Month: January 2022

Low temps limited activity at Heart House this past week. However, I worked on small projects, kept the bird feeder full, watched squirrels devouring corn on the cob from their feeder, and identified a few new birds at the suet feeder. I made some changes to my web site pages. Here is what went down last week.

Our outdoor bird feeders had a banner week. We spotted a new finch, identifiable by a pale red breast and small body. We know there are finches in the area but had seen mostly the yellow variety during the spring and summer months. Good to know there are other varieties around and we hope to attract more.

The squirrels go through a cob of corn a day – my limit, not theirs. Much ends up on the ground but some of that gets picked up by other squirrels when not on the perch. I had to laugh; one day a squirrel pulled the cob off the feeder and hauled it up into the tree. I guess I need to screw the cobs further onto the holder so they stay put!

The suet feeder has attracted a red-headed woodpecker, several downy woodpeckers, and a pair of nuthatches. We enjoy watching their antics, viewed through the kitchen window. As with the northern cardinals at the regular feeder, the varied colors of the suet-feeding birds add a bit of cheer to the day.

Weather played a factor in limiting the week’s activities. Temperatures have been on a roller coaster, first with highs slightly above average (about 22 degrees F) for a day or two then dropping into the single digits or below zero the remaining days. Night time temps (normally about 6 degrees F) dropped into the -20 range. Below is a screen shot of the past week’s forecast. (From my iPhone’s Weather application.)

I worked on making a few changes to my web pages. Those with blocks of text, such as the Kids, Cats, Dogs, and others, now have first-line indents. This makes them read more like a book and improves their appearance. I am experimenting with having linked pictures open in an overlapping window instead of opening in a new tab. So far the only page modified this way is the Cats page.

The overlapping window is accomplished using a programming language called Javascript. I had used this only once; a Javascript code provides the navigation links at the top and the footer at the bottom of each page. I had some learning to do. After I had the images opening and close correctly, Pam’s sister Becky helped me turn the images into the clickable link that made the Javascript code execute. Thanks to Becky for that help!

One other change was accomplished as well. Many websites use “Tables” to display data, but I had not had to use them on Appleattic.net. However, one page, in my Motorcycle Trailer gallery, lent itself to conversion to a table. I had used tables before at my previous job but had not revisited the code for a number of years. I pulled out my reference books and went to work.

The Costs page now looks better, is easier to read, and requires less code now that it is in table form. Creation of this table included additions to my web page’s style sheet, also known as a CSS sheet. I don’t think I will be converting other pages to a table-style layout, but it was fun to convert this one.

Other web pages were cleaned up, deleting old code and replacing with newer code, and other maintenance was accomplished. Some of these pages, such as the motorcycle trailer build pages, go back to the earliest days of my web site. It seems like a good idea to revisit these page and update them. Many changes are to the background code that makes them work, not necessarily visual changes. Its all good.

Pam keeps busy with her projects. Out came the sewing machine and various clothing repairs were made. A plan was established to start updating the downstairs bathroom. (I picked up new paint for it today.) She hasn’t done much to this room; the revamp of the small bathroom will make a good indoor project going forward.

Becky is helping take over meal preparation and has come up with several fine-tasting meals. She continues her search for a new home, possible in conjunction with her brother Larry. The two have communicated re: combining resources in a home purchase; we’ll see if this becomes a reality. It would be a good way for them both to leave renting behind and enjoy their own space(s). Hope it can happen.

So that’s about it. All of us spend time on our computers or watching some TV. I’ve even taken to watching old CDs; Red Dwarf season 1 and 2 (BBC, late 1980s) have occupied a few of my hours between working on web pages and scanning slides. All of us can’t wait for better weather to arrive!

Photo Archive

Here is a blast from the past.

