This week has seen some progress. As of now the pool is 99% "swimable." All we need are a few warm days to bring the temperature up. I'd like it better if the trees were down and the leaves not able to fall in the pool, but since Eloise the tractor is still out of commission, it won't be happening today.
I actually got the right ignition coil to get Eloise running but when I installed it one of the terminals snapped off. At least I got to turn over the engine with the new battery. First I've been able to do that in more than a year.
Most of this week's been spent on the Airstream, getting it ready to support us while we're building the rest of the house. There's a serious mystery with the fresh water system that I haven't figured out yet. Details to follow once I know what's going on. We have electricity for lights and battery charging, the gray water works. As soon as I get a backhoe on site we'll have a place to dump the black water. No major leaks that we've found so far.
Once I get the water issue resolved we'll figure out if the hot water heater works or not. And I'll need to install better electrical hookups to check on the refrigerator's operation.
Sal is packing up the house, we're hoping to get this taken care of in the next few weeks.
We're on our way!
Doug
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Aug 20 update
Here's the link to some pictures I just put up:
by Stickbug54
In other news:
I went for the more expensive, solid rubber tire on the wheelbarrow. At least it's impossible for it to flat. Cross at least one SNAFU off my list.
Still haven't found more blue barrels, but did buy two large garbage cans to help out with the log jam in debris removal.
Two more loads of water should give me enough depth to think about vacuuming the pool. Hope to get that in on Thursday.
The drill and bits came in this week. We can tear up some wood now!
The second application of Roundup seems to be taking effect, albeit more slowly than desired, in all areas except the sumac. If conditions later this week are favorable, I'll hit that area again.
Tomorrow I'm off to visit relatives and share some old photos and documents that have recently come into my possession.
Blessings!
Doug
by Stickbug54
In other news:
I went for the more expensive, solid rubber tire on the wheelbarrow. At least it's impossible for it to flat. Cross at least one SNAFU off my list.
Still haven't found more blue barrels, but did buy two large garbage cans to help out with the log jam in debris removal.
Two more loads of water should give me enough depth to think about vacuuming the pool. Hope to get that in on Thursday.
The drill and bits came in this week. We can tear up some wood now!
The second application of Roundup seems to be taking effect, albeit more slowly than desired, in all areas except the sumac. If conditions later this week are favorable, I'll hit that area again.
Tomorrow I'm off to visit relatives and share some old photos and documents that have recently come into my possession.
Blessings!
Doug
Saturday, August 16, 2008
The Black Death - Tarpaper on wood floor
I'm deep into trying to remove the kitchen floor. If there were not so many layers to it already, and if those layers were not so saturated with animal waste and mold, I'd have left the floor in place. But it had to go, so here I am.
There are three layers of linoleum and vinyl, plus a layer of 1/4" plywood sandwiched together and nailed 1' on center. The plywood and top layer of vinyl are relatively easy to get up, but the bottom two layers are stuck to tar paper which is in turn glued to the wood floor. What a mess to try to get up. I've spent some time online looking for a simpler solution and it seems that either heat or chemicals are the key. I like the idea of either a hot iron or a wallpaper steamer to soften the mess, then scrape it off. Several days on my knees ahead.
Fortunately, my only concern is that the floor be relatively level so that we can put down a layer of underlayment and then install tile atop that. I don't have to worry about cleaning and refinishing the wood floor.
Other news, in no particular order:
My "hoped for" supplier of blue barrels has lost his connection. So now I have to find an alternative source for debris removal. I've started to take the plaster out to a convenient hole behind the chicken shed and bury it there. There's nothing in it that will hurt anything I can see. But the linoleum/tile/vinyl needs to go to the landfill.
Speaking of debris removal... the tire on the wheel barrow went flat. I can either take a chance on a new tube ($6) or a new "never goes flat" wheel ($40). The tube replacement would take some time to get the old one out and the new one in. The new wheel looks to be a straight forward "bolt in" replacement. Right now I'm leaning towards anything that won't break or require maintenance and is easy.
On the pool front, I was able to use a product this week that made the particles in solution clump together and fall to the bottom of the pool. This got rid of the cloudiness almost like magic. The problem is that the only way to get the particles off the bottom of the pool is to run the vacuum on "waste", bypassing the filter and pumping the nasty water out of the pool. Getting water in the pool has been a problem from the get go. The water level in the pool dropped below the level needed to run the skimmer/vacuum before I was done vacuuming. Since the well has run dry again, I delivered three loads of water Friday and brought the level up a fair amount so at least the pump could run. But, I will need another four loads before I can vacuum again. And probably three or four loads of water after I vacuum. And I need two days to shock it once it's vacuumed. The only water source is to bring it from our old home, 14 miles away, by tank in the pickup. Yech. I did rig up the gutters on the barn to feed into the pool, but we haven't had any significant rainfall since I did that. This is all a lot of work for a little relaxation, which will soon be too cold to use. Oh, well, at least we'll be ready for next year...
