Update on life

 In a word, busy. It's fascinating to me to find out that I seem to have less time to myself than I did when I was working. I think a big part of it is that my lovely bride Cindy retired about the same time as I, so when I (we) are home, I'm less likely to sit in my den and write a blog. We just do other things. 

The colors are more attractive than this
 photo shows.

I have been very busy around the house, but much of it has turned into upkeep and maintenance. I have still not finished this den. We again are stalled at choosing a paint color. The ceiling is finished, and it looks great, so we are down to wall and trim work. Hopefully I can get to that after the holidays.

Outside maintenance has taken a lot of time. Besides the annual battle of the leaves, I cut down two large trees along the fence line, then have delt with the massive clean up. Surprisingly, the city took all eight bundles of sticks and 3 garbage cans full of leaves and twigs in one day. I still have several large logs to cut and store for curing. I will mostly burn those in the solo stove, and save the better hardwood for the fireplace.

New refrigerator being installed. Note
the missing door and frame.

We lost our "new" refrigerator over the summer. Apparently, 7 years is around the expected life span for them now. I have learned that the effort to employ more environmentally friendly refrigerants has significantly shortened the lifespan of compressors and coils. Also of note is the substantial increase in price of home appliances, and the scarcity of them. We were very lucky to get one we liked in the smudge resistant finish to match the range. I measured several times to see if the unit would fit through the door. I knew it would be very close. I ended up having to take off two doors and parts of two door frames to get the damn thing in the house. Hope it lasts for more than 7 years.

We have already done much of our holiday baking. We did our two batches of both cinnamon buns and bread, It occurs to me that I should do a blog on that, or maybe another blog on that. I need to go back and look to see if I previously wrote one. Cookie baking is on Cindy and her sister-in-law and aunt. 

Trapped and without power thanks to
 hurricane Ian.

We traveled to New Jersey twice, and also had a long and wonderful trip that included a Yankee game with my nephew and brother, the Jersey shore, Virginia Beach, and Myrtle Beach. That trip ended with quite an adventure as we were hit by the same hurricane twice. Pro Tip: Make sure you have a working flashlight when traveling to the south in hurricane season. That should be a blog as well.

We are preparing for the holidays now. The Christmas tree is up, the outside lights are up and working, and the house is decorated. I have a bit of shopping to do, and we have a couple of trips planned. A day trip to Skaneateles to experience the Dickens characters, and a few days in Saratoga to enjoy some food and drink, and to enjoy one of the most beautiful Christmas towns in the country.

Out with the "old"

Saying goodbye to our "old"
refrigerator.

 I'm old, but not quite ready to head "out". My age does give me a longer perspective on what else is old, and what is not. Our refrigerator, for example, is not old, but unfortunately, it headed out. Turns out, refrigerators do not last anywhere near as long as they used to. We have a freezer in the basement, that we bought 30 years ago, and it just keeps going. Our original refrigerator, that we bought when we moved back to Binghamton, was running like a champ when we gave it away, 7 years ago. It's replacement, quit a couple weeks ago. This surprised me, an old guy, that expected major appliances to last for decades. Turns out, 7 years is about average for modern refrigerators and freezers, according to a couple repairmen, and 3 appliance salespersons. The explanation, according to them, is that in an effort to make these types of appliances more environmentally friendly, they have become less durable. It seems like you are defeating the purpose, if the machines that are better for the environment last less of a third of the time, than the older machines that they replace. It's expensive too. Have you checked the prices of refrigerators lately? Plus, they can be hard to get now as we still have a supply side covid hangover. 

A window worth saving.

Renovations and repairs continue at the Morford estate. Two major projects currently underway are the renovation of the den, and the bigger project is the re-glazing of every window in the house. There are 24 windows in our home, not counting the basement. I have repaired and glazed 5 so far, and they were easier ones. I am now working on the diamond pattern windows, which are truly the ones were saving, and are the most difficult to glaze. The glaze is the putty like sealant between the glass and the window frame. Each diamond pattern window takes one tube of glazing, 3 Yuenglings, a truckload of patience. It is a good project to have going in the background since I can dive into it when I get a little free time. I'm getting better at the glazing now, so its time to tackle these difficult windows. The repair also includes repair and painting of the sills and frame. I also replace the old ropes that go the the counterweights hidden behind the frame. I will give credit to my late father in law Gene for showing me how to do this. The old cotton ropes rot and eventually break leaving you to prop open the window to get some air in the house.

My glazing is improving.

The den is stuck where all our renovations get stuck, and that's with paint color. We really struggle picking a color, with Cindy being pickier than me. We want something both bold and rich, but not overwhelming. Since I fixed the ceiling, and for now we are going with a simple white, not tiles, it allows us to go a bit more striking on the walls. I'm leaning toward a green, perhaps a spring green, but its hard to find one that's not either too bright, or too dark. the sweet spot is narrow on this.

