Random 5 for May 7, 2023 – Smoke alarms, stink, a guy thing, birds, trees

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It happened yet again – The smoke alarm went off in the middle of the night. It was 2:45 a.m. to be exact. I’ve written about this many times as it happens at least once a year despite changing batteries and doing all the stuff you are supposed to. Here is a link to my smoke alarm disaster story.  One day they may all end up on our front lawn!

Do you smell that? – We had contractors working inside this week. Why is it that when you have contractors inside your house, it smells like farts? The beloved husband said it was because they pulled the toilet and stuffed the pipe with old towels so the sewer gas doesn’t creep in (but some always does). Maybe. Or else we hire the gassiest people around.

Speaking of which – Is it a gender thing that guys don’t change the toilet paper roll? The contractors used the upstairs bathroom. I had a spare roll out but when the first roll was empty, no one bothered to put the new one on the roll.

Location, location, location – A few weeks back I wrote about a robin trying to make a nest on our pergola. We eventually discouraged him, and he moved on. This week I looked out of our basement doors and saw that a small bird had made a nest UNDER the deck on the support beams. It’s a much better place because we don’t use that area much. That bird had a better realtor than the robin.

Johnny Appleseed – I like trees and shade. We had to cut down some poorly located trees when we moved here. I’ve been replacing them slowly. This year we are getting a large tree to diffuse the sun coming in our east side large windows. I thought it would be easy peasy but the guy we’ve used for single trees had open heart surgery a few weeks ago and is out of commission. It’s truly hard to find people to plant. Landscapers don’t want jobs that small. The tree I have tagged is too large for the beloved husband and me to plant or maybe at this point in life we don’t have the strength. Now I have to dabble in that icky area of finding a contractor to do something small when they are all busy and most don’t get back to you. Boogers.

So how was your week?

47 thoughts on “Random 5 for May 7, 2023 – Smoke alarms, stink, a guy thing, birds, trees”

  1. “My” Robin that I evicted by putting boxes in the elbow of the coach light has retaliated with huge splats down the front door and high up where I can’t reach over the garage. I’m not turning on the water until I know we are done with frost/freeze advisories, although today’s 81 degrees seems like frost/freeze is out of the picture. I just learned this week a female Cardinal is nesting in my barberry bushes. I saw her today on the nest … she’s in an awkward spot to photograph as it’s above eye level and she was nervous when I approached … rethinking whether to leave her alone – she is barely visible through the barberry bush. I loved your line “That bird had a better realtor than the robin.” I wrote a post about my C02 alarm that would not shut off at “end of life” … I tried to remove the battery, but it was after I smashed my finger in the garage door and couldn’t pry the lid off. I finally unplugged it and put it outside – my neighbor put it in a bucket of water to kill it, but it still beeped with its battery backup.

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  2. Planting and moving bushes and trees used to be so easy – but not anymore – glad you found a tree guy – we finally got ours trimmed up for hurricane season, but it took a while to find someone- then negotiate pricing – I know it’s a little job but still – it won’t take long either and we are a repeat (every 2 years) customers. Sigh.
    Bird realtor – that’s great. thanks for the chuckle

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  5. Oh goodness, that smoke alarm must have scared the merde out of you! I remember one waking up at 3am to what sounded just like gunshots, and it was Louis Catorze. He had broken into the cupboard under the stairs and was, erm, popping bubble wrap …

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  7. Your poor sensitive nose, Kate. You suffer more than I do because I have at this point in my life a very “poor” nose! I’m sure I’ve avoided taking care of odors that others detect! 😦 And I commiserate over your inability to find someone to work with you in planting your trees. We could use just a little more help in our garden from time to time and it’s impossible to find anyone to take on the small jobs we would offer. It’s becoming more of a problem!

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  8. A smoke alarm going off always frightens me–not because I think there’s a fire but because I’m afraid I won’t be able to turn it off and reset it, and I really, really hate that sound.

    I’ve always loved the stories about Johnny Appleseed–even if he did plant trees for hard cider.

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  9. Glad the birds chose a better location. I read your smoke alarm story and I’ve had the same thought….how long would it take to get my cat out from under the bed. I can see myself pulling the mattress and box spring off the frame to get to her.

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  10. I’ve definitely been there and done that with the battery going off in the middle of the night a couple of times. 🙂 I hope you find a landscaper for your new tree. If you lived here, I could help you because my neighbor lady has a guy, and he would definitely do it. 🙂

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  11. Landscapers around here are like yours and don’t want small jobs. I feel your anxiety and frustration. You know what you want, but getting it accomplished is monumental. More than the actual project.

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  12. Hope you get chicks in the nest! Yes, it is a man thing not to change to toilet roll, or put a new milk carton in the fridge if the old one is empty, or thrown empty boxes away, or close cupboard doors or drawers. Bless, but mine does hoover, wash up, clean the shower, sink and loo after him and make me cups of tea!

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  13. I feel your pain. Every year when the rooftop swamp cooler gets commissioned into action, the worker leaves a mess of insulation, dust and heaven only knows what despite ‘cleaning up.’ I’ve gotten to the point of telling them to just leave it and I’ll clean it up. Sheesh. And yeah, don’t get me started on the replacing toilet paper rolls. A roommate once used to change the rolls but left the empty roll on the floor. Eek!

