Bogieblog

Furniture for Back Porch

Before redoing the back porch to get rid of the 30' long ramp, the flat base outside the door was not large enough to anything on. The base was literally something like 4'x5', which allowed just enough room to open the door from the outside while standing on the base. With the update though, I decided a bench to place things on was in order. In looking around, I found an alternative to that in a Convert a Chair (I'm not linking to it, but if interested you can google it).

Now, I didn't think it was a high quality piece of furniture, but still, there were some disappointments:

• The box wasn't even taped shut at any place. I actually wish I had seen how the delivery driver managed to get it from the truck to the house. Actually, I can't believe all the parts were still in it as the top was loose enough to just come off. Now, one would think it was from the transportation company, but the tape that was on the flaps was very brittle and old. 
• This particular unit had been returned by other buyers at least twice (by the covered up tags - I could even tell that it had been sold once by QVC - and the name/address of the returning party). This was not sold as a "used" or "open box" item.
• The parts were packaged incorrectly upon the return from previous buyers, which resulted in lots of mars and scratches.

Look at all those labels - at least two of those are RTV (I could just read the part underneath the coverup blank labels). The only label that pertains to me is the one covered in black. Note in the second pic the tape - I did not have to do anything to just lift the top off

But, when I bought it, it was 10% off and since I bought thru FB, I got another 15% off. So for the money, I'm satisfied just enough to keep it. And, the color was just what I was hoping for, so that sealed the deal. It was deliverd Friday and I put it together that evening.

Enough room underneath to "hide" a couple of things, including a gallon jug for watering plants

 

Yesterday I had my lunch and read out there for a bit.

That conversion part is pretty cool, then once I am done with it, just flip the back to the upright position and slide it back against the siding.

 

More Fall Colors for 2023

In the last couple of days, there have been some nice developments. The next few pictures were taken on 10/23/23:

Two maple saplings that are not on my property but just behind my back property line. They are nearly next to each other so it is interesting they didn't turn the same color. Although they are not very big yet, I saw them from the back porch.

Burning bush behind my property line. Haven't noticed that there before so guessing the tree cutting last summer now allows enough light for it to grow. But then again, I really only noticed it because the light was such that the berries took on a reddish orange color and I was intrigued. The color that I saw is not represented probably because I didn't have my phone on me when I first saw this.

Summer sweet in my shrub garden on 10/26/23. I don't remember seeing it look this nice before. Maybe I only noticed it because it is just to the side of the shed, so now sticks out when I look that way from the back porch

Okay, this is embarrassing, I've always assumed the large tree on the southwest corner of my yard was like a decorative plum tree. I just went by the purple color of the leaves during summer and just never gave it any thought. And, being in a corner of the yard I don't normally pass by (unless I'm mowing leaves), I don't remember seeing any real fall color. But in actually looking at the leaves, this is a maple. I would guess a Crimson King Maple and although a lot of the leaves just turned brown and fell, plenty of them turned a nice color.

The October Glory maple turned overnight - picture taken yesterday. The first picture is from the northeast side of the tree. The sun is over my left shoulder

This picture is taken from the southwest side, and the sun is in front of my right shoulder. The burning bush is in the lower right corner.

This is probably the last of any real color and all that remains is the mowing of the leaves once they fall.

Fall Color 2023

The fall colors have been muted this year. Actually, I guess "muted" is not the right word - when there is color, it is very nice. But a lot of trees around here went from green to dropped leaves. I'll admit that is the norm for the junk maples behind my house, but this year even the tree on the north side of the house just threw its leaves down as if sulking over the constantly gray summer/fall days we've had.

And then there is Autumn Blaze, which is looking nice this year. All pictures, except the last (which is noted) were taken yesterday afternoon

This is not a named maple. As luck would have it they managed to leave the one nice maple when they cleared the lot next door. Doesn't have the more brilliant red of a swamp maple (that used to be swampish land), but is very pretty. The green leaves to the very right are from my October Glory that has so far refused to turn (it is usually the latest). The red leaves to the left are on a burning bush that has always been wishy-washy when turning.

The old tree hydrangea. Upper left corner shows there are still some flowers that haven't turned yet and are still white (or mostly white).

This picture was taken 10/12/2023 and is Burgundy Belle. She is planted at the northwest corner of the house and is always the first of the maples I planted to turn.

