You Gotta Have Friends

Since woodworking comes at considerable expense, it's always nice to have friends you can count on to help you. Today, I was ecstatic to learn that my colleague at work does, indeed, have a biscuit joiner, and he said I could borrow it! Let's get one thing knocked out this weekend, hopefully!!

Back on the home front, I see that the siding installers were back at work today, this time on the west end and rear of the house. You can tell because the ground and deck are littered with debris--again. Poor dog couldn't even go out back to relieve herself all day.

The workers apparently left something plugged in, too, because periodically I hear a noise that sounds like a compressor running on the deck. I'm afraid to fool with it, especially in the dark, since I've never toyed with one of those before. In this case, I'm going to wait until my husband gets home. He used ours this morning to pump up my tires before I left for work, so I know he knows what he's doing! Let's just hope the thing doesn't explode between now and then.

Ready, Get Set, Wait

Today, I managed to purchase the wood and supplies to make my daughter's checkerboard Christmas gift, but I couldn't eke out any room in the garage to work on the project when I got home. The siding contractor's trailer (still filled with wood--argh!) sits in the driveway, right behind the stacks of siding yet to be applied to the house. That means my husband's truck is parked even further down the driveway, leaving little to no room to back out his work vehicle and my car from the garage. Clearly, you can't use a table saw or set up a sawhorse for painting in a two-car garage that has two cars in it!!!

The checkerboard project was a timely pattern that came in the mail last week, courtesy of Lowe's monthly newsletter. While I'm not making it exactly as designed, my adjustments are primarily cosmetic. (Red and black paint instead of wood stain, all poplar for the board instead of a combo of poplar and oak.) The plan seems easy enough for a novice like me, and I think I can make it in a couple of weekends--less if I didn't have to wait for the glue to dry.

The only problem with the plan is that it calls for biscuit joints. I don't have a biscuit cutter/joiner, and I was surprised to see that the cheapest one at Home Depot is $100! So unless I can borrow one from my colleague at work, I probably will use butt joints instead. It won't be as fancy or sturdy, but it will suffice.

My daughter, the recipient-to-be of the checkerboard, heard me say I wanted a biscuit-cutter for Christmas, and she said, "Oh, let me get that for you!" I replied, "Honey, that's too expensive." She said, "How much can it be? It just cuts biscuits!" Of course, she was thinking of the Cracker Barrel-type biscuit vs. a carpentry tool. I suppose she was hopeful that I was thinking about doing some cooking in the kitchen instead of the workshop!

I still haven't decided what to make for my older daughter. At first, I thought I'd do a lap desk, but now I think I might sew some fabric letters to spell out her name on the wall--those overstuffed letter "pillows," for lack of a better term. She wants some metal letters from PB Teen, which were on sale, but they're all out of the letter "K." Perhaps fabric will suffice. Being a teen, she's very into decorating her room right now.

We bought the foam rubber cushion for her window seat this weekend. It was still more expensive than I thought--about $21, and that's with a 25% off coupon! The foam was 2" thick and very sturdy. But $13.99 a yard??

Now we just have to agree on fabric for the cover. She's picked out something nice, but it doesn't go with her room terribly well. If she'd get rid of the two blue butterfly chairs in there, it would be fine. But she doesn't want to do that. So I'm trying to coax her into other alternatives, ones that are also cheaper! (My daughter has expensive taste. Where'd she get THAT from?!)

A Day of Plenty

It's Thanksgiving. I'm worn out, stuffed, and have a headache. I guess, I'm feeling a little like that turkey we ate today.

But I still have some things to be thankful for--

• I'm thankful that the siding workers didn't break more than two shutters.
• I'm thankful that the garage door, though scratched by the abovementioned workers, still works.
• I'm thankful that many of the advertisements in today's huge paper included lots of power tools on sale.
  
• I'm thankful that the oven worked so that we could cook the turkey in it after the smoker broke down.
  
• I'm thankful that we remembered to remove the neck and giblets before we cooked the bird.
• I'm thankful that Kroger was open this morning so we could get the buttermilk for the cornbread dressing and lettuce for the 7-layer salad.
  
• I'm thankful that Walmart was open this afternoon so my husband could go buy the cranberry sauce that we forgot to get this morning.
• I'm thankful that we have a dishwasher so I don't have to hand-wash all those dishes.
  
