Side quests

I completed a project today. It wasn’t exactly on my list, though it was at least somewhat related. And overdue. I also completed a chore that was also somewhat related to my current projects.

I’ve been fighting weeds on my property for most of the time I’ve lived in this house. It took them about a year to get started, but once they did, it became a constant battle. In fact, it’s the biggest challenge I face in getting my back yard under control, let alone to make it what I want it to be.

At the moment, the biggest challenge is still clearing the weeds that grew around the edges of the patio, but today I went to the other side of the house where there’s one spot that had the same problem. The photos up top are of a spot right next to the side door that goes from the garage to the spot where the clothesline used to be attached to the fence. Obvious, but left is before, right is after.

Undeneath that mass of (mostly) dead weeds (kikuyu) were three black rubbish bags and an LPG (aka propane) gas tank. Those weeds took around nine months to get to that point. I clear the weeds there once or twice a year, but this time was a bit longer than usual. So, my first step was to spray weed killer on them. A week or so later, I sprayed them again, and they finally started dying.

The thing is, the only reason I thought of spraying them is because the compressor unit for the ducted air conditioning is just along the wall from this spot, and the weeds were starting to grow behind and next to it. I couldn’t get the line trimmer behind the unit, and I don’t use it every week where I can use it. So, I decided to try to kill the weeds instead. Since I was out there spraying, anyway, I sprayed the kikuyu mountain, too.

Actually. , it was the second attempt at spraying that worked. A couple weeks earlier I sprayed an “organic” weedspray. It did nothing. A week or so later, I used the spray again. Still nothing. So, finally, I used stronger weed killer, and also twice, but this time it worked.

The mountain of kikuyu was mostly dead, so it was somewhat easier to remove than it would have been if it was alive, but I still needed to cut it up with secateurs before putting it into a large black sack. Once I cleared all that, I needed to deal with the three black bags that were underneath them.

When I clear weeds anywhere on the property I put them into back rubbish bags to begin to make sure they’re dead, and to let them start to break down. Then, I dump them into my compost bin to finish breajing down. This seems tp work better with kikuyu, which is extremely difficult to compost.

When I empty out the compost bin each summer, I take the oldest black bags and put the contents into the compost bin. And that repeats every year. However, those particular black bags have been there longer. In fact, two of them had weeds I’d pulled out of the bank along the side of the property, something I know because there were chunks of bark mixed in. All of those black rubbish bags are now in one big black sack (it’s the one in front—you don’t need to know that, but including that fact here will hep me remember it later). Because the back back contains weeds that were sprayed, I need to give that stuff some extra time to make sure any residue (and there’s probably not much after all the rain we’ve had…) can finish breaking down.

That LPG bottle is one Nigel and I bought many years ago. In fact, ten years ago it reached the date at which it needed to be tested (at our expense) or taken to the tip (dump) to have it disposed of responisbly (at out expense). But, it still had gas in it we wanted to use up—and, in fact, it still does. The problem is that I’ve never used my barbecue, and I’m not sure I even know how (Nigel always did the BBQing, and the only kind I’ve ever used had charcoal).

The other thing visible is the hose reel thatis once again the hose reel I’ll be using, since the handle broke off the one I’d had on the patio (this one’s handle is aluminium). Which I haven’t needed a hose in awhile, I will be needing a hoose, and, fortunately, I’ve now liberated that hose.

This was a good test run for what I plan to do with the weeds around the patio, sp I now have a plan of action. It’s also possible that some of the weeds in the black rubbish bags came from near the patio.

Once all that was done (it took me maybe an hour or so), I went inside to have some water and to rest and cool down. Then, I went back out and mowed the back lawn, something I also did last week, but I was suprised at how much the lawn itself had gown so much in one week when last week, despite all the rain, it was mainly the weed stalks that had grown. I’m probably the only person who finds that interesting, but that’s not unusual.

