Work Is Beginning In My Yard
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This morning a sound woke me, and I realized work is beginning in my yard. At first it sounded like maybe Ivy was in the midst of trying to upchuck a hairball.
But then I realized the workers were right outside the window sawing something; maybe a PVC pipe.
They’re out there early, around 7:30 anyway. I can’t blame them for wanting to get work done early in the day.
So soon I’m hoping the PVC pipe will be the answer to my recent problems. Apparently the flooding was caused by a blockage from tree roots that infiltrated flex pipe, if I understood that correctly.
I guess that blockage disturbed either the flow or draining of water, though I’m just speculating.
So the yard and patio beyond where my chairs sit is torn up for the time being.
Well, Rome wasn’t built in a day. I’m just going to stay inside because there’s really no point in being out there. I can’t walk anywhere beyond my wicker chairs, and I have no desire to go out in this heat anyway.
I texted Lynn and asked if she’d water my containers when she waters her garden out by the sidewalk. She said she would. Right now I can’t reach them. There’s a big ditch between my patio and the plants along the pathway.
Our arrangement of my pots close to the patio, with her garden out by the intersection of the sidewalk, has worked well.
Of course I still have plants in the ground around the big cypress tree, but I can’t reach them right now. That’s where the dirt has been dug up.
My Beautiful Ivy:
Ivy lays in front of the patio doors and watches them. She’s actually watching for birds and squirrels and rabbits, but I imagine they’re making themselves scarce right now.
I’m sure she’s wondering: What on earth is going on out there? Where are my birds?
Birds must be fantastic entertainment for a cat.
Ivy has never been outside, per the document I signed when I adopted her. So she’s never been near a bird beyond a glass window.
I can open the patio door and Ivy won’t go near it. She seems to fear the outdoors. And why wouldn’t she? She doesn’t know what it is.
To Ivy the outdoors is just what she sees beyond the windows. Her world outside is either a square or rectangular shape. Like big TVs she watches day after day.
Windows are also a useful place to catch flying insects that are attracted to the light. So there’s that for her to do as well.
Sometimes I wonder if she gets bored. But this is what Ivy knows. I provide interactive toys as well as regular toys for her. Sometimes she jumps up and sits at the end of my chair where my feet are resting.
When I go in the bathroom, she typically follows and jumps in the bathtub. She’s always loved the bathtub.
Ivy is my world. I’d do anything for her. She’s very much loved and fawned over. If she comes to me where I’m sitting, I pet her and talk to her.
We are a team, Ivy and I. Our lives are intertwined, and we fit well within the confines of this mechanism that binds us together.
Work Being Done In My Yard/Patio:
I hear the sound of shovels chopping at dirt and tree roots. Those tree roots are massive. It will be quite a job to dig through them.
Once tree roots take hold and spread, they can destroy whatever is in their path.
The sounds I hear outside are rather soothing to me. As sounds are that are repetitive and constant and symphonious.
Speaking of sounds, the man upstairs has gotten pretty quiet in the past month or so. Since I moved in here, his TV has been a constant irritant.
But suddenly I rarely hear him. I’m so thankful for the peace and quiet I’ve gained from that.
Yesterday afternoon I drove to a Rib Crib restaurant. I picked up a family pack of chopped brisked and pulled pork. Along with the sides I chose to go with it of beans, slaw, and potato salad.
I was actually on my way to a local restaurant to pick up a sandwich and salad. But then as I was passing this Rib Crib I decided it was a better idea to go there.
This way I won’t have to worry about food for the rest of the week. I can simply take it from the refrigerator and put servings on a plate to eat. Or if I grow tired of it I can always freeze the meat.
Do they have Rib Cribs where you live? I understand they have them in 8 states. As the name implies, it’s a restaurant that serves barbecue and side dishes.
Since that’s taken care of, I can stay inside and work and listen to the sounds of the men replacing water pipes in the yard.
Work noise means progress is being made. And that means peace of mind could be restored soon.
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Is it possible that the upstairs neighbor is now suddenly quiet because something is wrong with him? that would concern me.
I sure hope that fixes the problem so you don’t have this happen again. I had to have the hot water rerouted thru the attic when I had a slow leak that was found when the city installed smart meters. A lot of people in the city found out about their slow leaks the same way. It was less than a gallon an hour which is why I never saw any signs of it. But the bills for the year afterward were much lower!
