Wind Whistling

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… through my ears, the walls and every crack it can find. We’ve had a lot of wind this year. The last really nasty gusts, 83mph, ripped our weather station off the roof. It still isn’t fixed, so now I check our local weather station. (63F and 20mph gusts right now) Our dog, Brandy, hates the wind. You’d think a coyote/Shepard mix wouldn’t mind. Wrong! So, we woke this morning to her whining and wanting IN!

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Life is still hectic. While the last two weeks was busy with meetings and oddball schedules, the next two are travel heavy.

First off, I’m going to Denver tomorrow with my friend Jolene. We are going to IKEA to get stuff for her Pre-School class. Wednesday, after lunch with friends, Dan and I are off to Denver for a CASB Legislative Conference. It’s at the Brown Palace Hotel. Very swanky. 🙂 A pull out the high heels and leave the cowboy boots at home kind of thing. The last day of the conference is spent at the Capitol, meeting legislators.

When we get home, if the weather will allow, we will be doing more work on the Wendy House. Closets and maybe book shelves. That will open up the area and get our clothes out of the ‘dust zone’. 🙂

We’ve also been slowly whittling down our electric bill by using LED lights. Our next step may be solar and DC powered lights. We figured out how to replace the AC bulbs with DC LED lights, and not have to totally rewire. (thank you Scott!)

I’ve also got just under three weeks to get ready for Corazon. I bought a new book last night, Great Book of Celtic Patterns, by Lora S, Irish. Lots of very nice patterns to use with my Viking persona, Unna Farulfsdottir.

Dratted Cold Continues

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We did have a few warm weeks. However, Ground Hog’s day saw us plunge back into arctic weather. Snow and COLD. It was -22 Wednesday night. it would have been alright except for the wind rattling the trees and plunging us into wind chill cold. Speaking of wind, we had one tremendous wind storm just over a week ago. Just before it ripped the weather station off of the house, it registered 83mph.

It’s been busy since I posted last. Lots of school board meetings, stacking firewood, trips to Pueblo for all sorts of things, stacking more firewood, trips to Denver, moving more firewood, working on organizing the crafts area, taking care of my parents and their house, working on knitting and nalbinding needles, and trying to stay warm!

I have to admit that I am so glad that we have our little woodstove. It is our sanity saver even if it seems like all I do some times is move, stack, restack and move more firewood. 🙂

We are getting ready to build the closet in the Wendy House. Two weeks ago while it was still warm, we built a small cover for the plumbing and I bricked in part of the patio area next to the Wendy House. The cover worked pretty well, until two nights ago. It was too cold for any plumbing. At least we use Pex, and that is pretty sturdy.

I’m hoping to get the craft area fixed up this week if it is warm enough. I want to finish up a few projects and get going on some that have been burning my brain. 🙂 We have Corazon in about a month, and I want some things done so that we have warm gear! 🙂 I did get my socks done. I only did the first one in August, and didn’t do anything else for nearly 6 months.

Well, off to finish dinner. Italian onion soup. 🙂

Happy Brrrrrr Year!

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Oh it has been cold!!! Cold enough that wood that should have lasted us another two weeks is gone. Brrr! And… three people, Morgan, Dan and I in one small main room was… Crowded! We were all snuggling up to the wood stove. Add in texting, videos, dinners, and phone calls for three and chaos reigned. While I was sad for Morgan to go back to school and Dan back to work, I have been glad for the silence. I might even get some sewing done!

I have a number of projects on the back burner so to speak. A coat, SCA garb, woodworking, knitting, and um.. oh yeah.. Writing! Biggest issue is keeping warm enough.

Dan and I had a nice New Year’s Eve. Smoked salmon and salmon paste in little pastries with fresh spinach salad, rye crackers, etc. We did stay up until midnight, and then curled up under the heavy quilt. 🙂

We did finish one major project before the new year. Lighting! We installed 4 lights and one ceiling fan. The difference is amazing! Next up on the Wendy House agenda is a ‘dog house’ for the plumbing connections that are outside, flooring in the living room and then closets.

