A whole lotta nothin’.

Especially today. 

We’re finally getting a bit of heat here in Southern Ontario.  Can’t say that I’ve missed it, to be honest.  The prognosticators are saying we haven't had a day when the temperature has been anywhere close to thirty since some time back in June.

I’m just glad that working outside at this particular snippet in time is…. optional.

 

Not like our “weed and feed” person.

 

 

 

And I see today that we have a young lady pushing the spreader.  I’ll have to go out and brave the elements to see what was added/needed.   There’s always a couple of those notifications on the lawn that they have to leave behind. Some sort of regulation.  Even when it’s nothing noxious, which nowadays is 100% of the time. 

Matter of fact,  I can buy weed killer etc. at the Garden Centre that’s more toxic than what these folks are now permitted to use.  Not like I do or anything.

So the notifications are posted to warn everyone that there has been some sort of “application”.

Here’s an idea,  hows about everybody just stay the hell off the lawn?

 

 

 

I have been working on finishing in the “Veranda”.  Not sure I’ll ever truly get finished.  I just have that overwhelming feeling,  but I keep plugging away.

 

I put that piece up on Sunday.  It was reasonably comfortable to work, temperature wise, although it doesn’t take much for me to start sweating buckets.  

No desire to go up there today.  Thanks.

Travelling Companion has chimed in with her displeasure with that lamp there,  but it’s what was there before,  and is better than nothing.  Not much better than nothing, mind you.   It was a garage sale find of many years ago.  A couple bucks I think.

I also added an additional plug up there in the corner.  Not sure what it’ll be used for,  but you never know.  Christmas lights?  We’ll see.

 

 

Just for the fun of it,  I should mention that, at one point in time when I was up there sizing things up,  and possibly staring off into space,  I saw a coyote out on the street.  I mentioned on the Book of Face that he was running down the street.

Not entirely accurate.  

He was actually stopped to take a cr*p.   And judging by how it sort of came blasting out of him,  I think it was an emergency stop.

Erp,  what have you been eating??

Which would explain why he stopped in the middle of the street.   

My camera was three paces away,  but when I turned around he was gone.   Gah!!

Which of course,  reminds me of a comedian whom I’ve only ever seen on Youtube.

It’s only a minute and a half.  Go for it.

Sure hope you have the bandwidth to watch that.  Makes me laugh.   “Shit and go!”

 

I may possibly poke my head in here at some point when I have something to say.  Not sure when that’ll be.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

Some days I’m quite content to stay home.

Wednesday’s is usually a “Breakfast Babes” morning for me,  but my motivation to get myself sorted out first thing in the morning was somewhat lacking.

The “Breakfast Babes” consists of mostly retired teachers from one particular school where I used to work.  I say “mostly”,  since there is a Secretary and a Caretaker that show up from time to time.  Along with a few spouses,  but that’s a rarity.

Oh and yes,  the Caretaker would be Muggins here.

Anyway,  sorry kids,  I didn’t go.  Maybe next week.

 

Besides,  I figured my time was better spent making more headway up in the “Veranda”.  My objective is to get the inside walls buttoned up with drywall before the weather takes a turn.  This of course,  is while I’m waiting for my windows to arrive.  Once they’re here,  all bets are off.  Until I have them finished and installed at least.

 

I hadn’t really come to any conclusions as to who did what up there in the past,  but I’m now fairly certain that it was the previous owner who was in the midst of installing lath and then eventually plastering the whole thing.  There was some evidence of a freshly cut rafter tail where a board had been nailed up.

This was in preparation for the plaster,  which was going to go over fibre board and then lath.

 

I may very well change out that lamp.  That was a garage sale deal that was too hard not to pass up.

 

 

It was up in the one corner next to the fireplace/chimney/whatever.

Anyway,  doesn’t matter.

I can see why there was some,  shall we say? confusion?  It’s hard to know what to do.  I did stand there trying to take it all in and sort it out in my pea brain for a quite a few minutes.