• I'm thankful that the price of gas has gone down a bit, though it's still way too high.
• I'm thankful that we have two televisions so I don't have to watch the Dallas Cowboys this afternoon with my husband.
• I'm thankful that I have Extra-strength Tylenol to take for my headache tonight.
• I'm thankful that I don't have to work tomorrow, so I can sleep late--(if my husband will be kind enough to get dressed quietly in the dark when he leaves for work).
• I'm thankful for leftovers!
  

Progress

Here's what the house looks like today. The yard's still a mess, though.

The Saga Continues

While cleaning up the contractor's debris yesterday, we discovered yet another problem they had left behind--two of our shutters had been broken. Apparently, they broke them when removing them before taking off the old siding.

What was especially irksome was that they neglected to inform us of the damage. If my husband hadn't found the broken pieces in the yard while he was raking leaves, we might not have known til it was time to put the shutters back up.

The shutters are only about two years old. Couple that with the scratch on our brand new garage door (only about two MONTHS old!), it's a pattern that is frustrating.

The workers' supervisor dropped by yesterday to review the progress on the house. (The workers weren't here.) He was not happy that they had left a couple of large, bent gutters in the middle of our front yard, blocking the path to the door. My husband showed him the garage door scratch, too, but he hadn't discovered the shutters yet.

This job may take longer than anticipated, if we have to get them to keep fixing the things they break!

Meanwhile, I did get some minor work done on the window seat, installing and caulking the quarter round trim. I need to touch up the trim with paint now, and it's good to go for the cushion!

A Bang-up Job

Well, they've been working on the siding for a couple of days now, and I've discovered that it's a nerve-wracking, noisy experience. Yesterday, they pounded so hard on the wall that the pictures fell off! And they haven't even begun to put up the new stuff yet--they're still pulling off the old.

They've made a lot of progress, having removed the old wood from one end and the entire front, plus installing the housewrap. But they've made a huge mess in the process and don't seem in any great hurry to clean it up. In fact, I had to sweep the driveway last night just to get the sharp wood fragments and nails up before I could back out of the garage!

Their seeming lack of consideration for the homeowner was also demonstrated by the way they trapped me inside the house for an entire day! Not only were their trucks and cars in the way, the debris pile filled the area outside the garage door, along with a stack of siding and their makeshift tablesaw setup. When my eldest daughter home from school, she had to ride her bike to her piano lesson because I couldn't get the car out. The youngest daughter didn't even get to do that--she missed her lesson altogether because her bus dropped her off at the time her piano lesson was to begin. There was no way to get there fast enough on bike or foot. We just had to cancel the lesson, which really made me angry!

The work crew also tossed their empty paper coffee cups into the gutter in front of our house. They still haven't cleaned up the loose insulation (my favorite thing, as we all know) that came from under the soffitts. And they scratched our brand new garage door, I suppose while tossing some old siding onto the ground. They also dropped a large pile of broken siding onto our deck, blocking exit from the back door for some time. I had to clean up that myself, just so the dog could go out to potty!

What's with contractors these days? They put a sign in our yard that says, "This house being carefully restored by . . ." Carefully? I don't think so. Of course, when I tried to talk to the workers, they couldn't understand me, nor could I them. Only one spoke English, and it was halting. I'm not blaming them for the problems, but I am blaming their employer. The company needs to have a supervisor on site to handle these kinds of problems and to let the workers know what the expectations are. Believe me, we're going to have a little discussion with that gentleman come Monday. After all, this is a $20,000 job! Give me a break!!!!

Trash to Treasure

We're in the process of having our house re-sided, and today the workers began tearing off the old cedar planks. After a full day of pounding and pulling, they accumulated a rather nice- sized pile of the stuff on our driveway.

I can't help but think there's got to be something we can do with that wood, other than trash the whole mess. Much of the wood is worn out, dried, and decayed. But there are sections that are in relatively decent shape--at least those from the front of the house. (The rear of the house is in pitiful condition. Nothing to salvage there!)

Even my 11-year-old daughter took one look at the pile when she came home from school and said, "Maybe you could make something for me with that." Hmmm. I'm already planning to make a wooden address plaque for my mother. Maybe I could use a scrap from the siding as the base? Or maybe we could recycle some of the planks as siding for the deteriorating doghouse? There've got to be some other ideas out there! (Like I need another project . . .)

