'round The House Projects

[bozodog]

Enough with these projects already! Grass is knee high, we have a new dishwasher and A/C to install, need to clean up a steel picnic table frame for it's NEW wood and it's time to buy and get the veggie garden planted and mulched. *SIGH* Oh, and get the deck awning back up. All I wanna do is "deck veg" with a cold adult beverage and throw a few steaks on the grill.

[JDoors]

Grass is knee high and your picnic table needs work? Is there trash all over your lawn too? I didn't THINK you lived next door but ...

Another overcast, chilly day with sprinkles coming and going so no work today. Tomorrow's supposed to be better but I won't feel like working and, hey, didn't God Himself say to rest on Sunday? Am I gonna argue with GOD?!?

Monday, mow, again. Should be outta control by then.

[TheTerrorist_75]

My step-father has been complaining that he can smell something bad. He always blames my dog. I know the aroma from the dog piles can get a bit strong when the weather is warm and the breeze blows in the right direction. I decided to do some work in his place while he is gone to camp. I could smell something strange in his bathroom, but it couldn't be from the dog's area of relief. I opened the cellar door and proceeded down the stairs to get some 1/2" pipe fittings and a nasty odor hit me. My first thought was a sewer backup. As I walked to the back part of the cellar where the sewer connection is I spotted a dead possum laying in a dried pool of blood sprawled out on the floor. Now I need to wait until dark and go back to grab and toss it to the side of the road.

I can't wait for him to come home so I can bust his butt. One would think that if something smelled bad you would investigate first before laying blame on something innocent. I don't know what is worse. Strangers for neighbors or relatives.

[bobbynichols]

I don't know what is worse. Strangers for neighbors or relatives.

Being an expert in this matter I will tell you: relatives

[16-year veteran: 6-relatives (not including my wife and I)]; {3-separate households in all on the property [21-acres]... including in-laws, daughter, grandkids }

They are also a source of some of my greatest bleßings: I've learned patience, forgiveness, wonder (grandchildren), self-sacrifice, and on and on.

Chores: a bit o' spring cleaning, maybe push the mower a bit, troubleshoot my dead car (I think I saw a post by Pandy in the toyotafans.net Tercel forum [go figger]), maybe 'play' with a bit o' barb wire, and split a little more wood.

re: JDoors

... didn't God Himself say to rest on Sunday?

Aye, verily He did ( The Ten Commandments Exodus 20:8)................ enjoy the Sabbath (whatever day it may fall to you)

[Pete_C]

Well, A couple weeks ago I sprayed the back alley with Ortho construction site once a year weed killer. They cite you and fine you here in Dallas if weeds grow in unpaved alleys behind your house, even dead end unused abandoned ones like ours. I was planning on going back and whacking down all the dead stuff this weekend, but the guy across the alley did it for me since I had gotten his side too with the weed killer (hey , I got a bunch of the stuff on clearance for $2.50 a quart at the end of the season last year so I had enough to do mine and all the surrounding neighbors too and still have enough left in case I have to do it again later in the year.).

So that was one task I did not have to do.

I had a friend from Kansas stop in for a visit when he flew back from LA, unfortunately we all seem to have come down with something very like the flu (but it can't be since we all had flu shots this fall). Cough, sinuses, fever, diarrhea, overall misery.

Since it has been stormy pretty much every day around here the last week that made it not to unbearable.

Today I feel better and they predicted no rain so I washed all the dogs (six dogs , bath day is a chore ) gave em a rubdown with cherry conditioner so they will smell pretty (They still smelled like wet dogs) and took em for a walk. When I finished with that I sprayed the yards with Ortho Bug B Gone as flea and ant preventive . Tonight they all get their biospot prevention treatment. They are finally dry and no longer smell like wet dogs . Despite the "no rain" forecast , we got light sprinkles all afternoon, but not enough to wash off the spraying, just enough to keep it from drying out.

I discovered a busted water main while walking the dogs. Water fountaining up several inches from all four corners of a street slab. I figure at least thirty gallons a minute pouring out the surface and who knows how much underneath, it sounds like a creek in the storm drain. I called it in , but so far no sign of the water department; they will probably show up and turn off the water Monday morning just as I am in the shower all covered with soap.

Yeah, dead possums stink up the place real fast. And once they start to ooze it is horrid. Darn marsupials.

The dogs caught one in the back yard when I let them out in the middle of the night to do business when my prostrate got me up to do mine. It was already pretty rank by morning.

Edited May 5, 2007 by Pete_C

[JDoors]

... I spotted a dead possum laying in a dried pool of blood sprawled out on the floor. ...

