Bogieblog

The Baby Harman Lives

Since selling the St. Croix Hastings last month, I have had the Harman P43 sitting in its place, but I didn't have the exhaust vent set up. With cold mornings forecast, I decided it was time to rectify the situation.

The Hastings was a true corner install but I didn't like that the hot air was directly aimed at a dead corner in the living room. I had to use a tower fan and doorway corner fan at the hallway entrance to move the warm air to the bedrooms and bathroom. The P43 is not as wide as the Hastings was, so I decided to set it up so that the blower aims the air straight down the hallway.

I've done a couple of test runs and so far am pleased with how the air moves without any additional fans. Time will tell if it works as well once the cold really hits. The stove is closer to the wall than clearances allow (the side of the stove gets really hot and clearance is 16" to combustibles, while the stove is at 13" to the wall. However, I just have to get some side shields to make it safe. I ordered those shields last week and will pick them up today.

Meanwhile, I've had the P61a (basement stove) going at night as we have been getting down in the 30's and the house had only been at 66-67 when I get home in the afternoon. Had to move a whole bunch of stuff as I've used that area for storage, but that was a minor inconvenience. Once I get the side shields on the P43, I can let the P61a rest for a while. Hopefully by that time I will have things squared away where I don't need a storage area for some of my stuff.

Another Hallway Option - Opinions Please

I finally got the rest of the "header" (actually just sheetrock support) down from the hallway entrance. Now I am unsure what I want to do. Although I liked the ladder look:

I also like the way the following makes the hallway entrance look even bigger than the ladder does.

That little stub could be sheet rocked the way it is (probably add one more cross member to even it up. I will change out that hanging light for a flush mount. The plastic over the air return for the air conditioner will also eventually go away (although the grate will stay there).

What look does the peanut gallery like?

Dark Corner Brightened Up

When I last left you, the dirt pile that I had accumulated from all the garden planting had been reduced by some nice young men. Last weekend I consolidated what was left, and moved the pile so that I could get some root bound hollies planted. I was amazed that I still have about a truckload left, but this is true fill with a lot of tree roots, so will be hard to get rid of. But that is not the point of this post.

Once I got the consolidation complete, I installed hollies in the back section. Since that area had been covered up most of the season I didn't have to remove any sod - just removed a bit of soil to make the area a bit more even. The hollies, from left to right: Blue Princess and Blue Prince hollies, then two sets of China Couple hollies

I planted the front row, then took a break to run down to the local Agway for mulch. Of course I found some bulbs to plant:

And, the final product. The front row of very small plants (they will grow to 2-4' eventually) contains two rose Cletras,  two Cardinal Viburnum, and a Blue Princess holly. Hyacinths and other bulbs planted between

The corner these are planted in is fairly dark as it is shaded by trees most of the day. The red berries on the hollies should help brighten it up a bit. The hollies are evergreen and should grow tall enough to hide some of the buildings behind during the winter.

By far the easiest and fastest garden project this season.

Oh, and by the way, somehow I still have a bunch more plants still in pots (plus the 3 poor roses that are in large planters. Why yes, I did find a great sale online - LOL

In that shot (in no particular order) are Snowmound Spiraea, Indian Summer Rudbekia, Chadwickii Pyracantha, Rose Creek Abelia, Rumba Weigela, Dark Horse Weigela, Coppertina and Centerglow Ninebarks.

Proof You can get Rid of Anything on CL

With all the digging I've been doing getting in gardens, I acquired a very large dirt pile that I didn't know what to do with. So, I put it on Craig's List. This is how the pile looked on 8/22 and I added more when I put in the extension to the trailer-side garden:

This is how it looked Thursday night after 3 nice young men took a large truck bed full

This is after another truckfull left on Friday (same kid came over with his dad instead of his two buddies this time).

There is still a little more left, but it is manageable. I just have to get it all back into a pile, then I can plant some very root bound holly - they should be very happy!

 

All Set for Heating Season

The rest of my heat for this winter arrived Friday afternoon.

What do You Think?

I have disliked the doorway from the living room to the hallway (and the one into the kitchen, but we aren't discussing that right now). As an arch, it seems to make the hallway entrance look narrow. In preparation for other work, I have knocked out the arch.

 

The hallway has sheetrock for a ceiling, while the rest of the house has the POS soft ceiling tiles, so for now at least, I need a transition. As I took out the arch, I was really liking just having the ladder effect shown (of course I would take out the rest and make it so it is flush to the wall with the scenery). I could stain the wood, or paint it to match the ceiling trim.

I could also just put in a smaller header and sheetrock it. Oh yeah, and I'm taking out the hanging light and replacing it with a flush mount light regardless of what I do with the entrance.

Thoughts?

Getting Ready for the Next Season

Since I was paying HD to deliver cabinets and such, I figured I would have them add in a couple tons of pellets so I don't have to pick them up 10-15 bags at a time (a ton is 50 bags). I don't have room for more than 3 tons in the basement and I have 1.5 tons left from last winter. Add to that I am preparing to sheetrock some walls, and everything not of immediate use is stuffed into the corner that the pellets are usually stashed.

So, two tons are sitting outside at the moment, until the garage is cleared of other stuff.

And, then Lowes got in some good pellets (compared to what I usually burn), and had $19 delivery (up to 6 tons) for up to 75 miles - so I have a couple more tons of pellets coming the end of the week. As long as I get it all moved before the sn*w is here to stay, I will be good.

And, here are some shots as to why the basement is not ready to receive any more pellets:

Yep, I tore out the wall that my workbench used to be on. The wood is holding up the insulation as I painted the sills today with waterproofer. I will eventually take out the whole thing. I have ideas on how I want to reconfigure it, but my real goal is for it to be ready for running electrical and then installing sheetrock along the wall that abuts the garage, and the foundation wall (which I had insulated last winter).

Finally - Glorious Rain

My little section of the world has been very far behind on rainfall. In a 3 week timespan, we got maybe 1/2" of rain. Funny as it sounds, I regularly drove/rode thru rain, and one night there were flash flood warnings for every town surrounding mine - but not mine (because the storms were going to either side). Other towns were dealing with cleaning up overrun culverts and drainage ditches alongside the roads, and I was watering my vegies and new plantings 4-5 times per week. I even had to water new plantings in the no-mow zone; which is a place that has always been damp. I water by hand as I find it very wasteful to water areas outside my gardens. And, I am not encouraging the grass/weeds to grow by giving them moisture. Fortunately watering is soothing, calming and lets me take the time to inspect for weeds infiltrating the mulch.

Well, Thursday into Friday we got a long drawn out rain. Probably only got 1-1.5 inches, but it was nice and slow so soaked in. Today it has been drizzly most of the day, and rain is expected tonight (assuming it doesn't go around us).

An extra 30-40 minutes per day gained in not watering is great!

What in the World is She up To?

This is what my garage is being used for now:

What? What is she doing?

I'm hoping, that within the next month or so to have the bathroom go from this:

To, well, something much better, more functional, with more storage, and finished - without a ceiling held up by builder's tape. I've been working on this since early July. Pouring over websites, brochures and sales. Of course what I really want, and what finances and the room itself dictated, may be entirely different, but I'm hoping to have a nice bathroom once it is done.

Where the sink is now, there will be a 54 x 30 tub with surround. Where the shower is now, there will be a small linen closet, vanity, bank of drawers and medicine chest. The toilet will stay where it is, and does not need replaced (the only thing). The flooring, and probably subflooring will be replaced, and the ceiling will be sheetrock instead of the cheap-azz tile. And, of course, the door will not only be moved to the center of the wall, but become a pocket door so there are no issues with clearance.

I have had to return 2 shower surrounds as they were damaged in shipment. The 3rd should arrive any day and they were specifically asked for special packaging. I picked linoleum based on a sample of the custom (don't be impressed, still cheap) countertop color I picked. I thought I had picked a really white counter, but the sample showed yellowish streaks. So, I picked a Travertine linoleum. I also picked Mediterranean Bronze fixtures and accessories of the Moen Banbury collection. If it had been more white, I would have picked brushed nickel, perhaps going with another brand/style.

After opening the box with the counter this afternoon, I find that it really is as white as I originally thought, and now I may need to do something different with the flooring - ARRGGHH! Although, in my original research, I was not finding satisfactory linoleum that would go with the white quartz, so I'll probably just live with it until I can justify laying tile (probably never), or new styles come out. 

I can get away with the fixtures, but the agonizing for weeks because no one makes a complete set. And oil rubbed bronze, Mediterranean bronze, Venetian bronze, and Tuscan bronzes don't seem to be a very standard color match between brands. I just finished ordering what I hope to be the last few pieces that will match closely enough (vanity light, tub drain and overflow valve).

And contractors, don't even get me started on contractors. I started interviewing when I ordered the cabinets (they are semi-custom, so take some time). They either don't respond, don't send quotes, flat out lie, or are incompetent (pretty sad when I know more than some about electrical codes, and what I know is pathetically little). My latest favorite is coming out tomorrow for a second visit. The first was several weeks ago. This is a whole story in itself, and I just don't feel like boring everyone with it right now, let us suffice to say that the people coming out tomorrow haven't seen the project yet.

I did think about hiring the trades individually, and even talked to an electrician, but I need things to happen very quickly and coordinated since this is my only bathroom. If I had a second toilet and shower, I could take my time (and do a lot of it myself most likely).

Day of Riding

I took a break last Sunday and didn't do a dang thing to the house or yard. I had been contacted by a QOTR member (one that I had ridden with summer of 2014 on a 3 day tour of the northeast) asking if I wanted to meet her and pick up the QOTR "mascot". The mascot is a banner that we send around the country. The rules are that it has to be passed at a "meet and greet" where both ride their bikes for the hand off. Usually several people attend the meet and greet, and there is a short group ride before they go their separate ways.

Raven63 lives in very southern MA, at the Cape. Both of us would ride around 100 miles just to meet, and we decided to have a short tour of the middle part of MA as neither of us were familiar with it. Others were invited, but couldn't attend. That didn't keep us from having a great time though.

The map shows the planned route; Meeting at the Publick House Historic Inn and riding counter-clockwise. Of course some of the towns did not mark the roads very well, so we got off course a bit

We ended up going way further north, on Rt 10 than we had planned and almost ended up in NH. However, we finally found a road going south again and regained our route. Actually, the portions we were lost on were the most scenic of our tour. We decided to cut out the Paxton / Leicester sections at Rutland and take the cut-off road to North Brookfield.

The tour itself was right around 135 miles, as the original planned route was and we each ended up with a little over 335 miles for our individual mileages. I left a little after 7am, and got home at 6:45 pm - so it was a full day of riding - just what I needed!