I've ordered a special drill for boring holes in joists and walls. I'm going to be running a lot of wires and tubing, I figured I'd better have the right tool for the job. It should be here Monday.
The areas sprayed with Roundup earlier this week don't seem to be showing any signs of ill effect. Those areas I hit on the first application are really dead, no signs that the sumac is coming back. Yet. But those areas from application #2 are not showing any ill effects. I'd hoped they'd be yellowing by now. If they don't start to turn yellow by Monday, I'll hit them again on the next bright sunny day we have. I think I sprayed them too late in the day for it to be absorbed in the plants. I spent some time Thursday evening picking up dead limbs and debris in the "sumac grove" on the north side of the property. Friday I cut some dead limbs off some trees there. I think this might actually work and the area look OK once the grass recovers! My neighbor on that side has a lot of old lumber she wants to burn up. I told her she could bring it over and toss it on my burn pile and we'd take care of it for her... :)
That's all I can think of for now. More another day.
Doug
There are three layers of linoleum and vinyl, plus a layer of 1/4" plywood sandwiched together and nailed 1' on center. The plywood and top layer of vinyl are relatively easy to get up, but the bottom two layers are stuck to tar paper which is in turn glued to the wood floor. What a mess to try to get up. I've spent some time online looking for a simpler solution and it seems that either heat or chemicals are the key. I like the idea of either a hot iron or a wallpaper steamer to soften the mess, then scrape it off. Several days on my knees ahead.
Fortunately, my only concern is that the floor be relatively level so that we can put down a layer of underlayment and then install tile atop that. I don't have to worry about cleaning and refinishing the wood floor.
Other news, in no particular order:
My "hoped for" supplier of blue barrels has lost his connection. So now I have to find an alternative source for debris removal. I've started to take the plaster out to a convenient hole behind the chicken shed and bury it there. There's nothing in it that will hurt anything I can see. But the linoleum/tile/vinyl needs to go to the landfill.
Speaking of debris removal... the tire on the wheel barrow went flat. I can either take a chance on a new tube ($6) or a new "never goes flat" wheel ($40). The tube replacement would take some time to get the old one out and the new one in. The new wheel looks to be a straight forward "bolt in" replacement. Right now I'm leaning towards anything that won't break or require maintenance and is easy.
On the pool front, I was able to use a product this week that made the particles in solution clump together and fall to the bottom of the pool. This got rid of the cloudiness almost like magic. The problem is that the only way to get the particles off the bottom of the pool is to run the vacuum on "waste", bypassing the filter and pumping the nasty water out of the pool. Getting water in the pool has been a problem from the get go. The water level in the pool dropped below the level needed to run the skimmer/vacuum before I was done vacuuming. Since the well has run dry again, I delivered three loads of water Friday and brought the level up a fair amount so at least the pump could run. But, I will need another four loads before I can vacuum again. And probably three or four loads of water after I vacuum. And I need two days to shock it once it's vacuumed. The only water source is to bring it from our old home, 14 miles away, by tank in the pickup. Yech. I did rig up the gutters on the barn to feed into the pool, but we haven't had any significant rainfall since I did that. This is all a lot of work for a little relaxation, which will soon be too cold to use. Oh, well, at least we'll be ready for next year...
I've ordered a special drill for boring holes in joists and walls. I'm going to be running a lot of wires and tubing, I figured I'd better have the right tool for the job. It should be here Monday.
The areas sprayed with Roundup earlier this week don't seem to be showing any signs of ill effect. Those areas I hit on the first application are really dead, no signs that the sumac is coming back. Yet. But those areas from application #2 are not showing any ill effects. I'd hoped they'd be yellowing by now. If they don't start to turn yellow by Monday, I'll hit them again on the next bright sunny day we have. I think I sprayed them too late in the day for it to be absorbed in the plants. I spent some time Thursday evening picking up dead limbs and debris in the "sumac grove" on the north side of the property. Friday I cut some dead limbs off some trees there. I think this might actually work and the area look OK once the grass recovers! My neighbor on that side has a lot of old lumber she wants to burn up. I told her she could bring it over and toss it on my burn pile and we'd take care of it for her... :)
That's all I can think of for now. More another day.
Doug
Saturday, August 09, 2008
Sumac and Thistles and Burdock, Oh My!
There is no Yellow Brick Road to house renovation, but at least there are no Lions, Tiger or Bears roaming the grounds. Weeds are as close as I get, so far.
