Better Mail Delivery

I don't have even a vague idea of how long I had this mailbox. It was a silver steel construction made in Youngstown, Ohio.

I sprayed it black and hand drew the Iowa tiger hawk on the side, as well as hand printed the last name on the bottom.

The front door rusted off some 5 years ago. The bottom front wasn't connected to the body anymore. The flag wouldn't stand upright for those few times when I put outgoing mail in it. But it was on that post almost like the whole things was a unit. My attempts to loosen the bolts met with frustration. Mail got wet. In the winter, a driving snow would cause a mini-drift to accumulate in the open front. Yes, spiders loved living in the back, but I think that's sort of a hazard even if the box had a front door.

When my landscaper, Jeremy, asked if there were things I wanted to have done around the house, one of the things I mentioned was the installation of a new mailbox. "I can do that, easy," he said. So, I trotted over to Ace Hardware, after looking online for mailboxes. I wear my Hawkeyes "on my sleeve", so to speak. I wanted to replace like with like. Custom mailboxes were upwards of $200. I don't need that. If I can get a basic mailbox, I can do the customizing.

Viola.

I could get this in steel, silver or black finish. Twenty dollars. It's the exact same size as the rusted one.

This was exciting. I would have a mailbox with a door, once again. Side note: The box was the purrfect size.

She couldn't turn around, once she got inside, but I did find her sitting in it, having backed into the box. I thought cats did not like backing up because they can't see where they are going. I tossed the box after 24 hours because I knew it wouldn't see a lot of use.

The next thing was to decorate it. I already knew how I would do the name. You can buy stick on letters at hardware stores. For some reason, Ace was out of "e's" and "n's". So I headed to Michaels Craft store. They didn't have all the letters for my last name either. But Jeremy called and said he would have to postpone putting up the box for a couple weeks and, in the interim, the missing letters came in. They are peel off the backing and stick.

Next was the Iowa logo. I thought about hand painting the tiger hawk again. I could actually make a stencil and outline the area to be painted so it would come out looking less hand and more painted. Then I remembered the decal I bought for my work office. The large oval tiger hawk, which is on the wall in my office, came with two, much smaller, decals.

They would be perfect.

These were the last decals on the sheet. I had considered giving them to a family member but kept forgetting to do that.

Once everything was stuck to the mailbox, I could cut up the box the decal sheet came in and recycle it and the sheet. When the time comes that I leave my current place of employment, I'll roll up the big tiger hawk and take it with me, but, as that is some years ahead, I do not need to save all the packing pieces. They just get in the way. I should have moved the logo back toward the rear of the box and not right by the flag. The second I stuck it to the box, I knew it wasn't moving so had to put the last name a bit farther forward than I would have liked and it's at a slight angle downward. It's out front so I don't see it every day or it would bother me. I go around straightening pictures in my house because their being cockeyed bothers me.

Two weeks after I did this, Jeremy came by with his fancy tools and spent a good two hours removing the old and installing the new.

He wound up getting brand new bolts because the other ones, once he freed them from the mailbox, snapped in half. They rusted between the head and the body of the bolt.

By the end of September, I had a brand spankin' new mailbox. It's been wonderful. It has a working door! My mail doesn't get wet unless it's put in the box wet. Small packages and parcels stay dry. The flag works, although I tend to take outgoing mail to the office or drop it off at one of the two post offices I pass by on my way to and from the office.

It's the little things which make one's quality of life better. I don't even think about this anymore, when it was a constant source of irritation when it was the old box. I noticed the top edges on the logo are peeling up after a winter, but I know that decal isn't coming off without a fight. If it does, I'll just order a new one. Then I can move it to that empty black space at the rear of the box. And, because I know she'll say something, "No April. This would not look good in gray and burgundy. Sigh."