More “Fall Color” shots.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Penny

Local lumber store staff informs me the line of Valspar paint we’ve been using to paint the house (interior and exterior) is now – and will continue to be – hard to order. The reason: the manufacturer can’t get the raw materials through the supply chain to make the paint. Really? Just when we’re working our way around the house, repairing and painting, and talking about finding a painter to (finally) accomplish the ombre effect in the gables, just then the paint supply chain goes wonkers? Murphy’s Law at work.

There are many things about the pandemic that changed life as we knew it. Supply chain shortages in home repair (lumber, windows/doors) and now paint have so far been a pain, but manageable. Empty shelves at the grocery store and higher prices for staple groceries have been a pain, but manageable. Waiting for plumbing and construction workers to fit us into their schedules has been a pain, but manageable. Wearing masks when we’re in public has been a pain, but manageable. It does become tiresome, however.

I suspect we may have been spoiled previously as to the variety of choices (across the board) we’ve enjoyed.

The painting we did complete in 2021 – particularly the red on Heart House’s first floor exterior – contrasts beautifully against the snow. The colors are vibrant and cheerful all around. We left the red heart rope lights on two windows and the garden fence (until Valentine’s Day) and turn them on at night, a distinctive glow in the dark of midwinter.

I take my cheer where I can find it at twenty below.

Happy Trails.

We are in the dead of winter at Heart House. Life continues pretty much in the routine we have established: some projects, some fun, watching the birds and squirrels at the feeders, and passing the winter hours. Here is what occupied our time this past week.

Much of the activity is based around outside temperatures, which saw roller coaster-like changes. A few days were above freezing but then arctic air moved in. We had lows approaching -20 degrees, and the windchill was near forty below. Other than filling the bird feeder and putting out corn cobs for the squirrels, not a lot of my time was spent outdoors! I did hang a suet feeder, a first for us. I managed one quick shot of a nuthatch using it and hope to get more (and better) photos in the upcoming days.

Inside Pam and Becky are working on a puzzle (the second of two) – a good way to spend some time.

We have learned Becky is a pretty good cook and our menus have been more varied than in the past. It’s an interesting change and opens up different culinary experiences for us. Becky has learned some of Pam’s tricks in return; between them dinners are pretty good.

My contributions are very limited, mostly doing the grocery shopping and an occasional pancake night.

I did take in a Vintage Snowmobile Show which was held in nearby Cresco. This year the show featured John Deere snowmobiles and a couple of rare machines were on hand. One model was one of only 126 produced and another was one of 250 produced. I walked around a bit, spoke to a couple of the owners, and enjoyed my visit. However, the temperature was 8 degrees above and a strong wind was blowing across the open display area so I did not stay overly long. Here are a couple photos of the event.

Snow is in the forecast for the next couple days and it looks like NE Iowa can look forward to around 4 inches of the white stuff, not a major storm but enough to shovel. Temperatures will then plunge well into the minus range below zero. I have been running my kerosene heater in the garage on these cold nights in an attempt to keep the temperatures above zero. So far this has worked but I have gone through 10 gallons of kerosene so far and will undoubtedly go through more in the near future. Last year, in comparison, I used only about 5 gallons for the whole season. It seems we are running almost 20 degrees colder than average. I could do without the sub-zero days.

I’ve been monitoring the temperatures in Fairplay, Colorado, the town closest to our lot. Fairplay, located at an elevation of 9,953 feet, has been warmer than NE Iowa! A look at Park County webcams reveals that Colorado and Iowa have about the same amount of snow, maybe more in Iowa than is present around our mountain property. We expected cold winters when we planned our move to the Midwest, but this borders on the ridiculous.

On the brighter side, there haven’t been any frozen pipes as we had during the winters of 2019 and 2020. The relocation of the upstairs water lines was a success in this regard. We are still waiting on the plumbing company to finish the laundry room drain line and hook up the job sink. When finished, and the wash machine moves to it’s new location, we will eliminate the heating taped pipes that currently run to the washer. The pipes don’t freeze with the heating tapes operating, but the new location is along an inside wall where the tapes will not be necessary.