About a week ago I sprayed a bunch of the aforementioned weeds with a double strength Roundup. Slowly they are withering. Tough weeds. The area north of the barn that has been so infested with them seems to be showing improvement. It will be nice if I can get that under control and my neighbor won't have that sumac stinking up her house.
The pool is still not useable, needs more of something to clear up the water. A trip to the pool store is in order for Monday. As near as I can tell the bottom is slowly appearing, most of the leaves are out and as soon as the water clears up and the deck is scrubbed down, we'll be ready to swim.
Sledgehammers were procured since I last wrote so the upstairs demolition is almost done. There are still two doorways to open up and then we're done busting up stuff. I'm waiting for delivery of some plastic barrels before trying to remove the debris. Much more efficient than trying to bag it and haul out the bags.
The repriming of the well turned into a huge task. I put over 200 gallons down the well over more than a weeks's time and it just barely filled it enough to fire the pump back up. Once it got running again, I let the hose run for about four hours, at a reduced rate, to bring the pool level up. And I ran it dry again. But this time I caught it in time. So I waited two days and tried it again and with a few slurps and spits reprimed itself.
On the first round of fillings I dumped a bottle of Chlorox down there to try to kill off any nasties that crept in. We'll see if that worked. I don't think the Chlorox permeated very far though because you could sure smell it when it came back up. Good to have water pressure on site again, however.
The frost proof hydrant by the barn is now back in operation and doing a bang up job. I finally found the right fitting under the "black plastic piping" section of Lowes. I'd been scouring the regular plumbing area and going nuts to get a 3/4" barb fitting on one end and a 1" pipe thread on the other. When I wandered over to the black pipe section I about fell over when the right fitting was sitting right there and only $.34. When I finally got the fitting installed and began to refill the hole I put a wheel barrow full of gravel in the bottom, tamped that down and then put the dirt back on top. Since I had extra dirt and extra bricks laying around, I built a little "casing" above ground and topped it with brick to help hold the hydrant upright. Seems to have worked so far and provides a nice surface to set a bucket on if you're filling it under the hydrant.
Eloise still needs to have the jumper cables put to her, so to speak. It took forever to find a battery that would provide the amps needed and still fit in the case that was on the tractor. I finally found one and now just need to clean, prime and paint the case so I can reinstall the battery and crank her over. The good news is that most of the grass is mown and not growing very fast right now. But it would be nice to get some of those trees down before they start to drop their leaves soon.
This afternoon I've scheduled a trip to Lowes to pick up some heavy duty linoleum scrapers to see if we can remove the kitchen floor without damaging the wood floor beneath it. Once that floor's up, I can begin work on the PEX tubing which will go in under the floor. I have only about six inches between the floor joists and the top of the cistern. My plan at this point is to open holes in the floor on the east side of the kitchen, under where the cabinets will sit, and drill through the joists. Then I'll thread the tubing through, pulling a loop across under each joist pocket and attaching it on the far (west) wall. There is no way to get in there to attach the tubing up alongside the joists. My plan is to slide 2" thick sheets of insulation in from the side, in the basement, on top of 2x4 "sleepers" on the flat, then twist the sleepers to lift the insulation up close to the bottom of the joists. I'll have a perimeter lined with 2" rigid foam insulation board as well, so theoretically this should force the heat from the PEX upwards. It's not perfect, it won't be airtight on the perimeter, but at this point I don't see a better alternative given the limited access.
Once the kitchen floor has the heat run, we can cut the window and door openings we need, run the heat for the second floor and start building out that room.
Yesterday I spent the day moving dirt since it was such a lovely day to work outside. There were two places on the south and west side of the house I'd dumped dirt the last time I'd had a backhoe on the property. Those piles never got smoothed down and were an obstacle to mowing. Now they're shaped up properly and I can get to more of the property with Eloise once she's up and running.
Much more to write but that's all for now.
Onward and upward!
Doug
About a week ago I sprayed a bunch of the aforementioned weeds with a double strength Roundup. Slowly they are withering. Tough weeds. The area north of the barn that has been so infested with them seems to be showing improvement. It will be nice if I can get that under control and my neighbor won't have that sumac stinking up her house.
The pool is still not useable, needs more of something to clear up the water. A trip to the pool store is in order for Monday. As near as I can tell the bottom is slowly appearing, most of the leaves are out and as soon as the water clears up and the deck is scrubbed down, we'll be ready to swim.
Sledgehammers were procured since I last wrote so the upstairs demolition is almost done. There are still two doorways to open up and then we're done busting up stuff. I'm waiting for delivery of some plastic barrels before trying to remove the debris. Much more efficient than trying to bag it and haul out the bags.
