Month: March 2022

Temperatures were up and down last week, but we managed to get some outside work done. Inside projects moved along, including VHS digital conversion and more painting in the downstairs bathroom. Lets see the details!

Pam ordered a new project: a birdhouse. Small birds (sparrows, mostly) are trying to nest around the house. While we have leaf filters on the gutters, there are gaps at the ends of the gutters. Birds are trying to fly into these gaps to build nests. The theory is a new birdhouse would provide a convenient nesting place, effectively re-locating the birds. We’ll know in a few weeks if this works!

Pam had to paint the new bird dwelling and I added the perch, as the house had not come with one and we felt it was needed. Below is a photo of the house, now mounted on the east side of the front porch. (The level says the birdhouse is level, the eyeball says it is not.)

We will observe the housing location and see if birds actually choose to use it. Time will tell.

A few other outside projects were undertaken. Major parts of the lawn were raked and I fired up the lawn vac to clean up the debris. For a few days we had the best looking spring lawn in town, but windy days have blown more leaves into the yard. The clean-up never seems to end…

Pam erected a protective fence around the iris bed, which is next to the back steps. She is trying to keep free-roaming cats off the budding plants. Last year the iris produced foliage but did not flower, being the first year they were relocated to this spot. I hope they bloom this year; if not, Pam wants them relocated to the garden where they’ll get full (not filtered) sun.

While we were working outside one day last week, with temperatures approaching 70 degrees, the animals kept track of us.

Later in the week temperatures plunged, with a light coating of snow greeting us on Thursday morning. The upcoming week will see high temperatures barely above freezing – or into the very low forties – and low temps down into the teens and low twenties. The calendar says spring but it’s early days yet, even though the grass is starting to turn green in some areas on the lawn.

Pam added more art deco painting to the bathroom. Due to the uneven wall (and a well-used stencil), every line’s edge has to be hand-painted to “clean up” the borders. It is a time consuming task, but the results look very good.

I added to the inside decor by hanging two more 16 x 20 canvas prints to the stairwell. These are from photos I took in Colorado.

Top-left columbine is Colorado’s state flower. Photo on right is of the Sheep Mountain Mill, AKA Deadhorse Mill, near Marble, Colorado. This is probably the most-photographed structure in Colorado. It was an electrical generating plant that supplied power to area mines.

Based on our grocery list, supply chain issues are improving but a few gaps still remain. I was able to get all but one item we wanted on my last outing. Of all the items on the list this time, the store was out of El Monterey frozen enchiladas. It’s the first time this has happened.

I spent many hours digitizing VHS tapes. Knowing each tape would take time to copy from VHS to a digital format, editing and adding titles, then saving to PC-friendly formats, I was not surprised at the time it takes to do each tape. However, a few nice surprises have turned up so far. I was reminded Toby’s baptism was on a Super Bowl Sunday. I have footage of a trip to Telluride, Colorado, which included a trip to the Alpine Tunnel. And there is video of Felicity’s grandparent and relatives singing songs for her. Keep in mind these tapes have not been viewed for more than 30 years! I have about three dozen tapes to go so this will be a long-term project. When completed, I will put the converted files in order by date and make HTML front pages so they can be played on various PC operating systems.

The down side is that the tapes are already beginning to deteriorate. I have had to repair two so far as the “leader” portion of the tapes had broken at the spool. Some color shifts have been observed and the “tracking” is not always good, resulting in lines at the top, sides, or bottom of the images. I have tried to adjust the track settings but that did not seem to help. The tapes themselves are on the way out. Not surprising as the oldest dates to 1985 or so, and others date to the late ’80s and early ’90s. VHS was never meant to be “archive” quality so it is probably a good thing I’ve decided to convert them before they deteriorate past use.

I’ve sold a couple small items on eBay, the latest this morning. I would like to move along items longer I no longer need or am interested in. Listing, packing, and shipping all take some time and pay little in the end but items are going out the door, even if at a slow pace.

Photo Archive

Flowers, leaves, and “color” make up this week’s archive

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

Pam’s Penny

After fixing the tacked border along the stairwell yet again, I decided to start putting Elmo in a pen overnight (night is when he methodically completes his destruction). The cat has earned this incarceration; my patience has limits.

Happy Trails.

It has been just over two years since I retired, and what a span it has been! I’ll review the last two years in brief, then move on to activities of the last week.

I retired in Colorado during February of 2020, then joined Pam in Iowa. In the intervening two years, much has happened. Pam had her gallbladder removed, COVID-19 hit, much work was done on Heart House, and I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. The garage addition was built, we acquired Elmo the Cat, and Pam’s sister Becky moved in with us during her house hunt. My mother passed away. And those were just the major events!