Of course,  it wouldn’t be quite right if there weren’t any nesting material or teeth marks from squirrels.

Gah.

 

I’m pretty sure some of this activity took place after we moved in,  since I had installed a phone line up through there,  and I’m sure I would have noticed all that cr*p.  But I never did take down the board,  so who knows?

Memory is dim.

 

 

The corner was a bit of a head scratcher.

 

Big space.  No place to attach drywall,  that’s for sure.

 

I used some of the super duper adhesive that Carpenter Dude and I had been using when we did the cladding.

The wedge is there to put pressure on the adhesive. 

 

 

Oh,  and speaking of which,  I had a visitor yesterday.

 

It was Carpenter Dude.

You can see the name on the side of his truck,  so it’s not like it’s a big secret or anything.  But we’re blogging here,  so monikers are in order.

He wanted to rent my bandsaw.  

I said,  “Sure,  why not”. 

He was working on a project that required carefully cutting a couple arches,  and it just was not working with a jig saw.  There’s a lot of stuff that can be done with a jig saw,  but not everything.

So he left here a happy camper,  and I had a few bucks in my pocket.  It was going to go into my “might need that special tool someday” fund,  but T.C. got wind of it,  so we’ll see.  So it might go towards groceries.  That would suck.

 

Meanwhile,  I sorted out my little project with some left over cedar and “J” moulding. 

 

I think it’ll look quite fetching once the drywall is up.

That was a bit of fussiness.  That’s all I’m going to say.  At one point yesterday afternoon (evening?) after many, many trips down to the garage,  Travelling Companion did ask just how many trips I make back and forth. 

“Just about one for every cut.”  was my reply.

Sometimes I can get away with doing a little cut by hand,  but it’s tough to get really clean lines that way.  And there’s no way I’m carting the cut-off saw,  band saw or table saw….anywhere.

 

 

 

So now I just have to fetch me some drywall.

 

Now wasn’t that exciting?

 

Thanks for looking.

The Wolf is back.

Not a lot going on.  Thought I’d pipe up with a few words.

The cottage visit was brief and cold.  Lovely cottage.  This is the place we visited last fall.  It was Thanksgiving,  and equally cold. 

One slight difference however.   On our previous visit,  there was a somewhat regular thermostat that could be adjusted to whatever temperature was comfortable.  This time around,  the owners had installed a Nest thermostat,  which made it virtually impossible to adjust. I’m sure there’s an “app” for that,  but if you don’t have the code,  yer beat.

I asked where the heck the cold air was coming from,  and was told it was the air conditioning!   Yes,  it’s a “cottage” with air conditioning!  So I had to go out to the compressor and pull the disconnect.  Took a while,  but without the cold air being blown up from the basement,  the place did get a little warmer.

Rolling my eyes here.

This was one of the methods I’d use to get around some of the whoopty-do innovative controls that my former illustrious employer installed in our schools.  Just shut the damned thing off.

Anyhoodle,  we only stayed the one night,  although I would have happily stayed at least for a couple more.  The word was though,  that it never did really warm up.   It got down to 12°C the night we were there.  It hasn’t really warmed up all that much in the past few days around here either.  Sunny,  and warm in the sun,  but sure cool at night.

It was oh so much fun driving home late Thursday night in the rain.  In the dark.

 

Had to move the BBQ a little closer to the back door,  even though it was giving off plenty of heat.

We never did figure out which ones were the “jalapeno” sausages.

“This one?”

 

Once I started cooking them, they all looked the same.

Thankfully the spice wasn’t too strong,  and nobody suddenly leaped to their feet.

 

Cooking on a strange BBQ can be a little bit of a puzzle at first,  but at least it was a properly working thing.  Hate it when folks leave their crap for you to try and deal with.  If you’re renting,  it needs to work.  And that one worked beautifully.  It wasn’t a Weber,  but that was OK.

 

Meanwhile I’ve carried on with my little jobs here at home.  Still looking to put the finishing touches on the “veranda”,  which at this point means beginning the steps towards dry walling the entire interior.   Should brighten it up considerably.

