30...


well, I buried Tiger The Cat® this morning, I guess that's that. She's right next to Sheba, The Hound from Heck®, they were pretty good friends for many years, or at least they tolerated each other. This grim old pile seems pretty empty right now. I guess that will pass, too.
Now it's time to concentrate on gearing up for some major landscaping projects, preparing the area in the back yard for my workshop and making a list of things that I need to do to the outside of Stately Sad Old Goth Manor®, once the weather starts warming up. It's going to be a busy summer, I'm thinking I need to start seriously working toward losing some weight and getting some real aerobic exercise in preparation for all that, or else Mr.s SOG will be planting me next to Tiger and Sheba. No real inside projects planned for the upcoming year, other than doing something with our laundry room / pantry, I have to do something with it, it's an unbearable waste of space and the old pantry that's in there, which is huge, has turned into a crap catcher. We could use the extra space for food storage and some additional counter space for the kitchen. We're also pretty committed to putting in a composting toilet system, and I'll need some room in there for the free-standing composting part, which is convenient, it's right under the toilet room of the upstairs bathroom. I'm going to have to get rid of the hot water tank and put in an on demand system that will be mounted on the wall for some space, might even look into one of those combination washer/dryer things. With just the Mrs. and me here, we don't really do that much laundry and in the warm weather we use a clothesline outside unless it's raining or we need to dry something in an emergency. No sense taking up all that floor space for a dryer. Been thinking about switching the whole house over the natural gas, too. Right now we're heating with fuel oil and use propane for cooking, hot water and the dryer. Changing over would certainly simplify managing two fuel sources and would free up some space right behind the house where the oil tank and propane tank currently reside. I could extend the patio right across the back of the house, add a nice pergola and have a wonderful place to sit in the evenings, have a Martini or two and survey the estate.
Well, my friends, it's been a hell of a past few days. I'm going to make myself some dinner, pour a few stiff ones and sit in the dark and listen to some music. It will be kind of strange, having an empty lap...
I bid thee all fair 'eve. Fare thee well.


go ahead, make your day...