The Lord's Work

There are few things I like doing more than pressure washing.  It’s so instantly gratifying.  I was more than a little jealous that Kory did all the pressure washing on our deck, so while we still had the machine in our possession, I volunteered myself to my friend, Sandra, since she had some jobs that needed to be done at her house.

I was up bright and early this morning, and for me, that was before eight o’clock.  (We’ve been on a midnight to 8am sleep schedule since we got here.)  I had a quick breakfast, kissed the boys goodbye and I was off – itching at the fingers to get behind the power of the pressure washer. 

Cousin Odd warned Kory that it didn’t work right, and Kory noticed that it cuts out if the switch on the handle turns off and on too much so the key is to keep it going.  Talk about motivation! 

Sandra offered me a cup of coffee when I arrived, but I was too excited to start spiffing up her place.  It didn’t last more than five minutes before my finger slipped off the trigger and the darn machine cut out and wouldn’t start again.  Kory had told me to let it sit a while and it might kick back on, so then I had to go begging for a side job to do while I waited.

The house Sandra and Karl bought is 75 years old and has been sorely neglected for at least the last four years.  The grass in their backyard was up to my waist and there was no way to get it cut down to size, except by hand and sickle.  I should have brought gloves.

I’m now the proud owner of several blisters and cuts on my hands (and feet) from whacking a sickle all day long, but by golly, I got the job done.  It was no small task either.  Sandra was hauling away the clumps of grass as fast as I was cutting them.  Little Karl Alexander found a playmate next door so she didn’t have to keep tabs on him all day, and his dad was up on the ladder, painting the house.  We had quite the work party going and by the end of the day, it showed.  I told her our church had sent us off with prayers to be used by God in Norway, so I was happy doing the Lord’s work.    She said, “Well, it IS the Lord’s work,” and I had to agree.

Several times throughout the day I stopped to see if I could get the pressure washer going, and a few times I got lucky – until my finger slipped again, so then it was back to the long grass.  Sure enough, at the end of the day when I was cleaning up, the thing decided to work just fine, so I stayed on a few extra hours to get the job done that I’d come there to do in the first place.  I got their stairs, a sidewalk between the garage and house and the driveway in front of their house all clean and tidy.  The moss is what was really bugging Sandra, so now that’s all gone, too.  I was a mess however.

When Karl Alexander came home from the neighbors and saw my legs splattered with black matter, he said, “Du er shitten, Nikka” (You’re dirty, Mickey.)  I don’t understand much of what he says because he just turned three and he mixes English with Norwegian so it’s a language only his parents understand, but I understood that one.  He had the best laugh watching his mom hose me off.

 

So now, I can’t move.  I’m as sore as a person could be.  I worked hard for eight hours straight and am glad to have a chair to sit in, but wished I had a bathtub to soak in, instead.  Oi.

I dropped Kaleb off at Andre’s house this morning on my way to Langevaag, and he called about five o’clock asking for a sleepover, so we won’t see him for a while.  I wish he would have packed a toothbrush.

Kory spent the day at home taking care of more fix-it jobs in the condo.  He also had to walk to a hardware store to buy some stain for the deck as he was anxious to get started on that job, and I had the car.  (He thinks the mall stores are too expensive so he walked a mile to save a buck or two.)  He’s not happy with the stain, so I guess tomorrow he’ll be at it again.  We only have two more days before the rain returns, so he’s gotta get that job done pretty soon. 

All our deck pots and plants are sitting in grocery carts out on the deck.  Tante Aslaug suggested using them as a way to move things from one side to the other.  They are pretty handy.  So is she – she managed to put a new edge on our awning valance today.  It had a scalloped shape initially, but the hurricane they had here this winter just tore it to bits, so she cut off all the frays and rolled up the edge and made it look like new.  We are so blessed to have her living next door.

We’re also blessed to have those shopping carts nearby.  Tonight I had to go buy a few groceries and our favorite brand of sparkling water was on sale, so we just filled the cart and brought it right up into our kitchen.  I would have never been able to carry all that weight home.

There was a notice in the elevator today that tomorrow they are washing the walls of our building, as well as the sidewalk out in front of our door.  Just my luck, as I already washed those windows a few days ago.  Now I’ll get to do them again, but at least the walls and sidewalks will be clean.  While we were gone this past year, they demolished a building across the street and the exterior of our building was just caked in dust and debris.  I’d already taken a broom to it, but knew it needed a good hosing down, too, so this place will also be sparkly clean by tomorrow.  I just wish I was the one doing the cleaning, as I’m sure there will be a pressure washer involved.