Five of the Oak Trees in This Picture Won't Be in the Picture Tomorrow. *at least that's the plan*

Word of the Day

Hiccaburp - To uncontrollably and simultaneously hiccup and burp.

I'm going to think up a myriad of tasks for myself...outdoor tasks...which will prevent me from cleaning my windows. I've got a crew of window washers coming tomorrow and I'm one of those weird people who feels she has to clean the windows before the cleaners get here. The windows need cleaning. They not only need cleaning, they've moved right on past small letters and have gone onto bold, upper case letters. My windows NEED cleaning. Since 1997, I've only been able to clean the windows that I can reach with the same "ladder" that I use for hanging my hummingbird feeders. This house has windows that require the use of a 40-foot ladder...at least I hope a 40-foot ladder will do the trick. It's nice to have lots of windows here at The Lake but when we picked out our design before building, we didn't take into account the fact that the windows would need to be washed. I have windows here at The Lake that have never been washed. They're getting a bit grimey. On the plus side, birds don't fly into my windows quite so often. Only the really stupid birds still attempt fly throughs. That may change after tomorrow. However, having one's windows cleaned once every ten...eleven...years isn't going to kill off all the birds in the area. Actually, now that I've found someone with the proper equipment who is willing to drive all the way out here to clean my windows....I may decide to have the windows cleaned every year. A lot depends upon what kind of job they do.

Today, I'm thinking of getting my Earthboxes prepped for planting. It's still too cold to go out and buy plants. 36°F when I woke up this morning. I'm even considering buying a couple of more Earthboxes. This is instead of expanding my vegetable garden. The quote for leveling off more land for a larger garden...just leveling with a bobcat, no raised beds, no black garden soil, no fencing (a must here at The Lake)...., was $70/hour. The guy thought that it would take at least four to five hours. I can buy some pretty tricked out Earthboxes for that amount of money and HTP and I won't have to worry about weeds. Yup...I'm definitely thinking that getting a couple of tricked out Earthboxes (tricked out meaning with wheels and a trellis system)at half the cost of leveling off more garden area in the back.

In the meantime, HTP and I rolled the dock into the lake to get it out of the way of That Tree Guy who is coming later this afternoon to cut down five of the oak trees in our buffer zone/viewing area. He's going to cut the wood into fire logs for us and stack it. He's also going to haul away all the little bits. I wonder if he has a chipper? That would be way cool if he brought a wood chipper for all the smaller branches. HTP and I will figure out how to split the bigger logs and haul them up to the garage. Isn't log hauling and splitting the sort of job for which one has sons and son-in-laws?

Murphyism of the Day

Parker's Law of Political Statements

The truth of any proposition has nothing to do with its credibility and vice versa.

Noteworthy Quote of the Day

Hope is tomorrow's veneer over today's disappointment.

- Evan Esar (1899 - 1995)