I must say retirement is not what I expected it to be. While I anticipated the work on Heart House, I also expected we would be traveling more to visit family, friends, and take in local events. I envisioned concerts in the park and trips to antique stores. Instead I got vaccination cards and KN95 face masks. Yes, this retirement is not what I expected when I was making my plans more than two years ago. I can only hope it gets better as COVID-19 and its variants decline from this point forward.

Moving on, this past week saw well above-average temperatures that led us to begin outside activities, such as lawn clean-up and removing mulch from flower beds. It is not full spring yet; it was below freezing this morning and there is a good chance of accumulating snow one day next week. It was very satisfying, though, to sit on the porch in the sunshine wearing only a light coat this past Wednesday.

Pam had mentioned to her Florida friend, Julie, that tulips are beginning to pop up in the Mary Lynn Memorial flower bed. Julie requested a photo of the spring growth, so here it is:

Pam has not removed all the mulch; she knows from experience below-freezing temps are still a pretty good possibility. Once NE Iowa is safely above freezing weather, the remaining mulch will be removed. While snow is gone from the yard, a few stubborn ice patches remain in shady areas near the dog run and north side of the house.

Pam moved ahead on the bathroom project, doing more stencil painting and putting up a few “whimsey” items (such as this sign over the shower):

Another sign was added to the laundry room, referencing our dogs and cats:

Speaking of cats, I have not included an update on our youngest troublemaker, Elmo, for a while. Here he is during a nap on a seat cushion.

Elmo has more energy – and curiosity – than the other cats (combined!) and continues to find ways of getting into trouble. Most recently he has decided to remove the decorative tacks that Pam added to secure the stairwell ribbon. Possessed of endless patience, he will work on a ‘project’ until it is completed to his satisfaction. This feline project activity usually occurs at night, when “correction” is not an issue for him.

I spent quite a few hours working on my newest project, converting VHS tapes into a digital format. While the work is not difficult, it is time consuming. Here are the steps involved:

1. Digitize the VHS tape using “Video Capture” from a company called Roxio.
2. Edit the tape using iMovie on my Mac. (Mostly this is adding transitions and a titles.)
3. By default, the edited tape is in Apple’s .mov format. I have to convert this to formats of .mp4 and .webM so the video can be viewed on other operating systems. The conversion can take hours as the converting program, called Prism, is pretty slow. It can take over an hour to convert 10 minutes of video into the .webM format, less time to create the .mp4 version.
4. Create an HTML page that will play the videos and includes background information. Web browsers all read HTML code making the videos playable on almost all common operating systems. These pages are patterned after my gallery web pages so I don’t have to build the new pages from scratch, but it still takes some time.

Below is a photo of my set-up. The TV (at right) is not required but is useful for previewing the tapes. Center screen is running the Video Capture program while the screen at the left is running the Prism conversion software. On the table in the right foreground is the VHS deck.

I have converted a few tapes so far which include Felicity’s 4th birthday party, Toby’s baptism, and a 1987 Halloween party. It is a real trip back in time to view these tapes again! I don’t plan to put these up on my web site; I will put them on thumb (flash) drives and send them to the kids. They may (or may not) view the videos but at least I will have converted the now-obsolete VHS footage into a more modern format. I have another 25+ “family” tapes yet to convert and will be kept busy for many weeks (years?) before I’m finished.

Photo Archive

Waterfalls and mountain scenes make up this week’s archive.

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

Pam’s Penny

Tulips! Robins! (Daffodils still underground.)

Himself contacted a Charles City painter re: exterior house completion. Painter is already scheduled into 2023. Crap. The couple running the local Elma building materials center are retiring April 1. New management taking over. Ga-a-a-a! Then, of course, Bob the Builder is still recovering from heart surgery.

To date, the Universe is not cooperating re: Heart House projects for the year.

Happy Trails.

As the title suggests, last week’s weather was another up-and-down spring week. We had temperatures ranging from 50 to zero. Along the way we worked on a few more projects and the updates are below.

Pam continued to move ahead with the bathroom upgrade. The new mirror was hung as was the new storage unit.

There is more to the mirror than meets the eye. Originally a green tint, Pam repainted to get a bluish color, then used sandpaper to give the frame a slightly “distressed” look. The process took a few hours to complete over the space of a couple days. However, Pam is satisfied with the result. The size and location of the new mirror is a big improvement over the previous rectangle. The newly-installed wall mount soap dish declutters the pedestal sink, as well.

