chores

This morning's yard work

Dead Branches

Pruning the big bushes in the back yard is proving to be quite a project, The pile of dead branches pictured above is the result of what I accomplished this morning. Sorry about not having a readily identifiable object in the photo so you'd have an idea of the size, but I estimate the pile as roughly five feet high on average, five feet deep, and maybe fifteen or twenty feet long.

Wore me out doing that, let me tell you. Tomorrow's chore will be cutting the branches into smaller sizes and loading as much as possible into the green organics bin for the city to haul away on Thursday.

Then I'll begin pruning away the rest of the dead branches so the new growth can come up better. The picture below shows some of what I'm talking about. The green you can see is the new growth and it's really coming up fast now. With the rain we're predicted to have tonight and again tomorrow night, then the hot, sunny weekend, I'll have to hurry and get the dead wood cut and out of the way while I can still get to it.

More Branches

And the adventure continues.

Posted 27/Apr/2021 ~ 15:45 Central Time #blog #chores #YardWork

by Roscoe

Signs of Life

While policing the yard this morning I noticed signs of life in that conglomeration of big bushes by the back fence. Though the big branches which have been getting bigger every year are mostly all dead, new leafy branches have sprouted up from the roots. My task now will be careful pruning: getting rid of the big dead stuff as quickly as I can so the new growth can flourish.

Posted 25/Apr/2021 ~ 09:20 Central Time #blog #QuickNote #chores

by Roscoe

Saturday Chore

This morning and, perhaps, into the early afternoon I'll be out in the backyard with weed-eater and lawnmower trying to make things look a bit more civilized back there.

Posted 24/Apr/2021 ~ 08:45 Central Time #blog #QuickNote #chores

by Roscoe

They're Dead! So Dead!

Dead Bushes

And they have got to go!

Casualties of the heavy Week of Winter we had in Texas, these monster bushes in my back yard have never recovered. The row of bushes is now nearly twenty feet long and stands maybe five or six feet tall at its highest point.

When green and healthy in previous years the bushes presented a formidable wall of green that stood nearly ten feet tall. But... those days are gone now.

My plans are to cut them down and chop them up and load them into the green organics bin for the city to haul away weekly. I fully expect this particular chore to last for many weeks. Months probably.

And the adventure continues.

Posted 23/Mar/2021 ~ 19:00 Central Time #RoscoeEllis #blog #SeniorLiving #chores

by Roscoe

After a surprisingly productive early Thursday...

... this late afternoon finds me relaxed and mapping out my major project for the next few months: cleaning off the back porch and cleaning out the garage, throwing away as much trash as I can get away with. Tomorrow and Saturday should allow me time to make a good head start on that chore, weather and general health permitting, of course.

The plan is to get rid of the stuff cheaply and legally, bagged in the appropriate large kitchen trash bags and placed in my brown trash bin for weekly scheduled pick up. It will take some time (months, for sure) doing it that way. But I'll avoid the legal hassles of tossing it all into some dumpster, (businesses pay for those, you know, and anyone caught using them illegally can get into a heap of trouble!), and I'll avoid the expense of hiring someone to haul it all away.

Since the pandemic has shutdown any chances of making the international move I'd planned until late 2021 or 2022 at the earliest, I've got plenty of time to dispose of all that junk bag by bag, week after week.

And the adventure continues.

Published on 24 September 2020, ~16:15 CDT, this is my post number 71/100/365 of the https://100daystooffload.com blogging challenge.

#100DaysToOffload #blog #RoscoeEllis #chores #cleaning

by Roscoe

Moving through my Monday chores

Meds

They say that holding to a regular schedule is important if one wants to have a successful retirement, and if one wants to maintain good mental health during the pandemic lockdown. Fortunately for me, scheduling and prioritizing my chores and activities has been a time management habit of mine for decades.

