Yard work

Actual green grass on the side lawn. Please don't look too
closely at the "flower bed" at the back corner of the house. 

Believe it or not, I've had some compliments on our yard, specifically the grass. I started fertilizing last year, continued this year and actually have a somewhat green lawn, as opposed to half dead looking weeds. Of course, the near constant rain (and snow) over the last year or so has helped, mainly because I'm too cheap to constantly water the triple lot. Still, considering my usual abject failure with growing things. I'm quite proud of the progress I've made with the lawn.  As an aside, our Charlie Brown Christmas Tree is doing quite well this year too. I've made an effort to keep it watered and added cedar chips around the base to keep the moisture in. The little spruce seems to love them.

Photo shows an arbor terrorist with a mission
and means to complete it.

Actually our land. Potential site for shed. Driveway easement
access to Grand Blvd seen in the back. 

A familiar face in an old red pickup truck showed up at our place on a Saturday back in May, and I haven't been able to get rid of him. When First Brother-In-Law Randy is set on a task, he will see it to it's conclusion, come hell or bad weather. Randy had offered to help me clean up the back of the yard, and haul away the debris. There were old logs, leaves and just plain old garbage along the back of the property adjacent to the spooky old house. Well, like pulling a loose thread on a sweater, one yanked weed led to another, and before we knew it we had literally expanded the property. As we cleaned and raked, it became apparent that we weren't sure where the property line was. Randy, being the real estate expert that he is, did some simple research, and after some measuring, we have determined that my property is even bigger than I thought it was, and the spooky house has less than we thought. Best thing is that what I thought was the neighbors driveway, is actually partially mine, partially city owned, with the rest likely an easement. This means I have driveway access to the back of the property off Grand Boulevard, and a nice level piece of asphalt for a potential storage shed.

Re-seeded park fence line, cleared back property line, and
spooky house in the background.

We continued to work, with Randy doing the lion's share, trimming trees to let in light, pulling weeds and vines, raking leaves, and yanking out stumps with the old pickup. Then Randy brought in two truckloads of topsoil and two bags of grass seed to get some green into the newly liberated property. We also re-seeded the fence line along the park after raking and clearing that side of the yard. Throughout the project, I would get a text from Randy saying he was at the house, or I would glance at the security cameras and see him working. He really worked quite hard with zero prompting from me, and only the occasional glass of lemonade from Cindy. Randy finally loaded up his tools and headed out just yesterday. I doubt very much that he's actually done, although it looks complete to me. I think he'll be back.

The neighbor's compliments are already pouring in, including the owner of the bed and breakfast across the street, also wisely noting that Randy was doing most of the work, as at the time, I was holding a garden hose in one hand, and a Yuengling in the other. Other folks walking by with their dogs, or just out for a stroll have noticed and complimented on the progress. It is a good feeling to rescue an old home from the inside, and from the outside.

Lack of blog posts means a busier life.

Can you spot the missing part?

There's been so much going on, with home repairs, remodeling and everything else, it's almost an overwhelming task to write a blog. It's hard to know where to start. One of the most exciting things was inheriting my parent's grandfather clock. I've always liked old style clocks and watches. Sometime around 1990 my parents purchased a beautiful grandfather clock (Cindy and I were with them when they made the purchase). I always admired the clock and when Dad moved out of the house it was agreed in the family that Cindy and I could have the clock.

So, how do you move a grandfather clock? Very carefully, (HA HA), but it's not as difficult as you might think. I discussed the issue with the very helpful owner at The Clock Shop and he told me what to do. You remove the pendulum (take a picture so you know how it hangs), remove the weights, and "bread tie" the weight cables so they don't come off the rollers, then lay the clock on it's back. First Brother Ed was in town and helped me with the physical moving of the clock. After we placed the clock, it was a matter of leveling it, reinstalling the weights and pendulum, and it worked. Well, sort of. The clock would run perfectly for a time, then randomly stop. I thought at first that the weight cables got messed up somehow in the move, but they hadn't. I then noticed that the three weights had assigned positions, but I had some how miraculously put them in the correct places. I finally realized that the minute hand was getting caught on the hour hand. I knew that dad had trouble with the hand falling off. Turns out that the clock was missing it's hand nut, a teeny little nut that goes on the post that holds the hand in the proper place and alignment.

Well it's working beautifully now in our dining room. The clock has three selectable chimes, as well as chiming the hour. You can hear it throughout the house.

