November 22, 2013

Tree trimming at Spring Hill, FL house

We planned on devoting the entire day to tree trimming(not to be confused with the fun kind of tree trimming as in decorating a Christmas tree) at the bricks and sticks house we still own but rent out.

We had taken a ride to the house last night to ascertain how much trimming was going to be required.

Bruce, our new tenant, is a really nice guy.  This was our first time meeting him.  When we first decided to rent out the house we met the former tenants, an elderly couple, who really didn’t know anything about simple repairs.  They only rented for a year but in that time every month there was some kind of small repair that most homeowners would be able to handle without calling in a plumber or electrician.  (Example-there was no power in the bathroom outlet that only required pressing a reset button to correct but an electrician was called in at a cost of $60.)

As Bruce walked us around the house (and I felt a strange kind of melancholia from the thousands of memories rushing through my head) he listed a few things he had taken care of (leak in toilet for example) without calling the property manager.  We feel much better knowing someone is renting our house that will not be expecting us to call in an expert to change a light bulb.

We were also relieved to discover Bruce has all the tools we would need to work on the trees.

Bruce even pitched in by helping to bundle the limbs. 

We worked all day and were pleased with how much we were able to accomplish in such a short time.

 

 

 

 

 

Monte worked the roof, throwing the branches down while Bruce and I bundled. 

While he was up on the roof Monte decided to blow out the leaves from the gutters 

After the town picks up the bundled limbs,

Bruce will put a sign on the logs advertising free firewood. 

 

 

 

 

Bruce is such a nice guy that he even allowed us to take showers.  I have to admit it felt strange showering in my old bathroom as a guest.

As we were leaving, Bruce extended an open invitation to use the shower and washer and dryer even if he isn’t home as he never changed the keyless entry code for the garage door.  WOW, now that is trust!

We made it home in time to attend the free showing of Joyful Noise at the church.  Each month the church sponsors a free movie and also offers dinner at a reduced price.  We took advantage of the dinner.  At a cost of $3 each the meal included two slices of pizza, a cold drink, cookies and unlimited popcorn. 

Before the movie began, Monte enjoyed visiting with several people he worked with as well as many parishioners he had been friendly with during the time he worked at the church.