As anyone living in the mid-west can tell you, the last week was rainy and cold. Daytime temperatures were 25+ degrees lower than average for this time of year! These conditions impacted what Pam and I could get done on our various projects, painting in particular. Still, we moved ahead. Here is a recap of the past week.
Weather on Labor Day itself was still decent and we did some painting. Pam worked on the detail over two garage windows and two doors. Painting this detail is time consuming and took about an hour for each location.
I painted some of the garage addition west wall and under-eve trim on the back porch. The under-eve spot was bare wood, as the previous owner(s) never completed the paint job there.
Part of the job included cleaning the gutter which had a layer of lichen (?) on the outside.
By Tuesday, though, rain had set in and temps were colder, not conditions conducive to painting so we turned to other, and smaller, tasks.
Pam finished painting the light fixture trim ring she had purchased for the parlor bedroom and we installed it.
Other tasks included painting and installing a trim molding on the shelf above the washer and dryer, moving the last items out of the rented storage area, and putting up a few more shelves and unpacking some items in the garage.
I’m going to elaborate a bit on the emptying of the storage area. I moved the original ’48 Ford 8N engine into the garage addition but still had to deal with the non-running Yamaha XJ motorcycle. The storage area is about 11 blocks from the house and I did not want to push the bike that far so a plan of action had to be made.
Eventually I decided to put the bike on the trailer, but this required the help of Pam and the ATV winch. (I wish I had taken a photo of this but did not.) I parked the ATV at an angle to the trailer which was backed up to the storage unit door. I routed the winch cable through a clevis hook, attached to the truck through a strap, down to the front of the bike. Pam operated the winch controls while I walked the bike up the ramp and into the trailer. Piece of cake.
Other projects were completed. We both applied for absentee ballots. I sorted though a bunch of digital photos and put them in appropriate folders. Several new scans were made of old slides. Furnace filter was changed. Garage was measured for gutters. More summer flowers were cut back and the refuse taken to the dump. Dogs were taken to the groomer.
There is not much else to tell. I will note that the bare dirt area I mentioned in my last post is starting to turn a very light green as the grass seed starts to grow.
Hopefully the grass will “green up” in the next couple of weeks and I see ground cover before the winter sets in.
There are two anniversaries we are noting this week. First, we bought the Colorado property, aka The Lot, on September 12, 2012. The 8 years since then has gone by fast. The second anniversary is September 16, the day we closed on the Heart House at 702 Main in Elma. Much has happened this past year!
Photo Archive
These slides were given to me by my parents. The year was 1967 and I was 15 and had my first car, a 1959 Austin-Healy Sprite. I have good memories of that car!
That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!
Pam’s Two Cents
(Looking at photos of Himself at 15, I can see where son Toby gets his curly mop top.)
Himself was a bit at loose ends during the recent five day stretch of rain. I told him I could assemble a list of indoor projects upon which he could begin, but he refused my generous offer. I additionally noted it would be best if Himself developed a list of indoor projects for the January-March period. Here in NE Iowa, other than snow removal, not much to do outside during that stretch.
Bits and pieces of my fall plant order will start to arrive this next week. We should see iris and phlox, which will result in relocation/consolidation of the few iris and one phlox already on the property. I also have a coupon from the large nursery in Hawkeye, IA where we purchased the honey locust and arbor vitae earlier in the year. The nursery is in their final reduction of stock for the season. We may be in the market for an evergreen for the back yard, to be placed near the garden enclosure/adjacent to the newly-planted grassy area. Field trip!
Just by accident I learned the massive plant we allowed to grow in the actual bed frame in the back yard was an American Pokeberry aka Poke Weed. It is a poisonous and invasive plant. I never liked the way it took over the space where it came up, much like the day lillies do in their various spots. “Our” Pokeberry was cut back, but, with root systems reaching many feet underground, it will be years before it is eradicated. Live and learn. I believe there is one shrub plus two trees still unidentified on the property.
Happy Trails.