Evidence of actual work being done. 

Work on the sun room has stalled. I got as far as tearing off the old molding before the project came to a halt. We did buy a few color sample for the walls, but the big hold up is the ceiling, which is the next logical step. I can't decide if, and if so, how, I'm going to hang ceiling tiles. The ceiling is prone to peeling paint and would need an oil based primer followed by a latex ceiling paint. However, at least two rooms upstairs are going to need plaster repair or ceiling tiles so I want to learn how to do this. Drop ceilings are out of the question since I hate them, and they are no fun to install. The tiles we like are designed to be glued to the ceiling. That makes me nervous since there is really no going back after you start so any mistake or misgivings will be difficult to recover from. I have worked with furring strips in the past but theses tiles are just not made to work that way. Anyway, at some point I'll make a decision and move forward.

I did manage to fix the leaky pipes for the downstairs half bath. During the extreme cold, the compression fittings on both the hot and cold water blew off in the cold crawl space under the house. So, I went out and bought the tools and fittings needed to replace the entire section with Pex piping, which actually resists freeze damage better than copper pipe since it can expand. I also installed in line drains so in case of extreme cold, I can shut off the water AND drain the pipes. After working with Pex pipe, I found I actually enjoyed plumbing and am now eyeing other repairs and replacements in the basement.

Nice view from our room in Wildwood

For the first time in quite a while, Cindy and got away for a quick vacation. Over Spring Break the weather looked decent so we decided to head to Wildwwod New Jersey.  Unfortunately, I got sick with a stomach virus the night before we left. It was an uncomfortable drive down and for most of our time there, I didn't feel much like eating. Our last full day of the trip, I finally recovered. The next morning, Cindy came down with the same thing, and she was sick all the way home, and for a few days after. Believe it or not, we still had a nice time, It was actually very relaxing.

Well that was a long blog. Still have more to write so the next blog should come soon and will have details on more new "used" furniture, and the fate of our old stuff. I've also been checking off items on the impressive honey-do list.

2

How I won the Daytona 500.

I wandered away from the office on a recent night shift
and snapped this picture. 

One of the not so good side effects of having a job in meteorology, is the hours. The weather waits for no man (or woman) and like donuts, people want a fresh batch when they wake up. This means that there are night shifts in which we prepare forecasts for the following day. I have in fact muttered "time to make the donuts" as I stumble out of the house on my way to the graveyard shift at the NWS.

I've been doing this for 30+ years on a rotating basis and I'll tell you there's no good way to work nights and try to get a reasonable amount of sleep. Everyone seems to handle it differently. I'm exhausted by the time I get home, around 730 am and normally just collapse in bed. Some manage to stay up for a good part of the morning, falling asleep in the afternoon, not waking until it's time again for work. That method is not real good for family life, but may result in better sleep. For me, I've noticed that it has become more difficult to sleep during the day as I get older, and I often wake up between 11 am and noon, giving me only a few hours of sleep. This in turn leads me to take an evening nap before returning to work at 10 pm. This leads me to winning the Daytona 500.

Alas, my name does not appear here. 

Sleep deprivation and odd hours can result in strange behavior. In my case, I occasionally have episodes where I awake with a start, completely disoriented. I need a complete reboot in these instances, since I do not know the day, time, or sometimes even where I am at. It can be unsettling. Another effect can be strange and vivid dreams, which I can often recall after waking. This is how I wan the Daytona 500. I recently had a vivid dream in which I was asked to drive for one of the Earnhardt's, which one, senior of junior, I do not know. I was asked to step in mid race as the driver became ill, and through a series of crashes and dumb luck, I managed to win the race. I woke during the dream, thought about it, fell asleep and the dream continued. I was receiving accolades in person and on social media when my alarm awoke me. It was time to head into work. The dream was so realistic, I was still somewhat disoriented for the first few minutes of the drive to work (why am I in this SUV and not in a Stock Car?).

The dream itself is a mystery to me. I am not a NASCAR fan, haven't watched the race in years, and don't even know who the current champion is. Why would my brain create such an elaborate fantasy for me is really strange, I had no idea I even had the base information to create such a story. Still, I enjoyed it and appreciate the effort.

On the home front, my "solution" for the pipes in the half bath was a bust, literally. In the epic cold spell, the pipes froze once again. I will have to pull out the insulation and get to the pipes and repair the damage. The plan now is to install drains so I can turn off and drain the pipes in the coldest weather to avoid further damage. That's going to have to wait until warmer weather so until then, the half bath is out of service.