Today I completed an outside project and an also an outside chore. Sure, maybe I should’ve worked on the bigger project around the patio instead, but progress is progress, and sometimes that’s really all that matters. Today was one of those times.

A day of challenges

This past Wednesday was a day for some errands, and it ended up being a day of challenges. Still, I was happy about how I navigated the challenges—spread over two days.

First of my errands was a (very) long-delayed haircut. I’ve always hated getting a haircut under the best of circumstances, but with the all the holidays and kids off school over the past couple months, the last place I wanted to be was Te Awa The Base, the shopping centre where the barbershop is located. Tuesday was the day I finally went, and I got the barber I often got in the past, but she was clearly a bit grumpy. I tried my usual friendliness, she didn’t respond in kind like usual, so I just kept quiet figuring she’d prefer that.

As she worked, I tried to think of something positive to say to her, and when she finished and asked how the result was, I said it was good and added, “you always do a great job”, and she thanked me. When I paid, I smiled and thanked her (despite the charge being a third higher than it was a few months ago…).

Next stop was The Warehouse because I needed a few things, and the first Tuesday of the month is Super Gold Card day and I get a 5% discount for having reached 65. Going there that day was the main reason I got my haircut done, too (the barbershop is nearby). If I’m honest, that Warehouse is always a bit of a gamble: Sometimes it’s totally disorganised (or worse…), sometimes terribly understaffed, or the workers are grumpy or indifferent. But when I walked in that day, I was surprised by how cool it was (I don’t remember any Warehouse ever having air conditioning). It was a good start.

Shopping was fine, though I found one thing only by wandering around because their App no longer says what aisle and bay an item is located in (maybe because it was often wrong?). Things became more difficult at the checkout: There was an older woman (and, fact, she may have been not much more than 10 years older than me…) who was struggling with what she was buying, including how her gift card worked. The young worker was very patient with her, and never showed any sign iof irritation. Even so, she wasn’t exactly friendly.

What struck me about all was that there were times in my past when I would’ve been seething at how long it was taking, but around the time I turned 65, I suddenly realised that chronologically I’m often no longer that far behind an older person who’s frustrating me. So I decided to simply accept their reality, and try to work out what their difficulty is so that maybe I can avoid something similar happening to me when I reach that age.

My next stop was the supermarket closest to my house, and I have a love/hate relationship with it. I love how close it is to my house—10 minutes or so even when I get stuck at the traffic lights. I hate everything else about it (yes, I’m joking. Mostly.).

What I dislike is how untidy and under-stocked it often is, but what I really annoys me is how understaffed it is, including at after 3pm when mums arrive after picking up their kids at school. I was ready to pay and leave around quarter past three, and there was one checkout open, with five people wainting in front of me. They opened another checkout, and the queues for both continued to grow. Part of that was because the checkout operator I was waiting for turned out to be unusually slow, abd there were queues waiting at both checkouts (the self-service checkouts also had a queue, but they aren’t for trolley-sized orders, only small ones).

Once it was finally my turn, the operator wanted me to move things, like one thing to the end of my stuff, not at the front where I’d put it. I have not idea why, and at first I wasn’t sure what she wanted because she mainly gestured. She did the same when she wanted me to put one my shopping bags (which she’d over-stuffed) into the trolley. I’ll admit that this was very nearly my breaking point, but I breathed, and thought about the fact it was her fault that the company constantly had the sotre understaffed, nor even that they apparently hadn’t given her thorough-enough training. So, I continued with my usual “please” and “thank you” politeness, though my voice probably sounded as tired as I felt by then.

I should’ve known it was going to be a bad trip when I arrived and saw a bunch of trollies gathered on the carpark and waiting to be taken to their usual parking right near the entrance to the store. I grabbed one from the stack (one with a wonky wheel, no less…), and I headed to the entrance—only to find there was one trolley there, when even on buys days before holidays there are usually dozens sitting there.

