Random 5 for March 17, 2024 – St. Patrick’s Day, spring, heat pump, yard work, house guest

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The flower tent at the height of spring

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! – We don’t do anything different here but locally there are parades and people wearing green. Every restaurant is serving some version of corned beef and cabbage although I understand that is not a staple in Ireland. For me it’s another sign of spring!

Speaking of which – The flower tent has popped up at our local mall parking lot. I always love to see it. It’s less about spring and more about Easter flower sales but in my mind it’s another sign of spring. It will hang around morphing into fireworks sales for the 4th of July. Then it will disappear for another year.

RIP stupid heat pump

Finally! – We are getting our heating system replaced this week. Our heat pump died the week before Christmas, and we have been on auxiliary heat all this time. Yes, that’s the entire winter heating season. After much back and forth and internal arguing (it was under full warranty), the manufacturer finally decided to replace it. Personally I think they were trying to find solutions that involved duct tape and rubber bands. While we are happy, we won’t buy from that manufacturer again. A warranty is a warranty. If it doesn’t work, replace the dang thing. Don’t make the customer wait three months during the heating season. (Gotta go knock on wood. Hope I didn’t jinx it!)

The first day of outdoor work – Yesterday I started the yard cleanup. The first day is always the best. Smells so good and it’s great to be active. The question is how long will it take before I whine about it? I’m continuing to work on simplifying the yard work yet have some pretty things bloom. I’m a very weak person when it comes to flowers.

Rewind and repeat – Our houseguest never made it last week. She was snowed in at home but was able to change her airline tickets to this week. Gus is dusting off his butt scars to show her. Gotta love that cat.

So how was your week?

63 thoughts on “Random 5 for March 17, 2024 – St. Patrick’s Day, spring, heat pump, yard work, house guest”

  1. Congratulations on the heat pump. It’s well past the time that they made right by you. I’m with everyone else who has said that they should reimburse you for your extra costs this past winter.

    Corned beef? Gone are the days that you could pick up leftover corned beef for next to nothing from the grocery store after St. Pats. It was $20 this year and yes, I know I am sounding like a crochety old lady.

    I hope that Gus’s butt is continuing to heal and everyone is playing nice.

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    • I don’t know. We talked weekly both to our local distributor who has (we believe) worked for us with Trane and directly to Trane. Neither helped move it along. The system went down Dec. 22 and they didn’t order a new unit until 3 weeks ago. Totally unacceptable. If you can’t figure out the problem, replace it.

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  4. I agree about the first day of outdoor yard work is the best. We’re still too cold here to do that, but am looking forward. No pop-up tents of flowers yet, but some of the year-round garden nurseries have some tulips and violas and such. Can’t wait to get this Spring show on the road.

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  5. Great news about your heating system. It will be good to get that behind you too. Shame on them. Nice about the flower tent… a sign of spring and a fresh new beginning with the start of your yard work. Enjoy your housegeust and have good food, Kate!

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    • Thanks. We are being hopeful about the heating system. Supposedly, they are replacing the whole system but we’ll see. We’ve been disappointed before.

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  6. Ah, I’m ok with the first day of yard clean up, after that, I dread it. Especially as the heat kicks in. It just wipes me out.

    Well, Gus does have battle wounds to show for sympathy which might translate into tuna treats, so go for it, Gus!!!

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  7. Congratulations on finally getting the heat pump replaced. I am sure it just grinds you that you had to pay more money for your “temporary fix” but they won’t reimburse you the difference for that time period because, in their eyes, they figure you had heat – so now you want more? At least it is new equipment and a new warranty – so that is good. Do you buy your porch pot(s) now while there is a big selection or wait until it is warmer? I used to go shopping for all the annuals the week before Mother’s Day for the best selection and I’d still end up putting the flowers in the garage every night and in the backyard patio on racks which I had to water before I went to work and to let them get the sun. It was a long two or so weeks waiting for Memorial Day – in Michigan they say nothing goes in the ground ’til Memorial Day. Safe travels to your houseguest.

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    • Right now all you can get are pansies and spring bulbs. The picture is from last May. I don’t go too early because of the extra work and I usually find they have a good selection right into June. Sometimes the earlier pots have frost damage.

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      • It IS a ton of work if you get them too early. A guy in the ‘hood has beautiful landscaping and he plants pansies every March in yellow and purple only – it is very striking to see.

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          • I’m toying with the idea of having a landscaper in to recreate my butterfly garden I had before I lost everything to the Polar Vortex of 2013-2014. Plus I had the downed wire fire that burned my back garden and I had two trees cut down – it looks bad back there. They will be opening soon. But I heard yesterday we are already experiencing drought from lack of snow and this Summer will be the hottest Summer on record … I’m rethinking the idea now. No one goes back there, including me and I’ll be 68 in a few weeks’ time. Perhaps that was ambitious decades ago – now, maybe no.

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              • I have grass in most of the yard but most of what was the back garden is bare (I had the tree cutters take away all the burned bushes and lilac tree). The two trees are cut down, but they couldn’t remove the stumps with their equipment. I found a place that can get the stump removal equipment thru a 3-foot gate … the back garden is on the easement, so any sewer issues, they could rip it up, so I’m mindful of that. The instant-on generator takes up a lot of space now – it sits next to the A/C unit. It needs some TLC – that’s for sure. I am thinking perennials for the backyard. I have three rosebushes which were almost goners but came back – shrub roses … you cannot kill them. Roses are nice, but ….

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                  • While walking this morning I realized I forgot to mention to you that I am retiring on 03/29, Good Friday. So I will have more time to mess around in the garden. When my butterfly garden looked pretty and thrived before the Polar Vortex, I was early in my walking regimen, had not started blogging. So with more time to devote to it, I thought it was a good time. I have to declutter my house bigtime and intended to that when I was *supposed” to retired 12/31/23, but stayed for the transition to the new office.

