Bogieblog

Yard Art Addtions and Flowers of the Week

Before mowing all of the neighbor's yard last week, I had to do some cleanup in his back yard. Half of a lilac shrub had come down over the winter (all the way from the part that meets the ground). Plus, there have been piles of leaves and sticks, and other trash (old planters, bird feeders and lawn debris) I have been mowing around for the last couple of years. In one of the piles, I found an old lighthouse metal bird feeder. The bottom had completely rusted off, but I cleaned up the top part and thought it looked cool. So I ensconced it on top of a trellis for one of the clematis in the shrub garden

A friend in NY had posted on FB a wind spinner she had installed in her garden (she has beautiful gardens). I rarely go for that type of thing, but I really liked the one she showed. I happened to be able to get the last one at L*wes, and installed it in the shrub garden.

It looks cool when the three sections are spinning - sorry, no pictures of that.

I notice the first iris bud on 5/24 and the first pic is from 5/27. It opened up on 5/28.

Creeping phlox in front of an azalea behind the mailbox and then a closer picture of the azalea

Lily of the valley underneath the trees in the back yard

Rhododendron next to the crab apple tree in the shade garden

It always surprises me how much better a garden looks with new mulch. Even the roadside garden, which was just created and mulched less than a year ago.

Have a great week!

Creeping Phlox has Hit its Stride

Pictures taken 5/22/20 unless otherwise noted

All the creeping phlox is in bloom and sending gentle, sweet scents thru the air

Check out how tall the peony in the center of this picture is now (5/22/20)

This is a picture of the stalks starting out on 5/13/20 (just to the left of the center hyacinth)

Another Fence Bites the Dust and the Water Heater Lives

Last Sunday, I tore down the other fence. The posts were so affected by the wet ground that they leaned like drunken sailors, and the panels were continually dropping off. Straightening the posts and screwing the panels back on did not help for long, as I've done for the last couple of years, as the movement of the posts just popped them back off.

The poor potted maple tree got planted in one of the post holes (about the 3rd post from the right in the picture of just the posts before I took them down).

I placed the panels out at the side of the road, and they were taken by another neighbor (1/2 mile down my street) for a dog pen. A former coworker came and picked up the posts Friday evening. She will be painting them and using them as a boarder for a small patio.

Monday afternoon, a heating/plumbing guy came and worked on my water heater. It had suddenly started losing 5-10 gallons of water thru the pressure overflow (thankfully that runs into a 5 gallon bucket so no damage to floor). The only reason I noticed was I had lost water pressure early last week, and thinking the worst, that the water heater had died or let go, checked the basement first. At that point the bucket was 3/4 full. After emptying it, I kept an eye on it and was emptying it every 12 hours - when it was at 1/2 to 3/4 full. Oh, the water pressure thing was the town flushing the pipes, so it came back after they were done. Happily, instead of needing a new hot water heater, the plumber just replaced the expansion tank. As an aside, it is amazing how quickly you can get work done when you are an existing customer; I called Friday afternoon and he was there Monday afternoon - unlike the boiler which I spent months just to find someone who not only actually came out, but was interested in working on it.

Last Tuesday evening (5/19) I mowed for 2 hours between the neighbor's yard and mine (I had just mowed for the first time on Friday, 5/15). I even left part of his backyard since it needs limbs and other crap cleaned up before I do that. Yeah, that's what a whole bunch of rain Friday night and 3 warm days will do for grass and weeds. I'll need to mow again today or tomorrow.

From Snow on May 9 to High 80's in Mid May

Last Sunday I cleaned both pellet stoves and retired the P61a (basement stove) for the season. I cleaned it thoroughly, removed the Outside Air pipe from the stove and placed crumpled newspaper in the air supply at the stove entry (humidity control), plugged the exhaust pipe with newspaper then placed a plastic bag over it (critter/insect control), and unplugged it from the UPS. I placed a safety sign on the control panel so I don't try to start it up with the exhaust plugged

The P43 got a good cleaning, but I did not shut it down. It ran several times Sunday evening into Tuesday morning. Then the temps went to the upper 80's outside the house got to 80-81* in the evenings. The saving grace was that we had wicked low humidity, at 12-24%, so it wasn't too bad. Yesterday it cooled off nicely to the mid 60's outside, so the house cooled off well and is currently at 69*.