When I was leaving, the better part of an hour after I’d arrived (much of that waiting to pay and leave…), there was still only one trolley at the entrance, and the stack of trolleys I spotted when I arrived was still there, untouched. Understaffing throughout the store’s operations, apparently.

I got home to a very happy Leo, and got on with my evening. And that was that—until the following morning.

When I checked my email Wednesday morning, there was an email from the comapny asking for feedback on the store, something they do from time to time, and I ignore them. But not that time.

I answered the questions honestly—they asked!—and was even brutally honest when talking about their chronic understaffing and how the stre is so often untidy. I explained that included when items on shelves are low in stock no one pulls what’s left to the front, especially on lower shelves. I said that they ned to give more time and attention to presentation because a mostly tidy supermarket creates an impression of freshness, and an untidy one makes customers unconsciously wonder about freshness. I don’t know that anyone at the corporate offices will take any notice of what I said, but I honestly told them what I thought of their store, and as far as I’m concerned, that was the end of that. However, I think that from now on when I’m going to a supermarket in person, I’ll probably go to the other one in the area.

Despite all the incentives to lose my cool that day, I didn’t, and that made it a good day. Other days may not go as wekk, but Tuesday did, and that’s enough.

Shadow of change

I’m still getting used to the changes already made to my house, but I’m also starting to visualise what further changes I might make. But it’s the “getting used to” part that’s dominant at the moment.

There was so much rain since the patio cover was installed (including on the day of installation) that I couldn’t really tell what it’ll be like sitting under the roof when the sun is shining. The photos above from last Friday show part of the reason I wasn’t clear. The photo at left shows the roof panels clearly cast a shadow on the lawn. However, in the photo at right (special guest appearance by Leo), the shadow isn’t obvious. That day was the first time I noticed that.

And then came this weekend.

On Saturday, and especially Sunday when I was installing the gate lock, I thought to myself, “golly, that sun’s hot” (or similar words…). But, was it really? After all, when I was working on the gate I wasn’t standing under the roof.

Nevertheless, yesterday I researched options for awnings supplied by the company that installed the roof, and I think that it's a no-go. They crank out like an awning (ironic, since at one point I considered installing an awning), and are hooked to the beam running on the outside edge of the roof. They say that it’s best done with two people (first strike against it), and it’s meant to stay out all season long, which was strike two.

Getting people to help with things I can’t do is fine, but I want to be able to do routine things on my own. Having awnings that are “best” extended with two people is kind of deal breaker by itself. In addition, I don’t want shade all the time—especially not on rainy days—so that’s another important negative. The third negative is that I’m sure it’s probably expensive for what it is.

Right now, I think that, first, I should take more time to figure out what it feels like when the summer sun is shining, especially at a time when people (or even just me) might be sitting there. If I think it’s hot, I think a simple shade cloth (some people call them a “shade sail”) would be a better option.

I also noticed during the (many) rainstorms that when the wind blows the rain, hits the patio even though the roof extends over the grass a bit (the left photo above is the area I’m talking about). There are options for that, if I feel I need it, and the company also provides some, but I’m even less certain about any of that.

The truth is, I’m pretty much out of my depth with all this. I’m not a landscape/garden designer (or even much of a garden maintainer, if I’m honest), so I’m thinking again that maybe I should hire the folks who are. This is, after all, a Project!, but that doesn’t mean I’m necessarily going to do it all personally.

Besides, I still have lots of other projects, big and small, so it’s not like I risk running out of things to do. Running out of gumption to do them is another matter, but still—I have choices.

Turns out, though, that I’m still finding out what the exact shape of all these changes will end up being. But, honestly? That kind of makes them more interesting to me. That, at least, is nothing new.

An old project no more—again

Five years ago this month, I wrote: “Sometimes it just takes time to get to a project around the house, let alone finish it.” No kidding: For me, “taking time to get to a project” is an understatement. But even for me a five year delay is a new wrinkle.

