Accomplishment!

 Granted, I accomplished this with the liberal use of my own money, but accomplished it none the less.

I got the front step fixed with the help of two nice brothers from Millbury, Juston and Jim, sons of Jim the stone mason. They came with their little digger, trucks and tools, and raised the step so that it meets code again.

Before - the stone is flush with the ground. This made for a long step out of the house, and was called out by the inspector years ago as not up to code. You can tell how much it had suck past the bottom of the flashing at the bottom of the door.

The brothers had to go get their other truck full of gravel, so I got a picture of their cute little digger.

The mice had been tunneling and living under the big flat rock. This area has since been back filled with about 10" of 3/4 gravel. No rodents will find that enjoyable now.

It's hard to see, but it's up now! The step is now about 6" down, instead of about 13" that is was.
I was glad that the guys were very happy to just reuse the same stone.

While they were here with their digger, I asked if they could relocate the rocks that had rolled out of my retaining wall near the shed. They said sure.

Before.

This was an old retaining wall - beyond is the old 3-sided foundation for a barn to the right. It was never dressed or pretty. The rocks just flopped out over time.

The problem was the space was so narrow with the shed right there, they couldn't get a good angle to lift them. Instead they just broke them up and re-stacked the pieces.

After! I can walk through now!

 

That's a pretty big thing I'm able to cross off my list. It wasn't inexpensive, but it was all done in one day and I will never have to do it again.

One thing I will have to do again and again every 3 years or so, is seal the driveway. The last time I had it sealed,  they didn't do a very good job cleaning it first, and the seal coat is completely gone in areas only 2 years later. I borrowed my dad's power washer and scrubbed the whole driveway. Naturally, the day they were supposed to come seal the driveway it rained, so that's been put off until next Saturday. We need the rain, but not next Saturday.

The little power washer that could. It did a nice job.
Then I took a torch and burned out all the grass I could find clinging to the cracks.

 

My garden is doing ok, but isn't a fan of this unrelenting heat. The zinnias like it.

I'm already rethinking the garden for next year.
Step #1 - metal rabbit fence all the way around (right now it's only metal on two sides). The little buggers chewed right through the plastic even thought the raised beds make it so the fence starts almost 10" off the ground. That's ok, because -
Step #2 - Get 2 16' livestock panels to trellis on. I can reuse the rabbit fence that is up as a trellis right now for the sides of the garden instead.
Step #3 - figure out row covers. I'm down to 2 sad cucumber plants and 4 sad zucchini plants because of bacterial wilt. It didn't matter how many sticky yellow traps I used, or how many yellow and black striped squash beetles I squished. It's really disappointing to see the plants start to die back and there's nothing you can do about it.
Step #4 - clear better access to the back side of the garden. This will probably mean removing some lilacs, but they are mostly suckers and haven't really bloomed in years. Maybe thinning them out would make them happier.

In other news, the bathroom is still un-started. I'm leaving for a vacation for a couple of weeks, So I can't imagine anything substantial is going to happen. Honestly, the only thing I'm comfortable with him doing while I'm gone is the basement stuff. The cat has a sitter that comes in 2x a day, but I don't want these strangers tromping in and out with her under foot, potentially getting out or hurt. So, still a whole lot of nothing.

More projects.

Since June 9th or so, I've been fighting with the Zombie Lawnmower. I thought  had to all worked out, but then it spit out the self-propel belt at me. I replaced that with some help, and thought I had it fixed, and now the blade won't engage. I think I'm going to haul it home and see if my dad has any ideas. I think maybe I have the wrong size belt, but I'm not sure.

Anyway - Maybe a little vacation will help realign my perspective. :)

Last Dutch window, and a little update

I'm almost done with the last window for Ian's New World Dutch building in Ghent NY. It's a cousin to the very first leaded window I ever built. The end of a very long chapter.

Actually made and used a cartoon for this one.
(A paper template that goes under the glass you you get the spacing right.)

Got over my apprehension of the grinder.
I effed up with a friend's once, and it slammed in place a mental block that was difficult to get over.
But I was able to make the edges curved and smooth, so good job, self.

