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Maine is a 5-season state,mud season being official amongst us regular folks,not the government. Usually its the woman who gets to declare the start of it-as she is usually the one to use any special props to get thru it.It is interesting the lingo we all use across the country for the same things. Alot of people up here in "god's country" as they call it,have mudrooms-which is what they are mostly called,but also called entryways-foyers,porches-decks
-anyways its the small room that you enter into before tracking all that mud into the house. Even though tarring a driveway has become more common now a-days,there's still plenty of us that have gravel driveways.I'm going to say even if I was a billionaire,I like the gravel drive so I probaly wouldnt change it,just level it a bit more.So before you enter this mudroom,you could strip down to your skivvy's if you'd like,if you were outside and doing some dirty job,and be comfortable.Since I'm not a billionaire yet,and because of the small area we had to deal with,we built it 4x10.Its fully insulated now-stuffed and chalked.Two windows side by side face the garage-allowing the south sun to heat it-which heats well. Now the fun part of paint & decor,and making it fully functional for snow/mud season. Jim wears one of those full length outdoor suits in winter,which keeps him quite toasty regardless of the weather. I chose lineoleum because of the ease of clean-up,& the abuse it can take from a man,the grate-which works great.I chose that lineoleum,because it cost us $12.50-and I can work with almost any color for that price.I figure this is how I'll become a billionaire...my mom says the paint is orange,but its not,its copper to coordinate with the floor-it was early in the morning when she looked at it..lol-making the coat rack tall enough for Jims winter suit,but short enough for me to reach it,as I'm 5'2". Shelves for winter gear,umbrella,rugged hook for snow shovel-boot tray,my insulated bag that I put meat in when grocery shopping. A nice light on the wall-a small bench to sit upon and take off boots before entering.I took my rosemary in for the winter,and it seems quite happy out there,with a small rock in the container. Jim likes to touch the rock when he comes home,he says it grounds him.Unless it gets really cold-below zero,I may have to bring in the rosemary a few nights,but the space definitely needs a real plant.Even though I don't normally buy fake flowers,this time I did, and stuck them in my broom to add color,and get me thru the season of no flowers.I am sure though,it will only be a short time,and I can add happy colors thru forcing bulbs.As I now have a collection of 8 Amaryallis,which I dont know how that happened,I'm sure at least one pot will end up out there. Just can't put them in front of the windows,because the sun makes the flowers fade fast.Hmm,so its possible a 3rd shelf will go in,just for that,as theres just enough space...
I basically hate to cook during the summer. I want to be outside in the dirt & gardens till dark,every chance I get-or just plain outside-and its like dragging an old horse into the barn on a summers night. Needless to say- we eat very late during the summer.I also don't see him jumping for joy at the thought of cooking every night,so a back deck is on the priority list-so the grill can be there-and then maybe I'd enjoy it more.Besides he likes to grill more,than in the kitchen.The season of fall, on the other hand, is when I really like to start cooking.Needless to say- I didn't get as far as I thought,because the urge to cook came upon me,as I made blueberry smoothies to hold us over,then I was stuck with left over pineapple to use up. So I made a batch of pineapple muffins-which came out so yummy-I will have to make those again.I taped off the mudroom,and got half of it painted. A new version of the basic boiled dinner for supper,instead of ham or corned beef-using bacon,chicken stock-and baking it rather than boil. It also turned out great-and Jim likes it this way better. The bread machine comes out,and rolls out a delicious dough for home-made pizza or bread,and gets a front row seat for the winter.By the time mud season ends,I'll tuck it away again-and Jim gets a sad look on his face...and you'll find me back out in the remaining mud coaxing my plants to wake up...
