Mo Last Wall Papering

I am sitting here in the kitchen watching Susan hang the last piece of wall paper on the west wall. Each piece has been very frustrating for her to put up. She talks to herself a lot and kind of mutters. 

I’ve been staying out of the way for the most part, helping in small ways when I can but this is basically her show.

Here is the progression of the installation.

I don’t have a precise estimate of the time it took but I would guess she’s got six or seven hours over two days.

I think it looks good. Next job is to install the cabinets against the wall and get the quartz counter top in place. 

When it’s all finished, it will look something like this

The Last Wall Paper…for now

Today, Susan is working on the last wall papering project for the kitchen.

Above is a picture of the wall as she gets started. I have the laser level aimed at the wall for her to help get the first piece square as it is glued to the wall.

This wall paper is especially difficult to work with because it has no self adhesive. She has to apply the glue to each piece. The reason it doesn’t have its own adhesive is an indication of how old it is.

2:35 PM: The first piece is up and it took three hours. This is actually the second piece because the first one ripped. Susan is presently researching if she can apply the glue to the wall and then put the paper up. She is considering it.

While this is going on, I’ve been watching a crew take down a tree down the street. The have bunch a guys, a chipper and a special little Bobcat that carries large branches around. Plus, it’s pouring down rain. It looks like a lot of fun!

4:44PM: She ended up applying the glue to the wall. We determined it didn’t seem to make a difference. In any event, she got those first two panels up and those were the critical ones as far as matching the seams. The third, fourth and fifth panels will have the cabinets in front so matching the seam all the way down the wall isn’t as critical.

5:45PM: The third panel is up and went much faster. She’s done for the day. Once it’s finished, I will have to get to work getting the cabinets in place.

The Curse of the Snow Blower is Lifted.

It looks like I’m going to get to use the snow blower today!

I got up at seven and checked to see if it had snowed, as the forecast indicated. It had not. 

By the time I got out of the shower, it was snowing and in no time, it was snowing pretty hard.

It’s still coming down as of now (11:21 AM) and there is about an inch on the ground.

I just returned from a dentist appointment and let me tell you, it’s really fun driving around out there. I saw one accident on the way to the dentist, and a couple more driving back home.

This is one of those days when I’m happy not to have to be out there. 

One of the weather apps I keep an eye on indicates snow for another 70 minutes and then more after 3:00.

Besides getting to use my rebuilt snow blower, I’m excited for this snowfall because I’m going skiing tomorrow. It’s my first time up this season and I’m really looking forward to it.

I’ll keep this post updated as the snow progresses. In the meantime, this seems like a good day for a fire.

4:50PM: I was able to blow and there was about 2 inches of snow on the ground when I went out. I did the block and half way up the alley…pretty much like I usually do.

The snow blower worked beautifully. The one thing I noticed right away was that it turned much better than it used to. I don’t know if that had something to do with the larger tires or something else.

The snow was pretty heavy but it went through the blow with nary a problem. At times, it seemed like it was pushing a big mound of snow in front of it rather than sucking the snow in through the blades and into the auger. When it did that, it left a bit of a berm coming off the side. It just meant I had to do another pass. No biggie!

Anyway, I’m glad it worked and I’m glad I got to use it at least one more time this season.

Classy Shower Guy

One of the Christmas presents I asked Susan for was a shower bench. I told her I wanted a wood one, made of teak or bamboo because I thought it looked classy. See my post for December 26th.

I received my gift, promptly put it together and have been enjoying long luxurious showers ever since.

I was sitting on it about two weeks ago when it made a sudden cracking noise. One of the slats had split. A couple days later, another split occurred.

Here's what happened today. See, doesn't that look classy?!

I did not save the box it came in or the little instruction page. We can probably look up payment info from Susan's credit card statement.

The bench only cost about $40.00 and it seems like a lot of work to recover 40 bucks. But I don't like the idea of a company getting away with substandard merchandise.

It didn't even take a month before the first crack appeared.

So, I will be searching for this company and request a refund. Then, I will buy something plastic and non classy and enjoy it for years to come.

Kitchen, Cat and Piano Tuning

 Kitchen Remodeling in the kitchen has resumed.

Susan got a late start but went to work today on the next wallpapering project. This is the west wall in the kitchen. It will be wallpapered with the same design that I showed you behind the Piano Bar.

