stubbed toes and mud pies

[flowerbug]

away from on-line for a while as they're going to start working on the chimney later today and that will likely mean my internet connection is down.

hope everyone is safe and in good health and enjoying the gardens.

i'll be digging/weeding and harvesting more beans and shelling, a few tomatoes left to pick and eat. BLT ETA Sunday...

peace, love and perfect weather to all and to those that want/need them.

 

[flowerbug]

away from on-line for a while as they're going to start working on the chimney later today and that will likely mean my internet connection is down.

hope everyone is safe and in good health and enjoying the gardens.

i'll be digging/weeding and harvesting more beans and shelling, a few tomatoes left to pick and eat. BLT ETA Sunday...

peace, love and perfect weather to all and to those that want/need them.

the good news is that it wasn't as bad as we thought so the contractor didn't have as much to do and it didn't cost as much as the estimate. when's the last time you heard that from a contractor? ... hopefully it is done now and the leak is fixed. *crosses fingers, toes and anything else that moves*

 

[digitS']

I had electrical problems after one of our infrequent minor summer rains. The electrician DD called "fixed" 1 set of wires to garage with tape saying wires need replacing at some future date.

I also wanted to know about replacing squeaky bathroom ceiling fan. He said completely replacing is expensive and pulled it out for a lengthy cleaning. I didn't know it could be pulled out from below; thought it had to be done from attic! Too late, I thought to get in there to see how it was attached. Oh well, it certainly didn't cost more than I expected for the 2 hours he was here .

Helps to have people who know what they are doing.

Steve

 

[flowerbug]

I had electrical problems after one of our infrequent minor summer rains. The electrician DD called "fixed" 1 set of wires to garage with tape saying wires need replacing at some future date.

I also wanted to know about replacing squeaky bathroom ceiling fan. He said completely replacing is expensive and pulled it out for a lengthy cleaning. I didn't know it could be pulled out from below; thought it had to be done from attic! Too late, I thought to get in there to see how it was attached. Oh well, it certainly didn't cost more than I expected for the 2 hours he was here .

Helps to have people who know what they are doing.

Steve

yes, it does help, but sometimes it's also worth checking out youtube or googling to see what you might be up against.

i heard someone complain recently that they hired someone to come in and replace/fix a ceiling fan and the guy didn't know that it was a unit that just slid into place on a bracket. spent a lot of time taking the whole thing out... oops.

the chimney/roof leak has been on-going for so long, we finally had the roofing people put a tarp over the cap to see if that was where the leak was coming in. and yes, indeed it was. so they said to have the cap replaced.

stone work mason guy looked at it and said it was in very good condition so he didn't need to remove it at all, but he did fix some things and we're really hoping that was where the leak was at.

i also thought a particular stone was in bad shape because it was fracturing/splintering but he said that was ok and didn't need to have anything done to it.

so, we'll see...

 

[flowerbug]

we had tornado warning the other day as some storm popped up a few miles before getting to us and then going over. very heavy rains and no visibility at all, i brought up the national weather radar to check out what was going on because it came so quick, but the local tv station didn't even have the warning on it and then it was past us.

no drips from the ceiling at all anywhere that i could tell. it's also rained some since then and also no drips. a good sign. i won't call it done though for a few years. it's gone as far as 18 months between drips before... which is why it took so long to find the problem and hoping to have it fixed now.

we had someone come and put two coats of clear sealer on everything up there. i would have done it myself but my leg just makes such things like walking on slants pretty difficult. so it got done and we gladly paid them for their time.

in other news. working on screening crushed limestone from gravel along a pathway i want to move - next to the pallets i also want to remove. one layer done, can't do the other layer until i have a space to move the gravel to, then i can gradually shift it all in stages as i work from the back towards the house. the problem now is that the easy part is done (where there weren't many weeds/grass in the way) so it takes longer to do the next part (get the grass/weeds out of the way too).

imagine this whole pathway being shifted to the right about a meter or more (3-5ft), the pallets gone and the area to the left cleaned up and turned back into gardens... that's what i have to do...

so many weeds were hiding in that edge it took me so much time to deal with them and to weed it. now i should be able to keep it clear and finish it up much easier with things out of the way... at least in the part i have done.