The repriming of the well turned into a huge task. I put over 200 gallons down the well over more than a weeks's time and it just barely filled it enough to fire the pump back up. Once it got running again, I let the hose run for about four hours, at a reduced rate, to bring the pool level up. And I ran it dry again. But this time I caught it in time. So I waited two days and tried it again and with a few slurps and spits reprimed itself.
On the first round of fillings I dumped a bottle of Chlorox down there to try to kill off any nasties that crept in. We'll see if that worked. I don't think the Chlorox permeated very far though because you could sure smell it when it came back up. Good to have water pressure on site again, however.
The frost proof hydrant by the barn is now back in operation and doing a bang up job. I finally found the right fitting under the "black plastic piping" section of Lowes. I'd been scouring the regular plumbing area and going nuts to get a 3/4" barb fitting on one end and a 1" pipe thread on the other. When I wandered over to the black pipe section I about fell over when the right fitting was sitting right there and only $.34.
Eloise still needs to have the jumper cables put to her, so to speak. It took forever to find a battery that would provide the amps needed and still fit in the case that was on the tractor. I finally found one and now just need to clean, prime and paint the case so I can reinstall the battery and crank her over. The good news is that most of the grass is mown and not growing very fast right now. But it would be nice to get some of those trees down before they start to drop their leaves soon.
This afternoon I've scheduled a trip to Lowes to pick up some heavy duty linoleum scrapers to see if we can remove the kitchen floor without damaging the wood floor beneath it. Once that floor's up, I can begin work on the PEX tubing which will go in under the floor. I have only about six inches between the floor joists and the top of the cistern. My plan at this point is to open holes in the floor on the east side of the kitchen, under where the cabinets will sit, and drill through the joists. Then I'll thread the tubing through, pulling a loop across under each joist pocket and attaching it on the far (west) wall. There is no way to get in there to attach the tubing up alongside the joists. My plan is to slide 2" thick sheets of insulation in from the side, in the basement, on top of 2x4 "sleepers" on the flat, then twist the sleepers to lift the insulation up close to the bottom of the joists. I'll have a perimeter lined with 2" rigid foam insulation board as well, so theoretically this should force the heat from the PEX upwards. It's not perfect, it won't be airtight on the perimeter, but at this point I don't see a better alternative given the limited access.
Once the kitchen floor has the heat run, we can cut the window and door openings we need, run the heat for the second floor and start building out that room.
Yesterday I spent the day moving dirt since it was such a lovely day to work outside. There were two places on the south and west side of the house I'd dumped dirt the last time I'd had a backhoe on the property. Those piles never got smoothed down and were an obstacle to mowing. Now they're shaped up properly and I can get to more of the property with Eloise once she's up and running.
Much more to write but that's all for now.
Onward and upward!
Doug
Thursday, July 24, 2008
July 24 update
This week's been productive. We've gotten the pool on the way to being useable. It was really nasty in there but we've gotten the cover off, lots of chlorine in it and it's looking better than when we started. Today I figured out how to use the leaf bag on the long pole to try to reduce the number we'll have to deal with later. The end of the long pole got smooshed a while back when I ran over it with the tractor so I spent some time today "unflattening" it and attaching the leaf bag. Alex enjoyed hunting for leaves beneath the pea soup of the pool water. Progress comes in many forms.... :)
Wednesday, on the house proper, we tore out a closet in the SE bedroom and removed all the debris to the burn pile, along with all the scrap torn out previously. We also ripped out the door trim and casings in the upstairs doorways. They'll be replaced with casing that will look like 1750's material. All that's left to do up there demolition-wise is to take out a plaster wall where the new hallway is going and remove the old bathroom. Hoping we can get that completed by early last week. The head came off our sledgehammer so work there is suspended until I can get a new sledgehammer.
Today was one of the best working days all summer and we spent a lot of it whipping the bushes into shape around the yard. There are what seem like miles of overgrown privet hedges. Less of them are overgrown now.
Tuesday I tried to "top off" the pool so we could run the filter. We got the water we needed but managed to run the pump dry so it lost it's priming. Wednesday it rained REALLY hard and the pool was almost overflowing this morning. Today I tried to get the well pump reprimed (12 gallons later...) but didn't have enough clean water to do the job. So I brought home the 65 gallon ag tank and filled it up. I'll have clean water and to spare now. :)
Oh, one other little job, we dug up the "frost proof" hydrant (it's not a faucet, it's a hydrant if you go looking for one) and discovered a mysterious connection to the water supply that I have no idea what it's for. We decided that if we didn't know what it was, it was getting cut off, which made it easier to cobble together the right piping. Or so we thought. We got home and discovered that the plastic barbed fitting that looked like it had the right threading to fit the galvanized elbow actually doesn't. Back to the store tomorrow for the right fitting. I hope.