Holidays, The Shutdown, and The Wheel of Time

I tend to write a blog when I have house news to share, or when I am inspired by something. This blog will lean toward the latter, although there is some house news to share as well. I look back and see that my last entry is from November, the longest gap since I started this blog in 2015. The two main reasons for the gap were that I was busy through the holiday (not on house stuff), and I was feeling rather uninspired. Not sure why this mini writers block hit me, but the beauty of it is that it was easy to walk away for a while as I am pretty certain that not many have noticed that my blog was missing.

Our beautiful home on Christmas Day.

The holidays were great. Nice and quiet, for the most part. I worked on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Years. The weather stops for no man (or woman). Working during holidays is old hat for me, and I don't mind it all too much. Cindy and I can flex our celebrations to fit my schedule since it's just the two of us. Most of our families traveled for the holiday, but we did get out to do some visits, drop of treats and down a quick shot of Stoli (smidgens as Cindy calls them). The weather was mild in the second half of December, after a cold and snowy end to fall. Then, the shutdown hit.

Many of my NWS co-workers changed their
Facebook profile photo to a pawn. 

I am determined not to let politics seep into my blog. It would serve no purpose for me to try to convince you of whatever opinion I may have, not that I could, and it may just anger or displease you. In any case, this or any shutdown uses the American people, and Federal employees, as pawns in the game of politics. This hurts them in many ways, not the least of which is stress. For Federal employees, going the month after the holidays with no paycheck to settle bills is not at all pleasant. Many new or lower level employees do indeed live paycheck to paycheck, despite what government officials may say, and I felt truly bad for them. Making matters worse, here at the NWS and many other agencies, we are "excepted" employees meaning we are required to work, despite not being paid. So, in addition to everyday expenses, many in the NWS have the expense of working, like daycare and even fuel. There has been bi-partisan efforts to end shutdowns once and for all, forcing Congress and the President to do their jobs. I support this legislation.

The cover of the first book in The
Wheel of Time. Warning: you will
get hooked. 

The shutdown got me thinking about an incredible book anthology that I read many years ago called The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan.  This epic fantasy series spanned 14 volumes and thousands and thousands of pages. It took 30 years to write and had to be completed by a second author after Mr. Jordan died. Fortunately, Jordan had left detailed notes revealing the ending of the story so we were all not left hanging. The series is very complex, with entire volumes devoted to only a few of the many characters. One of those characters was Thom, a Gleeman that travels with the group that, of course, turns out to be more than he seems, royalty in fact. In any case, Thom is an expert in The Game of Houses, which, at it's basic level, is a game of deception and one-upmanship by the rich that can result in everything from petty crime, to adultery, to murder. The working class is unaware of the games being played, and the effect of the game in their daily life. This is what brings me back to our government and the shutdown, and how we are controlled by the high power games that are being played by the elite in Washington. Truly a Game of Houses, but in this case we are painfully aware of the price.

Oh yeah, the house! Well, I finished the downstairs half bath, for the most part. I put down new molding along the floor that came out really nice. I opened up the access to the plumbing and wrapped the pipes in insulation, and insulated the wall with pink fiberglass, That should prevent the pipes from freezing again, but in the very coldest weather I will still shut off the water just in case. We still need to pick out a new towel rack, and more importantly a mirror to replace the old medicine cabinet, but that stuff is pretty straightforward.

Our living room crown molding. Can I do it?

We have decided to move into the sun room as our next project. We just keep some plants in their now but we eventually would like to use the room as a breakfast nook/bar. First job, as usual, will be to repair the ceiling. The plaster is in good shape, but the paint is peeling so it will need to be scrapped, primed, and repainted. After that, we will need to pick a new color *shudders* and paint the walls. Then, I plan to use the same rather complex crown molding for the room, that we used on the rest of the house. This will test my abilities as an amateur carpenter and budding complex miter saw operator.

Minor progress, a new door, and a warm trip

I'm  not sure why I have written a blog post in a while, plenty has happened since my last post, but perhaps none of it's "blogworthy", not like that has ever stopped me in the past. On the home front, slow progress has been made in the downstairs bathroom. The walls have been painted twice, as has the ceiling. We still need to pick out a mirror to replace the old medicine cabinet, and I need to paint the trim. I've decided that I'm going to redo the molding around the floor, and repair the old tile the best I can. We discussed replacing the floor tiles, but that would probably have to be extended into the kitchen so that will have to wait. For some reason, the door no longer shuts, which is an unfortunate problem for a bathroom, so I'll have to look into that

This is what a broken thermostat looks like. Felt the need to
insert a picture of it for some reason. 

