Small Shutters and Raking...

...so much raking.

 All the shutters are hung on the garden shed.  I even painted the frames of the 3 screens.  We need to build a 4th screen for the last window and when we get caught up with all the spring raking we will make one.

Today we discussed that we need storm windows for the shed to keep out the cold wind in the winter. This is more than a garden shed.  In the basement of this shed is the pressure tank for our well.  Because it is below grade it stays above 32 degrees unless the weather is brutal.  So we figure that if we have spray foam insulation in the walls and storms on the windows we should be fine with just heat tape on the pipes.  Normally the heat tape doesn't kick on until the pipes are close to 32 degrees.  If we can keep it at 40 degrees then the heat tape will never come on and will not use any electricity.

We also replaced two broken panes.  All 4 windows need to be reglazed and the paint stripped off the wood parts and repainted.  This is something that I can do one window at a time during the summer while we hang cedar shingles.

The trash pick up guys will probably not be happy with us tomorrow.  We put out 20 trash cans full of leaves.  We need to blow the leaves out from around the lilac bushes out by the street and then we will be done with that area.  R fertilized because it started to sprinkle and rain was in the forecast.  So far....no rain.

Spring clean up is one of my least favorite chores that we do.  But one of my favorite chores is mowing the yard for the first time every year.  Something about the smell of the cut grass and turning the semi green lawn scattered with leaves and dead grass into a nice green lawn is so rewarding.

But by the end of June, lawn mowing has lost most of it's luster and it is just another weekly chore.  Really it is just like any other task that you do that is the same day in and day out.  Like painting your entire house....by the third gallon of the same color it becomes monotonous.  

Some people do one job at a time rather than multiple tasks at various levels of completion all going at the same time.  We are of the latter because we have to work around the weather, finding parts for various projects, and working around the budget. 

So here is what is currently happening or going to happen in the near future. 

Finish the raking

Buy plants for the pots and window boxes

Take the outdoor furniture cushions to upholsterer for new fabric

Build a peaked roof on the almost flat roof on the back of the house (probably hire this out)

Remove third chimney (not in use) need space and don't need the chance of a roof leak

Have chimney repair guy rebuild or repoint the two chimneys that are for the three fireplaces

Power wash the two chimneys to remove the pale yellow paint

Have retaining wall built and patio pored with exposed aggregate 

Remove old cedar shingles off the back of the house

Strip old paint from windows and trim on the back of the house

Fix any broken or missing sheathing

Install new cedar shingles

Order and install the last two windows that need replacing with restoration windows

Order custom sized exterior french doors for the master bedroom  

Build Juliet balcony off of master bedroom

Remove old garage door under the deck and close it off

Move basement door to where garage door was & install original house window where the door was

Paint house and barn

Work on two secret projects 

Whoa....I need a nap after reading that list.  But like everything else that we do, we will do it one step at a time and make sure we do it right so we don't have to re do it in 5 years.

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Priming the Small Shutters before the Snow....

...yes, you read that correctly....snow!!!  Why????????  I have be optimistic and hope that it will only be slush.  Why would the weathermen get it correct now when they have  been consistently wrong all winter?  

Today, I primed 2 sets of small shutters.  That's both the front and back, two coats.  I, also, primed the outside of one flower box with just one coat of primer.  

In between priming and waiting for the primer to dry, I did a little more raking and some burning.  We also put the tops back on our concrete bird baths.  The tops on the bigger bird baths are usually leaned against the base but with the smaller bird baths we usually just flip the tops over. 

That reminds me....I read about some additive made exclusively for bird baths.  We have a real problem with red algae growing in our bird baths.  The birds love the bird baths so we need to make sure that the product is safe for birds.  I'll let you know what I find out. 

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Rot Repair, Sanding, and More Priming

This weather just isn't cooperating.   Nice sunny skies but cold, very cold.  I was able to finish priming the second set of shutters.  But now I am just waiting for a day where the weather is sunny and at least 55 degrees before I can even think about putting two coats of semi gloss paint on them.  We have spent a lot of time making these shutters and hunting down the hardware for them so the last thing I want to do is rush the top coat.  This will be a test of my patience but I must resist the urge to paint before the weather is warm enough.

Best way to resist the urge?  Move on to another project.  I started raking the flower beds around the garden shed because that is where R was working and I like to get the hosta beds raked before they start growing.  None have pop through yet but I did find some tulips and hyacinth bulbs that are starting to come up.  Also the daffodil bulbs that R and planted last year under the hedge row of lilacs out by the street have popped up.  We can't plant tulips like we want to, due to the fact that we have a lot of black walnut trees that are toxic to a lot of plants.  Tulips don't do well but daffodils do just fine and they are more deer resistant, too.  So to add some variety I try to plant different daffs every year.  This fall I am going to plant white or very pale yellow ones.  AND more hyacinths....love hyacinths.....the scent...is only second to lilac.  Love them both.

