House Maintenance
This morning an air conditioning technician fixed a problem with our ducted system - a problem in the ducting which had come apart. He had to collect materials and did the job without making a mess.
Tomorrow we will speak to a representative from a company that installs lifts in residential buildings. Some of our friends and contacts have suffered broken ankles and crook knees, making the prospect of climbing our stairs daunting, if not impossible. We are considering installing a lift in the shaft currently used for the dumb waiter. These can't be installed quickly so we are not going to wait until it is needed urgently, so will see if it is feasible. We have all facilities downstairs available for any short term inability to climb the stairs, but a lift will allow us to continue to live upstairs with limited mobility.
When I walked Blue yesterday morning I noticed this lovely trumpet vine growing in a nearby street. Coincidentally we later bumped into one of the owners of the house at the Pacific Fair Shopping Centre.
I managed to trim the roots off the side of the pot-bound plant using my recipricator saw. The soil was bone dry so it was a dusty job. Embedded in the roots there were two house bricks so once these were removed the weight was reduced, but I enlisted Anita to help put the plant into the new pot. I decided the second pot could wait for another day.
Late this afternoon we had a brief visit by a friend wanting a cuddle with Tilly who was very obliging. After our friend had left Tilly and Blue had a wild chasing game from one end of the house to the other. Tilly ducks under the bed and comes out on a different side to pounce on Blue. She finally tired and collapsed into this new doughnut bed.
During his afternoon "walk" Blue met a young kelpie and an elderly labrador who live in our street. The overweight lab reminded me of a walrus. While sitting outside our house he met an elderly woman who walks around the block with her wheelie-walker and not-so-young daughter and old dog. While the dog was not interested in the young pup, mum and daughter thought he was lovely. Our walk did not get us further than three houses from home. Because the park at the end of our street is off-leash at certain times, there is a constant stream of dogs passing our house.