<GAG!>

How'd it wind up in the cellar?

Eww, I just remember that ... that ... THING I found in my yard last year. <shudder>

<more shuddering and a shiver to boot>

------

Oh yeah, projects. Nope, gonna rest this Sabbath.

OK, two loads of laundry, but that's IT! I got home from work and thought, "You know, I think I have it in me to mow the lawn." Did a quick walk-around, fixed the mulch some animal had gotten into (or the neighbor's kids), then ... "Nope, going inside."

I'm done. Maybe a movie.

Edited May 6, 2007 by JDoors

[TheTerrorist_75]

I think I have found the solution to the possum problem. I opened the cellar windows and outside door to let things air out before I went down and removed that noxious animal. I had to go and let my dog out and as I was doing so I noticed a bunch of stray cats come flying out of the cellar door when my dog went to check out the odor. I think I'll let the cats consume the possum.

[JDoors]

... I think I'll let the cats consume the possum.

PLease! I read these things in the morning ... <gag>.

Gotta mow before tonight's predicted rain. Grocery shopping (also printer ink for a project). More inside chores (the usual boring stuff).

Woke up, opened the blinds and saw a rabbit in the yard. Not that important, but thought I'd share.

[JDoors]

Went out to mow yesterday and the next door neighbors were out chopping down stuff.

The original owners of the house (24 years ago!) did a good job of landscaping, but things are beginning to fall apart. A yew (or whatever it is, those tall, columnar evergreens) on the corner of the house has grown as high as the two-story house, and now's rubbing on the roof and siding (the O.O. did a good job planting it far enough away from the corner, it's just grown enormous over time). They had it partially down when I went out and completely removed by the time I finished mowing. Strange to actually SEE the corners of their house (the new owners said they like an "open" look, like I have, but I have that open look because I never landscaped!).

Two long-needle pine trees that overhang my yard are dieing (the needles started turning brown and dropping -- have to keep raking them up 'cause the needles kill the grass). Those trees are prolific pine cone producers. I guess I used to throw away any cones that landed in the yard (the acidic nature of the pine sap immediately kills the grass) then one day (and I may have mentioned this back then) I thought, why not use them as mulch? You BUY ground pine mulch, and here I have free stuff falling out of the sky every day. I looked it up online and it seemed to be an accepted practice to use pine cones as mulch (you can buy dozens of types of cones in bulk for this purpose) and started picking them up and using them as mulch.

They're eventually gonna cut the trees down. No more free mulch. I JUST got everything mulched and was looking forward to the free supply to keep things maintained.

------

Forgot to mention, the owners actually asked how I felt about them cutting down the trees. How nice was that? They worried it might upset or bother me. Aww! Told 'em they're THEIR trees, they have good reasons, so I didn't think my opinion was important but thanked them for asking -- though it always bothers me to purposely kill any plants. At least in this case they were past their prime and needed to go.

Edited May 8, 2007 by JDoors

[JDoors]

I knew it couldn't last ... Some wind storms blew through and when I went out back there was (more) damage to my downspouts. Some moronic installer tied the satellite coax to the downspout, so when the wind took the downspout it also tore up the coax. Now there's a tangled mess back there, some bits hanging off the house, some landed in the yard.

I'd fix it today but that wind? It preceded rain storms. Or should I climb a ladder two stories into the air to wrangle a 20 foot long piece of metal, in the rain?

[TheTerrorist_75]

Well my old computer parts are gone. I talked to my alderman and he said to set them outside, seperated, next to the trash and the city would pick them up. I completely stripped and sorted about 12 old desktop PCs. Between all those parts and cases plus enough old parts to piece together another 10 PCs along with several burnt out monitors I had a little over half of a pickup truck load. After piling all of it beside the curb a crew of guys pulled up with an S-15 Jimmy and grabbed everything. I told them to keep an eye out because I would be placing more junk out in the next few weeks.

[JDoors]

Yesterday was nice, weather-wise, so I decided to fix the hanging downspout/coax problem out back.

I haul the wood extension ladder out back and set it up, untie the coax from what remained of the downspout, and re-affixed the coax correctly to the siding.

It should be said that I'm a big guy, the ladder's a hand-me-down, and swaying twenty feet up in the air on an old ladder that I exceed the weight limit for is ... scary.

But then I figure I have the ladder set up, I have the sheets of vinyl-clad aluminum fascia cover that blew off ... oh ... a while back, so let's git 'er done!