That also means framing out and trimming out all the little issues.  Along with making a proper second entrance to the attic.  Instead of just sliding things in between the studs.  There will be no more of that.

 

Once more trying to use up some of the cedar off cuts.  The pulls are off an old sewing machine cabinet.

 

And now you know why I haven’t had too much to say.  It’s just more of the same.

 

Oh,  and I almost forgot.   Yes,  “The Wolf” went in to The Company that Cannot be Named today.   She’ll be there most likely for the rest of the week.  

It’s not a “big secret” anymore.  Too many people read the blog it seems.

Whatever.

 

That’s all I got.

 

Keep it between the ditches.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

Up to me old tricks.

 

Freezing overripe bananas has its limits. 

There was a suggestion from Daughter Number Two to make some sort of banana schmoodie.  (read: “smoothie”, inside joke)  I can do the banana bread from rote,  so that’s easier.

Didn’t take long for Travelling Companion to have a piece when she got home,  since she thought she wouldn’t need a lunch.  Turns out she stayed at The Company that Cannot be Named for the entire day.

I think I mentioned that “The Wolf”  would be making an appearance?

Now get this,  she’s now an independent contractor,  yet they had an office ready for her,  with her name on the door!  Geez,  it’s a wonder she got her swelled head in the door when she came home.

Actually,  that’s far from any kind of an issue, but one does get the impression that they were really happy to have her back.

Gotta pay for all these renos,  don’t ya know.

Anyway,  once upon a time, up to and including our stay in Europe,  her gig was all about finance.  She’s a CPA after all. (Formerly CMA, Certified Management Accountant).

Then when we came back home,  they put her in charge of IT.   That’s “Information Technology”,  not “It”,  as in “Cousin It”.  

They were having issues going onto Oracle and well,  she knew the ins and outs of the system better than the IT people.  

Now,  she’s working with Marketing.  I haven’t quite figured that one out,  and at this point, I’m not sure I want to know.

 

So that meant Muggins here was back to being Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.  Well actually, that bottle washing part is sorted out by the dishwasher.  There’s a limit to that as well.  Right along with the freezing of the bananas.

That also meant that a supper menu was in order.

 

Not too damned fancy,  but we scarfed it down with no complaints.

 

Beans from the garden, sautéed onions and spuds.  Oh,  and grilled chicken breast.  Slathered in BBQ sauce and dusted with Denninger's Steak Spice. 

T.C. won’t be going back into work until next week,  which is a good thing,  as we have plans to get ourselves to a cottage for a couple days.

This is a different one. 

This is why I’m quite content to not own a cottage, you’re never stuck in one place. 

We stayed at this place last Thanksgiving, and Daughter Number One was so taken with it,  that she rented it for this week.  OK then!   We invited ourselves up.

Some sort of P.P.  That’s Parental Privileges.  I just made that up.

Don’t worry though,  it’s not like we’re total mooches or anything,  since there was a call earlier today to make sure the plans were set,  and when I asked if there was anything lacking,  the subject of Slovenian Beer came up.

Seems they’re OUT. 

The Horror!

 

So I did the “Dad” thing and went to the LCBO to fetch some.  

The interesting thing about the LCBO is,  you can go to that site,  and if you know what to look for,  you can see just how many they have of a particular item in every store.  

Kinda neat.  And oh so handy.

 

The silly thing is,  even though this beer is called Laško, they have it listed as Zlatorog. I suppose that makes sense,  since Laško is the brewer,  but if you’re only carrying the one beer?  Just call it Laško. 

 

 

 

Anyhoodle,  I’m READY.  Beer is cooling in the fridge.  The car is full of fuel.  That’s it,  isn’t it?

Well, maybe I’ll take some clean undies.  Don’t want to over pack.

 

See you on the flip side.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

A bit of a wind shift.

And that’s not some kind of a metaphor. 

It was a gorgeous day, even though the humidity was starting to rise ever so slightly.  Travelling Companion and I busied ourselves with a bit of “gardening”. 