The thermostat suddenly lost it's mind sometime over the summer, and as the colder weather moved in, we had a problem with the heat coming on randomly.  I learned two things during it's replacement. First, doing so is incredibly easy. Do not hesitate to do so if the need arises, just carefully follow the advice about tieing off the wires so they don't fall down into the wall. Second, the complexity and corresponding price of thermostats, is amazing. You can pay $30 or $300 for something that essentially does the same thing. I chose near the bottom, getting a basic electronic version that has a timer and can adjust the heat for the time of day, and day of the week. After thinking about it, I couldn't think of a good reason why I would want to adjust the heat using my phone, Alexa, or while a thousand my away., although some of those fancy ones look really cool.

The new door. The old one is loaded in their truck for a trip
to the dump. 

The garage door was installed. It looks terrific and almost immediately one of our neighbors complimented it. It made me realize that the neighbors were probably sick of looking into our garage, even through I had gotten used to it. A side benefit which I had not thought about, it that I no longer have to lock up everything of value in the garage. Also, it's really nice to see how clean the garage stays when the door is shut. No longer do we have leaves blowing in, and a thin layer of dust accumulating on everything. One thing of interest is that they no longer install an outside keypad, unless you pay for and order it. The control pad inside the garage hooks up to your wifi and they have an app for your phone (of course), that controls your door. One remote is standard, as most cars have garage door openers as regular equipment. I easily programmed the Toyota,  but the Dodge is giving me fits.

Bread.

We finished our fall baking. Each year we make 8 large loaves of bread and around 15 tins of cinnamon buns to be given away to our closest friends and families. After about 30 years of doing this it has gotten almost routine, which encourages errors of course but this batch looks quite good. We did a much better job controlling the heat this year with our new oven, and avoided placing the bread on the bottom rack, where they had a tenancy to burn They are all in the freezer and will be distributed next month.

Cinnamon Buns

The first and last time
 I wore this tie.

We had a beautiful but brief trip to southern Florida in the middle of October to attend a wedding. It was nice to escape the wet and dreary fall we have been having here in NY. We had a late flight into Fort Lauderdale, arriving at around 11 PM.  After baggage and getting the rental car, followed by a 50 minute drive to the hotel in Palm Beach, we finally got to bed around 130 AM, late for us old folks. The wedding was on the beach Saturday and weather was perfect. Certainly it was warm, but a nice breeze off the water kept the sweating to a minimum despite the buttoned up shirt and tie. No sport coat, thank God. The tie was linen, with a floral design, and was very admired by one of the local fireman that had arrived to honor the couple with a local fire rig. He asked for it, and I happily gave it to him. I wasn't being all that generous, it only cost me $8 bucks but both he and I have a great story. He said his wife would love it. Hope that works well for him.

I mentioned the lousy weather we've been having this fall. It's been wet and cool but not cold. This combined to delay the leaves falling from the trees, and they're only just now finishing up. This of course has delayed the annual leaf clean up and I hope to get them in before the snow falls. Unfortunately, it's looking like real cold air is arriving this week, and with it some snow, so I'd best get going on that.

Stalled projects, and Idaho again

It's been over a month since the last blog post and it's not like nothing has happened, it's really that so much has happened that I haven't had the time or inclination to write. Certainly my personal home improvement projects have completely stalled, no progress whatsoever has been made on the downstairs bathroom, but that doesn't mean we haven't been busy.

The mountains near Sandpoint Idaho. 

For starters, I was gone for over two weeks assisting at the Cougar Fire, a wildfire in the Idaho National Forest in the Idaho panhandle. My main function at wildfires is to provide specific weather information to the command and planning staff so they can make decisions regarding containing the fire and managing resources. It's two full weeks of 14 hour days and short nights in your tent. Very rewarding and challenging. Side benefits include working with tremendous people and getting to see parts of the country you would never otherwise visit. This fire was near Sandpoint Idaho, a beautiful small town on a gorgeous lake about a half hour north of Coeur d'Alene. Northern Idaho is truly beautiful and I hope to get back someday, as a tourist.

Chimney access door installed. 

