My Muddy Wife

Even though I'm out of action for a while, Susan has taken it upon herself to see that we continue to make remodeling progress, even if it's only a little bit.

After a good solid Sunday of not much activity, she went to work on the wall where we had the new French Doors installed in the kitchen last year. That's right, they were installed last year and we are only now getting around to fixing the wall around them. It has been a low priority project so get off your high horse, you Sanctimonious Home Remodeling Disparager, you!

Sorry, sometimes the pain pills I'm on cause me to loose a little control. I don't mean to blame the drugs but I blaming the drugs.

So she got out the sander and the mud and went to work on the wall. She got a good start on it and will finish it up tomorrow. She might even be so ambitious as to paint it by the end of the week.

Projects go much faster here when I'm out of the picture, you Bombastic Judgementer of Domicile Rehabilitation Promptitude, you.

Remodeling and Improvement shall continue

Todays' big remodeling project is not really about remodeling as much as it is about cleaning. My closet is a disaster and now that I have some time on my hands, with limited ability to do much of anything, cleaning/organizing fits the bill.

But first, a nap!

De Fib Day

Home remodeling will have to go on the back burner for a few days asI have to hit the Hospital for some body remodeling.

I'm getting a dephibrillator installed today because I'm a 52 year old in a 70 year olds body.

If this ends up being my last post, you'll know why.

However, this is the blog about the house so if you want to hear me drone on and on and on about my health, check out http://www.porkymccorpulent.blogspot.com/.

Of course, if that one stops mysteriously too...well, what can I say.

To quote Dr. Sidney Freedman from M*A*S*H:
Ladies and Gentlemen, take my advice,
Pull down your Pants and Slide on the Ice.

Home Improvement Continues

Well, we finally got Cousin Louise out of the house. That means we don't have to devote all that time to entertaining her, having her take us out to dinner and having her clean the house. Finally, we can get back to the daily drudgery of home remodeling. Thanks for coming, Louise!

Here's one of our projects that is coming along nicely. The columns on the front porch are no longer sinking. It took a couple of weeks and about $400.00 but that seems cheap compared to having the roof cave in.I'm not sure I have mentioned anything about Squiggy. He is our friendly squirrel who is not afraid to come up to the door to get some food. As you can see in this picture, his tail is askew. It's hanging on by a hair...literally.

He looks like he has been in a fight with some other animal. Since this picture was taken, the end of his tail has fallen off. The picture doesn't really show his injuries but he looks pretty beat up.

So I feel compelled to make sure he's well fed over the next few days. I'm not going to loose another squirrel on my watch!

Solstice Success

Another successful Solstice is in the rear view mirror. All our preparations went smoothly and Susan didn't get too tense before the event. We got a little extra help from her cousin Louise who came over from Seattle for the party. That was a nice surprise.

It was a large crowd of revelers and everyone had a great time and enjoyed my fabulous homebrew. My second attempt at Drop Top Ale was much more successful than the first, although we did manage to empty that keg too.

Here are a couple of pictures I managed to remember to take during the evening. I decided to protect the indentity of my party goers since I didn't get their permission to post their photographs.

However, I think those involved (Ron & Kelly) know who they are.

Clean up was easy and we were in bed by Two. All in all, a great party and fun was had by me!

Solstice Preparations

With one day to go before the Summer Solstice Party, we are pretty much on schedule. Susan goes into Slave Driver mode prior to any event we host and it can be quite ugly for those who get in her way...or don't complete the list of things given to them.

However, everything seems to be going along smoothly except for the weather. It is rainy today but the forecast is suggesting we might have a chance to avoid rain tomorrow. It's going to be cooler but no rain would be the coolest of all.

I'm working at the bar tomorrow but only for a couple of hours. That will allow me to abscond with the ice I need and still make a little money to buy the booze I need.

I scored with Spokane Cedar Products. They had the cedar siding I needed to complete the work on the columns and piers on the front porch. Now I just need to get Phil back.

Hops Tops Out! and less important stuff

The Hops has made it to the top of the arbor. That's about twelve feet. It is time to celebrate and identify this momentous occasion because we have so little going on in our lives that momentous occasions include plant growth. But it does pass as a significant milestone because I really wanted them to be over the top in time for the Solstice Party.Phil continues to work on the front porch. My only obstacle now is the siding, which I have not yet figured out an alternative for. I don't need that much (40 feet) so I'm going to see if my guy at Windsor Plywood can come up with something. Today I am meeting with my Cardiac Electrician. We are going to discuss all the ramifications of the DePhil-A-Brator they are installing in me. I have a whole list of questions.

• Can I Scuba dive? (Even though I haven't in over five years.)
• Can I ride Roller Coasters? (Even though I haven't in three years.)
• How much does this cost? (I have insurance.)
• Will I ever play the violin? (Even though I can't now!)
• If a train heading east leaves Chicago at 12:45...the Doc may not know the answer to this one!

I am willing to entertain questions here but by the time anyone sends a question in, the appointment will be over, so...never mind!

A Flurry of Activities

Much is getting accomplished. This always happens in the week running up to the Solstice Party. I probably accomplish more in this week than in the whole rest of the year.

Phil is back working on the front porch. We found a LOT of dry rot in the boards around the columns and piers so we thought we better get that nipped in the bud before painting continues.

Here's a problem with having an old house. You can't find replacement lumber. They don't make it any more. The sample of porch decking I took to Windsor Plywood was not available. They just don't make that size anymore. I could get a tongue and groove board that was a quarter inch thinner, for all the good that would do me.

