Mike Time! And an Itty Update. A Tip. And Some Stuff.

So far so good on that steel weld epoxy, my friends!  Took the clamps off the chair and nothing went sproing!  Everything seems to be holding peachy keen fine and dandy so I'll locate some non-wallet-busting foam, make cushions, and keep on keepin' on with the fingers crossed that this stuff holds!

With that good news (tentative still of course due to non-chair-usage), I'll bring the last chair down and goop it up.  Next spring though I think as the weather is starting to turn on us.  Sniffle.  Which means I should really put the other two chairs back into the garage instead to stave off snow related rust.  Eh, likely may not happen though, heh.  Good to have goals!

So Mike got all handy on me while I've been away!  Crazy I know, right?  Non-handy guy gets handy!  Fun!

He's so cute about it too -- he's very proud a. for getting handy, b. of his accomplishments, c. for acting on something around the house.  He gets all smiley and beamy.  As he should!  If only I could have persuaded him to guest post this, heheheheh, that would have been entertaining!  Maybe next time....

First up, clean the front window.

It's been making us nuts for oh, uh, um, over two years now.  Yes it's a wee sad (a lot sad and pathetic) that it took us this long to clean the exterior of it.  I couldn't reach it with our mere five foot ladder nor would Mike ever allow me to precariously tippy toe balance on it so he whipped out the new ladder.

Again, I'm not sold on this ladder (for use solo) as it's a smidge unruly to manipulate (again solo) and a tad heavier than I was hoping.  Ah well.  Mike worked it out.  Of course.  Roar!

So there was loads o' tree sap smattered all over the window and it just would not.come.off.  An interweb search on various techniques and cleaner type things revealed many an assorted option.  Not a single cleaner type suggestion worked.  Not WD-40, not Goo Gone or whatever, not rubbing alcohol nor dish detergent.  Nada.

Until!  Until the acetone option popped up.

And bingo!  Acetone.  So if you need to clean tree sap off your window exteriors, use acetone on a paper towel.  Works like a charm, like a dream, got that sap zip zip right off.  You will need to clean the cloudy schmears off post sap removal, but hey, easy peasy lemon squeezy with window cleaner.

We're very much enjoying our new sparkly crystal clear colorful view!  Mike is watching that window like a hawk now and is deflated whenever anything even grazes it.

Hard to tell how sparkly clean it is though I guess.  Decision made:  macrame-ish plants are coming down, moving.  Too visually chaotic.

Next up:  creativity with edging around the plants.

First he messages me this picture.  Mysteriously.  With no text.

No description, no words, no nothin'.  Uh oh.  Panic!!  Omg.

I became um, rather nervous, worried he was going to lop his hand off or something, not a clue what he was up to with that leftover pallet wood next to the miter saw.

He does this on purpose I think, riles me up, makes me worry, gets me anxiously ansty.  I'm clearly easy prey, a reliable source of continuous amusement to him once jostled.

Surprise, it worked because I texted him several times after asking what was he doing, tick tick tick are you ok, tick tick tick are your limbs attached??  To no avail of course, radio silence.  tick tick tick  "Are all your appendages still intact?!?!  Helloooo?!?!"

About an hour later I get this photo.

Which, wheeeewwwwwwwwwww!  Ok thank goodness.  I can breathe again.  Oh and hey, clever idea!

We had done something near exact to this a few abodes ago and while it may not last forever, it's a much better look than many edgings available for purchase.  Especially since anything outdoor landscaping related is no longer available in our area.  Boo!  We liked the wood then and so we get to like it now too.  Yay!

Plus, hey, free!

Although, I did just discover that the Chicago location of Habitat ReStore moved to larger facility and had a slew of garden-yard-landscaping-outdoor related items on major sale last week.  Yeah, no.  No.  I'm not totally squirrelly-in-my-seat anxious to get there at all.  Nooooooooo.  I'm hoping to find one of those trough type plastic planters so as to make our outdoor dining table top.

Anywhoooo, my sweetheart, he did a stellar job and it looks a trillion times nicer than the raggedy pathetic edge of grass/weeds into dirt.

Mike's final messaged photo.  At least one area of the yard has come together!

Thanks to my baby for doing a couple things around the house!  He's pretty awesome, isn't he?

Now if only he had started ripping out the tile in the first floor bath as he casually suggested (more like joked about) doing.  Thaaaaat's ok, I'm thrilled that he was so helpful on these two things.

He did inadvertently yank out the pull on our floor lamp the other night though, so I gotta fix that.  We're using a different lamp (holy crap does the room look super opposite of the listing photo now!) in the meantime which he has professed to preferring.  Problem for me is due to its location, it reflects and glares on the television screen.

Pooooint being, this resulted in another Mike drawn napkin sketch, suggesting I find a way to light around/inside the holes in the wall I created.  Interesting concept.  I'll give that some thought.

Oh hey, by the way, Jenny over at Evolution of Style shared our hiding television cables post!  Super neat, right?  Thanks Jenny!  Very flattered!

So my time is coming to a wrap on the pilot.  Only one day left for me.  How time flies, huh?!  It'll back at Full On List Attack Mode here shortly.

What's first?  Huh huh huh, what's first?!  Oh my gosh, I dunno!  I'll be like a wild eyed kid gawking at all my lists!  Stay tuned!