Day One....More or Less

Well yesterday was Day One here at Pine Cone Lane. I mean we had been here since Thursday, but were dealing with movers and storage buildings, and had one more trip back to Ruston to get Fred and Ethel who had been boarded during all the hoorah. So yesterday was Day One......more or less.

Day One To Do List:

1. Meet with an HVAC person. We have no heating or cooling, both must be replaced. We have been hoping for a little cool snap and have gotten lucky, plus it is so shady out here that we have been very comfortable with just the fans going, but that won't last forever! 

2. Meet with Propane Man. We want to convert the fireplace to gas logs, but natural gas isn't an option, so we will need to put in a small propane tank. We will also need to hire a chimney sweep as the chimney is full of swifts!

3. Clean mildew off all interior doors. Yuck!!

 This house has been unoccupied for almost two years. Due to heat and humidity, many surfaces were covered with mildew. As a precaution, we had the house tested for mold before we bought it, and those tests came back negative. Thank goodness! Mildew easily succumbs to bleach, so some rags and elbow grease will take care of this nasty issue.

4. Tame the Asiatic Jasmine. I have to say that this ground cover has never been one of my favorites. If it is located in the wrong place it struggles, looking sparse, brown, and pitiful. Planted in the right local, it will take over the world; which is what is happening here!

But there is nothing that a weed eater can't handle and I LOVE weed eating! There is something cathartic about hacking, cutting, shaping, controlling!!!

Remodeling this house and reclaiming this yard is going to be a long process. James and I are determined to relax and enjoy it along the way. On the back porch at the end of each day,  we are going to recount the day's accomplishments as well as it's blessings.

Here was today's blessing, found in an overgrown bed by the drive....

I have never seen an azalea flower patterned like this!

Aren't we lucky!!

Tomorrow, toilets....

Love ya'll,

Shelli

How do you eat an elephant?  One bite at a time.

- Creighton Abrams

Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish. 

~John Quincy Adams

Adopt the pace of nature:  her secret is patience. 

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

How poor are they that have not patience!
What wound did ever heal but by degrees?
~William Shakespeare, Othello