Same story with the trim molding I took in. AND with the piece of siding I gave them. Nuthin!

Fortunately, one of the guys who works there said he could mill me what I needed of the moulding AND the decking. In fact, he has done it already. I have to go pick it up tonight.

I'm not sure yet what I'm going to do about the siding I need. Windsor directed me to Spokane Cedar Products. We'll see what happens.

I finished the Squirrel Hole. It looks fabulous if you don't care about workmanship or quality. I'm hoping painting will help hide the imperfections. I depend a LOT on paint.

Painting and Solstice Prep

The painting has begun on the front of the house. That is a problem as I still have to finish my work on the squirrel hole. I tried to get some work accomplished on it last night but quickly determined I had the wrong nails. I split the cedar shakes as soon as I hit the nail a second time. I have these big ol' roofing nails and I need something much smaller and more delicate.

In the meantime, we are getting dangerously close to the Summer Solstice party and we still haven't completed the invitation. Hopefully, we'll have that done tonight...certainly no later than tomorrow. The solstice is just 10 days away.

I bought a grape vine the other day to replace the Clematis that didn't survive the winter. It is a Savignon Franc grape vine and it cost $6.99. The vines I bought last year were more like $18.00 and they are not as tall as this one. Of course, they were poisoned by the yard guy so they have been fighting their way back to health.

Defibri-Stan

I have a Doctor's appointment today to determine if I should get my very own on-board defibrillator as an addition to my standard equipment. Susan and I are are meeting with my Cardiologist's "Electrician" to ask lots of questions.

Afterwards, I might have some answers. And I will share them here.

After the Appointment: The "Electrician" is Dr Eteri Byazrova. She is about four feet tall. She could fit in my palm. She's tiny. Clearly, she is not from this country but that is not an issue for me. Competence is an issue for me and Susan and I both got the Comp Vibe from this eensy little woman.

I asked her for her assessment of my health. She says I am in good shape for someone with MyoCardio Myopathy. That was good to hear. However, there are to be more tests.

A heart takes in blood and ejects it to the body as it beats. I assume that everyone knows that. The Ejection Fraction is a valuation of the amount of blood the heart ejects. A healthy heart has an ejection fraction of 55 to 70 percent. Mine is somewhere between 30 and 40%. The task now is to determine as close to possible what the number is. And so, there are to be more tests.

If the number is 35% or below, the defib will be installed. If I am above 35%, there are other options to discuss. And then, there will be more tests.

Another Harvest

I have hired a Lawn Service who sprays fertilizer and weed killer every few weeks. They have made two visits so far. The lawn in the front yard is really coming in nicely. My complaint is that I can barely get by mowing once a week. By the time I do mow, it is genuinely needed. I harvested about 10 bushels of grass last night.

If I had a sprinkler system, the whole yard would probably be looking pretty good. I have sections that just don't get enough water. I have to concentrate on those areas.

Mark down June 4th as the day the Carriage House Paint Job was completed. It looks really good. Now our painter is moving on to the front of the house. She started power washing yesterday. I imagine she'll have a few days of prep work. This now means that I have to finish my "Squirrel Hole" project up on the balcony. Yeah, it's not done yet. We've been busy painting windows.

Drive By Neighborhood Safety

I completely forgot to report on a Drive-By Shooting incident in the neighborhood on Saturday night.

It was about 10:30 and I had gone to bed. I had only been in bed a short while when I heard four loud booms, clearly gunfire, coming from just down the street...just a couple of houses away, in fact.

I raced to the front balcony but the car from which the shots were fired had already sped by and made its way down to the end of the street. I would not have had much of a window to see it because of all tree branches blocking my view.

We called 911 to report the incident and then I went out front to see if other neighbors were responding. There were a couple who came out.

The cops showed up and looked around and asked some questions, but none of us had anything to offer other than we heard shots. We couldn't tell which way they went, what type of car it was, or any other, you know, facts to help them find out who did this.

I learned the next day that the police found five shotgun shells by the side of the road in the park. They must have been firing into the park. Sounds like some pranksters.

It appears they have pulled off the perfect crime and will probably get away to fire into another empty park in another neighborhood.

Weekend Sicky

I started to develop a cold last Wednesday. I have not treated myself very well since then and the cold still persists. I am finally taking today (a Monday) to try and get well. So my workplace suffers whilst I recover. (Boy, I'm really thinking a LOT of myself to consider my company suffering because I am not there)

I tried to paint yesterday but didn't last long. We will have to finish up later this week. I don't think we'll suffer any major consequences.

On the bright side, looky what Phil accomplished! He got that whole project done in two days. That is a record for any project we have done on this house. Prior to this, anything we have done was mandated to last at least a week and usually into months.

Now we are ready to paint. However, we are considering having him do the same on the other column. It is not nearly as bad but there was a great deal of dry rotted wood that made up the frame of that pier. Who's to say that the other isn't far from the same condition.

I would also like to take the opportunity to show off the Hops again. This is the Hallertau vine and it has surpassed se7en feet. It grows a few inches every day. The Sterling is doing equally well although slightly shorter.

I have learned that hops likes acidic soil and coffee grounds are a good source to provide that acidity. I have been collecting grounds from both work places and home but it occurred to me yesterday to stop by my favorite coffee joint and collect them from there. The girl happily complied and with one dip, filled my little bucket with more coffee grounds than I could collect in a week from my other sources.

Go Hops, GO!

And now, time for a nap!