In vegetation news, the mustard seeds that I planted on Sunday came up in just two days.
Here they are this morning, reaching for the last sun they're going to see for a little while:
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Sunday, November 11, 2012
This Weekend's Weatherproofing & Other Things
The weather is much colder this weekend -- in the 50s. Too cold for some of the things on my list, but I still got pretty far:
Project #1: Sealing The Gaps In The Front Door
The front door generally needs to be refinished -- the finish is so old that about a third of the wood is exposed, & it's scarred with all kinds of nicks & scratches. It's too cold to crack open the can of polyurethane, however, so I just spent my time putting some silicone caulk around the panes of glass to stop the drafts. I'm also hoping it will stop the rattling that happens every time a truck goes by, or our neighbor backs into her garage.
While I was hard at work, Jon came over to visit. He took this action shot from inside the house:
Project #2: Sealing Up the Haunted Garden Shed Windows
These windows & the framing inside the Haunted Garden Shed will eventually be replaced by some sliding glass doors, so I hadn't originally planned to do any maintenance on them. I had some glazing left over from the front of the house, though, so I figured I might as well use it & keep the wood from deteriorating any faster than it needs to while we save up for the construction project.
Project #3: Repotting Some Jasmine, Planting Some Seeds
A couple months ago, we started talking about getting a climbing plant to put on the front porch to cover the lower portions of the security gate. Something that would buffer some of the the dirt and noise from the street, that would provide a visual screen, that would be quick growing & smell nice, & also, ideally, something that would also attract some of the several species of butterflies we have around here. After a summer visit, where she got an idea of what thrives up here on this hill, Adrienne's aunt Jennifer suggested we try jasmine. As it happens, there is a very large jasmine plant growing out of the floor of the Haunted Garden Shed (you can see it in the photos above), so taking a couple clippings for the front porch was easy peasy.
Roots having been well established, they made their debut in the great outdoors this weekend:
The herb garden in the back yard is actually still there -- it's just all gone to seed. It will be interesting to see how things in that bed develop in the spring.
Project #4: Dog Shelves
The clutter of the dog corner on the kitchen counter had begun to destroy my soul. Made some shelves. Feeling human again.
Project #5: Television on Mars Enters the 21st Century!
Now that we have a nice screen for projecting movies & the tv shows we stream on our laptop, Jon thought it was high time for a birthday present for us: two tiny tiny media-streaming boxes -- a Roku & an Apple TV!
Everything is now set up in our living room shelves:
What happened is that we took the fabric cover off to wash it, & left the inner pad out for her to lay on. It's basically just a papery fabric bag full of loose stuffing. We've done this a hundred times before without a problem. Last night, though, she apparently decided to treat it like one of her toys, & pull all the stuffing out.
This is what, 20 gallons worth of stuffing? Nice work, dog.
Project #1: Sealing The Gaps In The Front Door
The front door generally needs to be refinished -- the finish is so old that about a third of the wood is exposed, & it's scarred with all kinds of nicks & scratches. It's too cold to crack open the can of polyurethane, however, so I just spent my time putting some silicone caulk around the panes of glass to stop the drafts. I'm also hoping it will stop the rattling that happens every time a truck goes by, or our neighbor backs into her garage.
Before!
While I was hard at work, Jon came over to visit. He took this action shot from inside the house:
Unbreakable concentration! Precision application!
After!
Project #2: Sealing Up the Haunted Garden Shed Windows
These windows & the framing inside the Haunted Garden Shed will eventually be replaced by some sliding glass doors, so I hadn't originally planned to do any maintenance on them. I had some glazing left over from the front of the house, though, so I figured I might as well use it & keep the wood from deteriorating any faster than it needs to while we save up for the construction project.
Before!
After!
While I was working on this, I noticed that the vinyl siding directly under the windows had warped & opened up toward the sky, getting ready to catch all that nice winter rain. You can just make it out in the pictures above. I fit the pieces back together as well as I could & sealed them up with the left over glazing & silicone caulk from the front door.