Starting this coming Tuesday, temps will be 88-98. Guess I better get the A/C installed in the office window before that happens. I've also dug up the rigid foam insulation boards that I place in the front bay window to reduce the solar gain from that west facing window. Hopefully the fact that I am still working from home will help since I'll be able to have windows open and fans running until the outside temp gets above the house temp. Fortunately the trees in the back yard have leafed out pretty well so at least I get mostly shade until about noon.

 

Bye, Bye Fence

The fences along the property lines on both sides of the house are in bad shape. The posts are leaning drunkenly (they are in wet ground) , many of the pickets are falling off (although I keep trying to put them back up, and some of the sections just won't stay on the posts. The paint is also very worn.

I thought I would do something with the fence behind the tent garage first, but on a whim Friday, I started on the swamp side. Here are the before pictures

I unscrewed each of the fence sections from the posts and placed them next to the mailbox - hoping against hope that someone would pick them up for bonfire wood and I wouldn't have to take them to the dump (which charges by the pound for demolition)

Here is how it looked Friday night when I quit. I had already performed the first mowing of my and the neighbor's yard that afternoon and was pretty bushed at that point.

Enbiggen this next picture and look behind the 3rd picture from the right - you should be able to see the stream that comes down and turns to follow the property line.

I left the posts as my half-hearted plan was to clean up remaining invasive roses directly behind the fence, the probably put up a new fence. Leaving the posts would ensure that the holes did not get filled in before I got new posts put in.

Yesterday, the fence panels were still out by the mailbox. Bummer. However, I had set them further back than I do most things that I'm trying to get rid of, so I put a "Free" sign on them. That did the trick and I watched a neighbor scoop them up not too long afterward.

Well, the more I looked, the more I liked the view without the fence. Since I don't need to remind neighbors of the property line, there is no "need" for a fence anyway. And, for a bonus, without the fence there the mower should be able to most of the work of keeping the invasive roses over on "their" side and it will be easier to see if poison ivy starts trying to encroach again. So, yesterday afternoon I removed the posts. It was a harder job than it sounds because the posts were 2' into the ground, the wet ground that wanted to suck everything into itself. But, whacking the posts around with a sledge hammer, wiggling them around and using brute strength and pig-headedness, I got them removed (thank goodness there was no concrete).

One of the post holes that filled with water quickly once the post was out - that hole is 2' deep and it is most of the way filled. And, note the sedum that was growing behind the fence. I dug it up and placed it elsewhere - hopefully it survives.

View from the back porch. I left a couple of sections of fence as a boundary reminder to the family catty corner since that is where they take their dog to do his business.

I found several clumps of roses on my side of the ditch and dug them up (seriously, they were much harder to remove than the posts as the roots were so numerous and thick)

Most of the posts were in really good shape since they are from treated lumber so I didn't put them at the side of the road. Not that I have a plan, but they might come in handy.

A neighbor came up to me later in the afternoon as I was weeding the driveway garden and asked if I was getting rid of the posts too (turns out she was the one who took the fence sections). I told her I had planned on keeping them. She explained her project, to hide a propane tank, and she just wanted first dibs if I was going to put them at the side of the road. But, she also said she would just get some from the local farm and garden store. I told her to take whatever she wanted since I really didn't have a project planned. She won't take what she wants until Monday or Tuesday, but they aren't going anywhere so I don't care.

Birds and Blooms

On the 14th I put the end of a naval orange out on the porch railing and a female oriole visited. I was lucky I caught her as I was just taking a stand-up break from working. I haven't seen any since even though I put out half an orange the next day. Parts of it keep disappearing so at least one is still out there. I bought a bag of smaller oranges Saturday and put a fresh half out last night.

And, from the gardens - Tahiti Daffodils in the roadside garden

Baby lupines from seed I got from a local FHC (Firewood Hoarders Club) member last fall. These are in the semi-shade garden on the swamp side of the house

More baby lupines in the roadside garden

The baby lupines are sheltered by Daffodils, sprouts from a peony and sedum (very right)

Madame Emile Debatene peony sprouts next to hyacinth in the roadside garden

The creeping phlox along the front of the house are starting to bloom

These pictures were taken before the rain Friday night and I should have gotten pictures of the phlox yesterday as it is even further along now.