There are a couple of trees behind my house (not on my property) that I am waiting for. While the trees around them have all dropped their leaves, those two are still fully dressed in green.

There are a couple of trees behind my house (not on my property) that I am waiting for. While the trees around them have all dropped their leaves, those two are still fully dressed in green.

How Soon Will I Have New Neighbors across the Street?

The house across the street, where the elderly gentleman lived before going to a nursing home, is now up for sale. I didn't know that until I heard car doors last night, late enough the guys working on it shouldn't be there, so I looked out the window. There were two vehicles there (not ones I normally see) so I looked online ans sure enough, that told the story

I can't believe the price they are asking (I can because of the housing shortage, but still, it's a shock). AND, it is expected to go for more. Here is where the it went up for sale after WBUH cleaned out the house. Here is shortly after the flippers bought it.

The inside looks nice and they did seem to put a lot of time into it. But since I couldn't see what they were actually doing, they may have taken as many shortcuts as they did outside (which in the end is the most important piece for protecting the inside).

• The old roof was covered with new shingles. They didn't take off the old shingles so they didn't fix any damage caused to the plywood that was exposed.
• They just covered up the old siding with vinyl siding. They did not fill in any of the holes in it
• I'm pretty sure the basement will still have water problems (Notice they didn't put in pics of the basement). They did a lot of ground work, but in the end they didn't seem to actually do anything to mitigate the water issues (no sand, the drain tile goes nowhere - just circles the house, no waterproofing of the concrete below ground level etc). Okay, I take that back, they did seem to fix/replace the sump pump , but I'm just going by the sounds coming from over there.
• The shed - they did no work to it at all. Really all it needed was to replace the shingles (easy enough while they were doing the house), and paint it. The shed is dry inside and that they just left it ugly puzzles me.

Then there is the back doorway that they just put 2 steps on, which is aesthetics in nature, but still it is just jarring. I can't believe they did that. It would have been cheap enough to lay down a small back porch, but I know they couldn't salvage the old one (as they did with the front porch that they painted and added rails to).

With the housing crunch, I'm sure I'll have new neighbors soon.

Working Smarter - Not any Less Hard Though

Cop Car commented on yesterday's post, "Gee...you're taking it easy with moving the pellets, aren't you? I feel that I've done a good bit of work just toting a couple of banker's boxes full of paper up from the basement and you, blithely, write of moving tons. Well...it's not the 5 or 6 tons of yesteryear."

So, I have moved more tonnage of pellets this year than the little over a ton I moved yesterday, I just didn't write about it. In early August, I cleaned out the garage. During that time, I moved a bit of tonnage from the garage to the basement.

This is the left wall of the garage. Looks like th partial pallet beside the blue tarp is 4 high plus another partial row, so at least 20 bags for 800 pounds. I can count at least 16 rows on the tall pile on the right which equals 80 bags or 3,200 pounds.

This picture is taken from the door into the basement - there was just enough room at that time I could fit my mower between the piles of pellets in the middle and the wall on the right (out of frame). The green-wrapped pallet is a full ton of pellets and just behind it is another partial pallet (I can see two layers, so that is 10 bags = 400 pounds).

Unfortunately I didn't take "after pictures", but you can see that the garage had a lot less pellets in it in this picture I took when painting

What you can't see are any of the pellets up against that left wall, nor the partial pallet of pellets between the blue trashcan and the mower handle way back there.

After moving a little over a ton into the basement yesterday, I have 3 tons in the basement. There is a grand total of 55 bags left in the garage. That is a total of 4 tons which is a couple tons shy of what I like to keep on hand. I may have to rectify that, or I may just let it go and see what happens over the winter.

Oh, and as for how much I've moved over the years - Unfortunately I didn't start keeping track of what I've burned until the 2016/2017 winter. That means I missed out counting the biggest usage winters of 2014/2015 & 2015/2016. But up to the end of last winter, I've used just under 35 tons - and most of those tons were handled multiple times (load into vehicle, unload into garage, move to basement, move to stove).

Sorry Cop Car, I'm not putting in a category for pellets so that summary chart will just have to do.

