dbjc364's Blog

Ahh,how does that do that..?
Mar 29, 2010 | 3:37 AM PST
Tag: the rain will bring them out..

Toilets are an interesting bunch of furniture..Upstairs we're 3/4 through with that project,deciding to stop till fall returns and then finish the ceiling,and a little sheetrocking.The floor,toilet and sink are rehooked back up.No sooner did we get that in place, downstairs 3 days later the toilet sprung a bad leak.Well,since I've never liked this toilet since we bought the house,and didnt know where the leak was coming from,we decided to install a new low flow model.This is an HE{high efficency}flapperless,which has me in awe.How does that do that with just a small amount of water?..my brain just doesnt understand,no matter how many times I look at it,and its a marvel to me,and makes me chuckle.Anyways,its a good thing we removed it,as the water was soaking to the subfloor,but not rotted,so its a temporary floor area till this fall also, then this bath gets gutted and redone,with the shower room also getting finished.The window is shot,and not nearly enough insulation in the wall anyways.Now even though we have an artesian well,and dont have to pay for town water, the drawing still runs the electric pump,and one still uses a good amount of water to flush, which I figure is better used on my gardens when needed.So now between the new {HE}washer and new toilet,we will use way less water,and not fill the septic tank sooner thats for sure,as thats also a cost to pump that out.The upstairs isnt a low flush,but when that finally gives us a problem, we'll replace that too,besides that one doesnt see as much action as the main bathroom does.Well, after the beautiful warm weather, in came a cold front,stoke up the coal stove again,now thats ending again, as a new warm front pushes thru with this rain.Wednesday the sun will reappear,and they say its back up to the 60's and 70's.The 1st bay is now cleared out,just need to start hanging price signs,which is easier than individual tags.I've got quite a pile to repaint in jims bay,the fella across the street cant wait for me to open up, as the traffic will do a double stop.It will take longer for items to dry, but I can get a start on those today & tomorrow.I've got a huge pile of boxes and totes to go thru,stacked in the carport, and 6 more totes covered over with a tarp out back the garage.Plus what is being brought to me.Brother Rick brought some good car parts to sell,and a little more good furniture.I've got 6 hanging clothes racks plumb full, with 6 more bags just waiting to unload.Yes, I think there is a small store here.The middle bay is very slowly getting emptied out and reshuffled around.Jims got all the materials he needs now to finish the OSB sheafing in front,we'll set up the saw horses again on wednesday,so I can start priming them.I'm opening the garage sale on thursday till sunday.The rain is greening up the grass quickly, and making my flowers pop open! My garlic is peeking up thru the hay! And even though I'm listening now to the roof/ceiling dripping again,and getting the buckets out,I'm happy.That will be addressed very shortly,by the way.No matter, I'm still happy.I think I'll don the rain gear and go walk around this morning and check out the flowers.The birds are chirping like crazy now, but no spring peepers yet!

 