So if all goes well, we'll have the well working again, the faucet (ahem, the HYDRANT) by the barn working as well and a good bunch of the kitchen floor linoleum torn up. Cross your fingers. :)
On the Eloise resurrection project, she's gotten her new starter motor installed but the battery was kaput. So that's the next item on the shopping list for her. Once we have battery installed we'll see if we can get gasoline and electricity to work their magic in her guts and get her running again. The yard is pretty well fixed lawn-wise, but if she's running I can cut down trees along the road and haul them out of there much more easily. And considering how many leaves we've had to scoop out of that pool, those trees are going to GO at some point this summer. :) (Just so you know, they're all growing up into the telephone/CATV lines as well, so they really have to go.
For most of this week I've had the able assistance of Joel and Alex, two hardworking young fellows with strong backs who are able to take directions well, so things are stepping along. It's wonderful to say, "Sweep this up" or "tear this out" or "cut this back" and they make it happen while I'm off puttering on other things. It's a great blessing.
Thanks for reading my "stream of consciousness." Off to the land of Nod.
Doug
Wednesday, on the house proper, we tore out a closet in the SE bedroom and removed all the debris to the burn pile, along with all the scrap torn out previously. We also ripped out the door trim and casings in the upstairs doorways. They'll be replaced with casing that will look like 1750's material. All that's left to do up there demolition-wise is to take out a plaster wall where the new hallway is going and remove the old bathroom. Hoping we can get that completed by early last week. The head came off our sledgehammer so work there is suspended until I can get a new sledgehammer.
Today was one of the best working days all summer and we spent a lot of it whipping the bushes into shape around the yard. There are what seem like miles of overgrown privet hedges. Less of them are overgrown now.
Tuesday I tried to "top off" the pool so we could run the filter. We got the water we needed but managed to run the pump dry so it lost it's priming. Wednesday it rained REALLY hard and the pool was almost overflowing this morning. Today I tried to get the well pump reprimed (12 gallons later...) but didn't have enough clean water to do the job. So I brought home the 65 gallon ag tank and filled it up. I'll have clean water and to spare now. :)
Oh, one other little job, we dug up the "frost proof" hydrant (it's not a faucet, it's a hydrant if you go looking for one) and discovered a mysterious connection to the water supply that I have no idea what it's for. We decided that if we didn't know what it was, it was getting cut off, which made it easier to cobble together the right piping. Or so we thought. We got home and discovered that the plastic barbed fitting that looked like it had the right threading to fit the galvanized elbow actually doesn't. Back to the store tomorrow for the right fitting. I hope.
So if all goes well, we'll have the well working again, the faucet (ahem, the HYDRANT) by the barn working as well and a good bunch of the kitchen floor linoleum torn up. Cross your fingers. :)
On the Eloise resurrection project, she's gotten her new starter motor installed but the battery was kaput. So that's the next item on the shopping list for her. Once we have battery installed we'll see if we can get gasoline and electricity to work their magic in her guts and get her running again. The yard is pretty well fixed lawn-wise, but if she's running I can cut down trees along the road and haul them out of there much more easily. And considering how many leaves we've had to scoop out of that pool, those trees are going to GO at some point this summer. :) (Just so you know, they're all growing up into the telephone/CATV lines as well, so they really have to go.
For most of this week I've had the able assistance of Joel and Alex, two hardworking young fellows with strong backs who are able to take directions well, so things are stepping along. It's wonderful to say, "Sweep this up" or "tear this out" or "cut this back" and they make it happen while I'm off puttering on other things. It's a great blessing.
Thanks for reading my "stream of consciousness." Off to the land of Nod.
Doug
Friday, July 11, 2008
Mid-summer progress
I've taken more time in June than anticipated with outside activities, but my board is now clear and Walnut Hill squarely in my sights. (To mix metaphors) This week has been spent getting the grounds whipped into shape. I spent the better part of two days just mowing the grounds and dealing with rocks. I've discovered that the rocks which jut out of the ground and bedevil my lawn mower can be reduced to ground level relatively quickly with a few deft blows from my sledgehammer. Thus mowing in the future will be much smoother and less troublesome.
I've also once more cut down a huge growth of sumac trees that continue to spring up from the old roots on the north side of the property where I want a rock garden. I was going to spray them in June but didn't get to it. By the time I got to them this week they were way too big to tackle with spray (many over 8' high), so I cut them down with the brush cutter, again, and will nail them with extra strength Roundup when they start to sprout again. I'm astonished at how persistant these trees are. If I could only find a use for these trees I could be a rich man.