While working back there, I noticed that the finish on the wooden posts holding up the back stairs had also worn off. It's the windward side of the house, so it really should get done before too long. Looks like I have some more painting in my future.
Meanwhile, Zoey once again offered her assistance, this time by squeezing herself into the tiny square of sunlight on the kitchen floor.
Project #3: Repotting Some Jasmine, Planting Some Seeds
A couple months ago, we started talking about getting a climbing plant to put on the front porch to cover the lower portions of the security gate. Something that would buffer some of the the dirt and noise from the street, that would provide a visual screen, that would be quick growing & smell nice, & also, ideally, something that would also attract some of the several species of butterflies we have around here. After a summer visit, where she got an idea of what thrives up here on this hill, Adrienne's aunt Jennifer suggested we try jasmine. As it happens, there is a very large jasmine plant growing out of the floor of the Haunted Garden Shed (you can see it in the photos above), so taking a couple clippings for the front porch was easy peasy.
Roots having been well established, they made their debut in the great outdoors this weekend:
Someday it will be a mighty mighty monster!
Another one in the far corner, plus a new planting of lettuce.
Adrienne also requested that we plant a new kitchen garden. This time I'm trying it out in a 30-inch planter in the front window:
The herb garden in the back yard is actually still there -- it's just all gone to seed. It will be interesting to see how things in that bed develop in the spring.
Project #4: Dog Shelves
The clutter of the dog corner on the kitchen counter had begun to destroy my soul. Made some shelves. Feeling human again.
Yes, that's a can of Easy Cheese. Easy Cheese makes nail clipping possible!
Project #5: Television on Mars Enters the 21st Century!
Now that we have a nice screen for projecting movies & the tv shows we stream on our laptop, Jon thought it was high time for a birthday present for us: two tiny tiny media-streaming boxes -- a Roku & an Apple TV!
Everything is now set up in our living room shelves:
Roku, Apple TV, & Wii are on the left, second shelf from the bottom.
These magical little boxes are about the size of a cocktail napkin.
We spent Saturday afternoon watching episodes of Good Times, & Saturday night with Amanda, watching episodes of NewsRadio. Thank you, Jon!
Still to be done on this monster list: finish painting under Adrienne's office, paint the posts under the stairs, finish Pink Trim Eradication Project, recaulk the shower, put the horrendous mess of tools & brewing supplies away, & sand the trim above the garage door (the damn thing is scuffing the paint at the top of the door). That's not bad -- that puts me about 75% of the way through!
I now need to add one more thing, however: Zoey, always so considerate, must have worried that I might get bored if I reached the end of my list. To help me avoid that peril, last night she decided to shred up her bed, so that I could spend time putting it back together today:
What happened is that we took the fabric cover off to wash it, & left the inner pad out for her to lay on. It's basically just a papery fabric bag full of loose stuffing. We've done this a hundred times before without a problem. Last night, though, she apparently decided to treat it like one of her toys, & pull all the stuffing out.
This is what, 20 gallons worth of stuffing? Nice work, dog.
Time to sit back, put Sanford & Son up on the big screen, & get sewing.
Saturday, November 10, 2012
Last Weekend's Weatherproofing
Somehow the week completely got away from me, & I'm only now getting around to posting all the things that happened last weekend!
The weekend's weather turned out hot & dry, so the task of rain-proofing Mars went ahead.
Project #1: What's Happening Between The Houses?
I wanted to take a look at the siding & gutters, & I knew the space between Mars & the house to the left was full of plants, growing out of the cracks in the concrete foundations:
I wanted to get those plants out of Mars' foundation & seal up the cracks. As it turns out, all but two of those plants are growing out of the neighbor's house, & the siding & gutters looked fine, so that was that.
On the other side, the space between the houses just has dirt & debris. An old Alcoa sign that fell in there when siding was put on Mars in 1991, for example. Gutters & siding looked fine. The siding is the original shingles, incidentally -- it's just wide enough for me to shuffle through sideways, so way too narrow for the contractor to have been able to put the vinyl siding up on that side. I was tempted to clean up some of the debris, but at this point, I decided that it was probably best to leave well enough alone.
