Paige Wakefield's Observations » Home and Garden

Burn pile

Paige — Sun, 06 May 2012 22:44:55 +0000

Over the past year my hubby has been piling up a lot of things in the back yard, into what he likes to call “the burn pile.” The pile was very close to the woods, and I was very nervous that when he did actually burn it that it would spread to the woods and engulf the entire neighborhood. My hubby always “pooh-poohed” my concerns, telling me that he has been managing burn piles for many years over his lifetime and that there was nothing to worry about.

Well, it rained all day yesterday, and most of the day today, and I was quite surprised when I heard the tractor running in the back yard. I looked out of the kitchen window and saw that the burn pile was burning and my hubby was using his tractor to keep a fire line of fresh dirt between it and anything that wasn’t supposed to burn. I have to admit that I was rather impressed that he did manage to keep the fire in control, but I’ll never tell HIM that!

Beautiful rain chains

Paige — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 23:43:46 +0000

Over the past couple of years I have been noticing that our gutters and down spouts are deteriorating. I’ve been looking at decorating magazines and seen some articles and photographs of something called rain chains that I think I’d like to consider buying and using when my hubby finally declares that it is time to replace the down spouts.

Nobody that I know has ever told me that they have any experience with chains rain, so I’m a little bit anxious about trying something that nobody else that I know has used. Funny how I depend so much on the experiences of my friends and family!

I’ve fallen in love with the beauty of a copper rain chain that looks like lotus flowers, and I’ve bookmarked the website for future reference. My biggest worry right now about copper rain chains is whether or not some one would be bold enough to come up to the house and steal them just for the melt down value of the copper. Maybe I should consider aluminum instead, but I DO love the warm look of copper!

Old photographs

Paige — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 23:08:27 +0000

After dinner last night my sister brought out a large cardboard box full of pictures taken back in the ’60s. It was so much fun looking at how skinny and awkward we looked back then! Most of the pictures that were taken as group family photos had at least one of the kids pouting. That must have been very frustrating to our parents, trying to get a good group shot and there was always someone throwing a clog in the gears!

Some of the photos were of us kids inside the old log cabin that we used to spend our summers in. One of the things that I loved about that cabin was the feeling that you got when you were inside – it really felt like it was an authentic old log cabin. There were only three rooms – a small galley style kitchen, a small bathroom with a shower (no tub) and a large multi-function room. We used that large room to eat, play, and sleep. It was furnished with rustic log furniture that looked like Adirondack chairs made with whole logs. I was really quite sad when my parents sold that cabin; I loved that place.

Fire pits and old fashioned fun

Paige — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 23:29:17 +0000

Seems as if fire pits are all the rage lately. My sister was telling me that she was looking at some patio fire pits at FirePits.com to get some ideas about decorating her little garden oasis in the back yard.

I think that the fire pits are cute, and when I think of the memories of my own childhood of roasting marshmallows around a camp fire, I think about how cool it would be to have a fire pit to roast marshmallows on again. But then reality hits me and I realize that as awesome as it would look, my “real” family would probably never use it; my “real” family is a bunch of technogeeks that don’t like going outside for any reason at all. I love my family, truly I do, but I sometimes wish that we could have some “old fashioned” family fun together.

Lawn signs

Paige — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 23:38:20 +0000

Driving down to the end of the cul-de-sac I discovered that two of our neighbors had “for sale” lawn signs on their property down by the road. I was surprised to see that the neighbor whose dog attacked our dog was selling her house. I wished that we had enough money to buy the house and let my mother live there – it is a beautiful location, with a beautiful little pond on the property, and it would be nice to have my mother so close by, especially since she is in her golden years.

Threaded inserts

Paige — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 21:13:25 +0000

One of the things that upset me a lot when I was an adolescent in high school was the fact that the girls were not allowed to take shop, they were required to take home economics. And boys were not allowed to take home economics, they were required to take shop. I have always wanted to learn more about tools and what they are used for, and how to use them. I’ve always wanted to know how to build and fix things. I like to think that I’m a reasonably intelligent person, yet when my hubby told me that he needed to buy some special threaded inserts to repair something in his shop I felt really stupid that I had no idea what threaded inserts are, or how they are used. I looked them up online and still don’t quite understand. I think I’m going to have to tell my hubby that I want to see what it is he is working on and how threaded inserts are used.

Loose Change Adds Up

Paige — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 21:00:43 +0000

On a whim I had put a small jar on the counter in the bathroom and I use it to hold my loose change that always seems to collect in my pockets. Since I take my clothes off in the bathroom before my shower at night, I thought that putting the jar right there in the bathroom made the most sense.

Well, it has only been a couple of months since I put the jar in there and it is already full. I took it with me today while running errands, stopped by my bank and asked them to deposit the change into my checking account. Would you believe it came to over $200? That is amazing to think that I have had that much loose change in my pockets these past few months!

Here Comes the Poison Ivy

Paige — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 22:31:50 +0000

Now that it is really Spring, I have to start thinking about yard work and lawn maintenance. I don’t usually run the lawnmower, but I do help plant flowers and bushes around the house. I planted some pansies down by the mailbox, and they are so pretty blooming there by the road. It is a lovely greeting to anyone who pulls into my driveway.

Today I helped rake some leaves and twigs from around the fence. I was surprised to see that there is already signs of poison ivy. I hate that stuff! I have a brother who is highly allergic to poison ivy, so we have always been taught to remove and destroy it on sight.

I remember the first time my father showed my what poison ivy looks like. He showed me a plant in our backyard and said, “Leaves of three – leave them be.” That’s an easy way to remember that the plant has three pointy leaves. But I don’t leave it be – I spray it with plant killer as soon as I spot it and don’t give it a chance to spread.

Hot tub cover

Paige — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 20:54:32 +0000

When I found out that we were going to get a pretty good refund on our income tax this year, I started to day dream about buying a small hot tub or spa to put on our deck that overlooks our back yard. I’d definitely need to buy an insulated hot tub cover as well to keep the leaves, bird droppings and bugs out of the tub, and to keep the heat in to minimize the cost of heating up the water. I wonder if we can get one that is heated by propane instead of electricity. I’d like to find a way to minimize the cost.

New house

Paige — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 13:49:28 +0000

Thanks to Roman May

My daughter and her husband finally saved up enough money to buy a new house. They have been married for three years and had lived in an apartment the whole time. The day they had the closing and got the keys they had to get the electricity turned on in their names. They went online to ShopElectricityRatesTexas.com to find the best deal that they could find. My son-in-law’s father had told him that was a great place to get electricity. Then they went into the house and decided that they wanted to paint everything before they moved in. We all chipped in over a long weekend and knocked that job out pretty quickly. We also cleaned everything from top to bottom because my daughter is pretty much a germaphobe. Then over the next week, we all helped, when we could, get all the furniture moved in. The next part involved making the curtains. My mom is a great seamstress so she was a big help in getting the curtains made for every room. I think my daughter learned a lot about sewing from her. So now the house is mostly complete. I am really hoping now that they will start thinking about having a baby. I can’t wait for that to happen.