The bathroom storage unit project was more straightforward. A shelf was installed first, to distribute the weight of the unit along the wall and (more importantly) into secure points behind the sheetrock. Screws in the keyhole back of the unit keep it from tipping forward. Pam likes the additional storage as supplies are now clearly visible and not hidden behind other items.

Between the new mirror and this unit the bathroom upgrade progresses. More painting is on the docket — as are new floor tiles — so this is still a work-in-progress.

I began listing a few small items for sale on eBay, including some 1990’s era “Thomas The Tank Engine” VHS tapes. The first one sold and was shipped this morning. There is not much money in these but it gives me another project to work on and will lead to clearing out some of the stuff we no longer want or need.

Becky’s search for a new home took a step forward this week when she and her brother Larry viewed a couple homes in and near Fountain City, Wisconsin. While the visit did not yield a suitable place, the outing was informative and a rapport was established with a local realtor.

In conclusion, projects moved ahead on several fronts. The upcoming week promises to be warmer and I may be able to begin some spring clean-up of the yard. There are plenty of small branches that dropped during the winter and some leaves were built up along fence lines that need to be cleaned out. As for new projects, I ordered a VHS-to-DVD converter and that should arrive shortly; I will begin the task of converting our old family VHS tapes into a digitalized form that can be turned into DVDs or just viewed on a computer. That should be a learning experience.

Photo Archive

Various critters make up this week’s archive.

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

Pam’s Penny

Time for all the sleeping schedules and dog feeding routines to be screwed up tomorrow, due to Daylight Savings Time. Why do we go through this twice a year anyway…

Happy Trails.

The past week’s weather has been a roller-coaster experience. While we had no below-zero temperatures, highs and lows ranged from single digits to the low 50 degree range. It is warm today, windy, with thunderstorms expected, however, the forecast for tomorrow morning (Sunday) is for snow flurries as we get the “back side” of the storm system now passing through. Much of our snow has melted, leaving puddles all over the place as the still-frozen ground won’t let the water seep in.

Around the house, several projects were completed or moved ahead. Becky finished the 2,000 piece puzzle that has occupied quite a few hours over the last few weeks.

Pam painted more of the downstairs bathroom and moved that project along a bit. She is changing the color of the new mirror frame so it fits in more with the planned decor. Both the mirror and new storage unit should be mounted this coming week. Eventually, new floor tiles will be laid. Nothing is square in that bathroom, so Pam will need to do some custom fitting to make everything fit and look aligned.

I did some work on the faucet destined for the job sink in the laundry room, as we changed ideas on how to wall-mount it. Originally we had planned to use a couple of cast-iron brackets but decided to use those to mount a shelf elsewhere instead. The faucet backing is now equipped with a “cleat” that will mount it to the wall, similar to the system used to mount kitchen cabinets.

If you recall, the job sink project started last October. I stopped in at the plumbing shop a few weeks ago and found that the parts they needed to order had arrived and that “they were planning installation schedules now” and “we would be called a day in advance” to get the job finished. No sign of them yet. It gets old. We really need to get that job sink into action.

I will take a moment to comment on the Ukraine situation:

The number of birds at the feeders and squirrels at the corn cob feeder have been greatly reduced these past few days. With more open fields and grassy areas I suspect they are finding food elsewhere now. I will probably take the feeders down by the end of March, unless the weather changes again and they return to feed.

I ordered a new set of Salomom Quest 4 hiking boots ($230.00 plus tax) to replace my old Danners. I need traction when working on the hillsides of The Lot and the old boots are worn smooth and into the soles at some places. They served me well, but Danner no longer makes the model I have. Not surprising since they are about a decade old. I think the price is high and had trouble placing the order and hope these new boots last a decade or so. I don’t buy shoes often.

Photo Archive

Some family photos from the 1990s.

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

Pam’s Penny

I perked up to hear a welcome sound the other morning; it was V’s of geese honking while flying north for the season. And in the twilight some evenings, owls now hoot to each other across the neighborhood. Soon the cardinals will begin their distinctive mating call: “wheet-who, wheet-who, who-weet, who-weet, who-weet.” Spring and bird song just seems to go together. When the first robin arrives, it will probably be the distinctive “chirrup” I hear first, before I see the bird.

But I did need to have a “discussion” with the bulbs slumbering in the Mary Lynn bed, as well the bulbs planted around the light post. “Too early, don’t start poking sprouts up just yet.” Much as I am looking forward to the Spring tulip and daffodil display…

Still — can the first visit to the Mennonite greenhouse be too far away? I think not.

Happy Trails.