Yikes! I'm turning into my mother, the hoarding queen of the country.

Making a List

It's not even Thanksgiving yet, and the stores already have their Christmas music playing and the decorations out. So it's only a matter of minutes before their newspaper advertising circulars start touting the "perfect" gifts for Mom, Dad, kids, and that "special someone." And I fully expect them to follow their tried and true format--

Remember Mom this Christmas! Get her what she's always wanted--
a hot pink blender!

Or how about a status symbol Dooney and Burke purse?

Husbands, show her you REALLY love her with a diamond tennis bracelet!

I would bet that even Home Depot and Lowe's will push a new stove or, at best, a pink screwdriver set for the woman of the house, all while advertising a he-man cordless drill set or table saw for Dad.

Too bad. They'll miss out on a great market--we female do-it-herselfers. If they did their market research, they'd know that it would be worth their time and money to invest in a promotion targeted toward women, not just as gift-buyers for men, but as recipients of these great tools!

When the last Consumer Reports magazine arrived, my husband and I pored over the cordless tool review together. We discussed which ones were better in regard to weight, battery type, power, etc. It was great. (However, the cursory tool review left a lot to be desired.) Why can't the manufacturers and stores understand that women want to be treated with respect. Don't assume we don't know what we're talking about!

A case in point. There's an ad now playing on the radio for Bellsouth DSL internet service. It has the voices of several people saying how easy it was to install themselves. One voice is obviously an airhead female, who says, "Even I could do it! And I can't even use a screwdriver!" or something to that effect. Tsk, tsk.

Maybe it's because men still rule the boardrooms of most companies. Maybe we women haven't been as vocal as we need to be. I promise to be louder if they promise to listen.

A Shovel and a Pickaxe

We buried our sweet Jack today, wrapped in the soft cover of his bed pillow. We each said a prayer and took turns tossing a handful of dirt into the grave before filling it up. Then, my girls and I sang a verse of Amazing Grace, and the younger daughter cut a rose from a nearby bush to place on the grave. It was very touching.

I can't imagine any human being digging a grave by hand to bury a person, because it is back-breaking work. We finally managed to dig an appropriate grave after about an hour of shoveling and stabbing the hard dirt with a pickaxe.

My husband bought the pickaxe several years ago for some purpose no longer recalled now, and he never used it. We probably never will use it again until the time comes to bury our other dog, who is 8-years-old now. Hopefully, that won't be for a long, long time. And when it comes, it won't be easy because she's a huge labrador retriever!

Finding a place to bury your beloved pet isn't easy these days, since so many places have underground utilities, like ours. Couple that with all the massive tree roots, and you're limited to just a few spots. We finally decided on a spot near the fence, under the shade of a pecan tree that we will be cutting down in the near future. (Hurricane Elvis tore up the tree pretty badly a couple of years ago anyway, and it's never been the same since.) So we didn't care about chopping off those roots whenever they interfered.

I remember when I was a child, we designated a section of our large backyard as the graveyard. Assorted cats and goldfish were buried there. Years later, my husband buried my mother's aging dog in the same graveyard, not even knowing that the spot he had selected was where so many of our long-ago pets rested. It was very appropriate.

Jack is our first pet to be buried in this home's yard. We've lived here for 10 years. About two years after we moved in, our beloved dog, Emma, died unexpectedly at the age of 7. Our sadness was multiplied because we were 2,000 miles away when it happened. There was simply no way we could get back in time to bury her, so my father-in-law let the veterinary clinic dispose of her body. We told our children, who were 6 and 3 at the time, that the vet had buried her. They just learned the truth this week, but fortunately, they handled it well.

In Emma's memory, we planted an azalea garden in a shady corner of the backyard and fronted it with a large garden statue of a dog that looked very much like her. We put Emma's old collar around the statue's neck, and even though she's not buried there, we feel her presence.

Now, we're searching for a Sheltie statue that we can place at Jack's gravesite. We've saved Jack's collar to place around its neck. We'll probably plant some hostas and ground cover around the statue and maybe add a bench. I think Jack would've thought it would be just the place to take a nap.

He was a good boy.