Here are the lights. The pendulum lights are in the ‘living room’ area. The round ones are in the kitchen area and the ceiling fan is above our bed.

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Of Snowdrops and Sparks

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While in some ways it has been quiet, in others, it has not. we’ve been trying to get the Wendy House more “livable”. Our efforts with siding showed good results in that the snow storm two days ago was hardly felt. 🙂 Less draughts and cold seeping in. Dan’s filling in the roof ends with insulation worked! In this last week we finally got all of the ditches filled in and the step back in place! No more drawbridge to navigate in the dark!!!

We added 500 pounds of gravel in a drainage ditch and then filled and leveled the ground as best we could. Then we moved the large slab of sandstone into place and it only took minor feats of amazing strength to level it.

On the inside, we have been working on the electric wiring. Grandpa Sudar was a very clever and devious man in many ways. Over the years, we have dealt with many of his building oddities. A six inch long Louiseville slugger stub filling in a hole, drywall Not attached to 2×4’s hidden in the wall, and now the electrical work. We’ve been trying to figure out where the wires ran so we could upgrade the romex. We were stumped. So, Dan began to undo the light fixture we are replacing with a ceiling fan. Lo and behold… Grandpa had built itty bitty soffits to carry the wire! We had always wondered why there were 1×2’s on the rafters… now we know!

So, we will be installing the lights by the weekend. We are also upgrading lights in the ‘garage’ part of the Wendy House. Four LED lights from IKEA. They will replace four 100 watt bulbs with bulbs that use about 9 watts and give the same light. 🙂 I love that our electric bill keeps on dropping! Average so far this year is about $50 a month. We’ve moved from incandescent bulbs to compact fluorescents and now to LED bulbs.

Here are some pictures of our latest works:

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Dan’s Dominos

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Or how to knock over a whole slew of things with just one pull. 🙂 Yeah…

This weekend, we were finishing up the trim, electrical work and a few other bits and pieces on the Wendy House. I started on the brick wall in the main room that we use for a bedroom and my office. I took down all the bricks and then cleaned up a few of them. Then I put them back up on the wall with liquid nails. I was amazed at how fast and easy it went up. Better yet, how nice it looked. WendyHouseWork22 WendyHouseWork25Once I got the room put back together, I started working on the yard and doing a few other bits and pieces.

We had Daniel and Matthew as visitors too. Daniel borrowed some tools and Matt helped knock cement off of the bricks for me.

Dan started with the trim work and the shutters. He made me some cute ‘rustic’ styled shutters which I really like. As soon as we have the lumber, he will be making a planter to hang under the window.  We’d been talking about paint, what colors, whether we could manage this at the weekend, would the weather hold, etc. So, I started taking pictures. We were was almost finished when he realized that he had to add another piece of trim.

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Could he leave it alone? No. As he’d already put some of the tools away, he walked back into the garage and pulled on the cord of the drill. It was pinched under the chunk of drywall. As he pulled, it knocked the drywall, the siding, a few other things and… the bookcase. It was a beautiful (wince) domino effect.

We took a break. After a sandwich, a phone call and some planning, we started picking up the mess. I stacked stuff and he moved the big pieces.

Then he finished up the trim. About twenty minutes later, he was up in the ceiling doing the electrical wiring. The area he was in will eventually be a loft storage area and the ceiling to the kitchen area. After all that was done, we had to decide where to put the bookshelf. Moving that, we came to the realization that we needed to clean up the rest of the area too.  Mice droppings, dust, sawdust, spiders, (three black widows the size of dimes!) and leaves were everywhere. Up until last weekend, it had been only separated from the great outdoors by a rather old garage door. Not air tight or even dust tight.

WendyHouseWork23  It took a little longer than I thought it would, but it was worth it. We tossed all the lumber scraps in the firewood pile and placed the shelf in a different spot. Oh, and we tested the wiring job. That new kitchen light is bright! LED, but bright! We may replace it with a less intense one later.

