plastic. What I like the most about this type of plastic is that it is made solely of products that we already have. There are no composite fillers, hence no bugs, mold, warping, splintering etc. Also, if you want a color, the board is colored all the way through not just on the surface. This is a non-porous product. This means it will not absorb water, paint, oil, etc. The only drawbacks that I have found are price and installation. This product is quite expensive on the front end. But, if you tally up how much you spend in stain, waterproofing, and replacement boards, I think the savings will outweigh the cost in the long run.

If you want to learn more about plastic lumber, you can visit the below sites for more information.

http://www.everlastlumber.com/index.php
http://www.american-plasticlumber.com/index.html