In other news...Cindy pointed out to me that I never repaired and painted the heating grate in the kitchen. That turned into a bit more than I expected as removing the faceplate allowed the duct work to fall into the basement. That faceplate was the holding the duct in place. Oof. I went with a dark steel paint that matched our old refrigerator (ha ha) and it came out nice. We special ordered our new refrigerator to match it, further delaying the delivery. 

We are researching whole house AC. I'm still a bit undecided on this as the number of hot summer days around here is kind of limited, and I am a "windows open" kind of guy. Still, we must have a window AC in our bedroom for use on several nights each year. I am getting tired of lugging that thing into and out of the window each year. Another issue is the cost. Estimates are coming in at least 50% higher than I expected, but by all accounts we will see a corresponding increase in the value of our house. We'll see.

A life less ordered

Meh. The snow can wait.

 I'm happily retired. That should be clearly understood. Still, there are times that I notice how the lack of order in my life is something to be overcome. I am generally self motivated, but now that there is always free time in the schedule, it becomes easy to delay the hard stuff, or at least the stuff that I enjoy less. For example, when I was working, clearing the snow after a storm was something I scheduled. Now it's much easier to throw another log on the fire, or have another coffee. 

I also find it more difficult to keep track of appointments and other scheduled items. I wake up every day thinking my day is up to me, and it often is not. It's so strange that I assume that now, and even putting most every thing in my phone calendar doesn't always work. 

I wonder if my less ordered life has completely affected the way I think, and the way I approach life in general. The freedom is amazing, and I'd never go back, but there is something to be said about having a general life plan for 30 years. 

We always had a vacation schedule, generally knowing where we were going and when, months in advance. Now, we happily plug along at life, always thinking that we'll get to planning a trip at some point. We haven't travelled much yet, but we have been on vacation since September of  2020.

The weather has been steadily improving as the days are noticeably longer. Another thing I have noticed is that I enjoy the cold less and less each year. I had thought that retirement would allow me to more embrace the seasons, since I was not forced to go out in it, but in reality there are plenty of times I need to go out and deal with the cold and snow. 

Ouch!

On the repair and restore front, someone decided to hit our Toyota, and of course, not leave a note. Luckily, it was mainly scratches, with one small dent. I was not inclined to contact the insurance company, and file a police report, so I decided to see what I could do with a quality scratch remover. I was pleased with the product and after a bit of work, it looked pretty good. There is a minor dent that is hard to see. I may call the ding and dent remover company, but I suspect it is not one they can fix.

Better

The irony of the situation is that I purchased an insurance policy with he pervious car, that covered this type of damage with little or no deductible. I never used it. Despite that I was interested in getting the same policy, but it was no longer offered. Oof. Bad timing.

It's becoming time to start planning spring projects. I think a permanent fence and perhaps a storage shed may be in order. I'm at my limit for things I can store in the garage, and a boy needs room for his toys.

Getting plastered again and a nasty storm

The problem.

 I finally began the last major plaster repair job in the house. When we purchased the house, the second floor had some damaged ceilings from a roof leak. The roof was replaced by the previous owner, but the water damage was not fixed. This will be my third plaster repair and I am getting better at it. First step is to remove the loose plaster. This is a messy job that results in a lot of dust, and pieces of plaster everywhere. Then, you must secure the old plaster around the edge by drilling holes, squirting in a prep solution, squirting in glue, then securing the plaster to the lathe with wood screws

and large washers. This is even

messier as the prep solution drips

on the floor, and the glue squirts of the

holes as you drill in the screws.

The solution

After allowing the glue to dry for 24 hours, you apply the first coat of plaster. Plastering is simple. Doing it well is a learned skill. I am getting better at it. Many DIY home improvement projects are a blend of both but this is more skill than anything. Slapping plaster on a wall is easy, making it look nice is tough.

Luckily, the third step hides any amateur mistakes you may have made. After a couple of applications of the patching plaster, you put down a couple coats of joint compound, which is really easy to apply. It smooths out your mistakes, especially after you wet sand the surface.

The final result.

Finally, I primed the the repair area with a spray primer. This should prep it nicely for the ceiling paint, and what ever color we choose for the wall. I do have one more small repair area to repair in the other corner, and some other touch up on the walls (thank you Frat brothers).

Choosing the wall paint will be difficult. I am using the room as an office, and will continue to do so. But we may set it up with a couch or futon for a second guest room. We have kind of exhausted the available colors in the rest of our home, and hate to repeat. We may go a bit strong or rich, maybe a deep green. We will see.

On the weather front (pun intended), it has been a rather cold and nasty winter since Christmas. For four weeks in a row, my home weather station has a least one day of below zero temperatures. The spell culminated with a rough storm that dumped a couple inches of ice underneath a few inches of snow. The entire mess froze into a glacier on sidewalks and driveways that we are just now escaping. The longer days and higher sun angle of mid February are greatly appreciated.