That goes double for burdock. This weed pops up all over the place and if left unattended to will grow to prodigious size (8'+) very quickly. It seems to grow best in the areas I mow infrequently, rarely in the areas I've let go wild, which is odd.
As for the house itself, the ceiling is now down and out of the kitchen area. I've removed all the plumbing and wiring from the area as well. The floor needs to come up and then a window and a door opening widened. I also have to cut a new door opening in the north wall and from the dining room to the kitchen. Then we can begin thinking about installing the PEX tubing, insulation, etc. in there.
The trailer is set up and open for business. I put the awning out yesterday and had a refreshing lunch sitting in the shade. Still seems strange to actually own my own Airstream.
Today I plan to cut down a few remaining sumac and then toss the limbs on the burn pile. Also there are some hedges to cut back along the road. If I have time I'll install the new starter in Eloise. (The old one I took in to be rebuilt had no repairable parts in it, they said. $200, whew!) Once she's up and running it'll make the job of mowing MUCH faster. But it's been good to do the whole yard with the walk-behind because I've been able to note and eliminate so many of those rocks. Eloise will probably need a new battery before I can get her going though.
It feels good to have the grounds getting much more "trimmed up" than they've been in the past. The trees we cut down earlier are all now cut to firewood length and stacked up behind the chicken coop and the "cutting floor" area there is now cleaned up of weeds and whatnot.
Tomorrow I'll consult with a mason friend of mine on the best way to widen the window openings and cut the new doorway into the north wall of the kitchen. He's also got the right equipment to cut those openings cleanly and he's offered to let me borrow his big diamond blade saw.
Next week I want to first focus on getting the shop squared away and cleared for action. It would save a lot of time if I don't have to go hunting for things, so creating shelving and getting organized will be the first priority. Then I'll get the pool open. :)
We're on our way!
Doug
I've also once more cut down a huge growth of sumac trees that continue to spring up from the old roots on the north side of the property where I want a rock garden. I was going to spray them in June but didn't get to it. By the time I got to them this week they were way too big to tackle with spray (many over 8' high), so I cut them down with the brush cutter, again, and will nail them with extra strength Roundup when they start to sprout again. I'm astonished at how persistant these trees are. If I could only find a use for these trees I could be a rich man.
That goes double for burdock. This weed pops up all over the place and if left unattended to will grow to prodigious size (8'+) very quickly. It seems to grow best in the areas I mow infrequently, rarely in the areas I've let go wild, which is odd.
As for the house itself, the ceiling is now down and out of the kitchen area. I've removed all the plumbing and wiring from the area as well. The floor needs to come up and then a window and a door opening widened. I also have to cut a new door opening in the north wall and from the dining room to the kitchen. Then we can begin thinking about installing the PEX tubing, insulation, etc. in there.
The trailer is set up and open for business. I put the awning out yesterday and had a refreshing lunch sitting in the shade. Still seems strange to actually own my own Airstream.
Today I plan to cut down a few remaining sumac and then toss the limbs on the burn pile. Also there are some hedges to cut back along the road. If I have time I'll install the new starter in Eloise. (The old one I took in to be rebuilt had no repairable parts in it, they said. $200, whew!) Once she's up and running it'll make the job of mowing MUCH faster. But it's been good to do the whole yard with the walk-behind because I've been able to note and eliminate so many of those rocks. Eloise will probably need a new battery before I can get her going though.
It feels good to have the grounds getting much more "trimmed up" than they've been in the past. The trees we cut down earlier are all now cut to firewood length and stacked up behind the chicken coop and the "cutting floor" area there is now cleaned up of weeds and whatnot.
Tomorrow I'll consult with a mason friend of mine on the best way to widen the window openings and cut the new doorway into the north wall of the kitchen. He's also got the right equipment to cut those openings cleanly and he's offered to let me borrow his big diamond blade saw.
Next week I want to first focus on getting the shop squared away and cleared for action. It would save a lot of time if I don't have to go hunting for things, so creating shelving and getting organized will be the first priority. Then I'll get the pool open. :)
We're on our way!
Doug
Friday, May 30, 2008
Progress comes in little steps sometimes
Yesterday I attended the funeral of a friend from school. His son was in my homeroom for several years. At age 52 he died of a brain tumor. Makes you think.
After the service I stopped by Lowes and picked up some drainage pipe to finally get the apron by the shop door fixed up. I managed to dig a trench there, some of it through solid rock, but hadn't had time to lay the pipe. Now the pipe is laid and most of the area back filled. No more trying to jump the ditch with the wheel barrow! Hurrah!
And last week I bought an Airstream to put on the back of the property as somewhere to stay when the day ends and I don't want to drive home.
