My Spider

About two weeks after our deck was painted, I noticed this on the newly-painted boards...

and looking up, I saw this in the corner of one of the roof trusses.

I do not allow wasps to make nests on the roof line...as the summer heats up, they tend to get very aggressive and sting at the drop of a hat. But This Lovely Cross Orb Spider, I was happy to encourage to set up house! She hid in the protected corner all day long, but I caught her on camera one night.

Her body was about the size of my thumb, so she was very impressive. Her web was like the iconic Charlotte's Web; I touched it once and am surprised at how strong it was. It turned out that the spots on the deck boards were the droppings of her Tasty Snacks. LOL

I have found several of these impressive spiders around the property over the years. Depending on where they live, their coloring ranges from white to brown to even a lovely green and yellow! A hard freeze will kill her. Hopefully, she will have had the time to hatch her eggs, and her offspring will continue to catch flies and mosquitos...and they too will poop on my deck!

Like-New Deck

One of my many summer project this year was to repaint our deck. We have done this about every 5 years, but at this point in our lives, it is impossible for my husband to get down on his knees to help. I kind of put it off last year, and it was really looking awful!

Mama happened to mention this to my brother-in-law, while visiting them this summer. One day, out of the blue, he texted me and asked if I had a pressure washer and paint sprayer for painting my deck. I thought he was offering to lend it to me, and told him that if that were the case, I would need an instruction booklet, as I had never used either machine.

Turns out, he was offering and planning to come down and do the job for us! What a Prince! (I highly recommend having a great brother-in-law like him, if you ever have any say in the matter!)

So on a lovely summer weekend, while the rest of us were playing with babies and splashing in the local creek, the deck got power washed, and spray painted in just two days! And what a lovely job he did!

We promptly had a porch party!

The LaundroMat

When I was in my 20s and living in California, none of us young, up-and-coming people living in apartments, had washers and dryers. We saved our dimes and quarters and on Sunday afternoons would spend a good bit of time at the local Laundromat. For a few years, there was a regular group of 5 or 6 of us who would hang out, wash our clothes, put all the nice, clean and folded clothes into our plastic basket, and when we were finished, go next door for pizza. I have fond memories of the smell of powdered soap and dryer sheets, and the warm hum of the dryers in the background, while we laughed and joked and caught up on the minutiae of our past week. It was a really big deal in our lives when the management raised the cost of a load of wash from 2 quarters to 2 quarters and a dime! We were all horrified! We dried our loads with one dime at a time put into the dryers, removing lighter fabrics as they finished first. $2.50 - $3.00 would usually get everything done. Splitting a pizza and a pitcher of beer was another $2.00 each. We could get home in time to watch "60 Minutes" and "Murder She Wrote", and our evening was complete.

This autumn, my husband asked me if I would please see if I could get his King-Sized sleeping bag washed in a heavy-duty washer and dryer at the local Laundry (they are no longer called "Laundromats"--who knew?) Since it has been decades since I used the services of a "Laundry", I figured I had better do my homework before just jumping in and going for it. One day I stopped by the newly remodeled and reopened Bitterroot Laundry for a bit of reconnaissance. I am so glad I did! The first thing I noticed was that there was only one person doing their laundry. The next thing I noticed was that both the washers and the dryers were all front-opening. And the third thing I noticed was a big sign that said, "Wash - 24 quarters", "Dry - 12 quarters minimum". For some unexplained reason, this would just not compute in my poor 1970s brain! The kind woman who worked there must have encountered lots of befuddled-looking 60-year old women before this, and stepped in to ask if I had any questions....

In the end, aside from the fact that I had to go to the bank and purchase 2 rolls of quarters --$20 worth!!-- I had a very peaceful and pleasant experience washing and drying the gigantic sleeping bag.

And I will continue to cherish my own washer and dryer and not complain when I have to pay $100 for the Appliance Man to come out and change a belt!