cleaning and yard work

For the last several days, my hubby and I have been working on the yard. Mowing, burning dead fall and clearing trash that Barkley has made out of once useful items. We haven't done this, to this extent, in at least two years and believe you me, it should not be put off that long. When it is, it makes for very long, hard, hot work. Especially in the summer, which is when you do this sort of thing. There is still a lot I'd like to do out there, but we had to stop. For one thing, we had worked harder than either of us was used to, for so long that neither of us could think straight any longer. For another, we still had the inside to take care of because our son and his family are coming for a visit. I sure wish I had started all of this a month ago and worked half as hard. Oh wait a minute. I did start all of this a month ago. I just didn't keep working at it. Crap. When will I ever learn?







In the middle of all of this, our hot water heater finally died. I found this out when I was trying to take a shower that I was in extreme need of. The water was very cold and I was very hot and sweaty. Thankfully I had rested for a while and cooled down quite a bit, compared to what I had been, so I didn't pass out in the shower, but it was a very quick shower indeed. If you want to truly conserve water, shower cold! You won't stay in long at all! I know where my pertinent parts are and I washed them and got the heck out of there! I had chill bumps when I did, but I was much cleaner than when I went in.







Now I'm waiting for the plumber to come and install the new water heater. While I'm waiting, I'm trying to clean downstairs some. I'd like for us to have a place to sit and talk and even eat. What a novel idea! At the moment, that isn't possible. I am not kidding, but I will not post photos of it. Hearing about it is one thing, seeing it is something altogether different. And at the moment it's even worse than it was this morning since half of the stuff that was in the bathroom is in the kitchen. We had to clean off and take down the shelf that goes over the water heater. I just hope they make it here today.





Later: I wrote most of this earlier today. The water heater did get installed! Hurray! The bathroom is back to normal and the living room and kitchen are in better shape than they were, but no where near finished. Once you get to that totally worn out state for several days in a row, it doesn't take long to get there again each day. Who knows, I may actually get into better shape if I keep at this. The kids will be here tomorrow. Don't know how much more I'll get done before they arrive.





The top picture is of the old water heater. The bottom one is of the new one with the shelf back and everything back in.