A Hot, Smoky Mess

I don't remember getting smoked out when I was younger, but we've had our moments over the last several years of smoke from wildfires moving in and depleting our air quality.  That's what's happening again now.

I took this picture while driving on my way to work this morning.  Looks like just a haze or a fog, but actually there's not a cloud in the sky, it's all smoke from wildfires in Canada and Minnesota.  And it got worse as the day went on, getting officially to 'hazardous' levels.  But should clear up to 'unhealthy' or 'very unhealthy' tomorrow, though I expect it to fluctuate a lot until we get a system to move this out.  This story has been national news the last couple days as it stretches from here in the Midwest all the way to the more important populated northeast states.

Not much else has happened since I last posted.  I took a stupid fall in the basement on Saturday afternoon, bruising my whole left side.  I took Monday and Tuesday off work, and when I went into work on Wednesday I used my cane, which just freaked out management.  I wound up being sent home and forced to see a doctor to fill out their paperwork before I could go back.  I knew a doctor wouldn't be able to do anything for me, but I saw one anyway and got their paperwork filled out.  I have some minor restrictions until Monday, and I'm sure I'll be good to go by then.

Meanwhile, our temperatures have been hotter this week than when I complained a couple posts ago, but should break soon.  The lawn needs mowing, weeds need spraying, and paint needs to be looked at and used/saved.  But it's very likely nothing will be done until the weekend.

Hope all is well where you are.  Cheers.

Project Updates & Sunflowers

I started this morning with grand plans of repainting all of the garage trim, then I remembered how much I hate painting.  I wound up just painting the lower parts of the trim and doing touch-up where needed.  If it doesn't blend well then I'll repaint all the rest tomorrow as the paint is still good but the rim has rusted out so this will be the last use of this quart, this weekend.  I know I get no style points for my paint job, but function over form for this project.

Meanwhile, I chose a contractor for roofing the house, porch and garage.  We will keep the gutters we have on the house as there's only one small dent on one side, but will replace the downspout that got all beat up.  Last time we did the roof we did not do the porch as we thought we'd be replacing it.  Well, that hasn't happened so we will have a new roof put on that and have the gutters replaced, and all gutters will get a gutter guard so I will no longer have to climb a ladder around the house twice a year to clean them out.  We considered putting gutters on the garage and getting a rain barrel by the garden.  It's still something I dream of doing, but not at this time to keep costs down.  The process of choosing a contractor was harder than it should have been, but that was mostly on the contractors I talked to (or got ghosted by).  The work is planned for sometime in a two week window starting later this month, I should know more soon.

If you remember, as part of our 2024 street reconstruction project included a footbridge across the creek.  That part of the project was stalled due to permitting issues, we were told, but construction is expected to begin this fall and be completed in 2027.  This unnecessary expenditure comes as the city is asking all departments to slash their budgets, still broke though we residents inexplicably voted to let them raise our property taxes to above state-mandated levels a couple years ago.  Egad, what a waste.  We can't wait for these city elections to oust everyone in office right now.

Still peak summer here, with the yard and gardens so alive.  The cone flowers have gotten really tall in the stump area, so no pots on the stump were actually needed this year.  Day lilies that Kate planted a few years ago are bursting with blooms, and other flowers come and go.

If you peek over the fence on the left you'll see the neighbor is getting a new fence to match ours installed today.

The sunflowers have had a hard go of it this year.  Out of 54 planted we have 15 left, so almost 3/4 of them have been lost.  I'll post the rundown after the break, otherwise have a great weekend!

Happy 4th of July - 250th

Happy holiday everyone, or happy Saturday if more appropriate.  Kate's working today so I had a lazy start to the morning before tackling a project outside.  It was muggy, buggy, and the threat of rain was everywhere though it held off until we got a shower this afternoon.

Over the years the lower part of the garage walk-in door frame has rotted, leaving gaps.  I made a temporary fix a year or two ago, but it was bad enough now to need something more permanent.  I'd considered just getting a new pre-hung door, but came up with a plan that should last for longer and save that few hundred bucks.

Previously I had chipped out all the rotten wood that I could, but then leaned a wood panel over it for the last week or so, waiting for the heat to break.  My first thought was to fill it in with chunks of wood using screws and construction adhesive, but my eventual plan of boxing it all in was much easier.  

I started with a thin strip to fill in the trim and make a 90 degree angle, then covered the inside frame and outside with two more pieces of plywood, using the construction adhesive to seal all around.  A few years ago I replaced the rotten wood in the threshold, so that got another layer slathered on as well.  Hopefully tomorrow I can get some paint on it and it will be hardly noticeable.

After that, lunch and a nap.  The Brewers play late tonight so if I want to stay up the nap was needed.  I think we'll be staying in tonight so I was hoping for a fire, but the mugginess, mossies and threat of a scattered shower or storm will likely keep me in.  So no big holiday plans here, I'm just enjoying a three day weekend while also feeling for my wife who has to work every day of it.

Have a great weekend, everyone.  Cheers!

Heat Wave Ramblings

This past week has been HOT, very hot and humid.  Temperatures have been in the low to mid 90's ºF all week, lowering just a couple degrees today but still very oppressive.  Not terribly unusual as we've gotten over 100ºF in recent memory, except for it now coming as early as the last week in June.  We had thunderstorms miss us or just nick us mostly north in the last day, but the next couple days will see more scattered storms.  Just perfect for a 3-day holiday weekend.  Oh well, Kate has to work the next four days so I'll be mostly on my own anyway.

Even as I write this, it is before 6 p.m. so would normally be full daylight but rather is very dark as a storm is approaching and a severe thunderstorm warning has been issued.  I just stepped out to take this picture below, and the pic seems lighter outside than actual.  I'm making dinner tonight, homemade pizza, so will continue writing after.

Dinner was very good, thank you.  I'd post a pic but you've likely seen enough of my pizzas.  The rain was heavy and began almost immediately after finishing the above, but short-lived.  Looks like more of the same off and on for the weekend.

So now, after dinner and a call with Mom, where was I?

Heat, storms, oh yeah, it's a three day weekend now with tomorrow off for Saturday's 4th of July holiday.  I have more contractor stuff to share but I think I'll wait on that.  I think maybe it's time to wrap this up for now.  I'll likely post something on Saturday for the holiday, so until then - Cheers!