In February of 2021, I replaced the bolt locks on the outside of the gates on both sides of the house, and also installed a second one on the inside of one gate, but not the other. At the time I wrote a post (linked above) describing the project and why I did it, and I added this:

So, this project is now, finally, nearly done. I say “nearly” because I have one more padlock latch to install on the other gate, but I dropped in in the garage somewhere and haven’t found it yet. Oops. However, the ordinary latch on the outside was always fine (though much better now that it has a longer bolt), so it’s padlocked on the outside (I never use that gate, anyway).

The following year, in October 2022, I moved the Vegepod onto the patio, and I put it right in front of the gate. I don’t think I used that gate again until the broken air conditioner on the patio was removed this past December. Because of that, I never got around to adding the lock inside on the inside of the gate.

The new patio roof meant I’d need to move the Vegepod (a project not yet done, oddly enough…), and that meant there would no longer be anything in blocking the gate. But first I had to find the missing lock parts.

I somehow remembered that I’d dropped it in the garage, but the main part was on the garage shelves where they both should have been, but the loop part the padlock closes on wasn’t there. I assumed it was on the floor.

I tried searching on the floor, but it wasn’t easy with the garage such a disaster area. I decided to see if I had some sort of replacement. I kind of did, but it wasn’t ideal I then went to one of the home centres that sells more parts and odd things (unlike the other shop), and bought a new loop thing for a couple bucks. Once I got home, I tried it out, and it would work—but it wasn’t the original thing, so it wasn’t effect.

So, at the end of last week I got my telescoping magnet thing and stuck it under the shelves in the garage: The loop thing wasn’t there. Then I saw a bolt latch on the shelves, and noticed some other metal things, so I moved a couple things around and there it was: The missing loop.

Yesterday was the day to finish the project, technically some five years after I started it. It was also really hot out there, but that just added another layer to the experience.

The installation (before and after photos up top) went fine, really, though I forgot that the hinge-like thing moves and that made it hard to get it level; it ended up level enough. The only difficulty was the final screw: I didn’t drill the pilot hole deep enough, and the head of the screw started to strip. So I removed, drilled the pilot hole a bit deeper, but still not deep enough, because the head of the second screw started to strip, too. Third time was the charm—for the last screw.

Now, because it’s been five years, the hinge thing on the five year old one is rusty, as are the screws. NOW I realise I could have painted them to help keep the rust away longer. Maybe someday a new owner can worry about that.

Something I didn’t talk about five years ago is why I added the second lock inside the gate: It’s because the gate latches should never have been put on the outside of the gate because the only thing needed to open the gate is a screwdriver. Adding the second latch inside the gate means it would take an intruder longer to get through the gate, and they’d probably make much more noise—the goal is to slow down and deter miscreants.

However, my major reason isn’t about intruders per se, it’s about stopping someone opening the gate and Leo getting out. Even so, the gates are now both far more secure than the way teh builder left them. I’d like to get one gate widened a bit, and the builder could install the proper latches, and on the inside of the gate. Whether I do it—sorry, I meant have that done for me—or not will depend on what I do with the rest of the back yard, and I’m not there yet.

Still, a project I began five years ago is now done, and that’s a good thing. The only casualties were two screws and my left forearm: Because of where the lock had to go, I had to use the screwdriver in my left hand (my right hand is dominant, but, oddly, I can use a screwdriver with my left hand), and the muscles were sore today. But the jobs is done, so it’s kind of worth that.

Cost of creating

I spent most of my working life in what is said called, somewhat overly grandly, “creative industries”. In my case, it was doing design and layout of ads, newspapers, magazines, and various other printed materials. I’ve owned products by Adobe for years—right up until they stopped selling the software and instead made users subscribe to their “Adobe Creative Cloud”—at fees that keep going up. We had no other choice than to accept that because the software was vital to do our jobs. I’m not sure that’s true any more.