This was soooo close to done, but I messed up a cut and was a pane short. (lower right).
I had to go to my old window supply pile and get out another sheet of old glass.

Finally! All the pieces in.

Soldered and washed.

Soldered, washed and wired. All I have to do now is cement it.

 
Ian has a lead on someone who wants a custom window locally, so we'll see where that goes. Price of all the materials is going up, so if they are serious, I'll have to look into re-pricing what it would cost per square foot.

Still no movement on the bathroom.

Still no movement on the front step, but I think weather delayed them.
I'll give them a call tomorrow end of day if they haven't turned up.

I have the driveway sealers coming on 7/18, so SOMEONE better start getting their act together.
I'm not your wife.
I'm not your girlfriend.
I'm not going to nag you to do the work that you said you were going to do. I'm going to rely on you to be grown-ass adult human beings and do what you say you're going to do.
(Or in the bathroom guy's case, we're going to land in court.)
I'm tired and done being everyone's polite, understanding, never-making-waves pushover. That hasn't gotten me anywhere but cold all winter.

In other news, the lawn mower needs help. I had a feeling something was going on with it, but I cleaned it really good and the self-propel worked again. Then the belt gave out (I was in the middle of mowing the lawn and it spit the belt out at me). I have all the parts, so that will be this weekend's project.

By the power of YouTube, we will fix you!

Garden is coming along. Got a good crop of peas already, (by my standards). Picked and put up some strawberries and rhubarb too. I've managed to exclude the bunnies who don't bother to run anymore, but we can life and let live outside of the garden. I've gone on a rampage because chipmunks moved into my walls. For some reason, this summer has been terrible for mice and chipmunks in my house. In the last week I've trapped 4 chipmunks and 5 mice from traps set along my foundation. Covered tunnel rat traps seem to work the best. I refuse to poison because of the high potential for secondary poisonings. It's possible my cat Red died of rat poison a number of years ago because of a unthinking landlord. I'm very conscious of it now.

The carrots attracted Black Swallowtail Butterfly caterpillars.
When they get a little bigger, they look a lot like Monarch caterpillars.
I let them be.

My aunt gave me this great garden chicken for my birthday.
It's currently protecting the carrots.

Hopefully more news soon when other folks show up and start doing their jobs.

Quilt Repair

A while back I found this beat-up antique quit at a local shop.
"Just don't wash it" they said.
Then the cat promptly puked on it.

Needless to say, it had to be washed. A number of times. I wasn't so concerned because I think it cost me $35, and held no historical or sentimental value. Heck, the back and batting are modern material, so I suspect someone lifted this well-loved (and stained) top off an old quilt and repurposed it.

The reason they told me not to wash it is because some of the fibers were so old (and I suspect dry-rotted) that they just started to disintegrate. Not all of them, just specific patterns.

This red fabric specifically didn't age well, but neither did a brown pattern.

You can see the center red diamonds are failing.
At the very bottom I'd already removed one entirely.

I got some similar fabric that is close, but not matching. I didn't want to try to match it.

I think this is the first time I've had the iron out in years.

Ironed over a little bit to grab on to

And then very carefully blanket stitched them on.

TaDa!
Fixed patch.

 

I had thought I could just sort of applique over the existing fabric, but removing it entirely was better. I also started out by trying to do a running stitch on the back of three sides, and then blanket stitching the 4th, (sort of the idea of sewing a pillow) but that was not as easy as I had hoped.
My blanket stitch got much better by the time I was done.

All told, I replaced 11 diamonds - 9 red and two blue. I restitched a bunch of other seams where the fabric had just shredded. Someday I might wind up replacing them too.

Not the best work, but at least there's no holes I can put my hand through any more.

 

The cat seems pretty pleased, anyway, and if you look fast from a distance, you can barely tell. It's really not the prettiest quilt in the world, but someone took the time to make it (and remake it) so I figure I should at least mend it. The cat thinks it's fine. It does have a particular smell I've never been able to get out.

Fixed.

Sorry. I've had a lot going on.

 

I've started a new post a number of times, and every time I got distracted or something came up and then then it just sort of fizzled out.

