back in the saddle- life at home
Well, time has ticked off, and I am back from a summer spent in San Diego. I have rehabed a duplex including installing new oak floors and applying the finish myself. I also had to redo the plaster on the walls because we repaired the foundation. Now I am working on our deck. I am repairing the old tired (30 years old) cedar deck. I am now using Ipe and Teak. This new decking should last for many years. I am also reworking our broken concrete rubble wall. What a fiasco. We have to remove the old concrete.
It was so much easier 30 years ago to build the wall from the broken concrete of our single car garage floor than to now get rid of the same material. Now I need men to carry the pieces to a wheel barrow; haul that to a dumpster and then pay to have it recycled at concrete recycler.
I am excited to rebuild our walkway down the west side of our home. The walkway will have a roof over it this time to protect it from the weather and help the wold endure the rain and sun. I have done sketches of it in a style that compliments our craftsman style home. I will be facing the footings for the posts with river rock and hope the final product comes out the way my "mind's eye" sees it.
As soon as the deck is finished I can get the studio in that I have tried to finish for two years! More on that later.
Our new dog, Rusty, as Tibetan Terrier, gives us a lot of joy. He is rough on the edges, as any rescued dog might be, but he has a good heart. His hair is beginning to grow out and he is better about his house-manners, though I would not trust him after a meal to let me know he wants out. He still needs work on signaling his desire to go outside to do his business. I need further study on this to figure out how to work this out. We are currently on a schedule with him and reward him with liver or cheese when he relieves himself on commant. It is our hope to get him to "go" on command and then to ask to go out when commanded. We are a ways off from that right now.
Pam will be down to care for our mother this coming week. She is such a god-sent. Her willingness to care for our mother and her skills to do so are so appreciated by me and Jim. She has training in caregiving and is very good with mom. After only a month back home she is returning for another go. It is hard to see your parents get old. Several of our friends have had to deal with aging parents. There is so much to the issue. Their health. Their financail where-with-all. Their marital status. Their family size. And many other things. As we face these issues with our mom I hope that we make the right choices for her and us. It is hard to make decisions that affect someone's quality of life. Driving a car/or not. Walking/or not. Drugs. Social outings, etc. As an aging population what we are facing is what most of the nation will face sooner than later. I'm not sure I'm ready to make decisions, but we must at the very least study the choices and ask the tough questions.
It was so much easier 30 years ago to build the wall from the broken concrete of our single car garage floor than to now get rid of the same material. Now I need men to carry the pieces to a wheel barrow; haul that to a dumpster and then pay to have it recycled at concrete recycler.
I am excited to rebuild our walkway down the west side of our home. The walkway will have a roof over it this time to protect it from the weather and help the wold endure the rain and sun. I have done sketches of it in a style that compliments our craftsman style home. I will be facing the footings for the posts with river rock and hope the final product comes out the way my "mind's eye" sees it.
As soon as the deck is finished I can get the studio in that I have tried to finish for two years! More on that later.
Our new dog, Rusty, as Tibetan Terrier, gives us a lot of joy. He is rough on the edges, as any rescued dog might be, but he has a good heart. His hair is beginning to grow out and he is better about his house-manners, though I would not trust him after a meal to let me know he wants out. He still needs work on signaling his desire to go outside to do his business. I need further study on this to figure out how to work this out. We are currently on a schedule with him and reward him with liver or cheese when he relieves himself on commant. It is our hope to get him to "go" on command and then to ask to go out when commanded. We are a ways off from that right now.
Pam will be down to care for our mother this coming week. She is such a god-sent. Her willingness to care for our mother and her skills to do so are so appreciated by me and Jim. She has training in caregiving and is very good with mom. After only a month back home she is returning for another go. It is hard to see your parents get old. Several of our friends have had to deal with aging parents. There is so much to the issue. Their health. Their financail where-with-all. Their marital status. Their family size. And many other things. As we face these issues with our mom I hope that we make the right choices for her and us. It is hard to make decisions that affect someone's quality of life. Driving a car/or not. Walking/or not. Drugs. Social outings, etc. As an aging population what we are facing is what most of the nation will face sooner than later. I'm not sure I'm ready to make decisions, but we must at the very least study the choices and ask the tough questions.
posted by KaCe | 1:55 AM
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