That about wraps up this week’s news.

Photo Archive

From spring of 1990 — these photos of visits to parks in the Pacific NW.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Penny

Keeping the internal temp of the catio around 32 degrees is a real challenge in January and February. I feel bad for the outside cats in frigid NE Iowa temps, even with the heated inside space. A little fiddling with heated water bowls was necessary to have drinkable water available. I frequently see two of “our” neighborhood-wandering feral cats (Melody and Stardust) visiting the winter water and feeder locations. At present I monitor three permanent cat residents inside the catio.

This time of year, the electrical and propane bills for Heart House are truly monumental. The house thermostat is set at 66 degrees, but still the furnace runs pretty much constantly the first two months of the year. Knowing we have instituted what energy savings measures we can afford (and that make sense), I pay the bills and try not to ponder the cost. It’s an old house, so be it.

Two pairs of cardinals show up at the 7th Street feeder frequently, usually mornings and evenings. Their red plumage against the snow cover is a welcome, cheery sight.

Happy Trails.

It seemed to be quiet this past week. Still, the kitchen was re-arranged. Pam and Becky started working on a 1000 piece puzzle, and I cleared our most recent snowfall. The bird feeder was visited by a couple hawks, much to our chagrin, and a couple local squirrels have discovered our corn-cob feeder. Such are details of life in a NE Iowa winter!

The biggest item of the week was a re-arrangement of the kitchen. We had a rescued cabinet under the pot rack that held our bulk water dispenser. This was not ideal as it made changing water bottles difficult and hanging pots partially blocked a cabinet. The rescued cabinet is now relocated to the garage and the water dispenser is sitting on a plant stand (which was purchased at an antique store in Leadville, Colorado decades ago). Pots have been moved to the back hangers of the pot rack and access to the kitchen cabinet is much better. The changes have improved the work flow in the kitchen. The cats and dogs were a little put out as these changes required a relocation of their water dishes, now just around the corner in the library. They got over it quickly.

An occupation for sunny daytime hours is the assembly of a 1000 piece puzzle. Becky is the primary worker on this task, but I have contributed a few fitted pieces as well. The puzzle is a difficult one and will take some time to complete. It has been nice to have the three of us gathered around the table, fitting the occasional piece, carrying on conversations and just talking to each other. Add some fresh-baked chocolate-chip cookies to the mix and you have a pleasant way to spend a snowy afternoon or two.

We received around 5 inches of snow within the last 24 hours. I did my usual bit of cleaning our sidewalks and alley access for the garage. Included in my routine is the cleaning out around two sets of mail boxes, even though we get mail at only one set. I am sure the carrier and people that drive up to the boxes to pick up their mail appreciate the snow removal. The downside is that the work leaves me very tired, as I am still not up to my pre-prostate cancer levels of energy.

Earlier in the week I put up a corn-cob feeder for our local squirrels. Squirrels have been sighted under the bird feeder, cleaning up corn kernels that fall to the ground, so I decided to put up a dedicated feeder for them. It’s fun to watch the grey squirrels running up and down the tree and sitting on the feeder to grab the corn off the cob. The feeder is located where we can see it out the kitchen window.

In a less-desirable development, a Cooper’s hawk (we think) has come by the feeder a couple times, scaring the birds off before grabbing one for a snack. We try to keep an eye out for it and scare it off with crow calls and noise when it appears, letting the hawk know it is not welcome around our place. I know that small birds are among the Cooper’s diet, but it can find them somewhere other than in our yard. We had not sighted any hawks last year so this is new for 2022.

Yes, it has been a “quiet” week!