the very back part is still a mostly empty hole we've been throwing odd bits of concrete or rocks or whatever that's coming up we don't need someplace else. i need to get it filled in now and ready to put gravel on top so i can get things shifting. that neighboring back part is all very tough grass. i need to get that out and get a barrier to root burrowing/travel put in, otherwise the work back there is wasted... i haven't even looked at the groundhog den site back there since the grass grew up. i'm hoping they've not gotten back to it, but i don't know... with my leg as it is, i can't work on that slope no matter what anyways.

i still have two rolls of fence and poles for that to put up and a big garden to weed through, i hope to start the fence in October. still have to negotiate with Mom where it goes. i'd like to fence the North Garden, but i'm sure she doesn't want to look at that fence... so it may get stuck back in the hedge along the other bits we've already got in there to keep the deer out, but that won't work because the whole space isn't enclosed (they'll just walk in from the driveway)... ah well, we'll see what happens...

 

[flowerbug]

regarding the fence. i think we have it worked out. i'm not wasting it by putting it along the back of the hedge. that would be a lot of work and won't protect the space i want to protect. Mom doesn't want to look at the fence any more than i do, but if it protects the plants so i can have production from a garden then it is worth it to me. if i'm going to spend a lot of time weeding and keeping up a garden i do want something in return for my efforts. i've lost so much the past four years it's been really frustrating to have a really nice strawberry bloom to only have the deer come along and mow them down... three years in a row...

the crocuses will still have chipmunk problems but at least they won't get gnawed off all the time from the deer/rabbits/etc. which usually chomp them quite a bit too. along with the tulips and some other spring flowers in there.

and she said she understands... so... it's going around the North Garden as soon as i get enough of a break in the weather to get going. and i'm doing it before she changes her mind. i'm sure we'll talk as i go along in case she wants to make suggestions and we may have to move some edges a bit (nothing is cemented in anywhere anyways which is good).

not having to struggle with putting it in the hedge will also mean it gets done more quickly (i'm guessing a few days to a week - not counting the gate/opening which may be temporary/icky until we figure out something more permanent...

the north run of the fence i plan on putting up double poles for more strength and also because that will be bean growing fence for more pole bean trials.

this garden area is actually some of the best soil on the property for gardening, brought in topsoil/fill down a few feet, amended pretty well over the years with a lot of organic materials. i've had some good crops from there before. it is a slope which isn't great to work on, but i can deal with that.

 

[bobm]

Now, is this fence going to be tall enough so that the deer CAN"T jump over it ?

 

[flowerbug]

Now, is this fence going to be tall enough so that the deer CAN"T jump over it ?

6-9ft with stuff already around it so they don't really have many wide open getting up steam to jump spots.

the existing fenced in garden originally only had a 5ft fence around it and they would jump that at times, so we added a top part. unfortunately we added the wrong fence on the bottom so the rabbits and groundhogs can sometimes get through... some day my goal will be to have the whole back yard enclosed with 6ft+ fence if i stay on here forever.

 

[bobm]

I have a 6 foot tall cyclone fence on our 20 acres in Cal. ... blacktail and coast deer ( they are much smaller than your whitetail deer ) just walk up to it and jump over it from a standstill. Coyotes just climb over it to join in the nightly community sing.

 

[flowerbug]

I have a 6 foot tall cyclone fence on our 20 acres in Cal. ... blacktail and coast deer ( they are much smaller than your whitetail deer ) just walk up to it and jump over it from a standstill. Coyotes just climb over it to join in the nightly community sing.

not too likely to see either happen here. i've never seen a track inside the fenced garden area from a coyote and the deer tracks in there were only from before we raised it up more.

it's not a large area and it is close enough to the house that coyotes rarely come through, but the rabbits, deer and groundhogs do use the area frequently. i've had herds of deer bed down some winter nights 20-30ft from where i'm perched now. i can hear them at times. plus they get drinks out of the birdbaths.

it's been raining so much i'm doing other things. the few nice days we've had i've been trying to get my other project done first (sealing up gaps around the house/garage/storage area).

i found a rather large gap under the door to the storage area so i have to seal that up. right now i'm thinking i might use a layer of cardboard on the sill, put some clear wrap on it and then use clear caulk and backing rod to give the bottom of the door a ridge, just to keep the mice out. there's nothing in there attractive to mice now, but i sure don't want to give them an easy home the way they seem to thrive around here... i always thought that door had a seal on the bottom, but when i looked the other day it was nothing at all! hahaha... 20+yrs... the walls are solid now and well tiled so they can't get in there any more...

always something to keep me busy around here.