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                    • I was gung ho for leaving the end of last year, but let myself get talked into a few more months, but I am ready now. Well, it will be a quiet celebration as it is just me, but I am glad to be going at a more relaxed pace going forward and I will make the most of it!

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                    • I thank goodness for my blogging friends Kate. People I’ve known for years are long gone from Michigan and I am not close to anyone from around here and I have no family. All these years of working from home and I’ve lost touch with former co-workers and have not even seen my boss since 2012. Blogging has been a Godsend. I am down to five fingers ’til I’m done and it feels great!

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  8. Happy St. Patrick’s Day. I sent the lyrics of old favorites to my daughters, and we sang them together on our Sunday Zoom. My Wild Irish Rose, Danny Boy, I’m Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover, McNamara’s Band, etc. The last one’s my favorite.

    So glad you got your heating system. That company sure failed.

    I’m enjoying my daffodils, waiting for the tulips, and thinking about what comes next.

    Liked by 1 person

  11. Happy St. Patrick’s Day, Kate –

    Our neighbours host a St. Patrick’s day party every year – it’s always a lot of fun – and I have my ‘green’ ready.

    I hope that your house guest is able to visit next week and that Gus continues to do well.

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  12. OH, the flower tent! We don’t have pop up planet places – it’s the semi tropics most of the time. Yours appearing is great sign of Spring! (and the strange impulse to buy buy buy…even though the nagging in the brain goes “Stop Stop Stop – they all have to be planted planted planted!” So pretty in the imagination, but the heat is getting harder to handle and I’ve managed to shift to lovely blooming plants in the porch and patio. All the remaining ones are on their own – strong will to survive with minimum care or hasta. (Still the invading dollar weed in the grass is soooo annoying, but NOTHING gets rid of it …and I’m already tired of stooping and pulling.)
    I’ve been MIA so am stunned about Gus!!! Glad he is recovering and will scroll back to catch up. I turn my back for a moment and GUS. Whew. (He will enjoy a “new” person to commiserate no doubt) Take care and have a nice week

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    • Poor Gus had PU surgery for urinary obstructions. They removed his penis (did you wince like I did when I first heard it?) and shortened his urethra. He doesn’t get crystals or stones. Sometimes it was just swelling shut. Always an emergency. Fingers crossed this works.

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  14. Glad you were able to ‘convince’ the heat pump manufacturer they needed to stand behind their warranty. Makes you wonder if they didn’t contemplate adding spit to the duct tape solution. 🙄

    ‘Course my yard is nicely buried in moisture rich snow. I managed to schlepp a boatload of mulch around all the trees before the snow arrived for which I’m grateful. It’ll be awhile before the heavy lifting of cleaning the beds but I’m in no hurry. Yet I do long for some garden soil under my fingernails. But soon enough, eh?

    Enjoy your Denver friend’s visit. I’m sure she’ll love seeing flowers instead of mounds of white stuff. 🌷🌷🌷

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  15. We have had a mild winter. Only had to have the furnace on a few times. Thst mskes me happy! Summers can be wicked hot so the air conditioner runs a lot during the day but I try to not have it on at night. I have a fan next to the bed that keeps me comfortable enough to sleep.

    Good to hear Gus is doing fine. He has every right to show his beautiful butt to the world.😸

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    • I checked his butt this morning (yes, I need a life) and almost all the scabs are gone. It’s been almost 5 weeks so I was starting to get concerned. His fur is finally starting to grow in. I can see his ginger color (although it’s thin) on his backside. So much better than his pale pink naked skin.

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  17. I have a hard time resisting the flowers as well, even as I, too, moan about weeding! I’m thinking about tearing up the front lawn and going with native plants instead. But I am not sure if I am will to give up the freesia, gladioli, and marigolds that appear seasonally in the brick planters around the front of the house.

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    • Decisions, decisions. I have a hard time passing up anything beautiful. I don’t have a climbing clematis here and I miss it. I’ve been trying to find a nice place for one for 3 years now.

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  19. Congrats on getting the new heating system. We had a technician here this week giving our heating/ac a look over. Labor and a part, and the notice that it’s life expectancy is 15-20, and it has hit its 18th birthday. Also, the AC has a type of freon in it that can’t be replaced or added to. So, when the AC stops running, a new system is needed. 😦 I’ve picked up sticks, branches, pine cones, and raked chestnuts and acorns but that’s about all I’ve done outside yet. I do have bulbs brought out from storage and will do seeds this week and plant my potatoes. When I was outside one day this week, there were so many birds singing it was like a symphony. Nice.

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    • Heat pumps are not like the boilers of old. My mom’s coal fired system lasted more than 60 years. She only replaced it to get one with an auto feed so she didn’t have to go down stairs and shovel coal a couple times a day.

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  20. YAY for the new heating system – you sure had to work on them to get them to honor the warranty. Sometimes I think customer service has died and gone to heaven because it’s tough to find it anymore. I’m sure Gus will be happy to tell someone NEW about his surgery when company arrives! I have successfully reduced my extensive “active” outdoor garden space from years ago, to some potted things on the front porch and back deck. I still get a new “something” every Spring – but stick with perennials now because they just do their thing without me mothering them. I just don’t have the energy any longer but LOVE LOVE LOVE to see beautiful gardens elsewhere!

    Hugs, Pam

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  21. So glad you’re getting the heating system replaced…long past time. They should reimburse you for all the extra heating costs during winter months!! Looking like spring here too, though the coming week is back to temps in the 40’s, but it will warm up again soon. Can’t wait for spring to be in full bloom.

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