The main story of the week was the hot and humid weather we experienced. With the “feels like” temps exceeding 100 degrees due to a combination of temperature and humidity, most outside activities were abandoned. Still, there were a few noteworthy events and happenings.
On Sunday we drove to Greene, Iowa (about 40 miles) to look over their outdoor plant and craft sale. (This is an annual event but was not held last year due to COVID-19.) The sale was held in one of Greene’s riverside parks which proved to be a beautiful spot along the Shell Rock River.
We bought a couple of white phlox plants to go along our two shades of red plants. We hope this gives us a colorful display next year. The existing phlox are doing great, with two lighter red plants flanking the deeper red plant that Pam bought last year. A pot of daisy plants and half a dozen ears of fresh sweet corn came home with us as well.
Here is a photo of one of the vendors set up for the event:
Pam’s sister Becky accompanied us and she returned home with a plant to take back home with her. Becky departed Elma for her return trip to Rice Lake on Monday. We were sad to see her go as we had enjoyed her company and appreciated the work she did on Heart House. Thank you.
The night of the 27th we had quite a lightning storm which was followed by some high winds and rain. I took some video of this event which has been posted on my Videos tab under the title “Lightning.” The 3:13 minute long video is grainy as the low light and flashes of lightning raised havoc with the camera’s auto focus function. Still, it was quite a show.
Speaking of videos, I added the Elma Trail Days Parade to my Videos page. There is nothing exciting about this clip but it does show how small-town America celebrates a local event. Narration is provided by Pam, Becky, Larry, and myself. With a run time of nearly 26 minutes it is a long clip; view it at your leisure!
New grass seed was planted near the garage in a bare spot that had never filled in naturally. I am pleased to report the new grass is coming up. I hope it covers well and eliminates the bald spot that has been the source of mud in rainy weather.
Given that outside time was limited by the heat and humidity, Pam and I turned to inside projects. Pam stained her new birdhouse and one of the wood crates we had picked up earlier this summer. New valances were hung over the library windows. Zack from O’Brien Plumbing and Heating arrived to begin working up a quote for some plumbing we need done. I made a trip to Menard’s home improvement store in Rochester and came home with a new water heater, garbage disposal, toilet for the upstairs bathroom, and a faucet set for the job sink we plan to have installed in the laundry room. The job sink will be made out of a galvanized wash tub on a stand, which is on the way from the manufacturer.
Some of my inside time was taken up with updating my web pages. I needed to bring some of the code up to more modern “best practices” as many of the pages now date back a decade or more and coding techniques have changed a great deal over time. Most of these changes are invisible but a few are not; you may notice drop shadow boxes around many of the photos used throughout the pages. The site is now more portable-device friendly should you want to view it on a smart phone or other hand-held device such as an iPad.
A fan repair was accomplished after one of our fans began having a hard time turning properly. For some reason the fan’s manufacturer used security screws in two places. Security screws have a ‘pin’ in the middle of the screw head and you need a special type of bit to remove them. I have a set of these special bits as similar screws are often used on computer gear to discourage folks from taking things apart. Why industry goes to this trouble for an inexpensive fan is a mystery to me.
Small projects, a couple trips, saying good-by to Becky…the week passed with us doing a mixture of routine living tasks and chores. With the coming of cooler weather we hope to get back to doing things that improve the looks and functionality of the house.
One small note: We received our annual propane usage report from our local supplier. Last year we used 836 gallons of propane. The previous owners, for the same time period, had used almost 1,700 gallons. We keep the house a bit cooler than the previous occupants, but I suspect a lot of the savings is due to the foundation sealing, a few new windows, and other energy savings projects we took on last year. This year has seen us replace the kitchen window and broken siding on the south side of the house, complete with a layer of Tyvek underneath, and caulking of quite a few joints as we scrape and repaint portions of the outside walls. All these upgrades help make the home more energy efficient. With propane going up over 30 percent this heating season, all the upgrades will pay off in real dollars.
Photo Archive
Zion National Park in 2014
That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!
Pam’s Penny
I guess everything is on a domino-effect cycle around here. Purchase a new dishwasher and the resulting hot water load kills the water heater. Lukewarm showers may be somewhat refreshing this time of year, but that won’t last for long. Money spent on house maintenance/appliances seems endless.
Happy trails.