I took a short, summer break from work. Over the course of a few weeks, with no plans to travel, I set about taking a harder look at home. I dove into the annoying tasks that I had been avoiding and broached larger projects, tentatively, which is a start.
Youtube helped me tryout a borrowed power tool. I tried an orbital palm sander for the first time. Not a big deal for most, but I procrastinated about it for too long and then attacked peeling paint on south facing, exterior wood. Youtube also made me think I needed an impossible level of safety gear. Eye protection was a no-brainer for me, but I readily eschewed the painter’s version of a Hazmat suit (if it was a really old house with lead paint, then it would make sense).
I never really know a home until I paint it. Once I am up on a ladder and every joint and crevice is inches from my face, I either admire or curse the builder. In my last home in Florida, the ceiling and wall joints looked like they were done with playdough by a five year old. No, I can’t build a house, but I had to create my own lines there with painter’s tape. Here, the lines were cleaner, but corner’s were cut on materials and I now have parts of walls that are stronger just from applying paint!
Sanding helped, except when I accidentally tilted it a bit too much and learned the full history of layers and colors of paint, much like rings on a tree. In some spots, a simple metal scraper worked fine. Also, aggressive red wasps had a nest between the soffit and the fascia. One trip up the ladder almost got me, I was reaching for a wooden brush handle in the paint tray on the ladder where one of the wasps decided to hangout. How smart are they? On the handle!
The wasps don’t bother me that much, except when I am painting or picking basil. I have tried wasp sprays, a few and often. I covered them in DE powder resulting in ghostly white wasps, easier to see as they circled back to the nest. I can’t see the nest, just the high up area in the boards that they fly into and out of all of the time. Most recently, I soaked a cotton ball with peppermint oil and tossed it up there using kitchen tongs. They flew out immediately, but I found the cotton ball in the grass the next day. I will get them out in the winter.
I got paint color matched to the existing hue. But I put primer on first and currently have a clean, white wall that nobody can see. Since the sun spends most of it’s day on that wall, and it’s sealed with primer that will reflect heat, I may just leave it until temperatures cool. And speaking of heat, after several intense hours of prepping, painting time almost began in sweltering afternoon full sun. I quit and was so pleased with early morning shade and breezes the next day.
I collected a few estimates for other jobs. At least I tried. I was saddened that some people, even with high ratings, apparently had enough business to take a client’s information and never call back. I don’t want to believe it, but my theory is the locals get handled well and give the favorable reviews. They weren’t all that way and I did meet professional repair/installation folks who showed up and had good communication skills.
I loved having the time to compost, garden, visit more often with the chickens and work on my mowing-with-antique-tractor skills. I was excited to get a water softener installed. It was a long term wish and now I am making the what I hope to be the final vinegar cleanings of hard water deposits on faucets, the shower head and in the coffee maker.
The water softener requires bags of salt. A standard bag is 40 pounds.
A Mennonite woman and I were going for the last few bags in a store, at the same time. We hesitated politely about who went first and how much we each needed and of course, it worked out perfectly. This older, smaller woman deftly tossed her 40 pound bag into her cart. My turn. Holy cow. She was deceptively strong. I did it, but the cart and I danced a little and then again out in the parking lot. New workout! (The chicken feed comes in a 50 pound bag. I learned to wrestle that as well).
Another project that I handled was a mouse hole. Yes, a cabin in the woods does come with the occasional mouse. A hole near some rotting wood (future project) was easy access. I was advised to stuff tin foil in holes that I found, as a temporary fix. Something made this hole double the size and pulled the tin foil inside of it. I was about to fill the hole with “Great Stuff”. It’s this foaming filler that dries, puffs out and can be trimmed. Testing out more advice, I threw a few poison tablets in the hole and filled it with the foam. I am currently keeping an eye out for a serrated blade of some sort to trim it (it expands, a lot!).
This was the first year here that I tried raising plants from seed. I live so close to the largest supplier of heirloom seeds in the country, perhaps the world (click here to read more about Baker Creek). They were started in trays and individual, little pots, but about half did not make it. I don’t think they had enough light and I did start carrying the trays in and out every day, which became tedious.
Once I planted them in the garden, some of the stems were too weak for wind, but I have a tiny collection of plants still trying through drought and high heat. The basil plant that I bought, already a decent 5 or 6 inches tall, took off.
The projects are endless, but I am gaining confidence in wee increments as I either tackle it myself (after searching on-line) or hire help. As I head back to work, I am satisfied at the improvements and will keep going on them at a slower pace and get back to some trips to parks again.