My son asked me what he could do to earn some money this morning. I thought for a little bit and suggested "patching holes and dents in our sheetrock walls". He said "I don't know how." I responded "I'll show you at 12:30 pm". At 12:30, we met in the garage where I got my joint compound, trowel and trough, and showed him over the next 15 minutes how to patch different holes and dents. I grabbed a bite to eat and went back to my job. I came up 2 hours later to more than 100 holes/dents filled up (we've lived in our house for 14 years raising kids so I guess we've been doing a great job at "living" 😂). It was so cool! After dinner, we're going to review how to sand them and do a second coat if necessary. Tomorrow he wants to learn how to do touch-up paint. Spoiler...my son is only 13 years old. Pretty awesome dad moment!

I had a cut in the jacket of my extension cord. The wires were all intact, but I didn't want to use electrical tape to repair it, since it just isn't very durable. I learned of a heat shrink repair method that I decided to adapt myself. I had some adhesive lined heat shrink tubing, which I cut two lengths and sliced each piece down along the length. I then wrapped the cord with both pieces such that the seams were on opposite sides of the cord. I then zip tied along the lengths of the shrink tubing to secure them during the heating process. It worked beautifully! The cord is now sealed from the elements, and the repair will last as long as that cord does.

I thought so....until I found this very helpful print!

I really hope "gone are the days" of sharpening my chainsaw chains by hand. My friend is the BEST for getting this tool for me! After sharpening a chain, I had to test it out!

I am a dumpster dining scavenger and it makes my frugalista heart so happy when it all works out. In this case I ended up with a lovely stone patio. The stone tiles were rescued from a pool hard-scaper who was tossing them (last pic) and the rest was from counter top places. Yep, the granite kitchen counter top folks have to pay by weight to have their dumpster emptied and they were more than happy to help me load my vehicle with their scrap. I recommend asking before helping yourself. Only one place told me know. And one place, that was behind a locked gate, let me in and helped me load. At another place I was in the parking lot when a huge sheet of stone feel off the loading dock. Some of the larger pieces in my build came from their accident. Once everything was in place I gave it 2 weeks to seat itself with the help of the weather. Then I went back with small bits to fill the cracks (pic 4). Dumped a bag of quick-krete on it, and swept into into place then used the hose to 'rain' it all into place to set. Oh and the dumpsters of these places often have whole bath counters with sinks and faucets. My outdoor garden sink as a rescue.