Just this once...

Just this once, I am okay with having my beloved GREEN grass torn up.

Is this not such a beautiful hole?

Firewood Man awoke me yesterday mid-way through the task of replacing my rather ineffective gutter pipe extensions from the house all the way to the front sidewalk.  It is my most fervent hope that, having been extended properly, when the heavy mid-west rains come, I shall no longer have to depend wholly on the channels in my basement.

True to his word, Firewood Man also installed a catch basin to deal with the strong run-off from my neighbor's broken gutters.  Looking at the house, the left side is the one most apt to have water seep down.  So, Firewood man created a steep pitch in the turn from the house to beneath the sidewalk so as to ensure a strong water flow on that side.  The catch basin and french drain pans went in on the right side.

It is such a blessing to have someone who is willing to tend to the things about your house that need doing, cheerfully and for such a modest fee.  And, really, I have Becky to thank for that.

When I first moved here, I chose a firewood person off of Craigslist.  The man was not kind to me.  In fact, he was rude, if not outright abusive.  After the first delivery, he would ignore my calls when I asked for more wood.  He would set a time for delivery and then not show up.  He would show up and yell at me about the bother of bringing wood and would simply pile it in the middle of the garage, leaving me to stack it along the wall.  I felt worse and worse and worse with each delivery.

After the first year, Becky suggested I just use someone else.
I didn't have those thoughts.
My thoughts are to just shut, be still, and wait until it is over.

Well, I was afraid to pick another person.  So, she did.  She picked Tim (Firewood Man).  She picked this young man who has, really, made being a disabled homeowner possible.  In addition to very economical firewood (and free stacking), Tim has:

• Given me an essentially weed-free, lush, GREEN yard
• Dug up the shrine in the back yard that was giving me the heebee jeebies
• Topped the leaning evergreen in the back yard to take off some of the weight, but preserve the shaded spot I savor
• Built a closet (and properly supported the landing) beneath the steps in the basement living space
• Power-washed the front porch and back steps so I could stain them and keep them in better shape
• Set the brick border along all the beds in the back yard
• Removed the grossly overgrown bushes blocking the front porch
• Planted the weeping cherry tree
• Removed the fallen lilac tree and planted the crabapple tree
• Picked up, delivered, and set up the basement refrigerator
• Picked up, delivered, and set up my upright freezer
• Changed the door on the basement refrigerator (since I picked the wrong direction to open)
• Extended the gutter drain pipes
• Taken over weekly mowing, edging, and blowing
• Taken over shoveling the large snowfalls

All for $20 (snow shoveling and plowing is just $10) or ridiculously small increments of $20, plus supplies.  I'm sure there's more he's done.  I do forget things, after all.  Next up is to put a cap on the chimney (to block the rain that sometimes gets in) and to put up a railing on the airing porch off the solarium so as to satisfy my antsy home insurance company.  His fear of heights probably means the railing will get done first.  I also long for the missing quarterround on the first floor to be replaced (why did the Flipper not put it back down??), but that isn't a necessary or a needful task.

The point is that Tim is ever-willing to tackle the odd jobs that pop up with homeownership that single (and disabled) women might find difficult to do and find difficult to get someone else to do for a reasonable price.  He is also very, very, very gentle and affable ... safe.  He is a very good neighbor to me.  A blessing.  Mercy.


I am Yours, Lord.  Save me.