Hope to tear into this full bore next week.
Doug
After the service I stopped by Lowes and picked up some drainage pipe to finally get the apron by the shop door fixed up. I managed to dig a trench there, some of it through solid rock, but hadn't had time to lay the pipe. Now the pipe is laid and most of the area back filled. No more trying to jump the ditch with the wheel barrow! Hurrah!
And last week I bought an Airstream to put on the back of the property as somewhere to stay when the day ends and I don't want to drive home.
Hope to tear into this full bore next week.
Doug
Thursday, May 08, 2008
Spring is sprunging again
I know that title's bad grammar, but I wanted to get both past and present tense in the same word. :)
It's been a busy spring around Walnut Hill. A few weeks ago I went over with my little gas powered push mower and tried to begin to catch up on the grass over there. I spent about an hour mowing, hit a small stump hidden in the grass and bent the blade. I only had a little more to do to finish that section so I kept going. The vibration snapped the bolt off which keeps the blade tight to the drive shaft though. So now I had a repair job.
With Eloise out of commission, I've now got TWO broken mowers on my hands. I basically decided to cut my losses and went out and bought a new mower the next day at Sears, a Snapper, self-propelled walk behind. After seven or eight hours I felt I had gotten things under control. On my arrival with the new mower however, I noticed that the glass in the back door had been smashed in (and out) but nothing seemed to be missing.
I called the state trooper, who showed up about 4o minutes and three phone calls later. ("Where is your house again?") I thought to myself, "I'm going to have a BBQ for the Chambersburg state police barracks sometime when the house is done. That way they'll know how to find my house in the future." :) He was a very nice man, went through the house and made sure there was no one inside lurking around. Gave me some ideas on what to do to prevent further problems in the future, etc.
I then set to mowing and later managed to make a cover for the opening in the back door to prevent further attempts at entry through that means. I'm going to have to make sure we board up any window openings when we remove windows.
By the time I'd done mowing, I felt like someone had been beating on my hands with a hammer. Between the rough ground and the small wheels on the mower, it really did me in there for a few days. But my body seems to have bounced back and we're getting the yard shaped up a little.
2008 Spring creeps along
My friend Dustin came over the other day after school and we put in two pretty productive hours. I managed to get about 2/3 of the tree trunks cut up that I'd taken down last fall. Dustin worked with the brush cutter and cleared the garden area, plus some land behind the house. The grass was above our knees and really tough and thick. Nice to know the soil can be so productive!
The other pictures have to do with the truck, which lost an alternator belt, and then the battery gave out. Hope that's the last repair, replacement I have to do with it for a while. I was really glad to have a second vehicle when it gave out on me.
My next task is to pull the starter motor off Eloise so I can hunt down someplace to rebuild it. With her up and running it will be MUCh easier to keep the weeds under control around the house. What took me seven hours would have taken less than two, I'm sure.
I'm also talking to a contractor friend of mine about coming in and doing the south face of the barn. I want to get that "locked up" sooner than I can get to it because there's another month left in school. I don't want to have folks wandering in and out of my workshop when I'm not around.
Hope you enjoy the pictures. More to come as time allows.
Moi
It's been a busy spring around Walnut Hill. A few weeks ago I went over with my little gas powered push mower and tried to begin to catch up on the grass over there. I spent about an hour mowing, hit a small stump hidden in the grass and bent the blade. I only had a little more to do to finish that section so I kept going. The vibration snapped the bolt off which keeps the blade tight to the drive shaft though. So now I had a repair job.
With Eloise out of commission, I've now got TWO broken mowers on my hands. I basically decided to cut my losses and went out and bought a new mower the next day at Sears, a Snapper, self-propelled walk behind. After seven or eight hours I felt I had gotten things under control. On my arrival with the new mower however, I noticed that the glass in the back door had been smashed in (and out) but nothing seemed to be missing.
I called the state trooper, who showed up about 4o minutes and three phone calls later. ("Where is your house again?") I thought to myself, "I'm going to have a BBQ for the Chambersburg state police barracks sometime when the house is done. That way they'll know how to find my house in the future." :) He was a very nice man, went through the house and made sure there was no one inside lurking around. Gave me some ideas on what to do to prevent further problems in the future, etc.
I then set to mowing and later managed to make a cover for the opening in the back door to prevent further attempts at entry through that means. I'm going to have to make sure we board up any window openings when we remove windows.
By the time I'd done mowing, I felt like someone had been beating on my hands with a hammer. Between the rough ground and the small wheels on the mower, it really did me in there for a few days. But my body seems to have bounced back and we're getting the yard shaped up a little.
