Random 5 for April 30, 2023 – April, plants, haircuts, flooring, house projects

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Courtesy of Alice Popkorn via Flickr

Happy end of April! – For us here in the lower northeast US (sometimes called the mid-Atlantic region), April was a flirt. She flipped her switch for one very nice week of quasi-summer before zapping us back to cold temps. After going coatless, I’m back in my fleece hoodie with winter jeans and wool socks. Not a happy camper.

Hope springs eternal – During that one week of summer weather, many folks rushed to the garden centers to buy plants. It’s too early to plant tender annuals. One of my local places had a big sign that said something like “It’s too early to plant annuals folks. All purchases are final. We will not be replacing any lost through stupidity.” OK, I embellished that but it was the message. There were several carts filled with tomato plants that will surely perish unless protected.

I would not look good in this!

Heaven help me – I need a haircut. Frustrated with current stylist, I’m going back to my last one. I left her because she cut my hair shorter than I wanted no matter what I said. Now I’d like to shorten it up a bit. We’ll see. It’s scary when they wield scissors. Don’t want to annoy them or you will go out with a mullet. No matter the cut, it will grow out!

Another significant house milestone – This week the new upstairs flooring gets installed. It was carpeted with a plush that flattened out. The small bedroom had an old, yellowed wood floor. We are putting in vinyl flooring that is pet proof. Cleaning up hairballs will be so much easier. So will cleaning up cat hair. The hair was matting into the carpet making it a real chore to vacuum.

Seems like a lot – It seems like we are doing a lot of work to the house. We are, but it was all on a schedule and budget. We tend to do more work in the spring; burn out; then coast through the rest of the year with small changes (windows treatments, pillows, throw carpets, small DIY projects). We have some landscaping changes to make (another new tree – I feel like Johnny Appleseed!) then we are done for a while. I am looking forward to downtime. Maybe attend some summer concerts!

So how was your week?

39 thoughts on “Random 5 for April 30, 2023 – April, plants, haircuts, flooring, house projects”

  3. The flooring sounds like it is going to be a great improvement! You are doing a lot, but having a plan and having downtime between projects makes it a lot better 🙂 It’s going to be amazing when you are all done!

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  4. What you don’t want a mullet cut like the one in the photo? Welp, you’re not the woman I thought you were. 😉 [And really that’s a good thing. No one looks good with a hairstyle like that one.]

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  5. We had one week of summer at the beginning of April. The rest has been frigid, including this first day of May! Flurries are expected today! I told my husband we’re probably going to go from winter temps directly to 90-degree summer. BTW, dogs also wait to make it to the carpet to be sick. We have laminate wood in the main part of the house and carpet in the bedrooms. If/when we can afford it, I’d like to make the bedrooms wood laminate as well.
    Enjoy the new flooring. 🙂

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  6. Here in SE Michigan we are still dealing with the erratic weather. It rained all weekend and will be rainy and 30 mph winds the next two days and maybe some minor snow accumulation Monday into Tuesday … really? I’d have rather skipped that warm week and gone to normal Spring weather. I don’t like the “new normal” for weather. That was a harsh statement at the nursery – wow! They may lose a few customers saying that. I wouldn’t expect them to replenish what they lost for free anyway. I always bought annuals and hanging baskets the week before Mother’s Day for optimal selection but didn’t plant until Memorial Day. It was a pain lugging them in and out of the garage every morning/evening to water them and put them in the sun before I left for work though. I have not returned for a haircut since Covid began – I’m cutting my own hair but my long layers are all gone – I don’t “do” layers cuts, so I need a good cut. I like the cat meme – it’s sitting just like the guy in the ads. That guy always reminded me of Kenny Rogers before he tinkered with his face. 🙂

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  7. I do wonder why cats always find the most difficult surface to clean to vomit on. I live in Massachusetts so we know you can’t plant most things until the end of May and even then, a frost can happen.

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    • It’s too early here too. We had a very warm week and it sent everyone scurrying to the garden centers. They forgot that the calendar date was. Gracie loves a good cascading effect. Maximum surfaces. Fortunately they are making pet proof fabrics and carpeting.

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  8. I almost enjoyed the two years of no haircuts because of COVID when I bought barettes and ponytail holders and watched to see what my hair would do.

    My mom lived to 90, and, according to her, she never had a good haircut. The stylist would never listen to her and do what she told her to do.

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    • I’m rarely satisfied. I can cut my own hair except for the middle back so I’m always full of instructions. Not the ideal customer. I swear one hair stylist purposely gave me a bad haircut so I wouldn’t come back. It worked. I always cut my mother’s hair and my wave and cowlicks are very similar. Yeah, my mom always complained too. I told her it was the hair and not the cut and I think that’s the case most of the time.

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  9. I keep wishing we’d NOT installed wall to wall when we built this house. We have wood floors in the kitchen now and in the foyer but the rest other than the unfinished basement is carpet. Sigh. Making decisions that you’ll have to LIVE with is tough but carpet is just a pain in the tushie!

    Hugs, Pam

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  10. I have vinyl flooring that looks like wood and I love it. Of course, Teddy always barfs on the area rugs. Jack and Sophie rarely upchuck and when they do it is usually in the kitchen. I am glad it is just one cat that is a problem.

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    • Mostly it’s Gracie, sometimes Sasha but only when she eats too fast. It’s a crap shoot as to where they will barf. Sometimes it’s on the cat tree and cascades down to the floor. That’s my least favorite.

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  13. Your flooring is going to make for a big happy! We are trying to decide on a new palm. Hurricane Ian took down our Coconut Palm. We were good with that. We were not looking forward to coconuts falling from up high. But the decision for another palm is perturbing. Keep your goal in mind for your down time! **But Kate, you know there is no such thing as down time, right?

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  16. Walking around the neighborhood, I’ve noticed all sorts of potted annuals being displayed. I can only shake my head because anyone who’s lived here for any amount of time know at the earliest, Mother’s Day is a better choice (though I note the past 5 years Denver has received snow the week of Mother’s Day). Personally, I lean more toward Memorial Day. Gardening is always hard work anyway, there’s no need to duplicate efforts (and/or spend twice as much). Here’s hoping your upcoming weather leans toward warmer temps so those winter clothes can be packed away until next winter. 🤞🏼

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  17. You’re going to love the new flooring with pets. We’ve replaced all the carpet in our house with it except the stairs, which is a bigger project that requires refinishing the wood. To be done another day. But it is so much easier to clean up the vinyl. So much. Enjoy.

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    • At my last house, in our small bedroom (the cat room!) I replaced the carpeting with a good quality linoleum type of flooring and I loved it. That room was used to isolate a sick cat or one going into or recovering from surgery so there was a litter box and food. No matter how much plastic I used over the carpet, it took a beating. I am very excited about this. The upstairs carpeted loft is Gracie’s favorite place (or one of them) to barf.

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