IN MEMORY

Jack 1991-2005

River Rafts

Yesterday's Commercial Appeal published an article about a hurricane relief housing project spearheaded by Habitat for Humanity. The organization is collaborating with others to send "houses in a box" to hurricane victims on the Gulf Coast, via the Mississippi River. This week was the Memphis leg of "Operation Home Delivery," completed in partnership with Fedex. Way to go!

Cheap Energy

We're in the midst of residing our house (though the contractor failed to show up today--not a good sign). But despite my confidence that we'll be in this home for several years at least, I still spend many minutes of the day dreaming of my "ideal" future home.

I've always tried to be environmentally friendly (including using cloth diapers on my first child for several months!), so my dreams tend toward building my own solar house. And with the rising cost of energy, it sounds like a rather wise choice!

In researching solar homes online, I've learned a lot. One thing that surprised me was the fact that our current home is somewhat suited for a solar adaptation, at least in some areas. The main feature we have going for us now is our site--our home sits in the middle of a large lot, with the back of the house facing south. Since that's the side of the house with the largest windows and where most of the activity lies, it's just right.

To maximize our solar capacity, I found out that we should have a tile or masonry floor in the rooms on the south side. The tile floor is supposed to absorb the sun's rays during the day, when you open the window coverings, then release that heat in the evening when the temperature outside cools.

Too bad we just redid the kitchen floor last year with laminate "hardwood." Of course, it's crappy stuff, we found out too late. With all the scratches it already has on it, I wouldn't be surprised if we decide to refloor sometime in the next few years. (That's another project for me . . . I know that Home Depot and Lowe's have classes to teach you how to lay tile!)

Ideally, you're supposed to have masonry walls in those rooms, too (we don't), deciduous trees that shade those windows in the summer and let the sun through in the winter (got that one), and insulating shutters (we have plantation shutters, but I don't know if they're insulating).

What I do know is what I already figured out myself during the past 10 years of living here. In the winter months, I open the shutters during the day and warm myself with the sun streaming through them in the kitchen and living room. Even the dogs like to bask in the warm rays.

It also helps that when I'm home during the day, my computer is upstairs. So I can keep the thermostat lower during the day and still stay comfy upstairs with the rising heat.

If we ever get the money to upgrade our windows (which we desperately need to do), I'd love to enlarge them and get a solar-quality glass. That, plus the tile flooring, should boost our solar capability substantially.

As for now, though, I guess I'll continue to enjoy the sun that does make it through. Except on days like this--we're setting record high temps for November, and I'm wearing shorts!

Bundle Up!

Our local utility company is, like most around the country, predicting huge price increases for natural gas this winter. It's telling us to expect bills that are double and triple the norm, which will put a pinch in most family budgets--ours included.

In anticipation of this crunch, I've been thinking about ways we can reduce our utility consumption, not just at our house but also at my mother's home--a smaller but much older and less insulated building than ours.

The first thing the "experts" tell you to do is increase the insulation in your attic. Well, after my experience in Mississippi tearing out hurricane-damaged insulation, that's not an area I've got a fondness for. But my experience did embolden me to some extent to think that I might manage to do the project myself if I could use batts, not loose insulation.

Yet, I read all this conflicting information about the safety of insulation. I'm afraid of fiberglass, even though I know that's what in our attic now. Even with protective gear, I'm petrified I'll get a flake of it on me. (I think I brought one or two home with me from Mississippi, because I had a strange, red rash on my neck and flaking on my eyelid for about a week thereafter.)

So I looked into cellulose. You apparently can't get that in batts--has to be blown in loose form. That means you need to hire someone to do it. After researching online, I finally found one company locally that does it. I called and left a message requesting a quote. Two days later, the company returned my call to say they could not take any more business! So much for cellulose.

I guess that leaves me with fiberglass batts. Either that, or I leave the attic alone and just focus on caulking and weatherstripping where I can. I do need to put an insulated water heater blanket on our new unit, though, since the old one doesn't fit. How much those little things would do is debatable.

As for my mother's house, I don't think anything will help much other than adding attic insulation. Nothing's been added to that since the house was built in 1953. Talk about settling down to nothing! The heat just flows up and out the roof. I can probably improve things a tad with insulating around the windows, that is, if I can get past the furniture and boxes to get to the windows. Hmmm. Makes fiberglass installation sound like a piece of cake!