R has spent the last two days working on filling in the rotted window sills in the garden shed with universal filler.  We have used it before and it holds up to our extreme winter weather.  Should we have cut out the rotted sills and replaced them?  Probably, but this is a garden shed and we have bigger fish to fry then to do a restoration on the shed.  We have made big strides with the garden shed that everyone said "tear it down!"  So for now, filling in the sills with filler is just fine.  It is not like George Washington slept in our garden shed.

On Thursday, R put the first coat of filler on and today he sanded and shaped it, and then refilled again.  It's a process of layering.  

R touched up the flower boxes with the sander before he put it away.  Depending on the weather on Saturday, I might start priming just the inside of the flower boxes.  I can do that in the work room and not have to worry about the cats stepping on the wet paint.  I probably just jinxed myself and the cats will all decide that they must sleep inside the flower boxes.

Within the next month, we have a tree trimming crew coming for 8 hrs to trim our large trees.  We have a very large ash tree that has two large low limbs that need to be removed and also a few dead limbs that are too high for us to get to.  They will also remove two black walnut limbs over the sun room and remove all the small limbs that grow downward.  The bulk of their work will be on two huge silver maple trees that have a lot of storm damage.  These trees are important because they are situated where they give us our afternoon shade in the summer.  Do I wish that they were not silver maple and maybe oak or sugar maple?  Yes, but I cannot go to the nursery and buy a 100 year old tree.  So we are making these trees work by removing limbs that will cause us problems in the future or limbs that could compromise the health of the trees.

I am currently collecting bits and pieces for a focal point design piece for the back of the house.  There isn't a rush on it because we have to reshingle and hang eave troughs first.  Here's a hint...it involves our scrap pile....Surprise!!

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Glass Beads

We received the vintage hinges we needed for the two French doors we are installing. Installation is on the back burner until it either rains or we finish raking up all the leaves that cover the flower beds.

Today I started raking the bed that has lavender and Knock Out roses. For some reason the leaves really pile up in that bed and trying to rake out the leaves is very difficult.

Also the hydrangeas and the roses both needed trimming. I was wearing gloves to keep from getting poked but the gloves kept getting caught on the thorns. So needless to say the going was slow plus it was cold outside. It looked far warmer than the 40 degrees it reached today.

This past Monday R learned how to make glass beads. He was so proud of his little plastic bag of glass beads. I hope to make them into a necklace or bracelet. I'm amazed he doesn't burn his hand while making them because I have two burn marks just from using a heat gun.

The photo of the beads don't do them justice.
These two are really cool with the feathering.
The two yellow beads have little dots all over them. I think he rolled the hot glass bead in ground up glass dust.
He only made one bead (right bottom of photo) with little bumps.
R said he is going to make more beads. He was just getting the hang of it when the class ended.

FYI....I had a reader ask about the wood cold air return that we installed. I forgot to mention where I bought it. I purchased it off of eBay. There is a seller on eBay who customs makes these in various sizes and woods.

B & G's Deck/Yard Update

Today was hotter than hot. High humidity and lots of sun makes shoveling and raking dirt nearly unbearable. But we persevered. Here is a 'after before' photo. After a lot of shoveling but before R tilled it. R brought our Troy Bilt rear tine rototiller over to B & G's to loosen up the dirt pile so that the dirt could be leveled. R ran the tiller and we raked, shoveled, and picked out the rocks.

Just look at that level cement slab by the rear entry door. Good job, ladies.
After we raked it smooth B & G laid down some grass seed and 3 bags of the cellulose/seed mixture. G used the back of a leaf rake to break apart the chunks and to get an even layer.
Hopefully we will get some gentle rain to help along the germination.

Last Sunday while I was on my way home from B & G's I noticed the sky. It was just before sunset and there was a storm approaching from the southwest. The sky was red. Not orange, not pink, but red. Occasionally there would be lightening but I was unable to capture any in a photo. The red sky lasted about 5 minutes. The below photo is a true representation of the sky. I did not enhance the color.

Old proverb

Red sky at night
Sailor's delight.
Red sky in morning
Sailor's warning.

A line from Shakespeare's 'Venus and Adonis'

“Like a red morn that ever yet betokened, Wreck to the seaman, tempest to the field, Sorrow to the shepherds, woe unto the birds, Gusts and foul flaws to herd men and to herds.”

From the Bible, Matthew XVI: 2-3

Jesus said, “When in evening, ye say, it will be fair weather: For the sky is red. And in the morning, it will be foul weather today; for the sky is red and lowering.”

So it looks like a red sky in the morning is a bad thing and red sky in the evening is good.