This and That

Ah, the joys of homeownership!  Wouldn't you know that the dryer's problem was serious?  The heating element is toast -- really toast.  When he took it out, the coils were so brittle some of them just crumbled into pieces.  Of course, it has to be ordered, and of course, it's not cheap.  But, since the rest of the dryer is in good shape, it's still a lot cheaper than buying a new one and a tad safer than buying another used one, so unless I want to haunt the laundromat down the street, there's not a lot of choice here. 

Today I need to find the recycling center that's somewhere between here and Rome.  I have more than one carload, so I'll fill it up today (cardboard and newspaper, mostly, plus some glass and metals and such left by the sellers) then take whatever is left when I go to Rome on Thursday.  I'll be glad to get this stuff off my front porch.

I keep forgetting to mention that somebody in this neighborhood has some chickens, because I clearly heard a rooster as I walked down the street Saturday morning.  I guess that's not surprising, as it's a highly Mexican neighborhood and in Mexico, chickens and roosters are everywhere and part of life.  I guess what this tells me is that maybe I can pretend I don't know the city rules and just get myself some chickens, since there is some precedence here and the rules are not exactly being followed anyway.  That idea has now worked its way up much higher on my list of things 'to do'.  I'll ask my neighbors what they think, but I can't imagine they would mind.  The lot is so deep that if I put them at the very back, there shouldn't be any noise or smell to bother anybody.

I'm ready to get the garden started, as in building the beds, putting down the cardboard to kill the grass, but need to find a source of compost OR find a way to bring some home from the nursery in Rome.  Anybody have a big pickup?  I am SO tempted to sell this Toyota and get a pickup, but so far am too lazy to think seriously about the process.  I need a pickup, however, or a decent sized utility trailer which doesn't particularly appeal to me because I'm not sure I could back it down my driveway. Maybe I can just rent one from U-Haul.  But I'd still have to back it down the driveway.

As you can see, there's not much exciting going on right now, just necessary stuff and errands.  Lots of it, however. Keeping me busy!