Sometimes-more often than not around here...plans get shot all to ****.I got on the phone in the morning,Jim headed out to the garage,and armed with his to-do list.After talking to the nice lady at the mill about the pellets-she gave me the list of retailers they supply so I could check to see if maybe any of them had any left.It didn't matter about the traveling- we just didnt want to have to use the oil.Sure enough,1st call,not far away-20 min. had some.It doesnt happen often, but I had a live person on the phone- who was nice to boot-and had a clue about their business operations. She said if I couldnt find any after going thru the list- she would do what she could to scrape up a few bags to get us thru,till an area store got some in.I hope that lady gets a raise this year.Jim hooked up the trailor and away we went.We got a 1 ton load,that should hold us till our order comes in.We cleared the area in the garage,and was done unloading in a 1/2 hr. She also said their production was coming along better than they thought, so a possibility we may get our order sooner than Dec. After lunch, a short rest,we loaded up the dishwasher going to my daughters.I knew it would get banged around if we left it in our garage.We were just going to tuck it in a corner out of the way- till they found someone to install it.Her hubby comes home right after we got there,without asking her what the plan is,or what is she going to do with it-?..us 2 women-we're inside focusing on clearing a space in the hallway-out of the way.He sees us moving the filing cabinet.Now-mind you,if I had had a video camera rolling at that point,I'd be sitting here a richer woman,winning the prize for Americas Funniest home video's.At this point we're not paying attention to him-which was probaly our 1st mistake-just moving the cabinet into the corner,and the dishwasher goes where the cabinet was. All of a sudden, he grabs the dishwasher under the counter,and starts tugging on it.Then he says to Missy-"grab that counter and lift up." Well,neither of us have a clue as to what he's doing,we thought he was trying to get the door closed- as that's always been off kilter anyways. Well-it turns out so is my Son-In-Law...but I already suspected that.
He says "lift higher-she doesnt have enough strength,,I grabbed the other side of counter-and asked him "what are you trying to do?" I'm taking this out he says. I yelled" WAit! -Don't you have to turn the supply lines off,? Like water or something? Now-mind you, he's a big guy-Naw" it'll come right out,followed by a huge tug from him,{dont ya know it was screwed to the under counter-duh}..this happened in a matter of seconds ,mind you. FOLLOWED BY A HUGE GYSER OF WATER-PUMPING OUT 3 GALLONS A MIN ALL OVER THE click laminate FLOOR,FOLLOWED BY 2 FEMALE HIGH PITCHED SCREAMS.He's yelling to Missy-put your foot on it to stop the flow-{he doesnt know theres a shut-off under the sink}..its hot water you know-he races down cellar- I'm grabbing the kitchen trash buckets,,,he had ripped the water line right off it.It took him a bit to find the shut off down cellar.Within 90 seconds- every towel in the house was on the floor-thats floating with 2 inches of water.We just stood there trying to comprehend what just happened.Missy was soaked completely from the gyser- I just got one leg wet-we both turned,and walked out to the porch to smoke a cig.-shaking our heads in disbelief-saying at the same time"I cant believe you just did that"....then started laughing at the whole mess.The 1st thing I said was I could be sitting here a rich woman if I'd had a camera...thru all that hysteria..>writing this doesnt do the experience justice,believe me..that was part 1...
The grass was quite high- took me a couple hours to cut it,got all but the 2 front skinny strips,which I will finish today. Got the batch of "Skagitt Tulips" in,now today onto moving the Alliums & whatever else I can get my hands around while the sun is out.I can be doing that while Jim puts up the ceiling in the mudroom-& we wont be in each others way.Once hes done,I can do a skim coat,as I tried to make sure I got good coverage on yesterday. This time I picked "Copper Classics" wanting to stay in a warm group of color so it didnt look to much like a circus coming to town-flowing from room to room.The trim & shelves will be a bright white.We wanted to update our snow shovel at Home Depot-but they haven't a clue about real life. Its much more important to overstock with Xmas items,than prepare for winter. Thats ok- we can brush off the stairs with an artificial tree...
Here in Maine,we've had an unprecedented wave surge since early spring, of pellet stove sales-and it hasn't stopped yet.Even bigger than sales of wood stoves selling in the 70's and 80's.We looked at many in person-plus online,& ended up getting a Napolean.It took us 3 months to get ours.It depends on what brand you want- etc.We're glad we picked this one-especially after seeing others & their features. Out of this energy crisis,emerged mills & jobs & they have ramped up production of pellets,and others started making-selling them for the first time.We're on the list and dont expect ours till December.We'll keep looking,but will probaly have to use the oil till we get some-and next year be all set to go.We dont care if oil drops to $3.00 a gal, we're still switching to alternative forms of energy.The stove gives off a nice heat-and so much nicer than oil, but we still have to get the cellar area all situated around.
I haven't read the Almanac yet,to see what we're in store for this winter.I have a feeling we're gonna get some snow amount as the season is totally different. I lov snow, and would rather have it to bank the house, than not have it, and it gives us physical workouts clearing the roofs..so we dont have to go to the gym. One last batch of tomatoes to do up today,and pick some sage leaves for the winter to dry. A busy day ahead..
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