Home Maintenance in the Dog Days of Summer

Yesterday, when I was having lunch with my friend, The Bradster, it occurred to me that he might be more clueless about home maintenance than me, which is pretty hard to do.  He is a first time homeowner, so of course this is all new to him.  We were discussing our refrigerators which happen to be the same age (22) and what to do to keep them running.  The only thing I know to do is vacuum the coils every six months and dump out the ice maker.

Why dump out the ice maker, you ask?  I got this idea from a co-worker who is a very good housekeeper.  I think she does it because she wants everything to be clean.  I do it because I've gone through three!! ice makers in this fridge and I think it might have something to do with the ice getting jammed up in the bottom of the ice bin, but I'm not sure.  Anyway, all you do is pull out the ice bin and dump it in the yard for the dogs to play with, or dump it in your cooler and go camping, which I will do when I head up for the annual Sol Duc trip.  Easy peasy.

The Bradster and I were also discussing the Home Maintenance Fund which Miss MoneyPenny seriously believes in.  Getting your septic pumped and replacing sky lights are not emergencies, or at least I hope not.  These are just the fun little things that go with home ownership, along with replacing your deck or vacuum cleaner, so you'd better be prepared.  Plan for the worst and hope for the best and get your HMF up and running because you are gonna need it.  It never ends with the home, just so you know.

Speaking of vacuum cleaners, I was sucking the dust bunnies out of the heating vents today and smelled burning rubber.  I quickly unplugged the vacuum and turned it over and discovered a head of hair wrapped around the brushes.  After I cut it all off, the vacuum ran so much better but I still smelled a faint rubber smell, so it is sitting quietly, hopefully cooling off and recovering.  It is over 20 years old, after all.

As I was cleaning house today, it occurred to me that my house would stay a lot cleaner if it weren't for this:

 Or these guys:

Or three dogs and a cat:

But that fern is over 30!! years old, the birdies are so cheerful, and what would life be without dogs, I ask you?

Reminder:

Don't forget the $30 Macy's gift card.  All you gotta do is leave a comment (just say "hi" and let me know who you are, if you are shy) on any of my posts and you will be entered into the drawing.  Deadline is July 31st.  You can leave as many comments as you like to increase the odds.  Each comment will have its own piece of paper for the drawing and the guy from Seattle is going to draw it out of the hat.

Garden Update:

We needed just a few potatoes for dinner and decided to dig around under the plants.  Guess what?  There are GOBS of them!!  They were fabulous tasting.  Not like anything from the store.  Here is what we picked: