Jim's Week Off

Last week Jim decided to use up some of his comp days to get a few things done around the house. It had been raining, and continued to rain for most of that week. But he was primarily doing stuff in the basement.

Here's the pride of his work - a new hot water heater:



Our friend, Pete, works at Brown's Oil and acquires practically new equipment like this from tear-outs in Needham. We've been using an older tankless hot water heater, which has been fine for me, but Jim likes a little more water pressure in his showers. The engineer in me doesn't really understand how it is possible to be more efficient to constantly heat up a giant tank of water versus heating up water only when you need it - for a couple showers a day and some dish washing or laundry - but Pete thinks it plus the new boiler will save us a bunch.

Which brings me to the next item - the new boiler...



...also a tear-out aquisition from Pete. This was put into the basement, but hasn't yet been switched over from our current boiler. Jim specifically wanted the picture to strategically capture the "Energy Star" logo. Our old boiler was put in by the previous owners back in the 80s. Definitely not Energy Star. But they kept meticulous records on it and had the efficiency checked multiple times. I believe it came in at about 80%. But it cannot hurt to have a new boiler. Especially a free one.

We also have a new oil tank from more tear-out action from Pete. I don't think there's a problem with our current tank - it is, after all, just a tank, and not a tank with leaks or anything. But who can resist new free stuff from expensive homes? But I do know that Jim has been planning to re-route our tank filling pipe. Right now it comes out right by the back door. Not that the back of our house doesn't have plenty of other ugly things, but it would be a little more aesthetically pleasing to have it come out in a different location.

I think the plan is to switch the new boiler and new oil tank over next week sometime.

The next project was the washer and dryer:



Nothing new with the actual appliances here - they're still the same ones I bought from a friend when I first moved to Massachusetts (aside from some replacement parts on the washer) But the key with these is the pretty stand they are now sitting on!

This is how they used to be positioned:



So annoying - with the washer in front of the sink and far from the dryer. I just kind of got used to it, but it drove Jim bananas. Now look at their position:



So nice - with the direct access to the sink! And such a nice looking stand - made so that not only does it keep the units off the ground (accomplished before with a ratty old wooden pallet), but it also puts them high enough that you don't have to stoop over quite as much. Jim used some of the scrap Azek boards from the porch to create the stand.

And for the next project... electric work!
These pictures won't mean so much unless you actually saw what was there before. While I did have an electrician do a bunch of work when I first moved in, needless to say, with this old house, there was a lot of left-over funky electrical work, particularly quite a bit of knob & tube. While the knob and tube functions fine, there were a few places with bad stuff - like junctions made only with electrical tape. Jim cleaned some of that up and ran some new wire for a new circuit for the LCD TV and I think a new outlet up to the bedroom.



I think that clears out most of the knob and tube, but not all:



At some point, we want to put wall switches into the last rooms where the ceiling lights are left as pull chains - the living room, the master bedroom, and my closet room. Add that one to the "someday" list.

Then this project is another one that has been driving Jim nuts - at the bottom of the steps to the basement, there is this area where the concrete has been chunking off and creating this hole that's essentially a tripping hazard. He cleared it all out:



and poured a new concrete patch. It should be pretty nice to walk down into the basement without kicking around a few chunks of rock or falling into the carpet covered hole!

And the final project - we now have a fire extinguisher in the kitchen!



hey - don't get mad at us for living here 5 1/2 years without one - we asked for one on our wedding registry - but go figure, no one got us one! he he!

And the best picture of all - Jim after his week of hard labor:



He's gotten soft with his cubicle-based job!

Lady Bugs!

That's right! Those weird looking things all over my rose of sharon trees last weekend were harmless lady bug larvae. Good thing we didn't pull out the insecticide - I want lady bugs around to eat any aphids we might have. Plus - how can you kill a lady bug??

Yucky Bugs!

I spent a good portion of yesterday morning weeding. At one point, Jim and I were weeding our side, and Joyce, my next door neighbor was weeding her side of the property division. It was kind of nice to visit and work at the same time.

While weeding the beds with the Rose of Sharon trees, we started noticing these bugs:



They were everywhere - literally - crawling all over the trees and in the beds. None of us knew what they were.

I was pretty grossed out - Jim was ready to go get some pesticide!

This morning I found out what they were. Do you know what they are??

Walnut Hill Beauty

Driving through the Walnut Hill neighborhood today I saw the "Open House" sign posted for one of my favorite houses. Luckily, I had a few moments, so I stopped and went in. Very nice. It wasn't over-the-top in the way that some Victorians can be, but it still had enough of the historic elements to give it the charm I love. The bathroom upstairs still had the original subway tile on the walls and hex tile on the floors (it was also a good tile job, unlike ours!) There were 4 large bedrooms on the second floor, and an additional 2 on the 3rd floor/converted attic. The funniest thing I saw there was in the sunroom area, which was at some point a porch - they still had the exterior water spigot plumbed in - all enclosed in the piano-adorned sunroom!

The listed price was $799K. Can we sell our Plain Jane and buy please!!! Well, we still can't buy $799K, but that is a serious steal for that place! I would guess that a couple years ago or so, it would have been listed over a million. Just a guess.

So nice.

I'm Alive - I swear!

I'm totally alive... but swamped. Not much house happenings lately. We havve been in puppy madness the last few weeks. About a month and a half ago, we got Abbey, a goldendoodle puppy (now 5 1/2 months)



and then a few weeks later we got Oscar from Idog rescue group, a group that specializes in doodles. He's an 11 1/2 month old labradoodle.



They (Oscar, in particular) are wild and energetic and need lots of attention and walks/runs/playgroups. A considerable change from Taya!

I'm also back in school for summer semester.

So house stuff has been pretty much limited to trying to keep things cleaned up after the dogs. I've been trying to pre-paint some of the wood shingles for the peaks. And Jim keeps planning his future garage addition. But I really don't want to start anything major until the roof is paid for and we have money upfront - so that probably isn't going to happen for another year. The bank downgraded the equity line of credit - not surprising, considering the state of the economy - so there actually isn't really any other good option than frugal saving... which is what I'd prefer anyway.

Now, I've got to go walk a dog and maybe weed some flower beds...

Not a Mudroom but...

So here's my version of the Martha Stewart boot tray (see 2 posts ago):



The boots aren't as cute as the wellies & duck boots Martha had, but what can I say? That's what we (Jim) actually wear.

I think it looks pretty decent, though. I also got some indoor/outdoor rugs to help define the space and catch the snow, salt, & sand. The opening is just 4 feet wide, but quite long to the radiator, so I bought 3 of them and just put them together. It works pretty well.

They don't start at the opening of the door because the threshold at that point is too short, and they would get bunched up. But of course the house (or maybe the floor) is not level, so all I have to do is push it down a few inches where the threshold is higher and we're fine!

I splurged on the boot tray and got it from Smith & Hawkin, rather than buying a cheaper black or green plastic one.

I think Martha's had some smooth river rocks, but when I went to Homer, I could get a whole big bag of broken marble for $4, or several small bags of smooth stones for $7 each. Obviously, I chose the big bag for $4, and it was just enough to perfectly fill the boot tray. And I think it has the right effect.



Luckily (?), I have been able to give it the true test, as it snowed 9 or so inches on Monday - yes, that's right, we got a Nor'easter on March 2nd. It's not my ideal mudroom, but it works pretty well for about a $300 investment. One of these days, I'll make a little bench to go with it. But that will have to wait until I'm down to at least 2 night classes.

Rest in Peace Taya

Apologies for not writing very much lately. School started and took a lot of my free time/house work time and replaced it with HBS case study reading. blech.

The other sad news is that Taya's health deteriorated fairly rapidly since Christmas time. She had another surgery, but they found that the cancer had spread significantly. After the surgery, she wouldn't eat anything. We force fed her, hoping that maybe once she got stronger she might feel like eating. But that never really happened.

Unfortunately we had to make the decision to put her to sleep. She just was not the same dog anymore. You could tell in her eyes that she was suffering. So today we took her to the vet and had her euthanized. It has been a very sad and very emotional time for both Jim and me. We loved that little doggie to death.



Here are some of our memorites of her:

I remember when I went to go look at the pet store, I had no real intention of getting a dog that day, but when I saw you, you came straight up to the front of your kennel and looked at me with your big brown eyes, wagging your tail, and I was in love at first sight.



I remember there was a dog park we would go to very close to our apartment in downtown St. Paul. You loved it there! You mostly would go to the people for attention, but there was one dog you loved to play with. It was a little terrier named Digby. You and Digby would walk around together and Digby would pick up cigarette butts and you would look for trash.

I remember most of all taking you to Chrissy Field. This was a dog beach with all sorts of dogs running off leash. It was like you were in heaven! You loved the sand – you would shove your nose in it and throw the sand up. Then you would use your front paws to dig, dig, dig, until you got it just right, and then you would plop down and enjoy the feeling of laying in the freshly exposed cool sand. But then you would jump up and start running again. You were always a little afraid of the water, at first. You would run up to it and then quickly run away as the waves came in. But once you got your feet a little wet, you would cautiously go a little further. You never really did go for a full swim, but you certainly got yourself wet enough to become a filthy mess when you inevitably rolled in the sand afterwards. You would run after sticks (you were a little better at playing fetch by this time), chase the seagulls, and run up to the other people with this giant smile on your face. You would say hello to the other dogs, but you were really more interested in getting the people attention. And you were so adorable that you had no problem getting that attention. I used to call you an attention whore because you would almost immediately roll over onto your back to present your belly for rubs. You loved Chrissy Field so much that I tried to make sure we went almost every weekend.



I remember taking you to the local park to walk every day. We had to walk down a block and across Franklin and Gough streets (both one-way thoroughfares through the city) to get to the park. Pretty soon after we moved there, I was feeling quite confident with you, and let you off the leash to play with this little beagle that also lived in our building. Before I knew it, you and that beagle started running and running, and ran off! I remember my heart sinking and being terribly afraid and looking and looking for you. We finally found you sitting in the doorway of the apartment building, and the beagle wandering in the parking garage of the hotel across the alley. It amazes me to this day that the two of you survived what was probably a full sprint across Franklin and Gough – especially because it must have been right around 6:30pm.



You somehow knew exactly what I needed and were always there to give me youe unconditional love. You also had this way of sitting on the back of the couch, so that you could wrap your front paws around one side of my neck, while leaning your head onto mine. I like to think of it as your way of giving a hug.

I remember when I moved into this house, I wanted to avoid the trauma of San Francisco move for you, so I started by taking you to the empty house each night and weekend when I would go to do work on it. I still have the pictures of you exploring the place the first time, as you ran to the bay window, lifted yourself up and looked out. That spot would become your favorite in the whole house.



Jim remembers that when we first started dating, he thought it was the most ridiculous thing to have the dog sleep in the bed. Then when I went away and Jim watched you, guess where you slept.

I remember you running big wide circles in the back yard with Jim chasing you. That was one of your favorite games. You would run close – just close enough for us to try and touch you – before you would run far away, only to circle back again. Jim remembers you laying down in the grass after doing circles to rest. You would stare at him until he went and lunged for you, and then you would start the circles all over again.



I will always remember you sleeping in the bend of my knees and the comfort and warmth that brought.