Old News Update - Gutters

I should have posted this in October!  We finally had the gutters and downspouts replaced, so no more old gutters falling off the house.  And rain actually drains away.  Wow.  We also had the fascia clad in aluminum, and vinyl soffits installed, so it all looks spiffy now.

Installation took 2 days, because there are NO eaves on this house,  just miles of gutters.  We got the extra large gutters and downspouts, because of the large roof area.  That's what you get with a big ranch house.

That's all for the outside work this year!  Too cold now.  I should be getting on with the hundred interior jobs that are waiting.  Next on the list - install cable so we'll have TV come February.  Annoying.

Better Late Than Never (I Hope)

I know it's December, nearly winter. You're supposed to plant bulbs in the Fall. Well, it's technically still Fall, right?

This house has never in it's life had any Spring flowering bulbs. No crocus. No daffodils. That's just too sad for me to bear.

So, I ordered a bunch of bulbs online from a reputable company in early October. That's a little late for ordering, I'll admit. The crocus and grape hyacinths came, but no daffodils or tulips. They were "to be shipped separately". I checked a couple of weeks later (now it's November), and the shipping date is now to be the first two weeks in December! Okay, I guess I can wait. I did go ahead and plant the small bulbs, having to mark the spots for the daffodil clumps to come.

Cut to last week. I've been looking for the UPS guy everyday. Why don't I check the order status online..... And....SURPRISE! They've cancelled the order! They didn't even let me know!!!!! Poopers! All that wasted time waiting.

Two seconds after that I was online and found a bag of 50 assorted daffodil bulbs, on clearance at www.americanmeadows.com. Dirt cheap (really). They arrived in TWO DAYS. So here's what I did as soon as the ground dried out a bit:Now I can't wait for spring!

Louisiana Iris

Today I planted a bunch of Louisiana Iris divisions.  Nancy, our neighbor across the street is a real gardener, and she recently divided her perennials and brought over a box of her irises for our non-garden.

I am not really a gardener.  In fact, I have come to realize that I hate gardening.  Not flowers!  I love to have stuff blooming.  I just hate crouching, bending, reaching and kneeling for extended periods of time.  My back and neck are already in bad shape, and it just kills me!  And I want to do right by these iris babies.  Annuals are okay by me.  A pain to plant, but if you kill'em, it's just a little earlier than the frost was going to do anyway.  Perennials are like adopting a pet.  They are long lived.  A responsibility.  Gotta water them.  Gotta feed them.  Rats.

Here is a Louisiana Iris (photo from the internet):

I think Nancy was growing them in her pond, but she said that they grow on land just fine.  They do need plenty of moisture, though.  The clay soil is going to be interesting.  I guess I have to hope for wet summers every year from now on.

Born Free (in the back yard)

I could call this post "Adventures with Wildlife". Yesterday morning, B said "I've got a surprise for you outside".  I was cranky (normal) and said, "I hope it's a pony".  It wasn't.

Skink in a box.  Skinny looking, isn't he?  That box came from the LIVING ROOM.  I had FOOD stored in it!!!  How did the skink get in the living room  And where is my food?  Neither question got answered.

About an hour later, while waiting for the dog to "find a spot", I see something out of place in the old wire from the aerial...

A green snake.  So I got all Steve Irwin. "Get me a snake stick!" I yelled, and I persuaded the snake down from the eaves.  He was headed up into the attic through a hole in the soffit.  I'll bet that he was smelling mice in the attic.  "There are no mice in the attic," says B.  Right. (Rolling my eyes!)  Then I set him free at the edge of the woods.

The other wildlife of the day was across the street at our neighbors.  Nancy came over and said she had a fox in one of her basement window wells that was mangy and sick looking, and it wasn't even trying to get out and run away.  She let us know that she'd called animal control to come and pick him up, in case he's rabid.  She once had a raccoon in her garage that ended up positive for rabies, (and Nancy had to get the rabies shots in her stomach) so she is automatically cautious.

Our dogs are up to date on vaccinations, and are never off leash, so they probably haven't been exposed.  But the feral cats in the neighborhood probably have.  Poor kitties.

I decided not to go see the poor fox (or photograph it).  Too sad. 

In house news, the faucet I installed last week (that leaked)  is now fixed.  I could tell that I had seated the drain off-center in the opening.  I just reinstalled it, with fresh putty, using B as my helper to watch that the drain stays centered as it's tightened.  Happy ending = no leaks!

New Bath Faucet

Here's the faucet we got at Home Depot. A Moen, the Banbury model. I like that the spout swivels, like a kitchen faucet. That way if you want to wash something in the sink, you can move it out of the way.

So it was a simple installation, though the instructions have NO WORDS on them. Just pictograms. Ugh. But the inevitable punch line is that there is a leak. Several leaks. Not on the water supply. No. On the drain pipe, where the tailpiece meets the sink. I think the drain moved off center while I was tightening it, and the seal isn't good.

So, maybe tomorrow I will feel like laying in the cabinet again.

Also, good tip of the day... While working in the cabinet I lighted the area with my Coleman rechargeable fluorescent camping lantern! Plenty bright, long lasting, and stable. Gosh I'm brilliant.

I Am Green Today

Dudes, I got a Dell. A lovely green laptop, my first portable. (The better to blog with!) It's a Studio 15, loaded.

My old computer is a Windows 98 machine, circa 1999, and it's been a wonderful computer. I feel like I'm being unfaithful, getting a new fancy computer. Nothin' wrong with the old one, still runs fine. But now, I can get any software I want!! No more obsolete operating system!

In house news, the toilet we re-seated seems fine, with the shims in place. I haven't caulked it yet, because I can't really believe that it doesn't leak.

Next project up - replace the faucet at the bathroom sink. If I can tear myself away from the new computer for more than a few minutes.

Re-Seating the Toilet

We found a wet spot on the basement ceiling under the master bath drain. Oh goody. The toilet has been rocking, so I suspected a wax ring failure.

We got all the water out, and the bolts came off easily (a miracle). Here's the lovely view, with a bit of wax ring still attached...

And an inspirational pic of the hole in the floor. Not for the germ-phobic...

Hey, tile installer... way to leave out a tile under the flange! We decided to try the Fluidmaster Wax-Free Toilet Bowl Gasket. It seemed like a good idea, and makes for less mess if we ever pull this toilet again. Maybe for new tile?? Like, not-made-in-1976-tile?

It went on easily enough, but the toilet is still rocking. It doesn't seem to be leaking though. I suppose the stoopid tile around the flange is uneven, which would make it match the rest of the tile in the bathroom. Of course we didn't have any shims in the house, so they're on the list for the hardware store.

While the water was off, I opened up the flush valve and cleared the gravel and grit out. Now the tank fills really quickly! The flush valve is a Fluidmaster, and their website is great for troubleshooting.

That's all that's been going on. Next project will be having the gutters replaced, after which it won't rain for three months, guaranteed.