Mondays now always include at least two particular chores: 1.) doing my laundry, (two loads are moving through the machines now and there will be a third); and 2.) filling my morning and evening pill boxes with the medicines, vitamins, and food supplements I take daily. Pill boxes and bottles pertaining to that 2nd chore are pictured above.

And so it goes.

Published on 15 June 2020, this is my post number 32/100/365 of the https://100daystooffload.com blogging challenge.

#100DaysToOffload #SeniorLiving #timemanagement #chores #blogging

by Roscoe

A quiet Friday in the Roscoe-verse (100 Days... my day7)

01 May 2020 ~ 16:20

Very little new in the Roscoe-verse to report today, which doesn't disappoint me to say.

The yardman came and did his usual efficient job. He arrived promptly, did his work quickly and as quietly as possible and was happy to leave with fifty dollars. I consider that money well spent.

Does changing the calendar pages in my paper planner from April to May count as a chore? I may need it to make my daily allotment of three chores completed.

The server-based correspondence chess games went well today. I'm only a few moves away from checkmating an opponent in one of them. With my Queen, Knight, Bishop and a Rook all bearing down on his King, it's only a matter of time. Heh.

So... no complaints from this old boy.

And the adventure continues.

I am participating in a blogging challenge called #100DaysToOffload. This is my day 7/100. Check out https://100daystooffload.com for more info.

#SeniorLiving #chores #chess

by Roscoe

Three simple chores, but... (my day 6 of the 100 Days...)

30 April 2020 ~ 11:30

simple chores

... they are, nonetheless, chores I've assigned myself to accomplish today. And after I've completed all three I'll be able to relax this evening with a certain sense of satisfaction.

For most of my life I've relied upon daily task lists to organize my activities: professional, recreational, and personal. And I use 3x5 cards and more traditional bound paper planners. Pictured above is a snippet of today's 3x5 card.

Basic everyday activities seldom make it onto these lists, some have lists of their own kept in other places (daily prayers and Bible reading, chess games, etc.) and others I just do as a matter of course.

Now it's time for me to get busy. I may be retired, but I do have chores to attend to.

The adventure continues.

I am participating in a blogging challenge called #100DaysToOffload. This is my day 6/100. Check out https://100daystooffload.com for more info.

#SeniorLiving #chores

by Roscoe

One Happy Humpday (100 Days To Offload – day 5)

28 April 2020 ~ 15:00

As the afternoon wears down toward evening I'm happy to note that the daily tasks I'd set for myself this morning have been accomplished. Granted, there weren't that many, but still.

Earlier this afternoon I jumped online and deleted an expiring credit card from two shopping/delivery services I use, and added a new card. And I entered moves in all my ongoing correspondence chess games.

And just a few minutes ago Amazon delivered a package I've been expecting. The package contained an old-fashioned safety razor and a supply of double-edged stainless steel blades. This is the kind of razor I learned to shave with as a boy over half a century ago. It will be good to start using it.

Just a few small tasks, yes. But I can mark them as completed on my daily task list and move into the evening with a sense of satisfaction, knowing that this day has not been totally wasted. And the adventure continues.

I am participating in a blogging challenge called #100DaysToOffload. This is my day 5/100. Check out https://100daystooffload.com for more info.

#SeniorLiving #100DaysToOffload #chores

by Roscoe

This afternoon I was surprised to see...

05 April 2020 – 13:45

... the long line of shoppers waiting to be let into the HEB Store on Austin Highway. Aided by cute little markers either painted or glued onto the sidewalk, everyone in line was keeping a safe, six-foot distance from everyone else. And I took my place at the end of the line.

As shoppers in the store completed their purchases and left by a big exit door, an employee there would keep count and call over to another guard at the entrance that he could now let a batch of us in.

The system worked well. Shopping in the store was less stressful than I've found it really recently. And the shelves were better stocked. There were only two items on my list that I couldn't find. And neither of them were “critical.”

And so the adventure continues.

#SeniorLiving #pandemic #chores #shopping

by Roscoe