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torquillWe're having some of the last sunny days, so I'm finishing up the paint on the back porch door. The red side is done, with three coats of a pleasant fire-engine shade over two coats of very good primer; now I'm doing the white side in exterior paint/primer. In theory the red side should get most of the nasty weather, so I'm hoping two coats of white will finish it off.
So far, knock on wood, the feed bag sliced into strips that I tacked over the chicken door has kept the jays out. I'm patrolling the run in the afternoon to make sure neither of the laying hens have decided it's too hard to get back in and go lay outside instead; the reliable hen is the speckled one, who is pretty smart, but the buff hen takes forever every evening, dithering about the terrible tentacles that want to grab her. (Eventually she does end up inside, as if by magic.)
I oiled the hinges for the middle window of the lift a few days ago. They have, apparently, been painted over by whoever last did the trim, and between that and weather they're stiff enough to resist movement. I coaxed one open a bit in the summer, to help with ventilation, but when the smoke came through I realized it was also reluctant to close; the wood trim makes oiling them from the inside impossible unless (natch) you can open them significantly. Not wanting to stress its fasteners or the wood around them, I semi-closed it until I could get up there. Which took the adjustable ladder placed on the back porch, and climbing up with a can of WD-40. I have found that my childhood fear of heights has come back with a vengeance in middle age, particularly once I discovered how much damage even a simple trip-and-fall can do with my mass and bad joints... going up the ladder involved several stops for deep breaths, particularly when I passed the roof of the mudroom. It didn't help that the aluminum ladder has a habit of flexing from side to side, shimmying with every movement. But I made it up and back down again without incident, and I have now closed and latched the window for winter. I think I will buy or construct a long modular pole for the other two, perhaps with the ability to affix a squeegee (to deal with the inevitable drips of WD-40...)
Things are otherwise quiet. Jenny is learning about cordless telephones, though she is still a little confused about the difference between phone service over internet, cell phones, and cordless sets plugged into the land line. I figure it's enough that she's learned how to answer and hang up using a digital keypad, and that she is delighted that not only can she sit in her comfortable chair while on the phone, but using speakerphone (the only way to make it loud enough for her to hear) means she doesn't get a sore ear from pressing the handset to it. Her enthusiasm for the change is definitely making it easier to cope with the (probably temporary) loss of a rotary dial.
One of my lily friends collects rotary phones, and he's working on fixing up a couple of spares to send over. I'll need to wire a jack upstairs when I take out the old hardwired phone, but having a functional unit up here will be worth it.
I'm down to a half-dozen things that have to be done before winter, and another six or so where it would be really nice if I could do them before I leave. Some of the "Must"s are as simple as clipping the moth mullein and storing the seeds, while "Install pitcher pump" involves multiple steps, but I think I can get it all done. As much as I'd like to organize the Annex and haul the stuff from the garage up there, partly because it would give me a place to park in the cold wet spring, it is technically optional. We'll see how much of the second list I can get to.
So far, knock on wood, the feed bag sliced into strips that I tacked over the chicken door has kept the jays out. I'm patrolling the run in the afternoon to make sure neither of the laying hens have decided it's too hard to get back in and go lay outside instead; the reliable hen is the speckled one, who is pretty smart, but the buff hen takes forever every evening, dithering about the terrible tentacles that want to grab her. (Eventually she does end up inside, as if by magic.)
I oiled the hinges for the middle window of the lift a few days ago. They have, apparently, been painted over by whoever last did the trim, and between that and weather they're stiff enough to resist movement. I coaxed one open a bit in the summer, to help with ventilation, but when the smoke came through I realized it was also reluctant to close; the wood trim makes oiling them from the inside impossible unless (natch) you can open them significantly. Not wanting to stress its fasteners or the wood around them, I semi-closed it until I could get up there. Which took the adjustable ladder placed on the back porch, and climbing up with a can of WD-40. I have found that my childhood fear of heights has come back with a vengeance in middle age, particularly once I discovered how much damage even a simple trip-and-fall can do with my mass and bad joints... going up the ladder involved several stops for deep breaths, particularly when I passed the roof of the mudroom. It didn't help that the aluminum ladder has a habit of flexing from side to side, shimmying with every movement. But I made it up and back down again without incident, and I have now closed and latched the window for winter. I think I will buy or construct a long modular pole for the other two, perhaps with the ability to affix a squeegee (to deal with the inevitable drips of WD-40...)
Things are otherwise quiet. Jenny is learning about cordless telephones, though she is still a little confused about the difference between phone service over internet, cell phones, and cordless sets plugged into the land line. I figure it's enough that she's learned how to answer and hang up using a digital keypad, and that she is delighted that not only can she sit in her comfortable chair while on the phone, but using speakerphone (the only way to make it loud enough for her to hear) means she doesn't get a sore ear from pressing the handset to it. Her enthusiasm for the change is definitely making it easier to cope with the (probably temporary) loss of a rotary dial.
One of my lily friends collects rotary phones, and he's working on fixing up a couple of spares to send over. I'll need to wire a jack upstairs when I take out the old hardwired phone, but having a functional unit up here will be worth it.
I'm down to a half-dozen things that have to be done before winter, and another six or so where it would be really nice if I could do them before I leave. Some of the "Must"s are as simple as clipping the moth mullein and storing the seeds, while "Install pitcher pump" involves multiple steps, but I think I can get it all done. As much as I'd like to organize the Annex and haul the stuff from the garage up there, partly because it would give me a place to park in the cold wet spring, it is technically optional. We'll see how much of the second list I can get to.