It was surprisingly exhausting, climbing up and down the ladder to attach the three sheets of cover that had blown off. Each required one climb to attach at the center and another to attach at one end (which also attached the other end of the previously installed sheet). Bent nails, ran out of white coated nails so had to find a substitute, etc.

In addition to being leery of climbing that ladder another reason I'd put off the fascia work is my yard is hilly. For the work I was doing I only had to worry about one particular section. I propped up the low-leg with a flat stone, finished the work and as I was stepping off the last rung the ladder slipped, I had to grab it to keep it from falling over. Whoo-boy, that was close.

A senior moment: As I'm putting away the tools in the garage I set the hammer down on the bumper of my Explorer and put the ladder away. Today I went to the gas station and another customer said, "Do you know you have a hammer on your bumper?" DOH!

[shanenin]

Since the computer business in minnesota is horrible the month of may(it will pick up in june), I set some goals to get something done around the house. I am going to finish some sheetrocking(fix an area), and trim out my windows and doors in the kitchen. If I put this down in words it might get done.

Last weekend I got my vegetable and flower garden planted.

I am happy to have accomplished something on my house. I got my sheetrock roughed in. It is all ready to mud and tape.

[Pete_C]

Since the computer business in minnesota is horrible the month of may(it will pick up in june), I set some goals to get something done around the house. I am going to finish some sheetrocking(fix an area), and trim out my windows and doors in the kitchen. If I put this down in words it might get done.

Last weekend I got my vegetable and flower garden planted.

I am happy to have accomplished something on my house. I got my sheetrock roughed in. It is all ready to mud and tape.

Last weekend I got out my bench grinder, pulled the blades off both mowers (My good mulching mower, and the older side discharge one used for overgrown areas). I discovered that the blade on the side discharge one had a big crack in it (must have hit a root or rock) so I dug through the shed and found a spare blade salvaged from another older mower when it died. I preground them with the bench grinder to razor sharpness and then used that dohickey which you put on a drill to get the angle and balance optimized. Then I did a good mow and edge and afterwards raised the height a notch for the next mowing.

Since I need to pick up gas I did not bother to mow this weekend, the lawn really does not need it yet since I raised the cutting height.

Today I am making a pot roast in my big old Lodge cast iron dutch oven . Tom Thumb (local branch of Safeway chain) has seven bone Chuck roasts for 99 cents a pound. They are very lean and minimal bone for a seven bone chuck; I may have to buy a couple more thin ones to cook on the grill for Memorial day (hmm Fajitas , chopped beef sandwiches, and plain old gobbets of grilled beef) since we will have the grandkids over.

I forget if it is the 12 or 18 quart Dutch oven , it is the bigger one which has tripod legs to put it directly on coals in a fire and the big heavy lid you can cook biscuits on while something else cooks inside. Got the roast slow simmering with steak seasoning (mustard seed ,whole peppercorn, red pepper seed, cumin seed, etc all in a grinder so I can grind them fresh onto the meat) bay leaf, garlic and onions. When it is fall apart tender in a couple hours I will add the potatoes, carrots, and celery.

I'll filter the stock and make stew out of the leftovers .

The peppers in the garden are starting to bloom , as is something I think is an eggplant. The tomatoes should not be far behind. Gotta water the lettuce today, it is close to the house so the rain misses it.

I forgot where I planted the zuccinni , summer squash, cantaloupe, watermelon, and cucumbers so I will just have to wait for them to get bigger so I can figure out which is which, but they are growing well.

The basil , thyme, and sage are all doing well .

[JDoors]

OMIGOD, you make everything sound scrumpcious.

Still spring-y here so there's enough rain to make my lawn look good (and require mowing almost every four days). Since I don't water the lawn once Summer arrives it'll dry up and I'll only have to mow down the non-desireables once in a while.

The neighbor's pine trees are still standing, so I'm gathering as many pine cones as possible before they cut 'em down. They're dropping pine cones like crazy, I need to use a bag and sometimes two (most times in the past I only picked up a few here and there, but lately ... wonder if that's another sign the trees are getting ready to pass on to the great nursery in the sky?).

[Pete_C]

We have been having rain almost every day this week.

I think they said we are actually six inches above normal for the year.

Whatever the figures are; we have only had one day above ninety this year, while last year, they started on March 03 and we were counting triple digit days by now.

I'll take the rain over the heat any day.

Still, it does put a damper on outdoor jobs.

I bought a plumbers drum drain auger (50 ft. long x 1/2'' diameter auger with five different cutter blades, 1/2 HP motor, ...)