Now that I’m not working anymore, it doesn’t make sense for me to pay nearly $100 (roughly $US60) a month so Adobe will allow me to use the software. To be clear, I DO still use their software: I use Photoshop to prepare all the photos I post to this blog, I use Illustrator to create things like album art for some episodes of my podcast, and I use InDesign for general layout work, including all the labels I made for my pantry reorganisation. I’m really glad I have the software when I meed it, but am I nearly $100 a month glad?

Last year, I started researching alternatives to Adobe. At the time, Affinity was highly rated and cost less to buy permanently than paying for only three months of Adobe’s Creative Cloud. Last year, Affinity’s publisher was aquired by Canva, an Australian-own software company whose site, Canva, is used by people to creat visual assets, like title cards for YouTube videos. Affinity is now “freemium”, but a paid subsription is needed to access AI features (Adobe also offers AI features).

Today I got an email from Apple about their new subscription service, Creator Studio. Some of the programmes are more powerful versions of their free software, like Final Cut Pro to replace iMovie, and Logic Pro to replace Garage Band, but everything seems to have added other things under the paid model, including—surprise!—AI features. Apple also promises to protect users’ privacy.

The various parts of the “suite” can also be purchased separately, basically like all software used to be. As is often the case with Apple, subscription pricing is—interesting. Here in New Zealand, users can pay $24.99 per month ($US15.08), or $249 annually ($US150.30), which is like getting two months for free. This is a fraction of what Adobe charges, but that assumes the Suite is comparable. However: In the USA, Apple charges users US$12.99 (NZ$21.52) per month, or US$129 ($NZ213.72) per year. As usual, in other words, Apple charges overseas users more than it charges users in the USA for something entirely digital.

At the moment, I don’t have a solution to entirely replace the Adobe software I’ve depended on for decades. Rightnow, I think it may turn out that “good enough” will have to be enough. I hjave a lot more research to do. All of which means this is yet another project for this year.

The weather gods cooperated

I don’t want to alarm anyone, but today there was a bright light outside all day. It seemed to be coming from a bright disc in the sky—so bright, in fact, that I couldn’t even look at it! Also, the clouds broke apart revealing a pale blue colour behind them. Am I on a television film set, like in The Truman Show? Or was it the end of the world?

Well, just in case it wasn’t the end of the world, I mowed the back lawn today, something I haven’t been able to do since January 9—two and a half weeks ago—due to all that rain we’ve had. It looked pretty bad, but it was mostly because of the long weed flower stalks.

I also trimmed all the edges (!), though the fates didn’t want me to. The line in the trimmer ran out after only a few minutes (not a surprise—I was expecting that), but then the battery gave out much earlier than expected (it wasn’t at 100% charge when I started, but I thought there was more power…). I swapped the battery and continued on—and the line ran out again! It may have broken off in the bump head, but by then I was over it, put the trimmer away, and brought out the mower.

The mowing went without incident, however, there were two medium sized birds (I have no idea what they were) that kept landing on the lawn where I’d just mowed (looking for disturbed bugs, probably). They flew away when I started walking toward them again, landed when I’d turned around and was mowing away from them, all of which was repeated several times. I’ve never had that happen before.

When I was doing the last bit of lawn, I mowed close to the fence to chop up the weeds the line trimmer sliced off, and I noticed a tiny green frog trying to get away, moving toward the fence. It was the third time I’ve seen one, but it’s been a few years.

I then came in and drank some cool water, which helped cool me down. It was 26 today (roughly 79F), which is the warmest day my neighbourhood has had for a couple weeks, I think, and it had pretty high humidity. I did a few ordinary chores before dinner.

After dinner, I decided to go back outside because the temperature was lower—though the humidity was not. I started chopping at some of the weeds I hadn’t been able to get to before, swept up after myself, and then repotted a couple plants. And that was my day, the first one I’ve been able to get outside things done in a couple weeks.

I have some errands to do tomorrow afternoon, so I hope to get a few things done in the morning. But my main event will be to pick up stones for making the new Vegepod parking spot. And once I get that done, I’ll have cleared enough space on the patio to start working out what I want to do with the space.