Photo Archive

This week features more “mechanical” items. I had not realized I had so many old machinery photos! Most of these were taken at antique tractor shows.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Penny

It was disappointing to find out this week that “Bob the Builder” is having major heart issues. He’s already had stents put in since we last saw him in October; now he needs even more medical intervention. Bob is quite a local character. He’s a slight, suntanned independent contractor who, in his 63 years, has constructed or renovated numerous homes in Elma. Bob was supposed to work on our second floor bathroom this winter, but that project’s been put on hold now.

We were hoping to convince Bob to replace [quite a bit of] siding on the east side of the house this summer. Much of that siding — at the second floor level — is in need of attention; if it’s not replaced with cement board, “somebody” is going to need to scrape and caulk it before it can be painted. Scraping and repair needs to be accomplished before we can convince painters to bid on what remains of the exterior paint job. (Left to paint is a major portion of the second floor and ombre-toned gable details.)

Bob was also contracted to replace another window set on the west side of the house, and repair an eave off the laundry room addition. I’m mentally rearranging renovation projects for 2022…

Happy Trails.

The past week found NE Iowa with temperatures 25 – 30 degrees below average for this time of year. Whoa! This limited outside activities somewhat, but a few things received attention.

The main effort was in the laundry room. Photos of our current and past dogs now decorate the upper portion of the north wall.

This space (over the laundry room door into the kitchen) received some wallpaper + border as well.

Once again, more ladder work was required to get the ribbon trim in place and to hang the photos. Three pictures are 16 x 20 and the other two are 11 x 14, not real easy to handle when on a ladder! These photos were ordered specifically for this laundry room placement. I think the room looks great.

Other activities included the taking down of tree and window decorations inside the house and some of the outside lights and garlands. However, the cold weather postponed some of the exterior work until it warms up a bit.

With overnight lows hitting close to -20 degrees, it has been a frigid week. Even the outside cat heated water dish froze! I fired up my kerosene heater in the garage in an attempt to keep the cars and gear above zero and that effort, so far, has been successful. Just before the end of 2021 we received a “fill” of propane — we’re in good shape for the extra demands of the furnace. My new LL Bean boots are proving to be equal to the sub-zero temps. The upcoming week promises to be on the milder side and I will be glad to see more moderate winter temperatures.

I’m going to take a moment to mention current events. I have striven, over these past 11 years, to keep politics mostly out of these posts as there are many other forums and places for political debate and expression of political ideology. This has tended to make my blog rather bland. The only statement I’ll make this week is that I thought President Biden delivered a good speech this week, one that was long overdue.

Here is a follow-up on an experiment we started in early December: we canceled our cable TV and went to a streaming service to provide our programming. After a month, I can say we have benefited from the change-over. Not only do we get more channels, the cost is measurably lower. The only down side we have seen is that going to the “previous channel” (the “back” button) involves a lag time that was not present on the cable remote. The lag is only a few seconds but seems longer. This is a minor inconvenience, more than made up for with a broader range of offerings and lower cost. We are running Fubo TV over Roku Ultra streaming devices and, as there are only two TV locations, are contracted through Roku for two devices. This works at present.

As the cold weather has shut down many of our projects that would normally be done outside or in the garage, other activities for the week were pretty routine and small in nature, typical winter chores for the most part. I continue to scan some slides and update some Galleries; there is now an audio introduction on the Boreas Pass gallery, for example. It is pleasant to have some down time now that the holidays are over and just ride out the cold weather with a good book and a cup of tea.

Photo Archive

From a Renaissance festival we attended in the late ’70s or early ’80s:

Around the yard photos from previous places we have lived:

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Penny

Frickin’ cold. I find myself contemplating future projects — but — not energized to start them. S.A.D. ?

Sometimes, after watching the totally-depressing news (rising pandemic hospital numbers, extreme weather, insurrection, politics ad infinitum), I dial up Roku “oldies but goodies” and watch Bob Ross paint. Calms me right down.

Happy Trails.

It has been a quiet week. We did receive some snow, I worked on making my web site more mobile-friendly, and Pam and Becky began a new project in the laundry room. Here are more details.