I put gardening in quotation marks,  since it’s more like “weeding”.  We’re closing in on the garlic chives that she mistakenly planted a few years back.  Then of course,  we were away for that whole European thing,  and they tried to take over. Gah!

I keep threatening to buy one of these:

Mind you,  burning the house down would be bad, so maybe I should reconsider.  Besides, Lee Valley Tools are asking over eighty bucks for this little gem. 

I suppose it would be worth it,  but I’m not there yet.

 

Yes,  it’s a flame thrower for weeds.  Only it doesn’t really spew petrol,  like the ones used in WWII.

Although….*thinks* maybe? 

No,  never mind.

 

Anyhoodle,  the only pictures I took today were at the slip,  down at the boat yard,  where the entire crew turned up to figure out something called a “Mexican Takedown”.  Or maybe it’s “Mexican Spinnaker Hoist”?   Damned if I know.

All I know is,  through the wonders of email and such,  we all agreed to meet this evening and go out for a practice.   Only thing was,  the weather wasn’t cooperating.

Now,  I’ve been out racing in some nasty sh*t,  but a practise?   Meh.   I declared my objection at the outset,  so there was a decision to “practise” at the slip.

It so happened,  that one of our more seasoned individuals had made up a couple mock “sails” from old tarps,  so we used those.

 

 

And let the class begin.

Oh,  and some of us came straight from work.  I did compliment her on the shoes.

 

I took my turn on the foredeck with the mock sails,  but that’s when the weather predictions started to come true.

We really didn’t come to any solid conclusion as to whether we wanted to attempt this on the race course,  as it started to rain within about a half hour,  and a decision was then made to “batten down the hatches”,  (yes,  that really is something you do) and go below.

However,  I had already said to T.C. that if that were the case,  I’d simply come home.  As much as I *love* all these folks I sail with,  having that many bodies in the cabin of a C & C 27?  Um,  maybe when the humidity isn’t quite so high?   Or perhaps some pizza and beer?  There were rumours of beer,  but I was stalwart enough to resist.

Because,  today was our Anniversary,  which I didn’t quite comprehend until I had already said I would be in attendance.  Urp.

Bonehead.

It’s OK though,  there have been years when T.C. has let our Anniversary slip her mind,  so I’m golden. 

 

We did go over to Daughter Number One’s place to water some plants,  even though the rain had threatened. 

That entire household is away at a cottage for the week,  so she asked if we wouldn’t mind.

No biggie.

 

For some strange reason they left a cauliflower out on the counter. Huh? We took it home.

The grass really should be cut,  but I didn’t quite feel all that enthusiastic about using their reel mower.  Maybe tomorrow.  We’ll see.

It ain’t getting any shorter, so I suppose I should be a Good Dad.  

Really?

 

 

Keep it between the ditches.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

Taking time out to read.

Which is something I don’t seem to do nearly enough of.  Well,  it’ll be winter soon enough I suppose.   I’m still planning my strategy for the installation of the generator.  Remember that?  

I know,  that thing’s damned near an antique by now. 

We’ll sort it out.

I’m not really into “graphic novels”  per se,  but son-in-law gave me an interesting one a while back. Well really,  he shows up with something for me on a fairly regular basis,  but that’s beside the point.

Sat down and got through it this afternoon.  Well,  I might have scheduled a brief nap in there at one point,  but that had nothing to do with the content.

THAT had to do with a neighbour’s noisy dog waking me up a precisely 5:28 a.m.   It was annoying enough that I got up to close the window, to then witness said neighbour having to go out in the yard and fetch the little bastard.  Actually from the sounds of it,  I’m guessing it was a big bastard. 

I only saw the lady in her housecoat, and it looked like she had an animal by the collar.  I would have sent out the ole man.

 

*grumble*

Which is probably why my afternoon ended up with me being in a prone position with book in hand,  since I wasn’t feeling all that “peppy”. 

Oh,  I did spend some quality time vacuuming mouse poop out of the shed.  Man,  that was a hoot. 