My job will be to move that electrical outlet in the lower left of the picture. It needs to be raised to 38 inches above the floor. That will give us access to plug in the coffee pot in that area.

All our counter material is in at Cabinet Pro but we have come across an issue that we did not anticipate.

We are placing two bonus cabinets on either side of the heating radiator on the west wall. We have been using the above pictured set up since we first came up with this idea. That counter top you see is the old shelf that ran the length of the old island. 

Perhaps you noticed that it is separating in the area above the radiator. I called Jess to ask if that was going to be a problem with the new counter. They were unable to give me a good answer but admitted it will separate in a few years.

I know it’s too late to change our plans because the counter material was special ordered and is here now. But I asked them to give a quote on quartz or marble or something stone that will withstand the heat.

We are going to go and talk to them tomorrow and it is possible we will be able to get a stone counter top. I’ll let you know.

I got the piano tuned today for the first time in probably six years. The guy said it sounded pretty good for a 100 year old piano. A piano tuning in 2024 costs $160.00.

We have also been spending a large amount of money on Delilah…the cat.

She’s not eating or drinking a lot and her cat box is not showing much activity. We’ve had her to the vet, who sent us for an ultra sound at the Pet Emergency Clinic who sent us to the Valley Pet Emergency Clinic for an evaluation and hydration. We’re into her for about a thousand right now.

We still don’t really know what’s going on other than there might be a kidney stone.

We’re taking her to the vet tomorrow for an X-ray and another $200 into the cat fund.

Snow Throw Mo New

I am happy to report good but expensive news on behalf of the snow blower.

I got a call from Roger at Ace’s Valley Power Tool and Repair on Monday and he said he had a snow blower there that he could cannibalize and make mine almost like new. It would cost just over $500.00. (It’s like he knew my number.)

He sounded very excited about the whole affair and the tone in his voice convinced me to go with it.

I got the call yesterday that it was ready and I drove out there today to get it.

Roger was right. It’s like a whole new machine. Along with the axle replacement, he gave me larger tires, a new breaker bar, new auger belts and he replaced the plug for the electric start feature, which had lost the grounding connection.

The auger housing has been replaced which is a different color (Orange) than my old green housing and he put in a new blade as well. It also has brand new shoes which really needed replacement.

The total was $539.35. I was happy to pay it and it seems my 25 year old snow blower has been given new life.

The fact that I have had this work done almost guarantees there will be no more snow this season.

Snow Throw No Mo

We got another couple inches of snow over the night and I went out with my trusty snow blower to take care of it.

I got the driveway all cleaned off and then I went to work on the alley. I got that all cleaned out as well.

Next I went up the block to Cleaveland street and handled that sidewalk. I was blowing along when suddenly, the snow blower did not want to travel in a straight line.

Then it just stopped moving. Upon inspection, I realized the drive wheels were at a precarious angle that did not look right.

The damn axle broke. 

I have just returned from hauling it out to a repair shop in the valley to have it looked at. They are going to give me an estimate first and then I will decide whether to get it fixed. The higher above $500.00 it goes, the less likely I am to get it fixed. 

I bought this snow blower new in 1998 from Sears. I spent nearly a thousand dollars on it. At the time, I had a very long driveway and I wasn't about to shovel all that real estate.

Now it's 26 years later and Sears is out of business. Apparently the parts are still available but I'm not sure if I want to keep throwing money at this old snow blower or spend the money on a new one.

Susan and I were looking at them at the repair shop and we found a couple nice Cub Cadet models for around $1200.00.

I don't expect to hear from these guys until Monday so I hope we are through most of the snow for now.

First Snowfall of 2024

10:02 AM: Winter has now officially arrived in Spokane for this winter season with a nice little snowfall. There's about two inches out there and I'm waiting for the snow to stop falling before I take on some snow blowing. 

It's supposed to stop in about half an hour. So here I sit and wait.

12:30 PM: We’ll, now the weather apps say the snow is going to continue until 4:30. We’re easily up to four inches now.

I’ve been keeping the front walk and steps clean but that’s about it. It doesn’t make sense to go out and blow until this stops. So here I sit and wait.

