Raincharm’s Weblog

I tried to do my good deed for the day by giving blood. I drank a lot of water, and I’ve eaten spinach egg bites almost every morning to help my iron level. But the iron level was still too low. It has been the minimum time between donating, so maybe that’s part of it. The first test was 10.something, but needs to be 12.5. Not even close. I did try a second time, other hand after vigorous rubbing to warm it up. 12.0, a significant increase but not enough.

That meant I couldn’t plead no energy when it came to yard work on a sunny day.  Back to the laurel hedge. I started near the tree and worked south. I did not complete the south half, but did have 3 or 4 ladder moves.

Started behind the spruce tree, moving to the right (south). Next time I’ll try to finish to the south end which is a few feet south of the fir tree. Note the pile of laurel branches that need to be cut and put in a yard waste bin.

Maybe tomorrow morning or midday.  The Mariners are back in town tomorrow. Hopefully they will turn around their dismal start to the season.

OK, bobblehead reduction comparison.

This morning was a bit of a recovery time. Then, after the temperature was a bit higher, I attacked the end of the hedge.

There is still alot to do, and rain in the forecast. The high from the neighbor’s side, and then the high from the south half of our side. Lots to do. And we keep filling every yard waste container in site. That was the second part of this afternoon’s chore, breaking pruned hedge into containers.

But it feels good to have made small steps forward. And I spoke with our neighbors about what kind of notice they wanted before I started hacking.  They said, just come over. That makes it easier.

Several errands in the morning, and then guests for dinner.

Carl was the primary cook, stuffed peppers. They were quite good, although the two younger guests were not huge fans. They did like the garlic bread we had, and grapes, and some chicken nuggets their parents had brought. We needed to be gluten free and found a gluten free bakery. The bread was delicious. I would go back.

We met this family at a Mariner game a few years ago. One of the kids is baseball smitten, both playing and following the Ms. And he likes bobbleheads. Carl has bequeathed him with a few given out a games he didn’t attend. As part of paring down items in our house Carl gathered a few for them to consider. Taking as many as they pleased.

I should have taken an after picture, but did not think of it. Perhaps tomorrow. They took enough to fill a few copy paper size boxes – which is wonderful for us. Our next victim is a co-worker’s son. I will send him pictures of what is available to choose.  Then the remainder will be distributed at Mariner games. For these we do have an exit strategy.

The kids had a reasonably good time, played with Carl for a bit in the backyard with his (Carl’s) new World Cup soccer ball, and beat on each other for a while. Sibling beating, nothing too serious, although I could see it ramping up as the evening continued. They are probably 4th and 6th grade, and have energy to expend.

I also ran them through the garage giveaway and lightened the load by a few items.

All for now. A late night and dishes to contend with in the morning.

The hedge trimming took a break today. The need to pay bills and do some house cleaning took precedence.

Outside of the normal payment stuff there were two items that stood out. A breach and a scam. The breach was the latest in a line of digital data losses to the dark web. As usual they offered a year of credit monitoring, so I signed up for each of us, again. This is not the first time.

The scam was more interesting. It came in the form of hard copy letter, ostensibly from a lawyer in Canada. Apparently 4 years ago a well off CPA with my last name died from Covid. As an established CPA you would think they would have a will. They have not been able to locate an heir, and based on the name similarity have a proposal for the more than $10 Million life insurance policy. The proposal is 10% to charity and split the remainder 50-50. Just a few red flags. I googled the law firm name and the second entry in the list was for the BBB. I went there and there was already a report of this scam from someone else. I added my report to the BBB and moved on.

We have friends coming to dinner tomorrow so dusted and vacuumed. That’s why we need to have people visit from time to time.

There was also some outdoor work. It was 70 degrees. While tomorrow’s high is only in the 50s, it is not supposed to rain for a few days, so I watered the micro-clover and raspberries.

Carl did the harder work, mowing and edging the front yard.

I need to try and hedge tomorrow, but lots of errands and prep work. The goal was to get it done before the Mariners return and then a house guest arrives.

I was the prime trimmer and Carl was trimming the trimmed trimmings into overflow yard waste bins. All of my work is from the neighbor’s 8-foot step ladder. I started about halfway up, but usually end up 2 steps from the top. I can put my knees against the top step (don’t step here) and also use the hedge itself for balance. I have two loppers, one normal and a sturdier ratcheted type. The sturdier is heavier, and tests my strength to reach out further. I also have a small 4″ hand held chainsaw.