The store had it on sale for $189, it normally retails for 250, so I just had to have it since a single visit from roto rooter cost $129 last time I called them. So I spent thursday playing with it rooting out the kitchen drain. Soon learned that it is wise to have a stool to sit on while feeding the cable , or your knees and back get sore.

Saw a lawnmower someone was throwing out because the wheels were cracked. It has the same engine as my rough work side discharge one, so I snatched it up for parts; never know when you will need a spare carb or return spring, or have the plastic air filter cover pop off and mow over it.

Still unsure as to whether we are having a Memorial day get together or not.

First the grandkids were coming to stay a few days and then they aren't . Not willing to face the OLs wrath by asking her directly to give me a straight answer; since she always believes that if he believes hard enough reality will change so she will not admit they aren't until the time has passed.

So I will probably go with grilling a small chuck roast unless folks show up in which case I'll throw on a second larger one or go get burgers and franks.

[garmanma]

Raining here off and on most of the weekend, but it's still hot. Went to turn on the AC and nothing. Dodging raindrops to fix that. Of course, being a holiday, the wife goes out and buys all new patio furniture which needs put together. Got a pregnant daughter moving back home this weekend to try and save up some money, so of course the wife has to totally disassemble /reassemble the room. Family's coming over today for burgers, dogs, and brats. Got some nice looking western-cut ribs I'll rub down and smoke tomorrow

Mark

[JDoors]

Got the lawn maintenance done ... was it Friday? (CRS) Anywho, due to incoming rain, which has been on and off and is expected to continue that way, and because I expect not to be around Monday, my usual outdoor day.

Goin' to the Niece & Nephew's for Memorial Day. Something on the grill, plus something else, and some more (I go for the company, I don't care if it's weiners and franks). A couple other relatives will be there, I haven't seen them in a long time, that'll be really nice.

[TheTerrorist_75]

No holiday for me. I ended up working 10 hours yesterday on a job 60 miles away. Because of on and off rain today I get to try and unplug my sewer line. Hey Pete, can you send the power snake up here?! Tomorrow I need to mow the lawn. I have put in so many hours this week working on 4 different jobs that I neglected mowing. Seeing as my body is sore from head to toe handling those 80 lb. blocks and 60 lb. caps on top of the upper 80 temps with humidity, I gleefully ignored the lawn.

Why do all of the clients want their large jobs finished yesterday????

[Pete_C]

Rained yesterday, raining today. At least there do not seem to be any thunderstorms in this round. Looks like rain all week off and on. So , no lawn mowing for me this weekend.

Still not sure if we are having anything tomorrow or if I just let the dogs sleep in.

Sitting here with six dogs sprawled out around me all asleep. At least none of them snore , although every once in a while there is a brief bout of soft woof woof with feet going or tail wagging from one or the other of them.

Begining to get cabin fever though, will probably have to figure out an excuse to get out of the house and go somewhere.

[garmanma]

Sitting here with six dogs sprawled out around me all asleep. At least none of them snore , although every once in a while there is a brief bout of soft woof woof with feet going or tail wagging from one or the other of them.

You want to hear dogs snore, get some pugs. Mine are worse than I've ever been

Mark

[TheTerrorist_75]

I cured my dog of his snoring. I removed his collar when he is in the house. For some reason the collar caused the snoring, even though it was loose. Now if I could only stop the sounds from the other end.

[JDoors]

... Why do all of the clients want their large jobs finished yesterday????

When I worked as a factory mechanic the bosses would pile on one project after another, without waiting for previous projects to be completed. "This one takes priority!"

Completing any one project took nothing short of a miracle.

I did make the time to create a poster I hung over my toolbox: "Hot Potato List!" When they'd give me a new project I pointed to the poster and asked where, on this list, did this project fit?

Hmm, I was a curmudgeon, even back then.

[TheTerrorist_75]

What a perfect day for mowing. Low 70s with a 10 m.p.h. NW wind. My "hayfield" looks presentable.

The jobs wouldn't be bad, but my partner took on some extra work without saying anything. I had to explain to him the jobs started last year took priority seeing as we had a few grand coming on their completion. The smaller quick cash jobs would have to wait for us to fit them into the schedule.

[JDoors]

Yeah, yesterday was better for mowing, but I went a'visitin'. Mowed today, it's hotter, I'm wasted (but still got tons o' stuff to do). Also sprayed the weeds growing in cracks and crevices where they don't belong (uh, do they ever actually "belong" anywhere? Oh yeah, the neighbor's yard!). The driveway has a large crack across the width that needs to be filled, again (when it gets unbearably hot so the mix bonds well), so hadda kill those weeds in preparation.