5:30 PM: I finally went out about 3:30 and got to work snow blowing. It didn't take too long and the snow had pretty much stopped by the time I finished.

There's more snow on the way so I guess I'll be back out there tomorrow.

Snowcast

The forecast says it is going to snow tonight. It could be our first substantial snowfall of the season. It has snowed a couple of times but it was very wet. It was impossible for my snow blower because it was so wet. Fortunately, because it so wet and the temperatures were warmer, the snow was gone quickly.

To capture and commemorate the event, I took a picture of the house just now. 

I’ll have another picture from the morning to show the results.

Wednesday, Jan 17th, 8:34 AM: The forecasts came through. It’s snowing. It’s been snowing. We have about two inches on the ground. It’s very light and fluffy. The world outside has that muffled silence of a first snow. Here is a shot I took this morning.

I'm so happy I don’t have to go out in this stuff. Except that, I’m gonna go out in this stuff. I have neighborhood snow blowing to do. 

My weather app says it’s going to snow for another hour. That will allow me a window to get out and do my first round of snow removal.

More on todays' activities will appear in the next post.

Frozen Day Three

We’re on Day Three of no water. I have put space heaters in all the cold crawl spaces and I’m still frozen up. It has not been pleasant. 

I called a plumber just now and they are getting me into their schedule. I hope they will be here today but I don’t know that yet. As you can imagine, they are busy right now with temperatures hovering at zero.

I managed to find a leak in the line. Fortunately, it’s in a valve so my hope is that can be fixed fairly easily. 

I don’t know if we have any other cracked pipes. I’m hoping we don’t but am worried we do.

3:30PM: I just got the call that the Plumber is on the way. All we can do now is think positive thoughts. Ooh! There’s the doorbell,

It’s 4:30 right now and there are two plumbers downstairs and, like me, they have no clue why we don’t have water. I have them working for 1 hour to see what they can do but time is running out and they can’t figure it out. It’s going to cost us $461.00 for no results.

This is a real pisser!

Three minutes after I wrote that last line, the water started running. Thank you, Lord and Platinum Mechanical. They got it working with 18 minutes to spare.

I’m going to go take a shower.

Frozen

It's -8° this morning and our pipes are frozen.

I was semi prepared for this eventuality. I put a space heater down in the space where the water line comes into the house. However, the heater I used was a tiny little thang and it didn't provide enough heat. 

So, I've got a big one down there and we are waiting for it to heat things up. I'm just hoping we don't have any major damage. 

Stay tuned!

It's 3:30 and we still don't have water. I've got space heaters in the basement but it's so cold they don't seem to be making a dent. I'm not sure where to go from here. 

What’s New in the New Year

The temperature is 5 degrees outside and Susan and I have tested positive for Covid. So, that’s how our New Year is going.

We’re just laying low and trying to get better. We both have a cough and our sinuses are stuffy. Speaking for myself, I’m feeling better and hope to be clear of this in a few days.

Of course, as a guy in his 60’s, l never feel completely fine. There’s always something.

As I reported earlier, Susan has done some wall papering and that’s about all we have done in the kitchen in the New Year.

In an effort to draw more, I have started another guy featuring the Adventures of Retired Guy. (Write what you know.)

You can find it and my very convoluted website. 

www.the-retired-guy.blogspot.com

Okay, as Retired Guy would say, “Time for a nap!”

Wall Papering Phase One

 Welcome to my first post of the new year. I feel horrible waiting five days before I posted anything, but you want me to post interesting stuff…rather than the stuff I usually post.

Today I have something worth posting. Let’s put it under the heading of kitchen progress.

Susan got to work on wall papering. She’s not doing the whole kitchen, just certain walls.

Here is what she accomplished yesterday.

She’s not absolutely certain she likes it yet. She feels it might be too busy. I myself like it but I can see her point.

We are waiting for a comment from our neighbor Tammy.

Susan says that it is very difficult wall paper to work with because it has no glue on it. She has to roll the glue on herself and then hang the paper.

I was not any help as I spent the day in bed with the cough and stuffiness that Susan has had for two weeks.

The Day After Christmas

Christmas is in the rear view mirror and we can finally relax and return to normal life where we hate each other.

Don't worry. I'm not really that cynical. I love this time of year but I do like it when all the Holiday pressure is off. We still have New Years to contend with but that is so much more informal and stressless.