On the home front, we had some major work done on our chimney again. The main issue is the flue for the fireplace. It goes straight up out of the firebox, then after about 10 feet it makes a right angle turn for a few feet, then straight up again to the top. This horizontal section is quite unusual, and makes it near impossible to properly clean. After two years of shrugs by the chimney cleaner, we had them install a door in the outside of the chimney so they could properly access and clean the flue. As far as I can tell, it's the first complete cleaning it has had in around a hundred years. As a fireman, I feel much more comfortable firing it up this fall.

They also fixed some of the cracks in the plaster that were caused by the improperly lined furnace flue. Next year, we will get a proper chimney cap and we will permanently repair the the outer surface. If all goes well that should be the last expense on the chimney. It is interesting to note that the chimney, flues, and related equipment has been the number one expense that we have had in our fixer upper. I think when you consider the risk if fire, and of carbon monoxide, your home's exhaust system is a proper place to hire professionals and spend a bit of money.

Here's a wintry view of our open garage. It has been open
since we moved in 3 years ago. This is about to change.  

Another big project has been started, again by professionals, is the replacement of the garage door. I really wanted to save the money and do the job myself, but nearly everyone I asked, and nearly everywhere I looked, suggested that installing a large, double garage door was just too tricky and dangerous by a weekend warrior. So, we bit the bullet and ordered a door and opener which will be installed later this week. I will be doing the wiring for the opener before they arrive, but the installation will be completed by the Gates Garage Door Company. It will be nice to keep the bats, skunks, cats and who knows what else out of our garage, not to mention winter snow. The added security will be nice too.

Hitting a moving target

A rather ugly yet plain bathroom. Note the
$5 light fixture/ 

We keep changing our mind on what we want to work on next so it's kind of hard to plan ahead. After discussion it has been decided that the half bath off the kitchen was next on the list, since I've done such a good job on the upstairs bath. (Ha Ha). I really don't understand the evolution of our tiny powder room. It was clearly not in the original plans of the house as it was added to the porch, but it seems like an early edition as it has some of the same old tile that is found in the main upstairs bathroom. It looks like an older style construction, but they punched a hole in the basement wall to get the plumbing through. In any case, the paint and tile are quite dated, with the lower half of the wall a metal "tile" that has actually rusted in spots. The first two rows of tile are ceramic, and I may retain them for sentimental or historic reasons, but that metal stuff below has to go. No decision has been made on what to replace it with, but I may dabble in ceramic tile. It should be a good place to practice at something I've never done before. The toilet and pedestal sink are newer, and in good shape so their fate is unknown. The toilet tank, at a minimum, will need to be removed to get to the tile, and if we decide to replace the sink, we will we to make that decision before I get to the tile work.

Old tile detail. along and above the thin black tile is
ceramic. Below is metal. It's amazing how well it matches.

A more pressing problem is the complete lack of insulation under the floor and in the walls causing the occasional frozen pipe. Next to and behind the bathroom is the old porch, which is unheated, and below is an unheated crawl space. I've insulated the pipe the best I can, and even added a heater to the crawl space in the winter. There is a small heater in the bathroom itself, but in the coldest weather, freezing pipes are still a problem. It really surprises me that they built it this way with no concern for frozen pipes. What I really need to do is force myself into the crawl space and insulate it. This may be a job for the fall, when all the bugs and spiders have gone away.

Use the regular paint for big jobs. Save the spray for small
ones, Trust me on this. 

Getting back to the upstairs bathroom, I mentioned last month how I needed to repaint the bathroom door as the old dark color was bleeding through. Well, I went ahead and bought the spray version of my favorite stain blocker made by Zinsser. This was a mistake. It does say on the label to use in a well ventilated place, and they mean it. Despite opening the window, the fumes were just too much, especially considering how big the door was, and how much paint I needed. I had a headache for two days. I was smart enough to do the second coat with the regular, brush applied version of the product, but frankly that stinks too. The good news is that the door came out great, after two coats of the stain blocker and a finishing coat of semi-gloss enamel.

On the lawn and garden front, I've had a sudden invasion of crab grass. Looking around the neighborhood, it looks like it has it everyone has crab grass to some degree, so I guess that makes me feel better. I have fertilized the lawn twice now this year, with little effect. Part of that may be due to the fact that I will not waste the time and money to water the grass, especially on the large side lot. As we get into August there's not much reason to do anything about it this year, but I'll do some crab grass research over the winter. In the meantime, I'll continue to call the collection of weeds and crab grass our "lawn".