Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Tree Cutting and Blog Comments

I mentioned that we cut down a large box elder tree that was hanging over the old tennis court.  We have the large part cut up into small chunks and several huge piles of small branches.  Our problem is that because it is inside the fenced in tennis court, we need to haul out the pieces in a small cart and then pull them uphill and into the front side yard where we have a humongous pile of cut wood.

Needless to say, this has been slow going.  But it does look a lot better.  R still needs to trim down the stump but right now there is snow on the ground and he needs to stand on the side of a slope to cut off the stump so we may wait until warmer drier weather to do that.


I was shocked to find out that I had oodles of comments that I was unaware of and went unpublished. There must be a problem because I am suppose to get a notification so I can publish the comment.  I think I will unable the comment moderation and keep my fingers crossed that the spammers do not come back.  In the mean time I published all the comments but I noticed that some did not generate an email notification.  I know that those who use google+ have their comments automatically posted so that might be an option for those who's comments are not coming through.

In the mean time, I am sorry if it looked like I was ignoring your comments because I always enjoy hearing from readers.  Marti.....I am really having a problem with your comments.  I published them but did not get a notification of publish so I cannot check to see if they actually published because I forgot which posts were the ones that you commented on.

In other news....I'll take a photo of the new dryer vent and let you guys know whether we love it or not. Doesn't that sound interesting?????  I also need to up date the solar lights that we installed on our eave troughs.

Sunday, January 11, 2015

Here's to a great 2015

I had such high hopes when it came to getting things done this winter.  The end of 2014 was a busy one as we were able to cut down a large box elder tree and nearly get it cubed and put into the 'give away' wood pile. But I'm still optimistic that 2015 will be the year that The Gear shows a lot of change.

December was a busy month.  We got a lot done and even started a large project outside but that came to a screeching halt.   As we were cutting up wood, from the large box elder, on December 29th it started getting colder and colder.  You could actually feel the temperature drop and drop and drop. The wood is now covered in snow and ice and the air is so cold my camera would not come on when I went to take a photo.  I took that as a sign to go inside and warm up.  But we are still happy with what we were able to get done.  Not only was it a big money saver (at least $750 bucks stays in our pocket) AND a long time eye sore is gone in our back yard.

R has been busy helping his doctor buy a pick up truck with a plow and I've been busy fighting off a sinus infection and possibly the flu.  I've had a flu shot but I'm feeling very puny like the start of the flu.  So I've been sleeping a lot while I wait for the warm up which is suppose to come on Sunday.

We, and of course the rest of Michigan, spent last Sunday having our heart broken yet again.  So many bad calls.  It makes my head hurt just thinking about it.  I'll be cheering on Green Bay and acting like a born and breed cheese head this Sunday.

I've also ordered several cut out wood pieces to update my wreath for Valentine's Day.  My plan is to leave the wreath up until after St. Patrick's Day but just make small changes throughout the winter. So far the snowflake looks great with the white trim on the house and the dusting of snow on the ground.

By this time last year, our mail box had already been knocked off the post at least once.   By the end of winter it was in pieces and had flown down the street three times thanks to the snow plow.  Fingers crossed that it stays attached to the post this winter.

Hope you have a great 2015!