    Speaking of roommates, your little avian friend has crafted a lovely home. A bird sized bungalow…love it. Happy Sunday, Kate.

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    • I know! Getting projects done is almost more about the constant cleaning. This crew didn’t come with drop cloths to protect the new carpet on the stairs so I had to get out our painting drops to put on it. Some come with shoe covers and some come with nothing. Love that we are an avian B&B!

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  14. A friend of mine moved to a location where there were no trees. She got an outstanding deal on a couple of huge pines. I’m not sure how much they shaded the house but they didn’t have to wait 20 years for them to be big. Then a giant machine came out and took a big root-ball shaped bite of earth out of the ground and then lifted a giant tree and put it in the hole. It was amazing to watch. I recommend having your camera handy to take a video. Good luck – surely there is someone there with a giant earth biting machine.

    Smoke alarm batteries only die in the middle of the night. Or they beep once and then don’t beep again until you have forgotten about them again. Mine is currently sitting on the kitchen counter. It kept going off when I made toast or turned on the oven. Apparently my kitchen vent is attached to my hallway air return. The stupid alarm was connected at the ceiling where, from a wheelchair all I could do was bat at it with a broom or curse. I keep meaning to get a new one, one that does not go off for toast.

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    • Sounds like it was the wrong location for your detector! Our tree is big but not enough to warrant a backhoe. Maybe if we were doing more than one it would be cost effective. Hoping it doesn’t rain when they plant it. Last year it rained while they planted a giant maple and some arbs. What a mess.

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  15. We had a sharp, loud, intermittent beep that was making me insane. Because it only went off at random intervals and our house is small, we could not figure out where it was coming from. Checked all the smoke detectors and finally realized it was the internet provider’s battery backup for the landline (which we no longer have), which is practically bolted into the wall. Spouse removed the offending battery before I went completely off the rails (though it was a near thing).

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    • That happened to me. We were checking all the smoke detectors (it was daytime so it couldn’t possibly be one of them). Finally I realized I had moved the computer and didn’t plug in the computer battery backup. It wasn’t happy but the fix was easy.

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  16. Do I dare type here and jinx the quiet peace we seem to have achieved with our smoke detectors. They are behaving very well.
    We are still trying to decide on a palm to replace the Foxtail and Coconut palm that Ian ran over. We also use a local nursery that plants their lovely trees and palms… but not for free!
    Love that you have a feathery tenant. I see future birdie blog posts!

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    • The smoke detector story — the beloved husband changed out all the batteries to 10-year batteries about 2 years ago. All except this one weird looking thing. It’s not like the rest so he wasn’t sure what it was. It was the offending smoke detector that is ancient and not wired into the rest. We are completely removing it since it was 4 ft from another one. We can’t figure out the story. Obviously they had the system updated but didn’t remove the old one. Nothing is for free. It will cost as much to plant as the tree costs. However, it’s a big tree and the root ball is estimated to weigh several hundred pounds. We just can’t do that kind of work anymore. Aww, wish you would post so I could see when you get the new palm.

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  17. We planted a lot of trees when we moved in and continue to add more but we get them from a local nursery and they plant what they sell. Much easier – they also have full landscaping services and helped us a lot figuring out WHERE to add trees. Smoke alarms are a royal pain in the tushie but a necessary pain. HOWEVER, going off in the middle of the night/morning for no reason is no fun!! Neither are stinky contractors who don’t change the toilet roll (I think they don’t receive training on this from home!).

    Hugs, Pam

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    • Our two favorite nurseries used to deliver and plant. The one was family run and the father died leaving his wife and two daughters to run it. They stopped the delivery and planting service. The other nursery, the suspended the service until their guy gets back (just at peak planting time!). I have found someone who will do it. It costs as much to plant the tree as the tree costs. This is the last big tree…maybe. I’ve never had a smoke detector go off during the day. Is that weird or what?

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  18. A friend of mine has a nice plaque in her bathroom that reads: “Changing the toilet paper roll does not cause brain cancer.” Maybe you need one of those next time you have contractors in!

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    • 🙂 All of my toilet paper holders are flip up styles which don’t take much work. The one upstairs (where they were) was the old fashion push in to pull out. It still doesn’t take that much time. Maybe I need the sign!

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  19. Because I have balance issues, I refuse to climb up on the top step of my step ladder because it provides me nowhere to hold on to if I feel unsteady. Therefore, I had a CO2 battery that beeped for months (from Oct. to April) before my brother visited and could change it out for me (he’s tall and only needed to be on the second step). While he was at it, I had him change out the smoke detector battery for the nearby detector. I was quiet for 8 days, and then the one in my spare room/office space started chirping. I found a way to hold on while on the step ladder, and climbed up on the top step – – and could not get the %$# cover off no matter how many ways I tried. Fortunately, I’ve gotten used to the chirping from before.

    Like you, I detest that chore of finding good help for a project! Actually, I detest the amount of phone calls required in hopes that I might find someone!

    Good luck!

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    • OMG! I don’t think I could handle constant chirping. I can’t stand on the top step of any step ladder unless there is something else to hand on to. Maybe you need a taller ladder? I’m finding today’s contractors mostly text. So much better than the phone tag we used to play.

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    • It’s quite the elaborate nest! Last year we had contractors working on the deck at this time so there were no birds! For the most part we don’t use the patio under the deck except to take stuff out of the storage box there. They should be happy.

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