Snow Day

 We had a snow storm last night. Not a record storm, not even close. It started in the evening, and began to snow heavily in the late night. One of those storms that when you woke up during the night, you pulled back the curtains and checked the progress. Magical. Then, in the morning, there was a new, fresh, deep blanket that covered the old dirty snow, and all the foot prints. A clean slate.

A fresh snow. At dusk.

When I went out to shovel, the snow was still falling. Silent and straight down. No wind, and only the occasional muffled sound in the distance. Very peaceful. Later in the day, the wind would increase and colder air would blow in, typical in New York snow storms. Plows would push the snow, and traffic would increase. But for now, it was quiet and beautiful.

For some reason, this storm caused a wave of nostalgia to hit me. It reminded me of snowfalls that hit when I was a youth. We seemed to have many of them, and we always took advantage of the fun and adventure that they provided, We sometimes would go hiking though the nearby forests and glens in deep snow, but more often, we would go sledding.

Our neighborhood was perched on the side of a hill. Lousy for bike riding, but excellent for sledding. Sometimes, an impromptu block party would break out and we would all just sled down the street. In later years, a long sledding trail was built. I do not know who did so, but it was there. It started in a backyard at the top of the hill, went down what was almost a ski jump, and directly into a pine forest. After that, it wound in an out of fields and forests, finally ending in a broad field in the valley. Parts were ridiculously steep, there were some difficult sliding turns, and sections of gentle slope that took skill to keep your speed up. I remember researching the trail on topographic maps and the total drop was around 400 feet. It took something like 45 minutes to pull your sled back to the top. Most of those short winter days there was only a couple of runs before it got dark.

Katia prefers to stay in by the fire.

I often think of one particular day. I was alone on the trail. I trudged to the beginning with my Flexible Flyer (my parents house was near the top end), put down my sled, and took off. We always sledded on our stomach. The trail was too fast for sitting up. It was snowing, not enough to slow me down, but enough to help me steer. I never timed myself but this felt like a record run. I leaned into turns, dug the toes of my boots in to help me steer and slow down. I flew down the final slope and drifted across the flat field at the bottom letting my speed bleed off as a slid to a stop. I rolled over, and looked up into the snowflakes silent drifting down on to my face. Silence. Peace. 

I finally got up and looked around. Dusk had hit, and it was snowing harder. Street lights were on in the distance. Cars moved silently on the highway pushing pools of light ahead. Countless beautiful snowflakes drifted by, surrounding me. I had a long, cold climb home. I didn't care. In fact, I loved it.

Happy New Year!

Cheers!

Yes, late, I know, but better than never. Same as this blog I suppose. The last entry was back in August. As usual, plenty has happened, and projects completed, but I just haven't taken the time to sit down and write. My writing has become more spotty since retirement, which is exactly the opposite of what I expected. I think it's due to the complete lack of structure in my life now as there are no looming work shifts on my horizon. Retirement has afforded me a "What shall I do today?" daily outlook, and somehow blogging really never comes up. I continue to photographically document our travels and projects, and I use those almost as a daily diary to see where we have been, and see where I left off.

Custom cabinet door. 
Note the stripped 
floor.

On the home improvement front, I finished the pantry, with the help of Cindy. All of the chocolate brown paint has been stripped off the walls revealing the beautiful bead board. Then I put on a polyurethane sealing coat so they can be easily cleaned.  I repaired the holes in the walls enclosing the half bath, stained and sealed the door frame, and built a nice access door to the bathroom plumbing. Finally, I unassembled, stripped, stained and sealed then reassembled the pantry shelves.  Finally, I painted

Cabinet.

the door we installed over 3 years ago. I did strip a small section of the floor, but it was just too much work. We will either have it professionally done, or repaint it. I'm really pleased with how it all turned out.

Traveling continues to be limited due to the pandemic. We did attend a beautiful wedding in the Chicago suburbs. I was lucky enough to be the best man for my brother and his lovely bride. We wish them all the best. The wedding allowed us to have a day in Chicago. We hadn't been there in quite some time and it was kind of sad to see how the pandemic had decimated the downtown business district. The Miracle Mile is not what it used to be. We also had a pleasant trip to Wildwood and Cape May. Out third of the year. Our general plan of attack is to monitor the weather, an when a nice stretch seems to be expected at the shore, we pack up the car and take off. The benefits of retirement.

Finally, we took another quick trip up to Saratoga Springs, for a bit of Christmas shopping, eating and drinking. Saratoga is a place that everyone should try to visit during the holiday season. The main shopping district is a throwback to the old days of small, shops, friendly service, and beautiful decorations. There are numerous restaurants and taverns, many cozy with working fireplaces and relaxed atmospheres. Our favorite, The Olde Bryan Inn, was built in the 1700s. That place alone is worth the trip. Pro tip: Avoid the area during racing season. Standard hotel rooms can go for $800 a night and everyplace is packed. 

Our favorite seats at the Olde Bryan Inn. Yes, I am a mug club member.