Project #2: Pink Trim Eradication -- Kitchen Edition
Finished the trim in the kitchen.
Project #3: Fixing the Garage Window & the Garage Door
The glazing on the garage window that faces on the street was pretty much shot:
There's already some weather damage to the wood around the window inside the garage, so I thought it would be a good idea to repair the glazing & generally seal the window up.
First step, I removed the failed parts of the glazing:
I decided to leave the intact parts of the glazing where they were -- it seemed best to not get too ambitious my first time glazing a window. From what I saw on there, I suspect that's what was done last time someone did any work on it, so that made me think I was on the right track.
My dad, #1 Handyman, told me how to use glazing compound when I was home last month. Basically it's a putty you soften & squidge into the window frame with your fingers. He said it was tricky. At the hardware store, next to the little tubs of compound, I saw that they also now make a type that comes in a caulking tube, & that features easier clean up & faster curing time. I bought that one. It was tricky, too, but I managed to more or less get it on there:
I only got as far as priming:
Good enough for rain-proofing. When I have time, I plan on putting the same midnight blue in there.
The Health Benefits people at work have a calculator that can tell you an equivalent number of miles walked for all the various activities you do around the house. It says that for all this activity last weekend, it's roughly the same as if I had walked 75 miles. Who knew that being a homeowner would be such good exercise?
Here's the state of the Mars To-Do List on Sunday night:
The weekend's weather turned out hot & dry, so the task of rain-proofing Mars went ahead.
Project #1: What's Happening Between The Houses?
I wanted to take a look at the siding & gutters, & I knew the space between Mars & the house to the left was full of plants, growing out of the cracks in the concrete foundations:
This is just wide enough to walk normally through.
On the other side, the space between the houses just has dirt & debris. An old Alcoa sign that fell in there when siding was put on Mars in 1991, for example. Gutters & siding looked fine. The siding is the original shingles, incidentally -- it's just wide enough for me to shuffle through sideways, so way too narrow for the contractor to have been able to put the vinyl siding up on that side. I was tempted to clean up some of the debris, but at this point, I decided that it was probably best to leave well enough alone.
Project #2: Pink Trim Eradication -- Kitchen Edition
Finished the trim in the kitchen.
Please excuse the mess.
Window sill above the sink.
As usual, Zoey helped.
Still 2 rooms to go. Good God.
Project #3: Fixing the Garage Window & the Garage Door
The glazing on the garage window that faces on the street was pretty much shot:
First step, I removed the failed parts of the glazing:
I decided to leave the intact parts of the glazing where they were -- it seemed best to not get too ambitious my first time glazing a window. From what I saw on there, I suspect that's what was done last time someone did any work on it, so that made me think I was on the right track.
My dad, #1 Handyman, told me how to use glazing compound when I was home last month. Basically it's a putty you soften & squidge into the window frame with your fingers. He said it was tricky. At the hardware store, next to the little tubs of compound, I saw that they also now make a type that comes in a caulking tube, & that features easier clean up & faster curing time. I bought that one. It was tricky, too, but I managed to more or less get it on there:
Don't enlarge this picture. Looks best from a distance!
There's an older guy who lives across the street who seems to be in construction. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him noticing what I was doing as he went about his morning. Hopefully he'll never wander over & take a good look at it. It definitely looks like it was my first time doing this.
Then I primed it, & spot primed several exposed sections of the garage door.
The faded grey-blue vinyl siding with the faded grey-blue garage door gave the house an overall washed out & tired appearance. Since the garage & window needed a coat of paint anyway, we decided to put a nice midnight blue sort of color on there to liven the place up a bit.
Before!
After!
I think it would look really good if we did the security gate, as well, to bring some color in to the upper story & unify the look of the house overall. I suspect that it's one of those projects that you regret starting about 1/3 of the way through but can't stop, however, so I think this is one more where we'll leave well enough alone.