Stress will do that. Year two of a pandemic that most of the country seems content to ignore in some state of willful ignorance and acceptable losses. A new-to-me-car that developed issues almost immediately (The '16 CRV needed a new catalytic converter to the tune of $2k. The dealership made good on it, thank goodness.) More layoffs at work that have left me down another boss and out 6 direct coworkers. I'm the only one left in the States who does what I do. A bathroom that has been in a state of half demolition since last August. A living room in a state of half completion since December. A neighbor who is happy to fly Trump flags and other distasteful... yard adornments... that I get to look out at every day.
And a relationship that had run it's course, with a breakup that occurred right before Valentine's Day.
I have the best timing.

My front morning view taken through a piece of antique reclaimed red glass.

As the one who instigated the parting of ways, you'd think that I'd be all over this by now. But you'd be terribly wrong. My partner was my best friend and confidant, who I'd been with for close to ten years. We had grown together in many ways, starting that day in Boston when we didn't get blown up at the finish line only because of a last minute change of route and the grace of God. But we had started to grow apart as well, and though I hate to say that Covid killed our relationship, it drove home to me that we were built on shared experiences. When that was taken away, we were reduced to 2x a day phone calls. I experienced a frightening disphoria that I only was able to identify in hindsight. He had become a voice; when we were finally able to be together, his voice no longer matched the person I remembered in my head. For me, it became a process of meeting a new person every few months - a person that I was supposed to have intimate familiarity with - who wasn't who I remembered. His voice became uncoupled from his physical self in my head. There were a lot of other issues as well, related to distance and life's paths diverging.

I guess I've changed too, though I feel more like I've been standing still and the world has just past me by.

 

It has made working on the house - something I thought I would have more help with than I got, something I'm more comfortable working on specifically because of my relationship with him - hard. Sometimes impossible. Memories bubble up and won't leave me alone, so I walk away from the work bench and tools and try to figure out who the hell I am - who is this person who's lived in a strange sort of limbo for years - who may or may not be able to tolerate people in my space any more. At 1 month shy of 42, likely past my ability to have a family, it's.... daunting... to even consider what dating looks like today, and I wonder about my worth in the world and if I'm compatible with anyone left on earth. It's easy to doom-spiral when you can see as far backwards as you think you can project forward.
I guess that's why they call it a mid-life crisis.

When all else fails, find something hard to do,
like moving 2 yards of dirt one drywall bucket at a time.

So I'd better get a move on with the house, because there's no knight in shining armor who's going to show up and do it for me, never mind that if I want it done and done right, I'd better do it myself. (Which, if you've had any sort of therapy, you'll recognize as absolutely not a healthy coping mechanism. But it is what it is, and it's what I've got left.)

I've completed the raised beds out back as much as I'm able to at this time. Built the last far back bed, ordered 2 yards of dirt and got everything filled. The dirt isn't great and needs some amendments, but with the cost of gas right now, it was actually cheaper than having some driven down from the farm.

Before the last bed (far back right)

Trying out the hugelkulture method of bed-filling (fill the bottom with wood).
It'll rot and break down, and most garden plant roots don't got that deep anyway.
It will probably take the box with it when it goes. But that's a tomorrow's money problem.

Bye wood! Rot peacefully!

All three beds (two are 3' x 16', the one closest to the house is 2' x 16') are done. I'm considering a load of mulch for between them - after I fence it off, mowing it turns into a pain in the neck.

I'm also considering 2 yards of crushed stone for the bottom of the driveway. Everyone cuts the curb, which had made it sort of a muddy mess, and now I've caught the postman turning around here (which is fine) but he also missing the pavement. We'll see.

⥈

I participated in a fundraiser for the Bangor Humane Society to help my friend Monique - you make a  donation, they take the image of a pet you submit and assign it to a random artist. You could get a professional, or you could get a picture from the local 1st grade art class (that's part of the fun - you have no idea). These were the three pictures I came up with. Short haired dogs are the best, but I got better with fur on the grey cat. Considering I haven't painted in a very long time, and never seriously, I don't think these are embarrassing.