Susan deals with more pressure than I do but a lot of it is self-imposed. She has all these snacks and Christmas treats to make. There is a tradition to uphold and it involves some stress.

My best gift was one I've wanted for a while but held out until I got it as a Christmas gift. A shower stool.

I tried it out for the first time this morning and I love it.

I was afraid it might lead to longer showers, followed by a larger water bill. But that was not the case this morning. I think my shower time was about the same. But it's great to sit there and enjoy hot water streaming over you.

All in all, it was a good Christmas for both of us.    

Floor Review

I was looking through some old posts and I came across this picture from August 29th, 2022.

It reminded me how hideous that old linoleum floor was and I wanted to have a comparable picture with the new floor.

So there you go.   

Mt Spokane Opens

Mt. Spokane opened for the season yesterday but it doesn’t look very pretty up there.

That’s from the webcam at Lodge #2. They only have three lifts running. They say they have 28 inches on top and 15 at the Lodge.

I want to get up and ski but not under these conditions. There is no precipitation in the forecast for another five days. And that doesn’t guarantee snow. It could be rain with the warmer temperatures we had.

It looks like it’s going to be a short season unless some major chilly dumpage arrives.

The Ramifications of Snow Lethargy

I have just come in from removing snow from the sidewalks and driveway. It was a task made more difficult by my quiescently apathetic attitude towards snow removal yesterday.

We got about 3 or 4 inches of snow late yesterday and I just didn’t feel like going out to deal with it.

When I got up this morning, there was a wet heavy snow coming down that soon morphed into snain and then, straight rain. The snow on the ground became saturated with moisture.

My snow blower was useless in this stuff. I was unclogging the shute constantly. I finally figured out that I could use it with the blower off and just shove a mound of snow to the side of the driveway.

 In addition to making the snow so wet, the rain also brought down a smattering of leaves that still hung in the trees. So now they are all mixed in with the snow. Not a huge deal but if I get it in my head to make a snowman this season, I’m going to be working with a lot of dead crunchy organic material.

Common Sense Cranberry

There are certain things that are essential for a proper Thanksgiving.

Turkey with mashed potatoes, stuffing and gravy are the obvious items. The other essentials I prefer are candied yams, green bean casserole and pumpkin pie. 

What often gets overlooked is the style of cranberries that are served. For most of my life, I was not a cranberry fan. But my tastes have developed and matured over the years and I am now a cranberry aficionado.

But not that jelled crap that comes out of a can. For roughly the same price and a bit more work, you can serve a fresh, authentic cranberry sauce that is far superior to that can of jello.

All you need is one 12 ounce bag of cranberries, a cup of sugar and a cup of water. Bring the sugar and water to a boil and add the cranberries. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. Cover and let cool to room temperature and then put them in the fridge ahead of your meal. This recipe is available on any bag of cranberries.

I usually do this on Wednesday. It’s a fun, easy and relaxing project that eats up maybe 30 minutes of your day but adds a subtle garnish to your festive table that says, “I care!”

The Great Pumpkin Toss

We had to wait until Sunday for the Great Annual Pumpkin Toss. I had a little mishap while bringing the pumpkins up to the balcony. I set it on the railing, bumped it and it rolled off. Fortunately, there was enough of it to rescue and toss again.

Here are the pictures of Susan, Mark and myself tossing pumpkins.

Great fun was had by all and it makes me wish we had more pumpkins. I'll have to remember that for next year.

Halloween Hangover 2023

 It’s the morning after and we have a shit load of work to do.

We’ve removed all the stuff from the front yard mostly and it’s not even noon. But we have all this crap in the Living Room that has to go back up into the Carriage House.

We are taking one of several breaks we’ll be taking and then we shall return to tackle the mess.

1:25PM: We are making progress. The front yard is clean. All the hanging ghouls are stowed in the Carriage House. We are taking a break before we load up the tombstones.

4:45PM: It is finished. Well, mostly. There are a few little items here and there to be cleaned up. Mostly little table displays like the haunted house serving as a center piece on the kitchen table. The same goes for the stuff on the Dining Room table.

However, Halloween is put away for another year. I’m glad it’s behind us. I think we have to start having the discussion about how much is too much.