Daylight savings..
Mar 17, 2010 | 2:58 AM PST
Tag: Camassia flowers..
The bathroom floor is finally down and done! after dealing with misinformation ,and the toilet is hooked back up after a frustrating time with that.Jim says he now knows how to do it, thats always a good thing,cause he's got the downstairs one to do when we tackle that bath.Now, the sink to hook back up,soon as he catches his breath.He moved all the big stuff that was in my way, out of the last bay,so now I can get out there this afternoon, and clean and shuffle stuff around. We wont open up the garage sale this weekend,as I wont be ready, but am planning on the next weekend.The daughter will help me today and tomorrow out there.While Jim dealt with the bath, I got back to tackling the cleaning of the dining room,clearing the winter cobwebs, and piling up the yard sale stuff in the living room. The room almost echos now,and theres plenty piled up and ready to take out.I know the daughter is going to say "oh-my god"...lol. I shampooed the big braided rug,and recleaned everything,all thats left is the 2 windows.The cobwebs were partly from too long a time in between cleaning, and partly from the cellar stove.So I need to attach some filters on the registers,and maybe that'll stop the bulk of any dust coming up.So I'll try some cheesecloth,and if that doesnt work,then something else.The registers got a new coat of paint also. I claimed territory of his bay- temporarily of course,so I can refresh and redo some items for the house and the garage sale.Missy and I are redoing her big porch over in between working here. She picked yellow to repaint the walls.I'll have to rent a floor sander it turns out,as the little hand sander just wont do it.I told her she has to help me here,for me to help her there.Her porch is good size, with a large exspanse of windows,but will look alot nicer and more comfortable sitting out there with curtains up, so the hot sun doesnt fry you to death.Update-Missy and I made a good dent in the last bay this week. Brother Rick brought some stuff over he wants to sell that he no longer needs.We started with the back  wall, 3 panels,taking down the lattice & plastic and putting up OSB for a solid wall. That took all day saturday.We have a good size piece of plexiglass,so he'll cut some small window openings for some light.We had to remove everything off the shelving for him to be pounding on the wall,only broke 2 lamp globes in the process,now that wall is done, and all is being put back.We need to take another trip to Home Depot for materials for the front wall facing the street now,thats 6 panels, and will take longer to do.Thats the side that gets hit with the wind and snow the most,and no more buying plastic to keep out the elements.Well, we tried it with the lattice but it didnt work too good.Everythings getting primed and painted.He had me all set up near the flower garden with my saw horses,I got it all primed, then was looking over my garden, and I have flowers! Just about everything is up for spring bulbs now,just waiting to pop.It hit 68* saturday,but temps are going back down to normal today.I have all this week to work on the garage sale,so not much will get done inside.We picked up a driveway alarm so I can hear it in the house if someone enters the driveway.I was sitting in a chair looking everything over for arranging,and said to Jim, "Oh,my,I have a regular 2 room store going on in here." He said, You think"?lol. I said- well at least someday when theres not a garage sale anymore, theres plenty of shelving for normal garage stuff. You think there will be a day, when the sale is all gone?ha-ha-your funny...he says.I think he thinks this will be a long time thing...well, I suppose thats possible,maybe.Well, I'm getting that itch to do some painting,so I hope to set up his bay today alot better for that coming up.After our day yesterday,we had supper with the kids, and then some good time playing ping pong.We stayed till 9,which was late for us,and up early this a.m.His sister is coming this morning for a look see of the bathroom floor,since we bought the same one as her,only a different color.Its up in the air what happens after that today.Mom bought a new car {Ford}this week,has most of her kitchen upgraded.Her cabinets didnt have knobs and handles,so just by adding the hardware it improved the look alot.They'll add a small window over the sink soon,and a new floor.I enjoy my BHG magazines each month,as I get some good ideas from it,but have to chuckle when I'm reading they spend thousands on new kitchens and baths,as much as we paid for our garage or more.Mom did see a black table in an ad,and went and got it,and I must say, it is nice.Just a simple design,affordable,and fits in her kitchen sweetly.Well,its time to check the weather station,and see what the day will bring...

Mowing in March-?....
Mar 8, 2010 | 2:42 AM PST
Tags: oh , my , its spring..
There's no mistaking it now for spring.We know we're in full spring mode.If we get a snowstorm at this point, it'll be called a freak spring snowstorm.Each day,that temp dial is slowly inching its way up,to yesterday it hit at least 55* no problem, and the last 2 days full sun.I'm looking at the temp now at 5 am, its 37*.We have no snow in our yard, none.It does make us want to get out there, but we have to finish this bathroom.I finished the poly on the walls,Jim is 3/4 done with the floor tile.I managed to clear the books off the bed,and pile stuff in the corner, as we may get hit with company this weekend coming. My Nana passed away,there are out of staters,so I gave my aunt a note of what space we had available.That means it would be a good idea to have a 2nd toilet in use,so we're making sure we get that in as quickly as possible,it doesnt matter if the room isnt finished.Anyways, I like that the poly gave the wood a reddish-? warmth,even though its clear.The tiles we picked also have a rust color in them.This morning, I need to check the round small flower bed out back for crocus.My TULIPS! are up in the front flower garden at least 2 inches,and I'm pretty sure my Hyacinth is peeking up.Well, I might as well, take a walk around to look at everything.Ok- at least in my life,I dont remember spring ever coming this early.The soil is diggable now, the water moat around the 2 out back beds has receded.Just one area in the driveway gets soft after a day of sunshine.,so I hope the spring rains hold off for awhile.I'll go to Family Dollar today and pick up another clothes rack,and I can get back to that garage cleaning.The new guy across the street has set up a garage sale also,so he's pretty happy that I'll be opening mine,as they'll help each other with seekers.I'll be a few weeks till I can do anything,as life has its interruptions on a daily basis it seems.Yesterday the weather could have classified as May 1st weather.Well, last year I was mowing the yard the last week of April,so I wonder if I'll be mowing in March this year! Well, I dont know if another full month of gas is in the budget...but holy smokes, its nice and weird at the same time.I'm so glad the air conditioner is installed upstairs,I have a feeling its going to be a warm summer.Because the blueberries didnt get their amount of dormant days, I doubt I'll get the crop I'm suppose to.But actually I'm not upset even though alot of work has been put into them,as there's alot to do in gardening without crying over them.I do hope they do better next year, and will spend the time focusing on what I can do out there this year for them. Because of the weather pattern, I expect to get hit with Japs early on, so I will have my traps prepared earlier this year, and ready to go. The 2 window boxes can be prepared anytime too,so I guess that means get some soil to have on hand...