Getting Ready for Winter 2023-24

Signs of the times -Monday evening I got the P43 unpacked from its summer hibernation. Nights ahve been in the 30's to 40's and days in the 50's. However, we haven't seen the sun for a week, so no solar gain. Supposed to be cloudy for the next week too. So, the weather is still playing havoc with my solar production, otherwise I would stick with the mini split (not that I don't have plenty of credits, just I don't like using more than I produce at this time of year).

Yesterday I got the sn*w blower out of the shed. It started right up . Let it run for a few minutes then let it do the work to get to the garage. I need to silicone the intake and chute (and shovels) - guess I should put that on my to-do list.

Loaded all the smaller scrap from the back porch build into the Explorer and took it to the dump. Just prior to leaving, I put a plastic hose reel out at the street and posted it for free on the town FB page.

I was surprised that it was still there when I got back (what, all of 15-20 minutes later because I made another stop), but it was gone 5 minutes after I went back into the house. The guy was nice enough to message me so I could take down the ad.

This weekend I need to move more pellets into the basement. I have just shy of 2 tons in there now. I should be able to clear off a partial pallet that is in the garage, perhaps even get another whole ton in the house (depending on how hard I want to work). It won't be long before I unpack the basement stove and get it going. But the basement is holding in the low 60's, which is fine for now.

September 2023 Solar Report

I haven't reported on my solar array production since June of this year (here are all my solar reports). That is because there really wasn't anything new to say, besides, yep, I'm producing power and racking up credits for my winter electrical use from the grid.

September numbers are really showing the reduced sun angle. This reduction is helped (or not helped) by the trees still having leaves. So the east side is really challenged in getting much sun prior to noon or so.

And then we've had a lot of heavily overcast days. Several days solar production (orange) didn't even match the house usage (blue).

Solar energy production is roughly 60% of what May's production was (my best month). And it is 200 kwh less than the August production. HOWEVER, perception is everything. In looking back at March (6 months previous), then the numbers align pretty well

Although the comparison does show a bit of drop of production on the east and south sides for the month from tree foliage, the west side (being totally clear of any shade) makes up for it. So in actuality, 20kwh more were produced in September than last March. However, I did have several days in March that were zero production because of snow cover (not atypical) and a 3-day power outage (which was atypical - although the array was still snow covered anyway). During a power outage, when grid-tied, the production is cut off to avoid feedback into the power lines.

So, really, compared to March, I can't be unhappy with the September energy production from the array. And, I'm still banking credits with the power company, which definitely makes me happy.

Almost Done

It's been a while, but the replacement for my porch, and changing the ramp to stairs is almost done. Course it is supposed to rain for several days and they have another job so it may be a bit. That's okay.

Now just have to wait a year before I can stain the wood a darkish blue to finish the look.

They just need a couple of hours to finish the railing caps. Will save a piece in case I want to install below that first step - haven't decided yet whether I want that or not. Have to do some path work before I really make up my mind.

This is a Different Typepad issue

Bitching about how pictures upload, or don't (or tell me it isn't of the correct format when it clearly is a JPG file) is old news, so I won't bring that up again. Oops, too late ;-)

The newest issue, is when I am commenting on any bloggers' Typepad post (including my own). When I go to type my email in, a dropdown with the suggested completion no longer appears. However, if I type in 3-4 characters, then backspace once (no more than that), that dropdown suddenly appears.

You just can't get good help anymore, sigh.

 

And the Winner is . . . Part Two

Yesterday the rain moved out faster than the weather people anticipated, so I got out there and finished up the planned exterior painting.

See that ladder there on the west side? Why yes, I was stretching to reach the top area to be painted from the the top rung (not the top of the ladder). Considering my trepidation with heights, and the fact that I had to put the ladder on blocks of wood (not pictured), I impressed myself.

Proof that I got it all painted. It took about 5 hours for me to get one coat of paint on those two sides. Fortunately my plan was only for 1 coat as I can always do another next year if needed. I was moving pretty slowly because I threw my left hip out last weekend (which also takes my knee with it) and it is a challenge to walk, much less climb ladders or kneel down.

I will be hiring someone to do the underside of the eaves next spring. I also need to take care of the white around the garage door from when I primed the new frame (back in 2020 - LOL).

Now that I am done with the painting for the season, it is time to find a chiropractor to force my hip back into place.