Best Of

Harley, so sorry your DH got stung. That's one of my biggest fears—up in the Catskills at a resort I got stung by a wasp when I was 10 (it had camped out overnight in my cabin inside the sleeve of my cardigan, and when I donned the sweater in the morning, at first for about a second I thought it was one of those drycleaning tags that they used to staple into clothing…until yeeeeowch!). My upper arm swelled so badly I had to spend the morning in the pool submerrged up to my shoulders. Ever since then I've been terrified of bees, wasps, hornets & yellowjackets (especially the latter, which will attack unprovoked and don't leave behind a stinger so they can live to attack again). For years I carried an Epi-Pen because I'd been told that the combination of penicillin + ragweed allergies predisposes one to an allergy to hymenoptera venom. Then I was retested and found not to be penicillin-allergic…and that Epi-Pen had long since expired. Glad the Bactine worked—and there's always ice.

Got a lot done today: all the boxes are out of the front room, and found the glass shelves for the small TV stand and three of the six for the tall AV unit. Located 2 of our 3 receivers, 2 amplified indoor antennas, a Blu-Ray player and 2 CD burners, plus a cassette karaoke machine (that one goes free to a good home, heck, any home). Still no luck locating anything else for which I'd been looking. Was able to jettison about a dozen boxes of books, bills and Bob's old grad & med school notes. Also started re-shelving my LPs. The crew yesterday found a large metal-and-Masonite shelving unit, and we (the crew, Carrie via text, and I) debated endlessly about where to set it up, Once assembled, we found it's bigger than anything we remembered having before the fire—I suspect it isn't even ours. Oh, well. finders-keepers. It'll hold all our suitcases. Tomorrow we wade through the rest of the bedroom boxes (only 4 remain) and start culling the 12 boxes in the dining room. Needless to say, we're generating a lot of trash.

But we still can't move until the contractor gets back and we can go over the punch list—and paint the kitchen & baths (and let them dry & cure). That'll likely take us into (sigh) mid-Sept. We have a long timeshare weekend in NYC planned for Bob's birthday weekend mid-October. Hope we've settled in and found cat care by then. We've had to postpone that trip four times since the pandemic began!

Oh, Harley, I wish it were so. Nothing but surgery or opiates would allow me to resume anything close to normal use of my hands. Your hubby's stings must have been quite frightening for both of you. I would enjoy a couple of bee-stings at the base of each of my thumbs. With medical supervision, of course. Which wouldn't happen.

I took a look at Google street view of my childhood home, and the sideyards are all grown over with trees and stuff, which will grow into the basement walls. What happened? Rental property until it is a tear-down. 🤔

Taco - thanks for the doggie pictures. Bella and Mutz fit their names perfectly.

Sandy - hang in there. You are making significant progress given the extent of the fire, repairs, having to replace items and get resettled in your home.

Chris - I’m so sorry to hear you are in pain again. I hope the arnica and other remedies can allow you to resume normal or near normal use of your hands.

Betrayal - I’m exhausted reading about your weeding and mulching but thrilled for you that you have regained the endurance to do so.

In the back corner of our yard the neighbors 20 ft high lilac bush (yes, 20 feet!) hangs over the fence into our yard by about 5-6 feet. DH was thinking to himself that he need to cut those branches back since the neighbor generally does not maintain their yard and house all that well. They are a nice family and have told us that we can cut down any branches hanging into our yard but my feeling is that they should be maintaining their trees just as we do with our landscaping. Their wood fence is falling down into our yard as it is rotting. Due to the cost they are replacing a section at a time and had promised they would replace the section between our yards this summer. It has not happened yet. So I’m a bit frustrated that they are a couple in their 40’s and expect my DH who is turning 70 to cut down the excess lilac bush that is overhanging our yard. It’s not worth starting an argument but it is frustrating.

So anyhow DH was mowing the lawn yesterday and bumps his head on one of the lilac branches. Unbeknownst to us the branch concealed a very large bee or wasp nest. The insects were not happy at being disturbed. DH was running for his life and was stung 2-3 times but said the stingers were not stuck in his skin. He sprayed bactine on the stings and it seemed to help. Fortunately he did not have an allergic reaction. I’m always a bit paranoid about that since my cousin’s husband died of an allergic reaction to a bee sting.

Wishing all a good Sunday!

Oh Harley - so sorry to hear about the bee/wasp stings that got your DH. I too have neighbors who don't maintain their side of the property line, but they now have 12 dogs so no way I can address it. (or have my son fix the fence when he comes to town). The same neighbor has a HUGE oak in front that he planted right on the water meter. I have paid to have my side trimmed several times since he doesn't believe in maintenance. But not sure what will happen when the roots break the pipes.