While we didn’t have a white Christmas, NE Iowa did receive about 4 inches of snow the day after, making for a white New Year’s Day. I followed my usual snow clearing routine, clearing our sidewalks and around two sets of mailboxes. (The latter is mostly for the benefit of our carrier so she can easily access the boxes.) I suspect we will have snow for the rest of the winter; a cold spell of below-zero weather is expected later this week and I don’t see it getting warm enough to melt until next spring.

I began working to make my Galleries collection more mobile-device friendly. This entails a learning curve on my part, followed by adding code to my web pages. To aid in this effort I compiled a list of all the files that needed modification and the total came to 189. About 1/3 of these were supporting files, not just the pages you see.

I have made a good start but have a way to go. The problem is making a web page that looks good on a PC screen and also on a hand-held device such as a smart phone. The difference between the height vs width of the screens is substantial with smart phone screens being much taller in relation to their width. Pages get “stacked” on smartphone screens which changes their appearance. I am still working through this. However, my Galleries are now friendlier to hand-held devices and easier to view. If you have not visited them in the past, take a look at them now.

A part of the re-coding project was making the settings on all galleries the same. Variables include title position, transition time between photos when auto-play is turned on, margin settings, and other user-selectable options. Galleries are now uniform in these respects. I had planned on doing this as a separate project but now seemed to be a good time to roll these changes in as needed.

Pam and Becky started a new project in the laundry room. Pam has been planning to put a border stripe at the top of the walls, similar to what she did last winter in the library and the snug. Given the height of the walls in the laundry room (approx 10′), this is a challenge (Pam and Becky are approx 5’2″ in height).

The red ribbon band will eventually be added to each laundry room wall. The space on the north wall, shown above, will be filled with photos of our current and past dogs. Part of Pam’s Christmas gift was a total of 5 large photos for this purpose, 3 each in 16 x 20 size and a pair in 11 x 14. I’ll have more on this wall as Pam and Becky progress on the project.

Upstairs, there was a little surprise when Pam started un-decorating the Christmas tree; Pam found this little nest buried deep in the branches. (It was still intact after going through the shaking machine at the tree farm, as well as being manhandled up the Victorian staircase. Unexpected.) The nest featured a bit of egg shell and corn seed still embedded in the bottom. Some nesting pair will be missing their “digs” next spring.

Speaking of birds, we have seen a couple cardinals — including a female– at our winter bird feeder, along with jays, woodpeckers, and the usual assortment of sparrows and small birds. Even though our neighbors have now put more feeders in their yards, we have an army of birds at our feeder (either through habit or because of the protective bush close to the feeder where the birds love to perch). I have to fill the feeder at least every other day. This is far more often than last year, but it’s enjoyable watching the birds from our library window.

So that’s it, a pretty quiet week. New Year’s Day will continue in that vein as we don’t have anything special planned. I do hope 2022 is a better year than 2021 (medically, politically, everything).

Photo Archive

I have a couple of “Places” to show this time.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Penny

Looking back on the month of December and visits from Toby and Caitlin, it was a real treat to enjoy conversations with young folks — as well as my sister — during the holiday season. Jerry and I typically have been a solitary duo during past holidays. Vaccines/boosters allowed this to happen.

Intense cold has settled in for a several-day stay, with the next round of frigid temps predicted a week from now. Back to the typical “let’s survive 8-10 weeks of frigid winter” pattern for January-February in NE Iowa. (I much preferred the “enjoying above-average temps” pattern in December.) Sub-zero is so-o-o hard on the catio cats, plus the dogs, when animals need to be outside.

Looking to 2022, I register some unease re: continuing COVID variants impacts and heightened political currents. (Voting rights, in particular, appear increasingly fragile as we ease toward midterm elections.) Jer’s cancer prognosis long-term has yet to be ascertained by the Mayo “mother ship.” We move forward – cautiously. Be well, everyone.

Happy Trails.