Today, though, was a productive day. It apparently wasn’t the end of the world, fortunately. But whether today took place in a version of The Truman Show remains unknown.

It’s now my roof

Today I received the final invoice for my patio cover. I have no idea why it took them nearly a week to send the invoice, but I paid it today, too, because the due date was also today (as it was with the other two invoices, so it’s no big deal). At any rate, I now officially own it.

It’s rained, often heavily, though not constantly, pretty much every day for at least couple weeks. Because some of the dowpours were really bad, I didn’t want to start any outside work, even under the roof, because I knew I might have to stop suddenly.

It turns out, though, that the same weather that kept me from doing much outside also showed me that when I set up the patio I’ll have to keep things away from the edges, because—surprise!—rain doesn’t fall straight down. I know they make shades of very kinds, so they might also provide the clear vinyl ones like cafes use. Maybe? I think I’ll try managing the arrangement first.

The weather will be improving from tomorrow, with a sunny afternoon and then two days in a row (!) of sunshine, then a weekend with two days of mostly sunny weather before the rain returns on Monday. Put another way, I should be able to get some outside stuff done over the next few days—fingers crossed?

Still, the new patio roof is now officially mine, and so is all the work I need to do to be able to actually use it. With great privilege comes great responsibility, they say. At least I should sleep well for several days.

Paths to redemption

This morning, I saw a meme on Facebook. It said: “I’ve done a lot of stupid shit on this planet, but at least I’ve never voted for [the convicted felon]”. I shared it because it’s true for me, too. However, for me, the meme is only part of the story.

I really hve made a lot of huge mistakes in my life, and, obviously, voting for him was never one of them. However, we all make mistakes—everyone—but the trick is to recognise our mistakes and then to try to repair the damage, beginning with admitting our mistake. Sure, voting for him is arguably the biggest mistake that some Americans have ever made, but if there’s no path to redemption for those who made that mistake and regret it, then, in my opinion, there’s absolutely no hope for healing the deep divisions and wounds in the USA.

Those of us who never supported him in any way also have a choice: We can be smug about having been right about him all along, or we can help those who were wrong about him get back out into the sunlight. There will be some folks who will never be able to admit their mistake (for lots of reasons), and there’s nothing we can do to help them. But I want to see otherwise good people have a path to help to undo the damage they helped enable.

At the same time, though, I’ll never condemn the folks who can’t forgive those who voted for him. I totally get that—in fact, I often felt the same way, especially when the regime unleashed its reign of terror. Even so, I nevertheless persist in holding onto hope for the folks who made the mistake of voting for him, but who truly seek and then work for redemption.

My attitude comes from two completely different places. First, it’s arguably an enduring lesson from literally growing up in the church: There were all those messages about not judging, about forgiveness, and turning the other cheek. However, the biggest thing has been my adult life studying and volunteering in politics. In a democracy, victories are built on coalitions, and if democracy is to survive in the USA, it will take a massive coalition of people working and voting together to create change. That’s because of the systemic and structural barriers that the felon and his party are trying to erect to prevent pro-democracy people from voting—or even speaking out. I’ve often spoken about my own personal political pragmatism, and this is an example of it: Leave no opponent of the regime outside if they repudiate their former support for the felon.

Having said all of that, I’m under no illusions about any of this. It’s human nature to never admit mistakes, especially ones that people are embarrassed about having made, but even those folks can still do the right things quietly. My personal preference would be for his voters to admit their mistake publicly and join the pro-democracy coalition, but I don’t know how many will be strong enough to actually do that. That’s fine—as long as they still vote out the felon’s political party.

History shows us that there will come a day—hopefully very soon—when it will become nearly impossible to find anyone who will admit to ever having voted for him. For example, that happened in Germany after World War 2 ended, and the reasons it will happen in the USA are quite similar. Until that time, and to help it arrive sooner, we need to try to help his now repentant former voters find a path to help us all build a better future in which this nightmare cannot be repeated.