2008 Spring creeps along
My friend Dustin came over the other day after school and we put in two pretty productive hours. I managed to get about 2/3 of the tree trunks cut up that I'd taken down last fall. Dustin worked with the brush cutter and cleared the garden area, plus some land behind the house. The grass was above our knees and really tough and thick. Nice to know the soil can be so productive!
The other pictures have to do with the truck, which lost an alternator belt, and then the battery gave out. Hope that's the last repair, replacement I have to do with it for a while. I was really glad to have a second vehicle when it gave out on me.
My next task is to pull the starter motor off Eloise so I can hunt down someplace to rebuild it. With her up and running it will be MUCh easier to keep the weeds under control around the house. What took me seven hours would have taken less than two, I'm sure.
I'm also talking to a contractor friend of mine about coming in and doing the south face of the barn. I want to get that "locked up" sooner than I can get to it because there's another month left in school. I don't want to have folks wandering in and out of my workshop when I'm not around.
Hope you enjoy the pictures. More to come as time allows.
Moi
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Follow up pictures
by Stickbug54
As promised on Valentines Day (!) here are some shots to show what we've been up to.
Click on the thumbnail above to go to the Webshots gallery. If you open it in a new window you won't lose this page (right click on the thumbnail).
There are no pix of the interior of the kitchen or the sumac grove, I'll have to work on those. However, there are some shots of the barn north end, newly enclosed, and the shop interior. We also have a few shots of an ice storm from a few weeks ago which were quite enchanting. The photos don't convey it as nicely; if the sun had been out they'd be spectacular.
We're still on track for Spring Break to be a big push. Finally gutting and roughing in the kitchen area is the goal. If you want to come help between March 17-21, let me know. ;)
After that, we turn our attention to the north wing and west wing foundations and get this puppy moving.
For those who haven't heard, I've decided to take next year off from teaching to make sure that I can get this project wrapped up and the two of us settled in. I knew from the start this was a gigantic undertaking and thought I had what it took to handle this during the summers. Clearly that wasn't the case, so it's time to take the hit and get it done. I hope to spend next winter warming by my fire instead of forking out more money for oil.
Warmly,
Doug
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Happy Valentines Day!
Hard to believe the last time I posted here was August! Things move at warp speed during the school year, but not with regard to the house, unfortunately.
Our progress since August:
The kitchen area is about 90% gutted (the previous bathroom and flooring still have to go and I have to figure out how to support the headers and widen the window openings in the outside walls) but we're almost to the point of beginning to rebuild there.
Before winter set in I hired a friend of mine who's a "pro" and had him reside and close in the north end of the barn. He even put up a sliding barn door for me. I was able to get over there one day a month ago and have about half the shop cleared out and set up to work in. I was able to mount some racks on the wall to hang tools from, hang some cabinets for loose items and generally straighten up, organize and de-clutter. Another day or so and I'll get the rest squared away. It's exhilarating to see progress being made. I almost feel organized! I'd forgetten I had a floor in there! :)
The yard needs lots of TLC too. The sumac I cut down two summers ago has regrown from the stumps and needs to be wacked before spring or I'll have a new forest there by next summer. The brush cutter is all greased up. The trees along the road need to be thinned out too. Chain saw is all set to go too. I just need the time...
As fast as this year is rushing past, summer will be here before I know it. I'd better get a "critical items" list together soon or I'll be hanging around waiting for permits when I could be working...
I have several pictures of the above mentioned items. Perhaps one of these snowy days I'll get to upload them. Thanks for reading.
Until later,
Doug
Our progress since August:
The kitchen area is about 90% gutted (the previous bathroom and flooring still have to go and I have to figure out how to support the headers and widen the window openings in the outside walls) but we're almost to the point of beginning to rebuild there.
Before winter set in I hired a friend of mine who's a "pro" and had him reside and close in the north end of the barn. He even put up a sliding barn door for me. I was able to get over there one day a month ago and have about half the shop cleared out and set up to work in. I was able to mount some racks on the wall to hang tools from, hang some cabinets for loose items and generally straighten up, organize and de-clutter. Another day or so and I'll get the rest squared away. It's exhilarating to see progress being made. I almost feel organized! I'd forgetten I had a floor in there! :)
The yard needs lots of TLC too. The sumac I cut down two summers ago has regrown from the stumps and needs to be wacked before spring or I'll have a new forest there by next summer. The brush cutter is all greased up. The trees along the road need to be thinned out too. Chain saw is all set to go too. I just need the time...
As fast as this year is rushing past, summer will be here before I know it. I'd better get a "critical items" list together soon or I'll be hanging around waiting for permits when I could be working...
I have several pictures of the above mentioned items. Perhaps one of these snowy days I'll get to upload them. Thanks for reading.
Until later,
Doug
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