(no subject)

[msmemory_archive]

My portfolio is down about 30% for the year. (Not that I was looking to sell, but it's that comfy cushion against retirement or disability).

The hot water heater has decided to leak.

I guess that my scheme to hire a landscape company to overhaul the yard before winter may need to be put on hold, unless I can scare up some more freelance jobs to finance it with. Which just makes me pretty normal in this year's economy, doesn't it?

Comments

[kr4sh.livejournal.com]

just be glad you are not 1/2 built right now... oy.

i think we are in good shape because we don't need to borrow any more $$ for this to make it weather tight but..

[cvirtue.livejournal.com]

Do you have skills you can barter with a landscaper? That might be an option.

Sympathies -- we have had some similar cutbacks in plans.

[msmemory.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the thought, but most of what needs to be done in the yard is tasks of which I'm physically capable*, just undermotivated, so hiring somebody is about saving time/energy. If I had to spend the equivalent time doing a bartered task, the benefit of trading work is lessened.

I do need to make a couple phone calls anyway - it may be that with the downturn, the landscapers will be hungry for business.

*Dispose of poison-ivy riddled mulch, spread some new mulch. Prune wegelia, grape, and bridal-wreath. Trim long hedge and small hedge. Force the pachysandra back into its bounds. Cut down the weeds in the veggie patch. Pull up weeds between patio pavers. Etc.

[jdulac.livejournal.com]

note: this is a bad time to be pruning your wegelia, grape, and spirea. The grape should be pruned in early spring (traditionally March), and if the other shrubs are pruned now you will get little/no bloom next spring (depending on how hard you prune). You would do better to prune them RIGHT after they bloom next spring.

[msmemory.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's good to know!

What about box, juniper, and those evergreens that have the little translucent red berries (not holly)? Also forsythia or lilac?

[cvirtue.livejournal.com]

Berries: Yew. The ones I've seen are sort of hollow on the end.

I suppose they must grow much, much larger to be any use for longbows.

[jdulac.livejournal.com]

same for forsythia & lilac -- you want to prune right after blooming.

as for evergreens -- the ones w/the translucent red berries are yews. You can prune evergreens almost anytime, although the birds would probably appreciate it if you waited until spring, after they've eaten what they want :)

[artisticphoenix.livejournal.com]

I'm right there with you on the portfolio, I don't even LOOK at my 403b statement these days or I will cry. I keep repeating the words, I'm going to wait this out and continue to buy stock at a lower rate and it will all bounce back by the time I retire. Sigh. I hope.

And actually contractors and landscapers are a good buy this year as they really need the work.

[alexx-kay.livejournal.com]

"contractors and landscapers are a good buy this year as they really need the work."

My anecdotal experience isn't jibing with that. We got an estimate for a big job back in April, took several months to finalize a bank loan, and by the time we had the money, the estimate had gone up significantly due to rising costs of materials in the meantime. And the work is proceeding very slowly because they keep getting called off to other higher-priority jobs. Anecdotal, I know.