Tornado Warning 5-15-20

Had a tornado warning last night as radar indicated some minor rotation south of me and bow echos directly in my area. This picture was taken about 15 minutes after the warning blared on my phone - as you can see, the worst had already passed my area.

Earlier, they had predicted a low to medium chance of tornado, and winds up to 60-70 mph, along with torrential rains. So I was prepared when the warning came out. Rainey was already in the pen (at lower left, in shadows) so I only had to corral Spot and Rita. That way I could roll the pen into the hallway, keeping the cats safer, if the weather warranted it.

My area got the torrential rains, but the wind did not amount to much, not even howling as it has most days in the last couple of weeks. So after the warning expired, I opened the pen. They all came out, but 10 minutes later, the youngsters had gone back in. Rainey is now on the top, left bunk and Spot on the right.

Rita was up on the couch with me begging for pets

Pretty anticlimactic, but I'm not complaining.

Mother's Day 2020

Happy Mother's Day to Cop Car!

Hope you have great weather to be outside and you stay healthy and safe during this strange time.

It feels weird to send e-cards this spring to everyone for events and Birthdays - usually I only do that when it is late. But, certainly don't want there any chance of a physical card being the vector of transmission of the bug to any of my family.

One of my clusters of creeping phlox is blooming. The other clusters, in the tiers above, are different colors and get more shade so they are only now setting flower buds.

Yesterday was cold, raw, very windy and snowy. The high was 42 - and like most of May so far (except 1 day), the high temp was way below average. The ground was warm enough that the snow pretty much melted as it fell, but there were some spots it tried to accumulate. I looked out at the side window and at first thought the invasive roses over in the swamp were blooming. I thought it was rather early in the season. Then I realized that the "blooms" were clumps of snow sticking.

Next weekend it will probably be time for the first mowing for some areas of the lawn.

Phase 2 of Stairway Project

During the week I got the second set of 5 stair treads polyurethaned. Then Friday I started getting the stairway itself ready to receive its upgrade.

I removed the air grates that I had installed for the top 4 risers when the stove was behind the stairs, as well as all the rubber tread covers that were on all the steps. For comparison pics see the previous post, Start of the Stairway Project. Gave the existing treads a sanding to remove splinters and worst of the grime, although I didn't remove all the paint. Repaired the top step that had a divot and raised crack (found during sanding).

Fortunately I had some old 10" boards to cut up for the riser backings. This wood was old - it was old when I bought this place and I found it. So a lot of it was cracked or water stained (at some point the basement had flooded badly from the marks on the old shop and walls that I tore out years ago). It took three 6' long boards to get my four 2' risers, but at least I didn't have to run to a lumber yard in the pouring rain.

I had a class yesterday from 9 until 10:30 (for HOG Officers), so I didn't get started doing anything (besides the last poly coat on the back of the remaining 5 stairs) until late in the morning. After running to the dump, I stopped at the hardware store for some paint. after a useless trek to Wally World (up in Concord), where I literally left there empty handed, I returned home in the afternoon to get started.

I painted the risers, side of the existing treads, and the wall next to those areas. It took a couple of coats and of course found other projects I need to do before final install of the stair treads. I didn't "need" to paint the risers, but I wanted to do a mock up of the stairs to see if my plan would work out or if I needed to come up with other ideas.

Here is the mock up with the five completed treads. This gives a general idea of what they will look like with white risercoverings. The current risers will be covered with a continuous piece for each. Yes, Spot was helping with inspection :)

So what needs to be done before placing the finished steps risers on for good:

• Replace the doorway at the top of the stairs. First, it is completely the wrong color compared to the stairs. Second, it is terribly scratched and splintered from , I assume, the previous owners dog (and the picture is of the not-so-bad part.

• Paint both walls completely at the sides of the steps because they just look grimy compared to the fresh paint at the edges of the stairs.
• Custom cut each riser cover and paint them - they are primed white and need to be painted the "white chocolate" color that the walls are.

Things that need to be complete for the stairway project to be declared complete:

• Paint and cover up the wood, on the right side, at the entry at the bottom of the stairs - I already completed 1 coat of paint, but needs another coat and then probably complete cover with another piece to keep the bottom step from sticking out.
• Paint the crown moulding at the top of the stairs because it is the same color as the existing doorway.
• Finish the wall in front of the chimney, on the left side at the bottom of the stairs.

So far this has been a very slow project, but at least each step of it shows noticeable results.