Sunday Work Day

After yesterday, you'd think we had enough of working out back. Well, we rolled out of bed this morning. Actually, my dog made me get out of bed because Hubby was already up. She won't stop barking until we're all together. Anyhow, when I rolled out of bed, I found out I had muscles I haven't used in a while. It wasn't all that bad, but I had a workout yesterday.

Today, we got up and went out back again. Hubby pressure washed the cement picnic set we have. It had a nice thick layer of black and brown mold growing on it. So much so that when Hubby pressure washed it, there was a bit of a raised area between the clean part and the moldy part. It was noticeable to me. The picnic set hadn't been treated before and we had it for about 8 or so years, so we decided to put a finish on it. We bought gray cement paint for our pavilion (which is almost completed) and I painted the picnic set today. Here it is.

Cement Picnic Set Just Painted

Looks pretty good, doesn't it? This was a few hour job because we had to wait until the cement dried before I could paint it. I didn't paint the bottom bit of about 1-2 inches because it was in the dirt or close to it. We're going to level it an put rock around the base so you won't be able to tell.

Hubby and I started our fires again after calling in another burn permit. We got some more stuff burnt up. It looks really clean out back. Next, we're going to get the rock for under the picnic set and enough for around the fire pit. Then, we'll be making some Adirondack-style chairs for around the pit. Hubby made two already, but they need a couple of coats of paint. He only got one coat on before the rains came. Now the things are starting to mold.

Thursday night, we got our order of bug spray. It is heavy duty stuff. We must be the last customer on the route. Our delivery guy comes around 7 pm. Our mosquitos are so bad we can't be outside for long. We sprayed immediately after we got the order. We were able to work outside yesterday and today WITHOUT MOSQUITOS! Yay!!! This stuff is supposed to last for about 6 weeks before we have to apply it again. We may have just found a way to get our yard back! It also took care of our mole crickets. One of the dogs kept picking up the dead bodies. I hope she didn't eat any. She likes to eat bugs for some reason. You'd think we didn't feed her. Blah!

Well, I hope you had a great day.

Take care.

Cleaning Up The Camper

We've been cleaning up our travel trailer to go on vacation soon. Hubby found a soft spot in the roof where the antenna comes out. He fixed that from the inside since some water leaked into the ceiling. He did a pretty good patch job on the ceiling. Now, it's my turn to get the ceiling painted. First off, I'm going to do a little texturizing so the patch won't be so visible. Then I'll paint an area between panels a darker color than the rest of the ceiling. That color will actually be very close to a color in the wall paper. I think it will look great. Hubby is a bit skeptical. If it doesn't look right, I'll peel out the white and paint it all.

We've been scrubbing walls, floors, appliances, nooks and crannies. It is getting a really good once-over. We also bought an air deodorizer. It is in a tub and it is really taking the stuffy smell out of the air. Between the scrubbing with Simple Green and this stuff, which I don't remember the name of, it is smelling pretty good in there.

I still need to do the blinds, as well. THAT is a chore I really don't like. However, I'm going to try my household trick. In the house, our blinds are a plantation blind. The slats are about 2" wide with a wood grain that gets dirt and pollen stuck in them. I get a bucket with my ammonia water, dip a sock in it with the roughest side out and stuff my hand in the sock. I wipe both sides at one time which cuts down a lot of time turning each slat.

Then we have to scrub the outside. Down here, mold grows on just about everything. It especially likes vinyl siding and aluminum siding. Mold has no mercy. You can clean it one day and next week it will start coming back. Bleach works for a while, but you can't use bleach through the pressure washer because it degrades the seals in the machine. I have no idea what to use on it successfully. So, we're trying Simple Green and a pressure washer this year. Hubby did a little spot, but he didn't have much success. You can still see a mold shadow on the siding. If anyone has a suggestion that kills mold and keeps it away, please let me know in the comments section.

Wish us luck with this cleaning chore.

Take care.