I often get a family meal when I go out so I don’t have to cook much when it is so hot outside. What I can’t eat before it goes bad goes in the freezer. Sometimes it is just so nice to find something I didn’t cook in the freezer!
Stay cool!
Thank goodness they figured out the problem and are finally taking care of it for you! And it WASN’T your fault… go figure!! Don’t hold your breath waiting for an apology. Glad you got some AC in your house. It’s way too hot to not have an AC right now! Is the portable unit just a temporary fix? Don’t you have central heat and air in your apartment? I think getting your own portable unit was a good idea. Ivy is so beautiful and sweet. My dog looks out the windows and watches for lizards and squirrels. Occasionally, if she sees a big bird, like a blue heron or egret, she barks at them. She’s a silly girl. I’ve never heard of that restaurant. Either they don’t have them here, or maybe they do, but in a different part of the state. We have Sonny’s and Bono’s BBQ places near me. Glad to hear the noise upstairs has quieted down. Your neighbor is sweet to help water your plants too. You really are in such a nice place. I hope you can stay. Thank you so much for the updates!!!
I have central heat and air, but something was wrong with it. It’s fixed now.
Yard work is noisy but hopefully it means a nice improvement for your space in the end!
I don’t mind that noise!
This sounds like hopefully good news. Maybe they’re finally admitting there’s a problem with the flooding?
I hate dealing with contractors and insurance companies. Our roof and gutters still aren’t fixed from storms about 6 weeks ago. All parties are dragging their feet and nothing is getting done.
Never heard of Rib Crib. I made a big batch of chicken in the Crockpot yesterday sprinkled with chili powder, cumin and Mexican oregano and then poured some salsa verde over it. Shredded it and served over quinoa. It was sooo easy and quick to make and will serve us several meals. You could put it in tacos, over rice, or on top of salads.
Hot and humid here in IL too. Had very strong thunderstorms this morning and now the humidity is insane.
Kendra has to get her roof fixed from a spring storm, but had to go on a waiting list.
I’m glad things are looking up for you and that Ivy is there to share the peace of it.
My guess is that the complex manager never apologized to you for her response to what eventually proved you right.
I didn’t expect her to.
So – TREE ROOTS! I’d bet good money this is or has been an ongoing issue with other units in the complex as well. Tree roots are deadly to plumbing lines and drainage lines. Like so many other areas in the U.S., Milwaukee is under that Heat Dome too for what seems forever! We’ve had about 2 solid weeks of excessive heat and very high dew points (contributes to the wet bulb threat) that have made it miserable for many people to be outside for any length of time, along with daily threats for tornadoes forming, straight line winds that can do just as much destruction, flooding, severe thunder storms, and heat index temps over 100 degrees. That is NOT the norm around here, at least, it didn’t used to be. This is evidently going to be the new normal. On Saturday 6/22/24 we had eight confirmed F1s and one F2 tornado touch down in mostly rural areas, so destruction was “limited” – except for people whose homes were hit. An historical church in Argyle, WI was totally destroyed, and Janesville, WI (where cars used to be made) was hit pretty hard too. Madison, WI (state Capitol) has been suffering surface road flooding from non-stop excessive rain as part of the storm pattern. So far this “tornado season” we’ve had 24 confirmed tornadoes – unheard of in our state! They are not “big” ones like further west, but when your home, business or church is hit it may as well be a big one. The average for Wisconsin is 23 tornadoes a year. We’ve still got at least a couple more months of tornado season to get through. Right now it’s 92F outside and the dew point is a tropical level 73, I don’t even bother to look at the heat index, I can “feel” how high it is just by the trouble I have breathing outside if I walk more than a block from my house or am cutting the grass. I just can’t be outside for long periods of time in this type of weather, and that really FROSTS me! Ironic, heh. Stay safe out there, be careful. This kind of weather can do you in.
Tree roots are a huge problem here, and were at my old complex too.
So glad your AC works. It’s been about 98 degrees the last couple of days where I live. You just don’t want to be out very long at a time if you have to go outside. I know what you mean about being close to Ivy. Animals are such good company. We had a Rib Crib here for years, but recently closed. I really liked that restaurant.
I’ve been enjoying the ready-made meals at lunch and supper.
