I think it was Robert Frost that spake: Something there is that doesn’t love your irrigation hose going over the wall and water some of the trees on the mountain.

The first time we found a gusher of a leak because something had apparently chewed through the hose in one place and most of the water headed for Cirtus Hill was actually just running down to the mountain drain.

I went to the depot and got supplies to patch that and all was well with the world. But then two weeks later Mariel said something about “I think there’s a leak again”. This time the house was decimated… literally. And torn asunder with malice. First thought would be that something was pulling it apart to get water, right? But it’s at the top of the hill, so as soon as you start pumping to it the water should fall. AND after the first three tears the animal(s) made in the hose the water would be gone too. So, I yielded and pulled the hose from that side. Let the drought take what it will from over the wall.

Winter is coming.

The good thing about sourcing the cheapest of parts so that you can monitor the soil moisture of your yard and gardens is that they are cheap!

The bad part is that every other one you buy might need to be cracked open so that you can re-solder a bad joint before it works. And that’s going to take at least a week to find the iron, and another week to find the solder.

If time is money then I am WAY over budget.

The cat box will forever be a project in need of improvement.

Here is an update.

“Honey, do you remember when we talked about taking down that section of the pergola and we were unsure if we should do it? Well I /was/ sure and you were unsure. Turns out it was more dangerous than I thought to take it down.”

Being able to predict a thing doesn’t mean you’re smart. I predicted that the gaps in the tile and stucco would be a great place for spiders.

I got myself some of that sticky foam glue stuff and proceeded to fill the gaps. It was messy and dumb and I took off one of my gloves to hold the paper towel to contain the overflow.

But, then the spiders ran out of room, there was a jail break while I was spraying super sticky foam everywhere. About 8 fifty cent piece sized spiders jumped on me, and I freaked out. If I hadn’t had safety goggles on, I’m certain I would have glued my eye balls.

Instead I just mucked up an already sloppy job.

It cleaned up okay, and I’ll sand and paint it when I’ve recovered from the trauma

Tatum helped test out the anchor if the shelves in the garage. It passed.

I’m not the only one making home improvements; I’m the only one that doesn’t have the Facebook.

Here’s an impressive Mariel improvement.