Big thanks to Jennifer & Patrick, our visitors from Minneapolis, for helping us choose the color!
Project #4: Paint The Area Under Adrienne's Office
Same idea here -- get a coat of paint on the exposed wood before the winter rain starts.
Before!
I only got as far as priming:
After!
Good enough for rain-proofing. When I have time, I plan on putting the same midnight blue in there.
The Health Benefits people at work have a calculator that can tell you an equivalent number of miles walked for all the various activities you do around the house. It says that for all this activity last weekend, it's roughly the same as if I had walked 75 miles. Who knew that being a homeowner would be such good exercise?
Here's the state of the Mars To-Do List on Sunday night:
It's 8:30am on Saturday morning now. Time to get cracking!
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
More Things on the Walls
Busy puttering around the house this week, moving things around & putting more things up on the walls:
More work from when I was in school -- now up in the dining room
Also in the dining room, a drawing from school on the left, & one of Adrienne's photos on the right
Moved the shelves forward in my office, & put more work from school up
Also put up our newly arrived projection screen. We don't have a regular television -- there's no need, because we watch everything online. With a little help from our friend Jon, we now have a nice projector-&-screen set up to watch everything on:
That's it, above the doorway -- it's 6 feet long. Perfect fit!
And when it's down, it practically reaches the floor.
Meanwhile, coming soon:
The garage door needs a coat of paint (thank you, Auntie Jennifer & Uncle Patrick, for your opinions!)
And the Christmas beer has been brewed!
If the weather holds, it's going to be a busy weekend on Mars. Stay tuned for in-depth updates on the always-fascinating subject of winterizing!
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Finally Hanging Something In The Hall, Plus Critter News
Finally getting around to hanging some more things on the walls! Just put up a series of Adrienne's photos of her niece jumping off the back of a wagon, & a few drawings I did in school:
On the left, as you enter the front door
On the right
On the left, as you walk down the hall
On the right
What a difference it makes! It inspires me to put up more this week. Stay tuned.
In other news, we had some rain this week, & it looks like something (or somethings) left some muddy footprints on the panda!
That's a raccoon on top, but the bottom looks more like a cat -- teaming up for more effective neighborhood mayhem, perhaps?
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Combatting The Scourge of Pink Trim
This weekend, after realizing that we've been here for nearly a year & still are surrounded by pink trim in every room but one, I dedicated myself to eradicating it. After 18 hours and a gallon & a half of paint, I am about 2/3 of the way there (wow, there are a lot of doors in this house).
Bathroom & part of my office -- done!
Living room -- nearly done!
Bathroom & part of my office -- done!
Also took a few minutes to fix the squeaking towel racks & the irritatingly un-level toilet paper holder.
Hall -- done!
Apologies for not squaring & color-adjusting these photos. I am too pooped to fuss with them, so please bear with me.
Living room -- nearly done!
Dining room -- half done!
Getting behind that black heater in the corner on the right is going to be a nightmare. After that, and about six more doors, the rest of the house should be smooth sailing. I'm going to try to squeeze in some shorter sessions after work this week & see how far I can get before another trip to the East Coast this weekend.
Someday we'll actually also put color on the walls. In the meantime, the wall color that seemed so old and grimy next to the pink, looks fresh & lemony next to the white, so we'll make do just fine for a while longer.
While I was painting today, Adrienne spent several hours working out in the back yard. By the time I finished up, it was already dark, so this is the best picture I could take:
It does look terrific back there. Sorry for the poor reportage, Adrienne!
Meanwhile, today was the end of Fleet Week, when the Navy comes to town, & the Blue Angels scream overhead all across the city for 4 hours every afternoon. It's known for scaring the living daylights out of pets (& often, also their people), so we weren't sure what to expect with Zoey. Happily, after living on an Air Force base for 9 months with her foster mom, jets don't seem to be a problem for her. She didn't even raise her head from her nap on any of the days they were up there.
And today she was all too happy to help me, putting a nice stripe on her leg by brushing up against a freshly painted door jamb.
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