I *think* it was left over from last year,  since I wasn’t getting anything in the traps this past winter.  Man,  those little bastards shit everywhere!  No manners,  and no learnin’.

 

*thinks*.  I’d best get some fresh traps.  They’ll be back.

 

And what did I read?

 Weapons of Mass Diplomacy.  I can see why it got the awards that it did.  It’s a sometimes humorous but also somewhat chilling reminder of the whole smoke and mirrors that took place just before the invasion of Iraq.   The author changed the names of countries and diplomats,  but it didn’t take too much imagination to know what he was saying.

It’s a “graphic novel”,  which is something an old geezer like me has trouble getting my head around, so it’s not *just* a comic book.

 

Other than that,  I got nuttin’.

Just that picture there of one half of my supper.  Chicken sausage with home made relish.  Oh ya,  Baby!

And really,  I could have just drizzled relish on the bun and left it at that,  but someone had to clean up the sausages. 

Did my duty.

 

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

 

Thanks for looking.

Putting your life on the Lawn.

You read that right.  Not “line”,  as in being a member of the Armed Services but rather “lawn”.

Like when your basement is flooded.

I didn’t take any pictures. That would just be rude.  And insensitive.  Or bad.  Whatever.

Not happenin’.

I fear that would be akin to Schadenfreude.

“Schadenfreude” is not something that is appropriate in this situation.  I was going to suggest going to that link to hear how that’s pronounced, but the Dude that they got to pronounce that must have gone to some German Classes in Jersey.  He sure didn’t sound German.  Not even Austrian. 

Of course,  the website is connected to “Merriam Webster”, so maybe I should lower my expectations.  Best be careful I don’t upset any of my American readers.  But you know what?  Ferrin’ langueeges is not a particular strength that I’ve noticed from those on this continent in general,  and south of the border in particular. 

Sorry,  that’s the way I sees it.  Ain’t yer fault.

So,  the latest reports are that there are roughly 2000 home in Burlington that have had flooded basements.  No really.  2000.  Jeepers.

And some of these places have been flooded more than once.  Like, they no longer can get insurance, and they can’t even sell their homes,  ‘cause they’ve been “flagged”.  Not sure exactly how that works or what that means,  but I guess it’s kind of like heading off to the leper colony?  There’s no going back.

Well,  enough of that.  We’re lucky.  That’s all.  I like to *think* I had taken the necessary steps to keep the water away from the house but really?  There’s a certain amount of luck involved too methinks.

 

So back to the business at hand.

 

I like to call this,  “Some assembly required”.

 

 

Used to be a desk.  I already have two.  Have no desire to put together this Chinese puzzle.   It was dropped off here years ago by a nephew,  who didn’t know what to do with it.  I shoved it out to the curb.  But you know what?  In spite of the fact that the snowblower went,  and then later a microwave, (I hadn’t even got myself out there with said appliance when someone pulled up to fetch it!) nary a soul was willing to assemble the desk.   Oh well.  Got picked up by the Dudes with the big stinky truck.

 

 

Meanwhile Travelling Companion and I had gone a couple blocks away to check on sister-in-law’s place.  There where the dirt is just outside the back door,  is where there had been the big beaver dam.  My assignment was to take away the remaining water soaked clay.  Too heavy for sister-in-law.  Damned near too heavy for me too.

The back yard no longer shows any signs of having been flooded,  but you can see in the bottom pic how the neighbour’s yard is considerably higher?  Well,  neighbours on all sides have been slowing building up their properties.  I’m thinking we’ll need to do some trenching with a long length of that plastic weeping tile  and a dry well down there on the low end.  That’s all I got.  I’d love to excavate a trench right through the neighbour’s back yard,  but I don’t think they’d appreciate that.

 

I put in my little door today.  I’ll probably use a barrel latch to keep it closed.  The rest of that area will be dry walled.  I took down all the pressed board,  or whatever the heck that was.   The original intention was to put up metal lath and then plaster it,  but that was never done.  Just left. 

Not finished. 

