Thursday, August 17, 2006

Arizona Living


Laundry .....

Have you ever had the experience of a washing machine that just keeps on agitating in one direction? The jeans and long sleeves of shirts just keep on winding and winding and winding around the agitator. Eventually, when the clothes get wound incredibly tight, it makes the most amazing sounds! Jari thinks that we haven't replaced our washing machine since we moved in here. Assuming he is correct ... the one that went out the door before this one came in has washed approximately 12,168 loads of laundry. If that is the case, and our memories just aren't gone, I highly recommend Whirlpool!



On the very bright side ... note the new growth on this vine. Last time I bragged about my not killing a plant ... it promptly died. My sprinkler system seems to be doing the trick. A bit jimmy rigged, but I must have learned that well somewhere along the line!

I do need to know if there is someway to revive a rose bush. It keeps getting water, has no growth on it and looks very deceased. Do you think it's hopeless?




Now this little combo is ingenuity. What a city kid has to do for entertainment.

1) Fishing pole with line sits inside the arcadia door,
2) Line is attached to door of dog crate turned pigeon cage out in the yard
3) Delicious entrees are placed in crate to entice creatures
4) While unsuspecting pigeon dines, SLAM! goes the door!
So far, the other pigeons in the neighborhood aren't getting the idea that they aren't welcome here. Must get creative with a new system!



You all in the northern climates will think we are absolutely nuts, but the pool is coming down. The temp outside has cooled off to a balmy 96 degrees and we just aren't hanging out in the pool anymore. May have something to do with the fact that it looked like an algae experiment, but we'll not go there!



Brock started Arizona Virtual Academy this past Monday. These piles of books and boxes, along with the computer in his room, are our learning materials. Oh my goodness! Must say that the "teacher" lost it on Wednesday, she had a good old fashioned meltdown. The student keeps plugging along. The "teacher" likes to be a bit organized and wants everything going smoothly within the first 3 days. Talk about unrealistic! It is going to be a lot of fun ... and sometimes incredibly challenging!

That's the life over here ... tomorrow we go to play for the weekend. Will post when we get back. You all have a wonderful weekend!

8 comments:

Kuoppala and Inlaws said...

How do you come up with the number of loads of laundr washed in a washing machine? What an advertisement for the company. You cold send them a letter and they could pay for the new machine as part of an advertisement.
What is the vine on the wall?
OK, you have peeked myinterest. Why the catching of the pigeons?
Do you have the whole program already for the year for Brock? Is he liking home school?
Have fun playing over the weekend. I just made plans with Lorrie and Liz that we are going to bike from Giant's Ridge to somewhere. I can't remember. It is supposed to be cool out this weekend so will be perfect.
Heather

Kuoppala and Inlaws said...

Always get a good chuckle reading your posts:)
I should try doing some vines along our back fence...do they grow good along brick? But then, they would probably curl over, and the neighbors probably wouldn't like that!
I can't believe you took down your pool! I thought the girls were swimming all the time! I went for a walk on Tuesday night, and when I got home, I jumped in the pool and it was actually kind of chilly! It felt good after walking tho! We haven't been swimming during the day in at least a week! I wish we could take our pool 'down' during the winter, and have more of a yard!
Jenny

Kuoppala and Inlaws said...

Let me explain "cutting wings". We have had birds off and on for years, and I don't mean the pigeon variety. So as a result, the kids know how to clip wings to prevent flight. We have this "dipstick" who roams the backyard and hides under the shed. Am hoping that he will not be stupid enough to get back into the cage before the wings grow and he can fly. Why pigeons? They come to eat dog food and are nasty creatures. The other things I'd prefer to do to them are probably illegal.

Average loads of laundry per day (3) x (6) days per week x (52) weeks per year x (13) years. Probably has washed more loads than that. There are days when I could swear I washed 4 loads of perfectly clean clothes off the girls' bedroom floors.

Brock's program comes complete from the online school. Let's hope we don't get kicked out before we get this figured out. Thank goodness the others start school next week and perhaps we'll have more uninterrupted time to concentrate. One can always hope!

I can't believe we took down the pool either. However, I can't figure out the chlorine thing. I have the shock down. Cut open bag and pour. Just doesn't do the trick without the rest of the stuff. I give up!! Another bonus to taking the pool down is that the backyard is now free for leveling. YEAHHHH!!!! Here goes the meager grass/weeds ... then more planting and hopefully a yard that looks like a residential neighborhood backyard!

Jenny, you should plant some vine along the fence. It would crawl like crazy. The one I have is Cat's Claw. The Bougainvilla is actually growing as well. Jasmine did not survive. Potato vine is suppose to like the sun as well. There is a gorgeous one that blooms purple that I want to put somewhere. Heather, I want the entire back fence covered with growing vine. That is 180 feet of fence including gates. I need to buy stock in Miracle Grow!

Boat is packed, coolers are even out there with ice/food. Let's hope there is ice by morning. Have to be up at 5:30, at the hospital by 7 to finish a tee shirt order (why do I do these things??), get the tee order faxed in and we're out of here! Let's hope Brock is completing assessments that he didn't get done today. It's only 11:40 p.m. We sort of crashed today.

Will post later about our allergy treatments today. Alyx & I both went and felt like drained, wrung out dishrags when we were done. She still isn't feeling too good. I finally woke up at about 10:30 tonite.

Gotta boogie! Anita

Kuoppala and Inlaws said...

I foregot in my earlier comment....I have to argue with anita when she says..."it has cooled of to a balmy 96"! Yeah, it has been down to the upper 90's but let me tell you folks, it is NOT time to be pulling out the sweatshirts!! Don't let her fool you:) It is still mighty warm out there!
Jenny

Kuoppala and Inlaws said...

How about planting Clematis? I put clematis and morning glory this year and it has "crawled" all over my arbor and has actually attached itself to the tree behind it. I'm sure that clematis grows in AZ. On the internet, I found a clematis growers association and it had a lot of pictures from the south. There are many different colors, but I've only seen purple and pink. They are beautiful flowers.
Heather

Kuoppala and Inlaws said...

I should see about the clematis, they would be pretty along my back fence. When do they bloom?
Jenny

Kuoppala and Inlaws said...

We were in Pembina, North Dakota.
Joy is going to homeschool their
son this year. He just went to
confo this year at Stony. They
said the teachers don't really
care anymore. The two girls are
in college, one just entering and
the other in her 4th year, if I
remember correctly, in biology
and pre-med. I'm so glad we
are beyond the school years. dk

Kuoppala and Inlaws said...

Jenny: I planted the clematis early this summer and it has crawled fast and bloomed pretty quickly. They continue to bloom. I'm not sure what they would do down there.
Heather