Clean as a Whistle!!

 Aha ... I see Blogger now has a new way to upload images and videos.  This one came up in about three seconds.  Even the still photos are loading differently, but at least they are loading.  And here all this time I thought it was either me or my computer.  We'll see if it lasts!!

This is a terrible video, but it's a good example of what I go through every day.  My Security Guard is always at the ready.  The sun is coming in behind me, and that's my shadow on the wall.  No not ALL of me, just my head and shoulders.  I moved and Cooper started growling like crazy, then barking.  Mom ... MOM!!!  Someone is THERE!!!  He's so funny!!  He keeps me laughing all the time.

You would think after all this time, my honey-do list would be getting to the end.  I admit, I have been neglecting this house since I'm gone a lot.  It really hasn't required much maintenance since I bought it.  Just a few things here and there ... like every toilet seat in the house, leaky faucets ... that kind of stuff. 

I'm extremely lucky to have this house.  At the bottom of the last big real estate crash, I was able to buy this place that had 1.5 acres for my horses, for a fraction of what it was worth.  It was in bankruptcy court. The first time it came up, I lost out.  Five months later, out of the blue, my realtor friend said it was back on the market.  I'm a lucky girl I ended up with it.

SO ... getting those trees out was a biggy, and now we're on to the solar panels.  I check the app on my phone about once a month to see how they are doing.  Slowly but surely, the production has been going down.  That's because I live in the country where they grow sweet potatoes, almonds and things that require shaking and discing.  Dirt and dust here is always a problem for solar panels.  Time to get them cleaned.

I thought about a long pool sweep brush thingy, but everyone said you don't want to use your own water unless you also have a squeegee.  The water spots will cut production and are nearly impossible to remove.  So what do you do?  You call in a professional.  Just look at this rig!!!

Lucky for me, there's a guy who lives very close.  I had no recommendations, but he sounded nice ... a good sign, right??? .... and so I made an appointment.  

You never know when you're going to run into a fellow farmer/schoolmate.  Frances will understand this story.  She and I went to the same grammar school and just reconnected when she found my blog.  Arsenio came from the Azores with his family when he was very young.  He was sent to McSwain Elementary, but he didn't speak ANY English at all and back then, there were no classes to teach him.  Because of that, he hated it here.  What a coincidence ... he attended the exact same school that Frances and I did, kindergarten to eighth grade.

We probably spent the first hour talking about all the people we knew ... all the farmers and ranchers in the area.  He was there about ten years after us Frances, so we didn't know him.  What a nice walk down memory lane!!

And then he went to work.  He has this thing on a stick, kind of like a floor polisher.  Water comes out the top and it spins around washing the panels.  He used specially treated water so there were no spots at all.

Clean as a whistle!!!  I had no idea they were that bad.  Production jumped back up to when they were installed.  Check .... one more thing off my list.  He said I really only needed to have this done twice a year ... after harvest and after discing for new planting next year.  Sounds about right to me.

While that was going on, I happened to look up.  I don't look up all that often because around here things fall out of the sky, meaning it's getting close to pigeon time.  But look up I did, to see this.  Wow .... the spiders have been busy.  All the brown stuff is webs.  A closer look and they have REALLY been busy.  Good grief, almost my entire house is covered like this.  Perfect for Halloween I suppose.

I got out my broom and went to work.  I have never seen it this bad before.  No worries, these aren't tarantulas ... they are all Daddy Long Legs, with millions of babies that scattered like fleas when my broom got close. 

Feeling a little better about the critters now NOT covering my house, I came in to check my email.  Woohoo ... I actually got a response to the CHP email.  They asked for all the specifics, but said nothing about where this would occur.   I politely requested they come to my house.  No response yet, so I guess we shall see.  I'm not holding my breath.

Sadly, I don't even know what's on the agenda for today.  I've got lots of ideas, but nothing concrete.  It's too early and I need another cup of coffee for that!!