*sigh*

I’ll get to it.

 

Oh Oh!  Almost forgot.  Here are some pictures of food!   Like,  why not?

 

Daughter Number Two and Son-in-law brought some meat.   We ate well.  The sausages are chicken.  The two burgers on the left are minced up sirloin and the two on the right are pork and bacon.  Basically, pork and more pork.   I only had a sausage and one of the sirloin burgers.  And an ear of corn.  No more room for anything else,  but we do now have a couple things left over.

Some one shared this way of cooking corn that I’m total thrilled with.  Normally we’ve most always husked corn and boiled it.  When you can start to smell the corn,  usually that means it’s done.  But then of course,  you have all that hot water heating up the kitchen.

We haven’t been doing that lately.

Here’s what ya do…

Microwave each ear for four minutes. This is with the husk left on. Then (and you’ll need your oven mitts for this) simply cut off the one end of the cob with a sharp knife,  and squeeze the ear of corn out that end.  All of the little strands will then stay with the husk,  and you’ll end up with a clean ear of corn!   It’s totally awesome!  No more little strands in my teeth!

Better yet,  there are a few videos out there.  I like this one.

I see that John, or maybe it’s Peter,  from RV Geeks put all three ears of corn in the microwave at once.  Whatever.  I’d say four minutes per ear is about right.

Try it.

 

 

All grammar mistakes are intentional.

 

Keep those sticks on the ice.

 

Thanks for lookin’.

 

.

Parting company with an old friend.

OK,  that sounds pretty damned serious.   It’s not.  Settle down.

This coming Friday,  pushed back a day as Monday was a Holiday,  is “put out yer crap” day.  And I’ve been meaning to part company with my old snow blower on a few occasions now.  Keep forgetting.

Of course,  since the place where it was sitting, under the back steps,  was exactly where the tiny little bit of water managed to come into the basement,  it was something that sort of jumped out at me.

It’s got to go.

The very last time I took it anywhere for “service”,  which was something like six or seven years ago,  the Service Dude bade me to never bring it back again,  since he replaced the belt as I had asked,  but had warned me that some other issues were about to flare up,  and spending any more money on it would have been foolhardy.

Son-in-law did use it for the first couple of winters when we were away (amazing,  I know!) but then for the winter of ‘12 and ‘13,  it just sat back there.  I did take a pull on the cord, and it does turn over,  but I wouldn’t even want to begin to try and fire it up. 

Somebody will take it.

Either one of the metal scavenging guys,  or just someone who wants a project. 

I got plenty.

 

Like this one.

 

I’ve been farting around with this abomination for a couple days now.  It’s another *issue* that we’ve had with the “Veranda” up at the front of the house.  On one end,  there’s a “knee wall”,  behind which is an unheated space.  I’d like to close it off.  I’m going to be spiffing up that whole enchilada,  so this is part of the process.

And I learned something!

 

It has to fit into and odd space,  as you can see,  and of course,  I had this hair-brained idea that I wanted it to be a proper door.  HOWEVER,  with the hinges on the right hand side, ‘cause where else would they go? that means that as the door starts to open,  it swings OUT from the hinges.  Which,  of course means that it will bind at the top.  Or not open at all. 

*poop*

 

Soooo,  that meant some surgery.  You can’t see it,  but the upper right stile is bevelled at the back.    That was a few trips back and forth. 

Oy!

But, it now works.

I’ve decreed that tomorrow is stain finishing up day,  and I’ll put some Cetol on the wood there as well. 

There are a few spots where stain is missing,  and don’t ask me why we did that.  But now I need to get that sorted.

 

Speaking of sorted,  I was desperately trying to figure out today just where in heck the water was seeping in during our rain storm.

And yes,  climbing up to the roof is not exactly being in my “Happy Place”,  but I had to suck it up.

Now I realise that we were pretty danged lucky,  all in all,  since there are folks on this very street who have had their basements completely flooded.  Seems to be some sort of luck of the draw. 

