Setting Ourselves Up

We set ourselves up, don’t we?  Donna and I bought this little house in December 2010 to eventually retire in.  That has been accomplished and we have been living here full time for almost 2 years now. 

I was here sporadically from summer of 2011 until a couple of years ago and hard at work setting us up for more work than we did while we were working.

We had a front deck built. That’s nice. A couple of rocking chairs out there and we could watch birds, hummers, squirrels and deer having fun in our woods. But did we stop there? Nope, we added a hot tub.  Easy, something to relax in.  Ya, but no.  It can be relaxed in, but it needs to be cleaned, chemicalized, covered and kept running so it stays hot.  That takes some work - exactly what we were retiring from.

And we have an RV.  We use it for a guest house. It just sits there, so shouldn’t need one dime’s worth of work.  Wrong again.  Gotta check the battery often, have vents, doors, windows and stuff replace or repaired. Oh and be winterized and then de-winterized. You guessed it. Work.

So did we stop there? Of course not. I have vegetable gardens lots of them and big ones.  I plant, I harvest, we freeze, can or pickle veggies.  Those gardens need irrigation, mulching, weeding.  Lots and lots of work. And anyone who says gardening is easy needs to drop by to help around here. 

And just to top everything off, we moved a huge swimming pool from New Orleans to here. That thing is 14’ x 28’. Big.  And leaves fall in it; it gets green, with algae, brown with tannin from oak leaves and acorns. That needs fixing - all the time. In the fall, like now, it needs to be covered. If you are an old lady, that’s not easy whatsoever.  The cover fills with rain and needs dewatering. To refresh your memory,  read this It’s work and it’s hard work. 

Oh, did I mention that there’s now a deck around the pool - with barbecue grill, porch swing, table and chairs? All of these need moving when high winds are forecast. And high winds are forecast  for tomorrow. 

Don't forget the regular stuff like when the refrigerator stops cooling the HVAC breaks, the washer doesn't wash or the dryer doesn't dry. Don't forget the dishwasher or the water heater. That requires a phone call waiting for service people who may or may not show up and then a check.

I can remember my dad saying after he retired, he didn’t know how he ever found time to work. 

I can’t either.