Time, Scraggly Tomatoes and Nearly Flat Walls

[wyld_dandelyon]

So, I've been busy with general life stuff; trying to get My Angel's medical situation more stable, making sure we have diabetic-friendly kitty food, kicking a freeloader outs of my house (as gently as possible, because I promised, not because he deserved it), overtime at work, cleaning house (including cleaning up after the freeloader, who arranged to leave during My Angel's sleep hours and my work hours, thus making it impossible for me to insist he do things like clean the toilet he left literally black.)  He not only failed to do things he promised to do, he also did things like glue a bit of wood to my doorway without asking permission, which I missed until he had gone.  Sigh.

On the positive side, I didn't realize how much his ungrateful, disrespectful, and lazy presence was stressing me out until he was gone.  And he is gone.

But I haven't been around LJ (or even my Twitter chats) much.  Overtime is nice for the budget, but that's not enough to make up, in my emotional and creative life, for the time it takes.

The one who is now gone from my house was supposed to pick me up some potting soil so I could start seedlings early. About a month later, he came to me and said, "I think I found what you want." He never did actually bring any home, so the seedlings weren't started early; the cold wet late spring then meant that the tomatoes grew very slowly. I finally have one flower on the biggest plant; about half of them are now about the size I'd want to plant outside if it was late April or early May, and the rest are still seedlings. *sigh* I'm planting them in bigger pots, putting the biggest ones on the second floor porch outside, so I can bring them inside in the fall.

Here are some of them as they were a few months ago.  I'll have to take current pictures for you.



The person staying in what was, essentially, my guest room, was also supposed to do some things around the house since he wasn't able to pay rent. The first thing I asked was for him to sand the rough-plastered walls in the downstairs bathroom so we could paint and seal them so the shower could be used. That was, apparently, too hard for him, so now that he's gone (and his toothbrush and other stuff isn't there to collect plaster dust) I've been working on the walls most nights. I suppose I shouldn't have let his stuff keep me from working on my house, but I guess I kept hoping he'd decide it would be nice to have a fully-functioning bathroom near the room he was using, and do the work. It's not as if sanding walls is complex or mysterious, it just takes time and elbow grease. Spackle helps too (which, again, isn't exactly complex or mysterious, though it's a bit more of a skilled job than the sanding.

But now the bathroom is well on the way to being actually finished; my friend filkart gave me some moon-and-star theme bathroom accessories for Yule and I was hoping to find some matching bathroom fixtures (towel racks and the like). Sadly, my e-bay and Google searches today didn't yield anything that comes close to matching.  There is a wooden toilet paper holder; perhaps I'll paint it to match the theme.  But I don't know what I'll do for towel racks; the ones I have are green plastic, plain and serviceable and absolutely the wrong color.

Well, the latest bit of spackle is probably dry enough to sand; I can get a bit more work done today if I go do it.

But it's good to be back.

Comments

[seekerval.livejournal.com]

Good to have you back. Glad you've managed to remove one stressor from your life. Sorry to hear your generosity was disrespected so thoroughly. May things move in an ever better direction from now on.

[wyld-dandelyon.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I appreciate the good wishes.

[msstacy13.livejournal.com]

No one on their deathbed ever said,
"I wish I'd put in more overtime!"

BTW, every time I'm cooking,
whatever I'm getting from the cupboard,
I ask myself, rhetorically, "Do we have any FITB?"
:)

[wyld-dandelyon.livejournal.com]

Interesting thought. But overtime pays off old bills, which is good, and gets stuff done for clients that need stuff done.

[msstacy13.livejournal.com]

Oh, too late now, but NEVER EVER SAND SPACKLE!
Just get it as smooth as you can with the putty knife,
and shave off any bumps or ridges with a utility knife.
The dust from that stuff will never rest until it's in your lungs.

[wyld-dandelyon.livejournal.com]

We have one of these hazmat-style masks.

[msstacy13.livejournal.com]

But you won't wear it the rest of your life.
Even if you don't inhale it while you're sanding,
the dust will still be there, and continue circulating
until you ~do~ inhale it. Next week, next month, next year.
It's in no hurry, and not going anywhere else.

[wyld-dandelyon.livejournal.com]

Of course it is going elsewhere--into the vacuum cleaner and the trash, the mop and the trash, or out the window.

Still, I prefer being able to get it in and perfect without sanding, and do that as much as possible.

[red-trillium.livejournal.com]

Sorry to hear things have been pretty full-on for you. But sounds like it was a god & necessary step to get rid of the freeloader. I hope your overtime calms down & you get a chance to rest & take care of your family & house.

[wyld-dandelyon.livejournal.com]

Thanks!