I found a couple spots that looked suspicious but really,  except for the obvious bits there where the flashing has lifted,  I was really struggling to see anything glaringly obvious.   I’ll just be glad to get the new roof on and be done with it.

Now if we could just figure out sister-in-law’s situation. 

I mentioned last time that the yard was flooded and the beaver dam was in place to keep the water away from the back door.  Well,  that didn’t mean that no water was getting in.  The roof leaks too,  and we’re pretty sure the chimney is the culprit.   Of course,  the water tends to run down under the shingles and comes in wherever it bloody well pleases,  which meant that sister-in-law had multiple drips to contend with.   Such fun, eh?

So ya,  even though listening to the rain here at The Ponderosa can be just a tad stressful,  we’re not in that bad a shape. 

I like to tell myself that,  anyway.

 

 

***

This just in!

As I’m sitting here at this very moment,  I hear a commotion coming from the end of the driveway.

Well,  it was a bit of a struggle  (it was a guy and his lady friend) ‘cause Pick-up beds are just a tad high it seems,  but THE SNOWBLOWER IS GONE.   

Whoda thunk?

I think it was out there for something like an hour and twenty minutes.   Is that some kind of record??

Cwazy!

I felt sorry for the chick,  but she was a trooper.

Travelling Companion said,  “Should you tell them it doesn’t work?”   I think they might have figured that part out.  And if they didn’t,  they will.

 

OK,  I’m done. 

 

Keep it between the ditches.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

And then….it rained.

 

But first,  just a mention about the copper.

Nope,  not going to polish it.  It’s not coated either.  Copper Dude said if it were coated,  then the coating would flake off,  and not evenly either.   It’ll just turn brown,  and then eventually green.  Should take about twenty years.  I’ll wait it out.

It’s just about the only part of this house that is “maintenance free”.  

 

And yes,  it rained.  And I ain’t kiddin’.

It started yesterday around three,  and rained hard for about,  I don’t know,  six hours?  It did let up briefly at one point,  but only briefly. 

There was water.  And I mean,  highways were closed.  Streets were flooded.  Houses were flooded.

There was a panic phone call at around five thirty from sister-in-law’s place a few blocks from here.  See,  all the neighbours surrounding her back yard have managed to raise the grade of their backyards to the point where the water doesn’t want to drain from hers?  This is a problem.  So the plan that was already in place when I got there was to barricade the patio door to keep the water away.  It was working,  but between the mud and the blocks of wood and paving stones,  and oh,  I did add some cedar shavings to make some “adobe”,  it was a helluva mess.   But it worked.

Hey,  beavers have been making effective dams with what amounts to wood chips for millennia,  so I figured it couldn’t hurt.

 

The only picture I got was from our very own back door.  Taking the camera out in that wasn’t very high on my list of priorities.  So you’ll just take my word for it. 

Considering the number of people whose basements were flooded,  I’d say we came out fairly well.  Since it was pounding in under the back steps,  we did get about a cupful of water that came in at the footings.   The rest of the basement was fine.   Of course,  there were also a few leaks in the roof on the veranda side,  but that’s the reason why we’re having a new roof installed in the fall.  My hope is that it’s not coming in at the chimney and then migrating down under the shingles to the first break in the sheathing.  It’s just a tad frustrating,  since I’ve been up there scouting out any signs of where the water might come in,  and I come up empty. 

 

On a more fun note,  Travelling Companion and her sister made some relish a couple days ago.   I’ve been putting relish on damned near everything.  OK well,  maybe I’m exaggerating just a tad.

 

On the plate there is my pork schnitzel sandwich.  With relish.  You’ll note that there are a few empty spots on the towel?  It’s those children.  *mumble*

I’m pretty sure any recipient of a jar of relish should have been here chopping up veggies,  but that’s just my humble opinion.

(Hey,  I installed the gas range!  That counts)

I’m still farting around up in the veranda.  I’ll be ordering our new windows in the morning.  Just had a chat with the owner of the window company to iron out a couple details.  She said she’s in at seven,  but give her a couple minutes to get revved up.    I imagine I’ll need at least one cup of coffee before I pick up the phone.