Beverage:  Dr Pepper

Deb

Slow Transformation

It was mid May of last year. I was dreading the thought of mowing the lawn so I hadn't done it. It wasn't that long, but it was getting there. I was online, playing World of Warcraft with friends, and there was a knock on the front door. Answering it, here stood a young man offering to do yard work. He gave me a good price and said he could mow the lawn in the next 2 hours and he would pick up tree branches and haul them away. Given that I was a bit achy from my RA, sure. After mowing the lawn, he wanted to know if I wanted him to do it every week. Well, every week, particularly in the summer, is a bit much. I had issues with the last lawn service I hired billing me for work I don't think they ever did. His price was good, plus, he trimmed around things and hauled away fallen branches.

Over the course of the past summer, Jeremy has been my landscaper. We've looked at what was overgrown and decided what needed to be handled and what I could afford.

He understands how important those milkweed plants are so he carefully trims around them and we let some sections get scruffy if the milkweed is too close to be trimmed without losing one.

One of the places he made a difference last year, was in the front.

There used to be planting beds on either side of the walk. The arbor used to stand upright. Both of those things had been lost over the course of several years.

The white cap is the clean out for the sewer line from the house to the street. Jeremy removed all the sod from here and reawakened the beds.

He dug up and replanted the arbor so it stands upright. I should get a new one, but that's way low on the list of things to buy for the yard.

There was a volunteer tree in the north bed and he dug that up. Found the few bits of statuary I had on either side.

The warning sign and the squirrel were not in the best shape and had to be discarded. The rabbit is concrete and just needed to be washed off to go back in the bed.

I didn't get things planted right away, so some weeds grew back, but there were a few flowers on both sides last year.

It can be tough to get down on the ground and weed, but it's good for the soul.

This year, I'm putting seeds in the beds. There will be sunflowers and coreopsis. I'll still fill in with a few plants, but the sunflowers I grew last year did so well, they deserve to be seen from the street. Also on the docket, will be a rehabbing of the prairie plant bed.

I want to enlarge this and add more plants. The milkweed do well, but I haven't had daisies or black-eyed susans for many years. I also want to move it about a foot away from the drive. I have a tendency, when I back in, to run over the 6 inches closest to the drive. The plants which are in the bed, purple coneflower, will simply be dug up and moved. With someone to do the initial digging, I can do the planting. Enjoying your space. That's what this is all about.

Beverage:  Hot Cocoa

Deb

Hello There

During the summer, I tried to keep this bird feeder filled. But I got busy and couldn't find the seed I'd purchased and stored away where it wasn't in the way. My bad memory. I hid it too well, at least from myself. When I found it in early December, it was three-quarters gone; gone to mice which I was sure I'd eradicated and prohibited from getting into the house. One bag had been completely emptied and the other bag was half full. I dumped it on top of the stump where I put the squirrel blocks.

There was an after-Christmas sale at Ace Hardware so I bought another bag to attempt a refill. There was reasonably nice weather right after Christmas so I didn't need a lot of heavy clothing to refill the feeder. It took 3 days for the vermin to figure out it was filled.

Now the reason the windows are foggy is because the guy who does my lawn is also studying to be an HVAC technician as well as lawn maintenance and landscaping. He offered to clean the furnace because it's something he's studying. He noticed the humidifier part; which was why I bought the furnace in the first place; wasn't working. No, it hasn't but the quote to fix it was hundreds of dollars and I was kind of okay without it. He had his instructor come look and diagnose the problem. Then, he bought the part and fixed the furnace for minimal mark-up. He's going to use me as a reference, which I'm happy to provide because this guy is great.

The humidifier part works great, but points out just how bad my ancient windows are. At the time of this photo, I hadn't covered this window with an insulator kit. Still, this provided the kitten with amusement.

The squirrels haven't completely cleaned out the seed, but I don't think they like all of it. The birds haven't discovered this and you can see one of the suction cups on the right side came loose. I will be filling this again. I fully expect to come home some time this winter and find the thing on the ground. I have another suction cup feeder which just doesn't survive squirrels landing on it. I need to get a step ladder so I can put it where I think they won't get to it; where it's visible to the cats; and where it's not a chore to fill.

Squirrel TV is the best.

Beverage:  Assam

Deb