Sounds like voicing your flooding concerns to your manager’s boss finally produced results.
Well these guys seem to know what they’re doing, though they aren’t plumbers.
Well, glad to hear at least some work is being done. I certainly HOPE the AC is working again. We had a small leak in our bathroom near the AC/Heat unit, but I thought it was leaking down from the upstairs bathroom. Turns out the little drain was plugged and the workers knew right what to do and were only here 10 minutes. Sometimes fixes are really minor but cause great trouble. Glad you were able to get food. I know how that means…I am always grateful whenever my Hubby can drive us and I can run inside and buy things. Tho, I cook most from scratch due to allergies, diabetes etc. However I am searching like crazy to find a few frozen items to keep on hand and I bought a very small microwave recently…used it once so far. But to have for those kind of meals. Life requires a great deal of adaptation it seems. You know, I am a dog person and only had an indoor cat for about a year once (it rode to town on our motorhump in the van and jumped off and ran off into the woods near another neighborhood…never saw it again so I assume it found a good home). So we just had dogs after that. But with dogs, all I have ever seen are entirely happy if the owners are good to them…no matter what limited places they have to live. Even very smart ones find ways to entertain themselves too. Our last super smart dog, would even toss a small ball in the air and go fetch it at times. I could write a book about that dog and all she did. Neighbors and friends also thought she was one of a kind. And we should have named her Happy cause she surely was!!
AC is working fine.
I also have an indoor cat that has never been outside for her safety. Daisy does not attempt to run outside when door is open and seems very content. On the other hand we have a feral cat that has adopted us and remains firmly outside per his wishes! Lol. We managed to get him to the vet once. (What an ordeal). They verified that he had been neutered and was healthy. We got his shots done and microchipped. We love both cats though they are very different!
Just like two kids can grow up in the same household and be entirely different. That’s the way it is with my daughters.
We had a water leak under our slab in our home a few years ago. I was still working and my husband had retired. They had to jack hammer up our slab from the back part of our home to the front and replace pipes. Thank god we had our camper at that time so my husband and our cat could go out there during the day when they were working. It took about 4 months because they would send the team to other peoples homes to work. I thought I would go crazy. Most insurance companies will not cover all water damage cost. We had top rated insurance and it only paid about half. We were out about $25,000. They told us we could stay at a motel but they would only pay half and only after the job was finished which was 4 months. Can you imagine how much a hotel room would be for 4 months plus meals. We chose to stay home and in our camper and we had our cat and wanted to stay with him. He is now gone to cat heaven but he was a beautiful Maine Coon. We made it through but it was hard so I can feel your pain. They also had to tear out our kitchen and floor, We were planning to remodel it and had just got through with the bathroom. They told us they could put it all back but if we were planning on remolding we could buy everything and they would put it in so we would save that cost so we decided to do that. What a lot of money. So I know this is hard on you but it could be worse. Hang in there.
The business model for insurance companies is: Collect premiums, deny claims. I don’t understand how this is legal in America. Here in Southern California, the “big three” insurance companies no longer write fire policies. The price of fire insurance has absolutely skyrocketed, sometimes forcing people to have no insurance on their homes. It’s crazy.
I agree totally! I’ve never been able to use my renter’s or car insurance. They make sure the cost of something is equal to your deductible.
Any kind of upheaval like what you describe is awful hard on people.
Happy to hear the good new news. It sounds like they’re doing a thorough job and you will be content again in your surroundings among your friendly and beautiful complex. Don’t have that restaurant in my area but it sounds delicious. Enjoy!
We had a water slab leak in our old house too. They said they could repair it, but they couldn’t guarantee how long it would last. They said the only thing they could guarantee was that it would happen again. It could be 6 days or 6 months. It could be right near the original leak or on the other side of the house. I asked them to explain that to my insurance company and after they did, my insurance company agreed to repipe all my pipes through the attic. I never had another problem after that. Thank goodness!
I’m so happy for you that they are addressing the water issue. Let’s hope this takes care of it. I do hope they don’t destroy your plants though.
I just had a new roof put in and they were here and working by 7 am! But gone by 1 for the day❣️ They just have to get it done before the heat of the day gets too bad.
It’s warm here but not as bad as some states so far.
At least I don’t have to pay for it.