Sitting on the front porch feels like we are down the beach…so we have decorated it that way. The first thing that we added to start the trend was a slice of driftwood. When we moved the outdoor light to the outside of the porch, there was a big hole left in the siding, so instead of replacing the siding, we did this…

There have been some really nice evenings that we have got to enjoy out there, but there were still a couple things that needed to be done to really make it feel like the beach. I had done the first coat of paint when Scott finished things up…but a second coat was still needed…and I was NOT motivated to do it. And a firepit…we needed a firepit! So I bought a firetable.

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…that was the motivation to paint. I swear as soon as I locked that thought in BobbieAnn called and was finally able to schedule us in. Sisters Painting

Before…

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You’ll have to stop by to see the after…

I set out this morning with a small list…yard guard, replace the hose and spread rubber mulch…I knocked over the firewood rack, moved the trash and recycling cans, raked out all the monkey balls and moved a couple cinder blocks from under the deck before I could even start the mulching.

While I was putting away the rake and doing the cleanup, I thought, I should put Jen’s bike in the shed…I squeezed it in, but I seriously need to do a cleanup/reorganizing in there. While standing there in the shed doorway, I was thinking what ladder would be best to fix the window in the kitchen that has the spider hotel/restaurant.

The storm window opened from the top and a spider set up a web trap between the storm and the inside window. Even though watching this spider for a few years, it started to block the view from our animal sanctuary…but if I want to fix this, I need to also clean it…which meant opening it from inside the house, climbing up on the countertop (had to clear it off first) and getting the vacuum in there. After it was cleaned…inside and out, I recruited Jen to help me move the windows into place and get them locked in…her up on the countertop and me up on the ladder outside. Spider evicted!!!

I went ahead and cleaned the outside of the windows with a towel and a squeegee…

Next project…clean the other 5 windows

Every time I walk out the back door, within 5 minutes, I have just as many mosquito bites. There is a creek that runs through the back yard, but it’s not sitting water so I don’t believe that is the source so I have systematically set out on a seek and find…checked for anything that would hold water. I put a couple mosquito water disks in the gutters. (And I also tried an organic yard guard spray). This did not help, so I looked further and possibly found the issue.

Under the deck, it looks like there are canals every couple inches apart (I will take some pictures before I set off on today’s project). When it rains, the water from the deck drains and creates these gullys and I believe the water sits long enough to let the mosquito population increase.

Before:

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After much research, I have decided to put rubber mulch under there for better drainage. We stopped at Lowe’s yesterday and picked out the color (Brown) and today is the day that I start this project.

I hurt my back last week and I am not at 100%, so I may just do this in spurts because I don’t want to reinjure. But I want to start out by “Yard Guarding”, I also want to replace the back yard garden hose that runs under the deck and move the firewood rack. (There are only a few logs left…so I may just push it over to give myself working room).

But first, I need to go stretch and cover myself from head to toe in bug spray…

After: Kinda… I need to get a few more bags

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and we can’t forget my helpers

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