When I’m on the second to top step and using the sturdier lopers or the chainsaw I have Carl hold the ladder. I used the chainsaw for about 4 to 5 cuts today. I really like this little guy. It takes a lot less time than a hand saw would.

After maybe 3 hours of hedge work I was done, or rather my arms were. The hege trimming is not done. 1-2 more days on our side, and then more on our neighbor’s side.

And it is nice, 66 degrees. So beer on the back deck. Which I noticed needs to be cleaned, yet another task.

Happy Easter to those who celebrate! I am hearing the sounds of family gatherings around, and it’s a wonderful sound.

Our old neighbor, a few owners ago, planted a laurel hedge along our shared property line, on his side. He also took care of the hedge, keeping it trimmed and in control.

Then he sold, and two owners later, with renters, the hedge is all out of control. We have taken on the task of trimming our side, but really need to bring the height down 3 or 4 feet.

Carl has been trimming what he can reach, over the course of 3 days I think. Today I started on the higher reaches, using a borrowed 8 foot step ladder. I’ve done between 1/4 to 1/3 of what can be reached from our yard. MY ARMS ARE TOAST. But we have good weather for the next few days, so I will need to push myself, or at least my arms to keep moving.

It’s hard to get perspective from the pictures, but here they are anyway.

We headed to the UW again today. Partly to avoid the weekend crowds. 1. The trees along Rainier Vista are blooming. 2. The weather is supposed to be sunny. 3. It’s a weekend.

We continued walking the campus edges by Lake Washington.

Our route included passing by the UW baseball field.  The outfield wall is separated from Lake Washington by a moat swamp and a narrow gravel road. Home runs often end up in the wet.

When I looked up from the sodden baseball I saw this.

The heron was quite close, but seemingly nonplussed by traffic on the gravel path.

We continued on, stopping at the Ravenna Brewery to share a brew. This gave us the energy to make it home, on a route that included two steep hills. I considered a hilly, but not quite as steep route, but it was longer.

Funny side note. We play a license plate game. Starting at 000 you count up. 001, 002, etc. We started in October 2024 and are currently looking for 086. We look at plates on walks, and sometimes while driving, depending on conditions. It’s slightly obsessive. Carl was watching a movie last night, and found himself looking at the license plate numbers in the movie. No, it would not have counted.

The first Mariner homestand is over. I hope the next one has better weather.

T-Mobile Park has a  “roof” but it’s really more of an umbrella. Those familiar with umbrellas know that it is possible for rain to get under the canopy, especially with wind. And we were rained on almost the entire game yesterday.

And the weather continues to come into the house, although limited to the garage. These have been heavy rain, but not the atmospheric rivers. I think the garage has likely had this problem over the years,  but we weren’t paying as much attention. I am paying attention now. The water is actually coming through a few holes and cracks. I’m going to start looking for a sealant to try on the inside of the concrete wall. Lower cost attempt for now.

There has obviously been other issues in the past, and it would appear other coatings as well. Since we have owned the house there have been at least 2 respectable earthquakes and we had earthquake retrofit done that included drilling into the concrete foundation to attach braces. All of this may have opened up cracks.

Now I need to look for any pre-retro fit photos to look for changes. Or not, and just look for potential solutions. Or not, and deal with occasional water intrusion.

Today is the last day of the Mariner’s opening homestand of 2026. Opening Day seems so long ago, and it’s only been 7 days.

The house is getting back to pre-games status. The guests are all gone, and have been for awhile. Beds are remade or reconfigured.

There are things that are hanging on still. Thomas English muffins. You never know what to expect will get eaten, especially with kids involved. Family Arithmetic (bills, etc) is waiting until tomorrow. I really could jump on this, but there are a few new medical EOBs that I want to give proper time.

And there are the tasks that were started before the season that are still hanging around. Front yard recovery, raspberry patch improvements, and now major hedge trimming. Luckily for things planted at least a week ago, there has been steady rain events, so watering has not been necessary. Rain all day today, but better weather predicted for the weekend.

Broken record here. But other than running errands (Costco today) it’s what I have been doing. When I was working I never went to Monday games because of meetings or weekday day games because, well, work.

Everyone said retirement would be an adjustment, I just didn’t realize how cold it would be. Yesterday was not as cold as the day before, and it’s starting a few degrees warmer today.

Ms lose 5-0. One more game in the homestand and then I can figure out what else I should be doing. In my defense, this is the first one of the season and it’s hard to remember that it started with houseguests. That seems so long ago now.