Work continues around the Heart House. Pam has been painting doors and I have been working at various other projects. Flowers around the yard are in bloom, including a new “mystery” flower. Let’s get to it!
Pam took it on herself to paint the back doors. I think they turned out very well! Here is the back inner or main door:
Then she painted the screen door and insert:
Pam is now working on the east side doors and I will have photos when they are completed.
Working on the doors is a time consuming task due to all the layers of old paint and lack of really straight lines. The addition of the hearts sets off the paint job which will compliment the house painting when we get to that project.
Pam baked our first rhubarb pie of the year. This one featured our own home-grown rhubarb, a goal Pam had in mind from the time we decided to buy the place. I hope this is the first of many pies!
My main project for the past week was working on the east (and a bit on the north) decks. Some of the boards needed to be replaced due to rot. The decks have a “spongy” feel in a few areas. This work will continue on for some time before completed. Also time consuming as the railings and downspouts have to be removed then reinstalled as part of the project.
The porch railings have been repaired to some extent; the bottom rails should be replaced due to rot in some spots. However, finding replacement wood and balusters has proven to be difficult. So, for the time being, I replaced 5 rotted balusters from some taken from the step railings. The porch balusters are 24 inches tall and the step balusters were 28 inches. I was able to cut off equal parts of the tops and bottoms of the 28 inchers, ends that were rotted, and use them as replacements for the porch balusters. As you can see, painting needs to be completed but at least the rotten wood is gone.
The front porch is not as bad, but someone in the past decided to save some money and not use full-length boards in some areas. This led to a lot of seams in the decking that I do not care for, both for aesthetic reasons and because rot has begun to take hold in these locations.
After talking it over, Pam and I decided we will replace more decking than originally planned and eliminate these problem areas. The removed decking will be re-used; I plan to use it on the back porch. (Currently the back porch decking is 2″ x 6″ planks.) Using the salvaged decking will result in a consistent look to all three porches.
The decking material, called car siding or box-car siding, is readily available in a number of different lengths. I bought the first of it from the in-town lumber yard. The wood uses a tongue-and-grove system to interlock each board to its neighbor. This is not a bad system but replacement of one board usually means replacing, or at least removing, boards on either side as well. The job just takes longer.
The largest amount of work is getting all the old securing screws out. Over the years the wood has swelled up and over the screw heads and paint has filled in the screwdriver slots. I have to locate, clean, and then remove each screw. This process that can takes several minutes for each one, so just getting that part of the removal done will take hours.
Another project completed was to move all my photo gear, including all my old slides and negatives, out of the garage attic and into the basement. The garage is not insulated and the attic gets very hot. (Same situation was present in De Beque.) The basement, now cleaned and with a dehumidifier running, seems like a good place to store old film.
The move took several trips up and down the garage attic ladder and up and down the basement steps, but I did get the stuff moved. During the process I opened every box, consolidated items, and was able to recycle several boxes and a lot of packing. In addition, I put a couple chairs and a storage bin in the basement; Pam wants to keep a few emergency supplies down there in the event we have a severe storm or tornado come through and we need to retreat to the basement for shelter.
I am planning a trip to Colorado next week. Two purposes: The first is to visit The Lot, the second is to attend a motorcycle rally.
Work at The Lot will be minimal, consisting of painting the storage shed and cleaning up after the winter. I don’t know how I will react to the 9,500 foot elevation after being gone from Colorado for months now, so work plans are fairly modest.
The motorcycle rally will be in Westcliffe, west of Pueblo. The organizer has asked us to wear masks and social distance. We will have to see if this works out! I am looking forward to seeing friends I have made over the years through these get-togethers. As a result of this planned road trip there will be a gap in blog posts. When I return I should have quite a few photos to share.
Around the yard, day lilies are in full bloom. Pumpkin plants have flowers on them, as does one very small hollyhock stem. Hostas are blooming. We also have another “mystery plant” blooming; does anyone recognize this one?
Photo Archive
This group reflects our kids, Felicity and Toby, taken over a few years in the early ’90s.
And then there is the large towel we owned for several years:
That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!
Pam’s Penny
I paint screen doors inside, in the AC. I see no point standing outside painting (in the freakin’ heat and humidity) when there is a perfectly comfortable inside area to paint. This requires Himself to take the doors off the hinges, one by one, and bring each indoors. A small inconvenience. The main security doors are super heavy to move around in this way, though. So-o-o-o, the red and white security door may be the only one painted this cycle.
“Away time” for Himself is certainly due, now he’s been retired four months. The initial retirement period – plus sheltering in place – resulted in a bit much togetherness.
Happy Trails.