Once we had everything cleaned up, sorted, and stuffed in the right spot or pile, we had dinner and then crawled into bed. It had been a long day! Productive too!

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Wendy House Renovations

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Well, by the time the weekend rolled around, the weather was back in the mid to high 60’s. So,… we decided to do some work on the Wendy House. First though, we had to go see Morgan. What neither Dan or I knew/remembered is that she wanted to come home for the weekend.

Bonus!!! We had extra hands to help with the work. So, Saturday morning at the crack of 10am, after a lovely breakfast of bacon and pancakes, we started the great destruction. Twelve hours later, we had 90% of the work done.

Sunday, after crawling out of bed by lips and toenails, we got moving again. We were fueled by bacon, orange rolls and plenty of tea! While Dan did some electrical work, Morgan and I tackled some outside work. We dug a ditch for a drain and then did terracing work on the driveway. The alley had been falling into the driveway for probably 3 years. Now, it isn’t moving… we hope.

After that, we drove to Pueblo for steak and then took Morgan back to La Junta. Dan and I took our sore and aching muscles to bed. 🙂

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And for anyone who doesn’t understand why I call it the Wendy House… it’s a Peter Pan reference. 🙂

 

CASB

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Thursday night we headed for Denver for the Fall Conference and Delegate assembly. There was a lot of good information, and the assembly was short and sweet. There were good conversations and I got to see people that I enjoy talking with about school board and education issues. As usual, I took Dan with me. 🙂 He enjoys the conferences as well and participates which is great. It’s like having an extra board member with me.

Friday night we had planned to drive down to LoDo to have dinner at the Rio Grande. We were both too tired, so we ate at the Modmarket. Yum! I had a lovely salad. Oh that there was one in Pueblo!

Saturday, we finished the conference and then headed to a computer client’s house. We got to have our appointment a week early. 🙂 This means we can go visit Morgan on the 18th. Then it was off to IKEA.

Yeah, we’ve been there a lot lately. This time we picked up the light fixtures for the Wendy House. We got these cool lamps. I also found some cheap rugs for entranceways, light bulbs, a couple of holiday candle lamps, and fabric out of the discount area. 🙂 Once the fabric is washed, I’ll be making adjustments and will have curtains in the kitchen!

Sunday, we should have been doing work on the house. Instead, we went to Pueblo and went to Target and Home Depot. We were too tired and brain dead to do any actual construction. That will happen this weekend. Just in time too, as it is getting cold There was snow on the Spanish Peaks this morning. We had a cold slushy rain in town last night.

Hot and Windy

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Right now, it’s about 93 with wind gusts up to about 15mph. The fire is down to about 5 major hot spots that we can see when we drive up to the football field. Oh, and it has eaten 13,491 acres as of this morning, and is considered 50% contained.

Today we are officially off pre-evacuation status. Phew! What it has shown Dan and I is that we need to re-evaluate how things are stored. I’m returning items to more concentrated and/or collected spots. I also plan to scan all of the umpteen million family pictures when the weather cools. This way, if they burn, oh well. I have digital copies.

Another thing I’ve been looking at are family treasures. Some I’m going to pull out and use! Others, I will do my best to figure out which of the 6 kids would want some of them. Other items, I may simply give to my sister and hope she has something to do with them in the next 30 years. 🙂

Meanwhile, amidst the fires, and hectic weekend, we got a bit more plumbing work done on the Wendy House. And…. We’ve Filled In The Ditch! Okay, 95% of the ditch. 🙂 What this means is that I now have more of a back yard and can move on to other projects. A compost bin and a keyhole garden are next up on the agenda for outside work. Oh, and finishing the last 5% of the plumbing. 🙂

Now to go work on some embroidery. Battlemoor is only two months away!

Of Digging and sticking

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This weekend was full of digging, plumbing and sticky things liked grout! First off, we tiled the top of the rolling cabinet in the kitchen. It has needed a new top ever since the Formica peeled off years ago. And, I’ve had these tiles for oh… 15 years at least. Pretty ones with herb pots on them.

