Bogieblog

Craft Room Cleanup

I have been using the future craft room (also where all my bookshelves are) as a work center. I set up the miter saw and air compressor there while working on my bedroom and installing the crown molding for the living room. Last weekend I painted the base trim for the craft room to match the crown molding, which had been painted and installed previously. I had wanted to sand and stain it, but decided in the interest of time, and getting further use out of the room, just to paint it.

After installing the baseboard, it came time to move the bookshelves back against the walls and get the tools out of the way. Here is the mess that I started with (the first picture is from the doorway):

Before moving the shelves, I washed the floor then oiled it with grapeseed oil. As I moved furniture and removed tools, I did the same. Here is the progression of the floor transformation

During the move I washed down all the shelves and other wood furniture to get all the sheetrock dust, mudding dust and sawdust off, then rubbed them down with orange oil. Of course I'm not quite done with use of the room yet, so am not putting anything in its final resting spot yet, but at least it looks better and I can move around and find stuff

And of course, with the open floor space, Friday I stained window trim tha I had sanded last weekend, and yesterday I started polyuerathaning it. Picture taken from the doorway shows how open it is compared to before.

 

The craft room has certainly lived up to its name, even before being set up.

Cleared Porch

No, not my porch, but the resident squirrel has cleared his porch out. I noticed this, and know it is from the squirrel because I happened to chase him from my bird feeder on the ramp, and he headed straight to his hide-a-way.

Look behind the chair and you can see where the snow has been piled up or shoved back and it continues bdhind and around the rhody. Harder to discern in the picture is the packed path that leads beside the chair - headed straight for my back door. Especially evident when you look at the left side of the tree, in which none of the snow has been "shovelled"

Yes, I'm easily entertained.

New Roof Report

During the summer I had the shingle roof stripped and a metal standing seam roof put on. I have a very low pitch roof that holds onto the snow, and I was hoping the metal roof would allow the snow to slide off so I wouldn't have to roof rake as much. Add to the mix that my house also has a eave on all 4 sides, and roof raking becomes a nightmare for basically 130 feet. We had done the same thing at the Deering house (which had more of a pitch than my present house does, and a conventional roof with eaves on 2 sides), and it would shed snow fairly well once it started accumulating.

Well, I am happy to report that it has exceeded all expectations. The snow started sliding last night over the backside of the house.

This morning, one side was almost clear - the side that has both pellet stove exhaust pipes on it, plus the living room pellet stove makes that room very warm (of which I assume at least some of that warmth makes it to the attic).  The front side still had lots of snow, even though I had to clean up  some that it had dumped overnight.

When I got home about 3 this afternoon, the roof had cleared itself.

For those wondering, Some of the simplistic theory behind a metal roof shedding snow is that sunlight goes thru the snow and heats up the metal (the darker the color, the better the heating). Plus, any heat that escapes into the attic warms up the metal. In turn, the lower level of snow starts to melt, making the roof a water slide for the snow. This snow was very heavy, which means it probably slid faster than if it had been a light snow - that is my theory anyway, and we'll see how it holds up as the winter progresses.

I have the only completely clear roof in the neighborhood, and there are some houses with mighty steep roofs. Of course that meant I had to shovel the driveway and front steps again, but I don't have to worry about the snow load on the house at all!

 

Thanksgiving Snow

I started today with snowblowing the driveway. I had snow blowed last night, but that was just the first 5-6", so I had to get the rest of the 13" total taken care of along with the berm the town plows left at the end of the driveway.

After getting the driveway cleared, I took time to look at the trees and how magical they look

These trees are just across the fence

This tree is across the street from me, and usually doesn't look like much, but with the snowy covering lit up by sunlight makes it just explode with beautifull

I went to my boss's house for an early Thanksgiving dinner and she had created a lovely spread

On the way home, I was enchanted with the trees to either side of the road

Stop and smell the roses during the spring and summer, Enjoy the colors of fall, and take the time to be enchanted with the beauty that fresh snow brings to the otherwise barren landscape during winter!

Thanksgiving 2014

For Thanksgiving NH recieved a snowfall that turned the landscape beautiful. The first measurable snowfall for fall of 2014 measured 13" here in Hillboro. I am so very thankful that we didn't get the massive snowfall that Buffalo recieved last week!

Along with being blessed with the beautiful scenery, I am thnakful for family (both by blood and in-laws), internet friends and furry friends, that I have a job, that I have a place to live and can afford to keep myself warm and fed, and that I am healthy and able to take care of myself. Addtionally, I am thankful for those men and women who defend our country.

I hope everyone finds time today to realize what they have.

Long Winter's Nap

I have been trying to get my bike to storage since last Saturday, but haven't been able to find a ride to get back home. The one person I thought I could at least bribe with a meal, has decided I'm persona non-grata, and just said no. I wasn't going to ask EX after he helped me bring the stove home, so I had arranged to have it picked up by the dealer this coming Wednesday. It would cost me $50, but that was fine.

However, this morning EX texted me that he had just made a delivery for work to the seacoast and would be coming thru Concord (where the dealer is), so if I wanted to drop the bike off, he would pick me up. Worked for me so I dug my gear out of the downstairs closet (I had stowed everything away the night after I arranged the pick up), and rode to Concord in 20 degree weather. I was dressed for warmth with ear coverings under my helmet, t-shirt, sweatshirt, heavy leather coat, long johns, jeans, heated pant liner and chaps. I also had my mid-weight gloves, with in conjunction with my heated grips did a decent job of keeping my hands warm (except the fingertips, but it was still manageable).

So, I save $50 and got in a last ride today.

More to Share, but Can't

I took a bunch of pictures last weekend, but can't share them with you right now. Sunday I went to download them and the card wouldn't read in the camera or thru the desktop. Cang, and I don't even remember what I had taken pictures of. The good news is that I had another card, so I can take pictures in the future. Hopefully I can figure out how to temporarily fix the old card and download those to see what I missed.

Hiccups

Monday morning I got up and there was nothing exciting happening outside when I let Fuzzy out. 15 minutes later when I let him back in, it was snowing. That wasn't unexpected. Then by the time I left for work it had turned to sleet. That was not what I was hoping for.

Then, on the way to work I suddenly realized that my new auto insurance comapny had not yet sent me a bill. Two months ago I had called my agent informing her that the EX and I needed to split up our auto insurance. She did some research and found a company that would cost me $300 less per year than if I stuck with my old company. I don't know why they do that - the old company would rais my cost by nearly $300 becasue I was no longer insureing 2 vehicles with them. That is even though I insure my house with them. Stupid because they lost a customer. Anyway, the old insurance expired on 11/5 (or 15, I'm not sure). New insurance I hadn't gotten anything from. And seeing all the idiots on the roads that wanted to ride my bumper even though I was going the speed limit (and salt trucks were not out for the most part).

Called my insurance agent, who to her credit was in the office at 7:45 (I was planning on leaving her a message). She looked it up and the sign up was still "pending". However, she informed me that I did have insurance and sent me a temporary card by emial just in case I needed it. Great agent who I really appreciate. Finally got a bill yesterday, so I am feeling better about this small issue.

Then, I got home Monday evening and eagerly looked at the bathroom ceiling. The sleet had changed to rain, and we had gotten plenty of it thu the day, so it was a good test for the new boot the contractor put in place a couple of weeks ago. Hey, no wetness - Halalluha! I did catch wiffs of dampness, but didn't see anything amiss, so figured it was my imagination

At 9:15, I was getting ready for bed; brushing my teeth and washing my face. I turned off the sink water and realized I still heard running water - NOT GOOD. I then realized that water was pouring out of the door to the vanity - REALLY NOT GOOD.

I opened the door and started searching for a buste water pipe. Nope, no such thing. Then I saw this:

 

Okay, the paper towel wasn't there, but the drain pipes had separated. I moved everything out of the cabinet, including drawers, mopped up all the water, place the paper towel in the lower pipe to block off sewage smells, placed a mixing bowel in the sink in case I turned the water on in the morning, and went to bed.

During lunch on Tuesday I ran to the local Lowes (it is a mile away from work) and picked up a couple of flexible flanges as that is what broke. I had to study plumbing stuff for a while before I understood what I need since I have never done any type of plumbing work before. Put the flange on that evening, and it is holding fine. So although I had a bit of bad luck, I think it all turned out al right.

States I Have Visited

I am sure of these states. I was probably in Oregon too but don't remember as I was young (I do remember WA though)

 

Create Your Own Visited States Map

New Heater Time

I've been looking for a new pellet stove since the used Englander crapped out on the 3rd use. I looked at lots of new ones both at shops and on websites. I had plenty of choices that I would have liked to have, like another Harman (a smaller one), an Enviro Mini and others (I won't bore you by listing them all). Although looks weren't the first thing on my priority list, it was something I was looking at since the stove would sit in my living room.

Once I determined that all of my first choices (about 8), were really just out of my budget, I started looking on Craig's List. Any used Harmans were either more expensive than I planned on spending (for 10 year old stoves), and there were plenty of the Home Cheapo variety that people thought they could get their money back on (not from me they weren't).

Monday I went to look at a St. Croix Greenfield stove. ST. Croix is a well respected name, the stove had been test with Outside Air Intake (OAK), and had reduced minimum clearances from doors/windows (1st priority as the exhaust goes between two windows about 2' from each) and is a really nice looking stove. Downfall - no electronic ignition so either it is on or off. Sure, there are multple heat output settings, but my Harman will idle for an hour and if no heat is called ofr, it will shut down until heat is needed. Thsi is a big pellet saver. Anyway, I looked at the stove and saw how easy it was to light (very easy, so would be simple to start up when I get home from work).

However, the blower fan didn't seem to be working properly, although the owners didn't realize it. They had bought it new in 2008 and had always worked that way. Well, a lot of St. Croix 2008 stoves either had blowers that didn't run right to begin with, or blowers that quit working properly after some use. Sure, air comes out, but at that rate that would really only warm up my living room and never reach the bedroom. I passed on that stove.

The next day, a St. Croix Harding came onto CL for the same price as the Greenfield. Same year and basically the same model, but with elcetronic start and ability to control it with a thermostat. I went and looked at at Thursday and watched it start up and run. The guy had replace the blower so it was good. I offered them their asking price as long as they threw in the hearth that it was sitting on (much nicer than the hearth I had), and they accepted. Friday EX drove all the way out to Hollis (40 miles) loaded it up and delivered it to my place.

Yesterday I set it up, with some finageling of the pipes (it's exhaust is a little lower than what I had run for the old Englander). Well, there was an issue because I was a dummy and didn't manage to remove all the wadded up newspaper that I had placed in the pipe to keep cold air from entering the house. It go smokey in the house real quick, before there was any fire, and it leaked out the stove door. I opened doors and windows (20 degrees outside) and put the Harman on High, Set my fans to evacuate the smoke, moved Birdie to another room and disconnected the smoke detectors. Even after removing the remaining paper from the pipe (fortunately it was the straight pipe that could be reached from outside of the house), the exhast pipes never got any heat, so the smoke just kept going into the house.

After about an hour, the stove quit belching smoke, and 1.5 hours later enough smoke had cleared from the house and I could close everything back up. I turned on the propane heater to get the temp to 64, then shut it down and let the Harman do the rest.

Today, I searched all around until I finally found new gasket material for the door (the old gasket wasn't as tight as I would have liked) an finally got it installed about 3. I waited an hour for the high temp glue to cure, then fired up the stove.

It is now a balmy 80 degrees in the living room as I figure out how to adjust the flame for optimum burn (something that the Harman does by its lonesome - but the St. Croix doesn't). I have turned all the register fans off and have a couple of fans set to move the air; one on the floor of the bedroom blowing cold air out and the other blowing warm air in (obviously higher up).

The room started out at 63 degrees and is now at almost 66 (I just set up the fans about 30 minutes ago). The bathroom is warm without a fan setup and the craft room seems to be warmer than it was (I really don't care about that room as long as it is warm enough that the FHW pipes don't freeze.

Ahhh, warmth!