A new project now begins

My outdoor project can now begin. Obviously what I need more than anything is yet another project, and, sure, this one has basically also been hanging around since I moved into this house six years ago. None of that changes the fact that this is now real.

The reason that this long-delayed, often derailed project can happen at all is that On Wednesday the patio cover was installed. Among other things, that means that I can now see the space I have to work with, both on the patio and in the backyard more generally. I needed to see the site (and sight-lines) in order to be able to visualise what I want it to look like. There’s still quite a lot to do before I make that vision, let alone make it happen.

I did my first real inspection of the outdoor stuff yesterday, and a lot of what had been my outdoor furniture will need to be replaced after several years exposed to all the weather in all the seasons (and also the high UV of the sun). At this point, though, it’s still about cleaning everything up, including the patio itself and the area around it.

I picked what looked to be the dirtiest plastic chair and did a fairly light scrub. I think I can get the chair (and it’s three siblings) to a “yeah, it’s okay, I guess” stage, but at that point I’ll probably give them away. Those four are white ones that could be used at a table, but I don’t think I’d ever need them, even if they were pristine. Nigel and I bought them for our Civil Union (what we called our wedding) on January 24, 2009—seventeen years ago this coming Saturday, to the very day. I’m fine with letting them go, not the least because in the unlikely event I ever need more seating, I still have two long foldable benches we also bought for the Civil Union, and they’ve always been kept inside and are in pristine condition.

I also have three Adirondack-style plastic chairs I bought for us at our last house (there were four: I broke one when I was moving to Hamilton). Those will be fine for just sitting outside until I work out what I want out there and how I want to use the space.

Which brings me to the table and chairs. Two houses ago, they were always undercover, but were exposed to the sun and elements for nearly three years at the last house, and probably about as long here until I finally realised I needed to put a cover over the set. The frame for the table is aluminium and in excellent condition. The removable top, however, appears to be somewhat cupped or warped at an edge (it was hard to tell from my quick look at the top when it wasn’t on the table). When I have space on the patio to work, I’ll take a better look and decide from there. I think the top is MDF and painted with exterior grade paint, and it certainly wouldn’t be hard to just make a new top for it if necessary.

The six chairs are faded and dirty, but they appear otherwise sound—for now? The whole set is probably as much as 18 years old, so I may replace all that, too. Over the past the past couple days, I’ve been thinking that maybe I should replace the seating for six with something smaller, maybe seating for four expandable to six. That’s mainly because a smaller table would give me more space under the new roof. I’ll first arrange the space with what I have, and then work out what changes to make.

Finally, I found out the handle of the hose reel has rusted-out and it broke off, five years after I bought it. That hose, which is even older, has always expelled hose fittings (even Nigel failed to keep it attached!), and both the connector to the outdoor tap and the one for the hand trigger thingee are shot. They’re all probably destined for the rubbish.

Amid all that deterioration and mayhem is a bit of creation: I now need to finally create the new parking spot for the Vegepod, which is currently on the lawn-end of the patio (so it doesn’t sink into the ground). Although unpleasant, this work will be slightly easier because of all the rain: In summer, the heat and lack of rain normally makes the heavy clay soil turn nearly solid, like concrete. On the other hand, it’s extremely heavy when it’s wet, though at least I can dig it out.

When that’s done, I can move the Vegepod from the patio to its new home. Then, it’ll be about clearing out the weeds at edges at the other end of the patio. That, too, will be getting gravel to keep the weeds down. I also still need to remove all the other weeds in the area.

However, I’ll only work on removing the weeds on days when it’s not raining, and on rainy days I’ll work on the things under the roof, including figuring out how I want to arrange the patio area. There’s plenty to keep me going.

I’ll be talking about all these things as I work on them, along with photos. This may be “another project on the list,” but it’s now real. And, actually, it’s pretty exciting, too.