I glued the tiles down on Friday morning. Then I went up to Pueblo to get what I thought was the last of the supplies needed. Wrong! sigh.. The tiles I bought were too narrow for the space, so it was back to option B. Glass blobs, or whatever it is you call those little round bits of glass people put in vases and use as game markers. I have this huge bag of them.

Saturday, we grouted the tiles and then while I dug the trench for the water pipe, Dan worked on drilling holes in the Wendy House wall. As he drilled there was a high pitched squeal. He pulled the drill out and there was an old pepsi bottle. He couldn’t move it, so he pulled the board out. The reason he couldn’t move it was because there was a bunch of coal in between the walls! We ended up with two small buckets of coal. 🙂

Then he fought with the tin on the wall. Nearly burned out his drill and then found out that his little saws-all worked the best. After that, we collapsed.

This morning, I made steak and eggs for breakfast. While Dan did school work, I cleaned up the digging work and placed the water pipe into the ditch. Of course, the minute I did that, it started to rain! At least I know the drainage works in the ditch!

I ended up using window caulking around the little glass blobs as there wasn’t enough grout. Fussy. Next time I’m filling the channel with grout and THEN putting the glass blobs in place. It looks okay though.

After dinner, we got all the plumbing we could done because we were short a coupling and a 45 degree elbow. We plan to finish up the plumbing on Tuesday.

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Weekend Entertainment.

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Oh my! At least it was entertaining for my Dad and anyone watching.

A better title might have been “working on the chain gang”. We started on my Dad’s yard at 9:30am on Saturday. Dan cut up wood with the chain saw and I carried it to the truck. About a quarter of a cord. Then, while he mowed the front, I picked up about 30 gallons of twigs and sticks. While he mowed the back, I weeded in the front and trimmed up a rosebush that hadn’t been pruned in probably 15 years. The lawn mower had a sense of humor and ran out of gas when Dan had a 10 yard strip left to mow. We finished at 12:55.

When we got back to the house, we had to unload the truck. We had the wood to stack, Spearmint for the front and an Italian plum tree sucker we hope will transplant.  I pulled weeds and did gardening out front with Morgan while Dan washed dishes.  Then it was time to collapse. We finally recovered around 7pm.

Then I made pizza. Yes, homemade pizza. Morgan nearly burned her mouth again, trying to eat it when it was too hot. 🙂

Sunday… we did not sleep in. Instead, we got up and I made bacon and fried potatoes. After breakfast, I had a board meeting with Mach 30. Once that was done, Dan and I started to repair the roof of the Wendy House. He tarred and I sifted dirt for the cover layer. I also did a bit of weeding in the alley while he was on the roof. We will be touching up things for the next few days as everything soaks in. There were a ton of nail hole leaks. Oh, and the drips. It was 90 yesterday. Brandy of course walked right under some of them. She’ll just have to wait until the tar wears off. She’s speckled.

We pulled off some of the old tar paper siding on the west side of he Wendy house to see what was under there. Wood! We will need to replace some of it and then put siding on. I told Dan it WILL be before winter! I can see daylight through the cracks. However, the paper being gone will help in doing the plumbing.

Next up, Dan inspected the lower chimney on the main house. OMG! Nearly 3 feet of damage. Loose bricks, crumbling mortar, etc. He took it down to a safe level and capped it. I am very glad that we do not use that chimney. Funny part is that use to be the furnace chimney and supposedly safe. And… Grandpa Sudar wouldn’t use the fireplace chimney as he thought it was damaged. Nope. Other way around. We are lucky the house didn’t burn down.

While Dan threw bricks off the roof, I cleaned up part of the back patio and did more garden work in the front. I planted the yarrow in the yard and watered the transplanted mint and plum tree. The mint looks like it will survive. I’m not so sure about the tree.

Exhausted doesn’t even cover how we felt. We cleaned up, ate dinner and were in bed early. It was a lot of work, and while it may not seem that much was done, we were very busy.