Maybe she would like my favorite Sidetracked Home executives--S.H.E.s It is more for people who have never cleaned--or at least not in recent memory.
The aluminum cladding and vinyl soffit work on this house, subject of several posts here recently, were installed many (30?) years ago by a husband/wife team. They did a fantastic neat-looking job. Covered every bit of wood framing outside. The original asbestos shingles held the house paint well since 1982. Pressure washing, prior to finally repainting 2 years ago, improved the looks so much, I almost decided to forgo the painting. In 2003 the wood windows were replaced with vinyl. The point is, the outside of this house has been maintenance free for most of the time I've lived here until recently. That's a pretty good record. This is sort of in line with the subject of changing a house to fit your laziness style, rather than changing your style. Unfortunately, the boys who installed the replacement windows ruined the cladding on some of the window casings. They tried to reproduce it, but didn't have the expertise, and were in too much of a hurry, to do a good job. I asked the painters when they were here to check above the windows to see if there were any leaks. They had tall ladders and painted with brushes, so they had their noses right on top of all the windows. They didn't mention anything, but I never got a chance to talk to them directly. Fast Forward to last winter... The man who came to measure for the front door, claimed he saw insulation protruding from above a pair windows. This summer I finally noticed it and tried to use the camera to get a picture and figure out what was the problem, but this phone camera just won't zoom clearly beyond 3X. August 11th Since I was on a roll unsticking windows, I unstuck that pair of windows, hoping to reach around and see feel what's going on. A selfie-like picture taken leaning outside the window, shows a bead of caulking hanging down almost as thick as a breakfast link sausage. It's hard for me to understand how all these things are put together. For now, I'm just thinking about it. By the way, all this reminds me of one of my favorite Bill Boggs stories:. They Don't Live Here No More (post #409)
Little Old Log Cabin in the - Lane Jesse Thompson (FULL SCREEN) I love listening to this old gent. He has his own channel on youtube and plays many old gems. He may have passed on, not sure.
A lawnmower test yesterday... Afternoon showers most every day lately. I let the back yard grow, just to test the mower. The grass wasn't technically wet, as in rain or dew, but very "juicy." Hickory nuts all over in one spot. Sounded like someone set off firecrackers. Should have raked them up first. It didn't cut perfectly this time. Missed a few blades in the wheel tracks and low spots. The back yard is very rough with divots and bumps. The battery drained and overheated, after about 5500 sq ft (Google maps) of mowing with self-propel engaged most of the time. It cut the same right up until the end, but the self-propel slowed down considerably. They say 3 things affect battery drain: how much you use the self-propel, strain on the motor, and the blade. Wet grass takes more power. The mulching blade uses the most power. It came with 2 more blades — one that lifts, and one that is most efficient, for side discharge. Haven't tried either. It took one hour to recharge. There was about 500 sq ft left to mow. It didn't use any bars to finish that. But now I'm glad I got the 10 ah battery, rather than the 7.5 that typically comes with it. Next test would be to see if battery drains quicker after it went below 10%. May not get a chance. Two problems others have mentioned: The wheel gears are nylon and they can get chewed up. You can't replace them easily or cheaply. I think it's important not to put extra pressure on the wheels, like self-propelling it while turning corners or backing up. A few are complaining about one or both of the rear wheels locking up. No one is sure why yet. It may be a design flaw. I haven't had that (yet). This mower is perfect for what I want, even if I have to buy a new one every year. But that's just my situation.
EGO brand mower, Model: LM2156SP The kits (mower+battery+charger) are much cheaper than buying separate parts. Lowes had the kit with a 10AH battery on sale ($150 off) in June for $700. ACE Hardware here has an upgraded model on sale right now, order online, ship to store, with a 12AH battery for $700. ACE LINK [ Hope you aren't thinking of buying one. I'd feel eternally responsible if anything went wrong with it. ]
The county is charged with mowing along the roads for visibility but haven't kept up this year. I was about to hire it out because we have cattails in the ditches etc. and I am not sure I am still up to lifting my lawn tractor out of the ditches. When all of a sudden I came to the farm and everything was trimmed back, even to parts of the fenceline! I can use all the hay if they are not coming back to clean it up to cover over some landscaping issues. like the front of my mound system which I want to make a bit more decorative. I have two DR string trimmers. I hear they make them electric now too but the reviews are not good on the new stuff. I believe Generac bought out DR and nothing is the same. ( Glad I didn't have to use them for this job this time.)
One of the dead pine trees in the front yard in the country finally fell during the wind storm a couple weeks ago. The top just barely reached the highway. The mowers cut it up and piled it near the yard when they mowed last week. I have two old electric string trimmers. One was a gift from my parents in the 1980s when I bought the house. It needs a new part, which isn't expensive. The motor is on the bottom and it's heavy to use. The other one is not very old and just conked out last week. The part for that one would run about $50. The motor on it is in the handle and easily balances. I'm debating whether to order new parts for at least one, or buy a new battery powered one. If one of those batteries can turn a lawnmower blade, it ought to be able to spin a plastic cord fast enough to cut stuff. Thinking about it.
About to head out to do some fence spraying. Not looking forward to it. Should get at least as far as the first large tree down across the path. Then I'll rethink a battery chain/trim saw. If it happens too soon I may do some mowing instead. Putting it in writing.
All good news yesterday. The fence hardly needed spraying at all. The road was a different story in one place. I've rarely had to spray the road in the past. Just a few little trees sprouting. The fence is on the left. Most of the hard work was just throwing limbs, that were too big to drive over, out of the way. Only two trees down big enough to need cut, both rotten. A few smaller ones that were too long to move without cutting up. The saw started. Made it to the steep hill above the dam and quit. It still scares me. Not enough energy left to take the "long cut" around it and keep going anyway. The remaining ~40% should be in better shape, in terms of weeds. I'll come from the other direction next time. The steep downhill shortcut, around the VERY steep section of fence, was not washed out, no gullies, ground cover starting to come back. That's the one the guys scraped all the vegetation off when they were out there. Was it last year, or the year before? One new curious stranger showed up with the neighbor's horses.
Folks around here use donkeys as companion animals for horses. I guess donkeys must be cheaper; otherwise, they would just get another horse.
When we first got our goats, I drove all the way to Clemson, to one of those Bureau of Land Mgt auctions for adoption of wild burros and horses. Thinking of adopting a burro as a companion. Some can be good guard animals if you're lucky. Then found out they have a life expectancy of 25-40 years in captivity. All of the burros usually find homes. Not so with the horses.
I wonder why. I just read that the average life expectancy of a horse is 25-30 years, with 40+ not being uncommon. Perhaps old burros have more utility than old horses.