I also washed the screens and got them in, which is terribly exciting.

I went into Boston for Palm Sunday, which I hadn't done in over 2 years. While I was there, I decided to take in the Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum. I'd forgotten that none of the art is labeled, which drives me nuts, but I guess it's part of the directions of the trust. (She didn't have to label anything, and wanted it to stay the way she had it when she lived there.)
The courtyard is stunning, as always.

More people than I prefer these days, but so pretty.

⥈

Any who. I promise to try to be better about regular posts, but sometimes it's hard to tell if anything is really worthy content. 

Until next time, remember that evening snuggles and ice cream are two very good things.

(Ice cream sandwich not featured in this photo.)

A minor fix

Since the beginning of the heating season, there's been a minor annoyance that I just couldn't seem to fix. The damper on my furnace flue was getting stuck open. I would go down stairs and knock it loose, but every time I went down there, it was stuck open.

Now, hot air rises. So this stupid thing was sucking the warm(ish) air out of my basement every time this happened.

Dramatic recreation of it being stuck open.
You can't really tell, but my finger is holding it that way.

Last night I went down and stared at it. I got out my bottle of fancy German oil that Ian had given me and squirted some on the pivots. It swung better when it swung, but as I fiddled with it, the blasted thing would still get stuck open. But not all the time. Finally I noticed a little side-to-side play in the swinging plate, and from there I figured out that it was getting hung up on the very tippy-tip of a sheet metal screw that comes in from the side.

The offending screw is called out.

I backed off that screw, and the blasted thing doesn't get stuck any more!

Ta-da!

The bed is done!

And functions precisely as a bed should!

I did have to order a "bunky board" because I was super uncomfortable sleeping so far off the gound after having slept so close to it for so long. I'm sad that I don't have easy access to that window any more. Who knows, maybe by this time next year, I'll be back on the floor. :)

I put together and moved this bed 3 times before I landed here. Had to take the tiny casters off because it was far too wobbly at that height.

With split box spring. Now if I could have just slept on the box spring, it would have been fine.

With mattress.... things are getting tall. Oh dear.

With bed things. you can barely see the bed. Guess it was ok not to worry too much about the finish.

So far away from the ground! At this moment, I grabbed the phone and ordered the Bunky Board so I could get rid of about 3" of height.

I also noted that someone had tacked pieces of 2x4's on to the bed slats, so I got rd of those and managed to lower the how thing by at least 5". There's little visual difference with all the bed stuff on, but you can see a wee bit more of the headboard.

I started window # 12 of 14 for Ian's shop too. I sucked it up and figured out a much better way of designing the window so it matches it's partner better. It can never match 100%, because the opening is a different size (one is fixed, one swings out) and they are also in two different planes - the fixed one sits about 3" further out in the opening then the swinging one.

Dutch windows were made up of glass that starts off 4" x 6". I cut a bunch of them to start.

I reuse all sorts of glass as long as I can cut it. This is a mix of reclaimed Victorian are storm windows (aqua) and turn of the century vestibule windows from a house outside Boston (lime). That one super dark and thin pane is anyone's guess. 

Cut and fitted up.

Soldered. I played solder chicken and won! (I did have a spare roll in case this happened.)

Little wires soldered on.

Cemented and powdered. The white powder ("whiting") helps the cement cure faster, I'm told. It also helps clean the oils off the glass.

I took a minute to clean the basement, include vacuum my filter box. It's not 100%, but at least all this dust wasn't let to float around the basement.

I was able to meet Ian on Sunday, and he took home the window and installed it.

So this was the old design:

Old style. Blegh.

New style. Still not match-y, which drives me nuts, but much better.
I'm told even better in person.

I have to make a second one with the narrow center (there's two sets of these) but then it'll be on to the last window and this project can be done.

Shellac is where it's at

Quick update: After reading the back of the Old Masters can of finish, and the insane warnings about using it indoors, I've opted for bug squishin's. (That's what shellac is made out of.)
It still has a mild smell, but it won't do terrible things like that other can of stuff would.

Also, a second coat of stain left to sit on the poplar for almost a half hour before rubbing got it close enough for my satisfaction.