The inevitable part of making a significant home improvement is that the surrounding un-improved things suddenly look really bad.  Yes, the shower is beautiful, but the wallpaper looks a hundred years older than it did last month, and the wood trim needs to be repainted to match the tile and the new wallpaper.  So off…

Ding dong the hedge is gone, and I did not get stung.  Everyone, even me, has noticed that honey bees disappear at night; I decided to attack the hedges at dusk.  Since the flowers were facing the street, I came up behind the hedges on the house side with my chainsaw on a stick and…

Oh goody, Daylight Savings Time again; another two weeks of jet lag for me. I have to admit that our annual stupid Spring forward day has been much less stressful for me, since I decided a few years ago to stop arguing with those poor souls who think that changing the clocks actually CREATES one…

Our orange cat, who I call Fuzzy, divides her time between inside and outside the house.  We do not have a doggy door because the raccoons, possums and other cats would undoubtedly use it, so we have to let our cats in and out either the front or back door.  I usually let Fuzzy out,…

Before I moved to Mississippi, I have to admit that I did not read the “Why Y’all Should Move to Mississippi” brochure cover to cover; however I am pretty sure that there was not any mention or oh-by-the-way warning that it could be 12 degrees Fahrenheit on Christmas Day.  Miss Sherry and I were very…

Winter in Mississippi is a time of reflection for me, mostly because it is too cold and dark to go outside, and when I look out my window I see my reflection.  Returning the clocks to Standard Time is unsettling for everyone, especially me.  I know that the clocks are reset only one hour, but…

It seems that only Columbo is left under the house; apparently the possum is now too big to squeeze through whatever hole the rat uses.  Columbo has been standing up on his hind legs looking around, maybe on the lookout for a snake or possum, and I swear he is staring at my camera.  Everyone…

When I was up early one morning taking my usual short walk, I looked at the camera under the house and there was a rat in the electronic trap; that makes six rats total.  I got up the next morning and gleefully went under the house to remove the moribund rodent, but when I looked…

This past month, I convinced myself that I should not paint outside due to the excessive heat and incessant rain, but I thought that I could easily replace the mini blinds on a bedroom window.  After all, this is a very simple task so what could possibly go wrong in a 150 year old house? …

Since I rebuilt my crawl space wall, I was confident that I had in fact plugged the ‘last’ hole that was allowing small rodents to get under the house.  But the next time I was checking the camera under the house there was a rat; so much for my Karma-killed Happy Dance.  I found my…