 

Keep on truckin’.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

 

 

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Like going to Confession.

Except I’ve never gone to “confession” in my life.  Probably would help if I were Catholic,  to start.

So why did my pea brain come up with that? 

Well,  I almost feel like saying,  “Forgive me blog followers,  but it’s been five days since my last confession  entry”.  Isn’t that the way it goes?  I’ve only seen it on TV.  Like I said.  Never been.  Never going.

Oh wait.  I guess it’s been seven days.  Would help if I could count.

*ahem*

 

Anyway,  things are progressing on the house reno end of things.  Copper Dude and his two sons were here on Wednesday when I got home from breakfast with the “Breakfast Babes”,  and they were hard at it.

 

This is the result so far.  

Yesterday I got my quotes back from Sheri at Anderson Windows.  I’ll give them the go ahead on Tuesday I would think.   Note that it’s not “Andersen”  windows.   That’s the huge American company that seems to always come up whenever I search for “Anderson” windows.   F**king Google. 

I thought at first the copper ends would look a bit goofy,  but I’m pretty pleased with the way it turned out.   He had to get a bit creative with the four purlins up at the roof line there.  Seems to work.

Considering I had no clue how to deal with that issue,  what can I say?

Meanwhile,  I’ve finished off the annoying little end bit at the corner there. 

 

It still needs “work”,  since that piece is lacking Cetol,  and the copper end is sitting in my shop.  Need to wait for the soffit/facia folks to come around.  Soon I hope.

I also cut back the edge of the soffit in anticipation of the soffit people,  but I think I said that.

 

I guess I forgot to mention anything about the cottage outing? 

It was fine.  Really.

The weather was a wee bit on the blustery/rainy side,  but we didn’t care. Neither Travelling Companion nor I are really into the beach scene,  but we did sit out for part of one afternoon and watched sister-in-law do a few “laps”.   I guess that’s what it’s called.  She just swims back and forth for a bit of exercise.

I said watching her go into the water was like watching a Fellini film.  Every time I took a glance up at her progress,  she was another few meters out,  but not too terribly much deeper.  Such is Wasaga Beach.  There were NOT a lot of beach goers out.  Not enough sun I guess.  I was comfy.

 

The little cottage they bought is quite rustic,  which is quite to our liking.  I mean,  we’ve rented places that had more “things” inside,  and I suppose if you’re going to pony up some serious cash,  it’s nice to have a few amenities,  but I usually just want a roof over my head and a decent bed. 

We also came to a conclusion about the “Cottage Dynamic”,  or at least that’s what I’ll call it.   If you’re going to build a “house”  and have it dry walled and insulated and all that,  then you’d best be prepared to keep it heated year ‘round.  The one pictured above has the same material on the inside as on the outside,  with bare studs and exposed wiring and such.  No worries about moisture getting trapped in the walls in the off seasons,  with the subsequent minor stench that ensues. 

I’ve been in those places,  where the cottage owner proudly announces just how much “work” they’ve done, when the fact of the matter is,  they’ve really only managed to bugger the place up.  Besides,  if you’re going to make it into a second “house”,  who the heck wants to be worried about getting up there to cut the grass?  Just leave it rustic!

Meh, to each his own.

I do wish I had taken the camera along on one of our walks along Shore Lane,  since there were some Gawd awful looking specimens to mock. 

No really,  many people have more money than brains.  That’s all I’ll say about that.  Maybe next time I’ll photograph a couple examples,  and we can all have a good laugh.

 

It’s a long weekend here in these parts,  although every Monday is the same it seems.  I’ll manage to keep busy. 

Just glad I don’t have to use the Skyway Bridge is all.   Have you seen this story??  

Talk about stupid. 

I can’t even elaborate,  because I’ll just go off on a rant here,  and it won’t be pretty.  You can do your own research and come to your own conclusions.

Keep it between the ditches.  

And lower the box on your dump truck!

 

Thanks for stopping by. 

 

Until next time.