Vacation Projects, Baking, Street Reconstruction #19 and More

I've been busy this past week, resting and recreating takes a lot of time and effort.  I'm on my first real vacation in a year since being new at a job and other than having Covid when I was on vacation last September.  As usual, a staycation to take care of little projects and other things without the interruptions of work.  So far I've gotten a few things done and we've had nice weather, for the most part.  There's a lot to say so I may jump around a bit, and I'll likely add a break due to the length once I add pictures.

Vacation Start

I started this vacation by going to my Mom's on Saturday.  We got a few little things done for her, but it was more about spending the time, I think.  I was just there a few weeks ago, but an overnight visit allows for more time and relaxation while catching up on what's going on in her life.  I got back to town mid-day Sunday and I don't think I did much the rest of the day.

Lots more after the break!

Spring Plant & Yardwork Day

On Sunday, Kate and I finally rolled up our sleeves and got some work done in our small yard and gardens.  She was determined to try tomatoes again so we got some cages to attempt to save them from the squirrels.  And we're just waiting for better eyes to form on the potatoes until we try planting them.  Some plants for pots and various other yardwork rounded out the day.

First, the gardens, clockwise from top left:  Parsley plants on either end with rows of green onion, lettuce and radish seeds in between.  To the right is two cherry tomato plants in some inexpensive cages from Amazin'.  They have tops, a zipper door on one side, and are staked and have a couple pieces of wood on the flaps on either side for more support.  Still, I may be looking to weigh them down better come windy weather.  Below that are the raspberries, now with the fencing removed.  To the left of that are a jalapeno and bell pepper plants with the space between intended for potatoes.  We tossed in a fresh bag of mulch in between and that was it for the gardens that day.

This is going to get long, so I'll put the rest after the break.  See you there!

Street Reconstruction Part 18, Burn Day & Blogday

Yesterday morning, shortly before I had to leave for work, we had to scramble to get my car out of the garage and her van into the driveway.  We knew there was no parking on much of the street starting this morning, but they had gotten to work earlier than we expected.  It was time to plant the trees on our street and the next street over.

I grabbed a quick picture after our little fire drill, and after the holes were drilled on the terraces for planting the new trees.  The workman walking by the hole where my wife was parked was a coincidence.  I had no time to try for a better picture as I had to then leave for work.

When I got home, several new trees had been planted.  There's been lots of trees cut down since we moved in, now each had finally been replaced.  And in almost the exact same spots, too.  Not surprising, actually, when you think of the underground utilities going to each house.  My wife said they were easily done by noon, which didn't surprise me with such an early start.

The second picture shows the new tree in front of neighbor Jane's, and not many more.  A similar shot on the other side of the street facing the opposite direction would have shown several more, but neighbors might wonder what I'm doing over there taking pictures, and they all look pretty much the same right now anyway.

Another thought about the street:  If it had to be parking on one side only then I'm very glad its the other side.  Especially on garbage day when the bins are all out.  No parking within 4 feet of a driveway or within 2 feet of the next car, per city rules.  We've not had a big issue yet, Kate and I, but I know others have had to adjust, especially when someone else has guests over.  And I know one neighbor has to park at least one and sometimes two cars all the way up at the top of the street on the next block.  Older and adult kids living with parents clog up much of the parking, at least on this end of the street.

Separate from the street reconstruction, we had another *biennial (*corrected) rite of spring happen.  While I was at work today the city did a controlled burn along the creek.  I'll add those pictures after the break, if anyone would like to take a look.  The banks of the creek won't be this clear for another two years.

And, finally, today is my 16th Blogday.  Still chugging along, after all...

Spring Porch And Dishwasher Ending

The porch warms quite nicely on sunny days during spring and fall.  The cats love the warmth and access again while we welcome the warmth into the house as the porch will need to close again around sunset.  Temperatures this week will be nice, even up to the º70F range on Friday.  Still, don't trust March.

The porch, mostly neglected over winter, will need a cleanup.

One thing I haven't kept up on here is our new dishwasher; yes, there was a problem.  Within a week we noticed water under the sink.  Upon further inspection, it was leaking about a half cup of water every time we ran it, and from what I could see - and I'm too old and broken to be getting under sinks like that - it was coming from the connection between the hose from the dishwasher and the air gap that rises above the sink.  We got the company's installer back out to look at it and he concluded it was an issue with a defective hose and they would be in touch.  After a week, I called to get an update.  It was handled as a warranty issue so the new hose part was coming from LG, and LG would have someone out to fix it.  A week later, that day came and their guys agreed with my assertation that the connection was the issue, and they fixed it easily.  I was initially impressed with this company, the availability of product and ease of installation.  Still, it got corrected somewhat timely and at no cost to us, so I guess we're happy for now.

I've been ill since I first recognized last Thursday afternoon.  It's not been a good several days this week but I feel I must be on the better side of it by now, though I'm still getting symptoms if I'm late taking the cold meds.  Never the less, I must get back to work.  But I know what I'm scheduled for tomorrow and I couldn't ask for much better for a first day back from this.

Focaccia March Note

Boy, this focaccia bread is super good.  It came out of the oven about noon today and is already gone.

I might make a couple batches of cheese pennies this afternoon, or I may not.  I feel kind of lazy.

Well, February came and went pretty quick.  Since the last post we fell into a deep freeze then came out of it with spring-like temperatures for a few days.  No more snow, but a bit of rain and all the snow on the ground is melted now.  Anything can happen in March, any year, but there's not much in the immediate forecast right now.

And yes, I'm aware of everything political that's happened and is happening now.  If you read regularly then you'll know how I feel, but it's all so obscene I'm just disassociating a bit right now.

My thoughts are slowly turning to spring chores, but I did notice yesterday that there was twine wrapped up in the snowblower.  I'll have to take a sharp blade to it and clear it soon in case the snowblower is needed again.  The twine is from getting too close to the hay mats they used to cover the grass seed out front after the street reconstruction.  My wife already mentioned getting wildflower seeds for the stump area and I'm starting to figure out what kind of sunflower to try this year.  And the more I look at the cable going to the pole across the street the more I want to cut it off the house.  If we ever needed that coaxial cable again it would need to be replaced anyway due to the kinks from being held up so long (for the street reconstruction).  Yes, lots of outside chores coming up, but it's mostly an enjoyable process.

Until then, we'll probably just be riding out the last of this winter season.  What are you looking forward to doing this spring?

New Dishwasher

A week ago our dishwasher died, the pump stopped working.  This one lasted almost exactly 7 years, and the one prior lasted only 5 years, but we run it almost every day and sometimes twice a day when I'm baking.  I got online and researched dishwashers and determined the one I wanted, and matching the range and refrigerator was a factor.  Not the most expensive one available, but certainly not the cheapest.  The first place I went did not have the one I wanted in stock and said it would be 1-3 weeks, but really he didn't know.  Not exactly a vote of confidence, so I said I'd have to get back to him and left.  Before I even left that parking lot I was on my phone looking for the next place to shop.  I found a place, they had it in stock and it could be delivered and installed on Saturday.  All in all, it cost about the same as the last dishwasher, about a grand.  But this process couldn't have gone smoother and this retailer will be my first stop next time I need a large appliance.

I took yesterday and today off from work, so got some more baking done.  I made another round of the new baguette recipe, a batch of flatbread, and pan pizza dough over the weekend.  And yesterday I tried the recipe again for hamburger/hot dog buns.  The first time I tried the buns came out flat.  This time the hot dog buns turned out better but the hamburger buns were still flat.  I've come to the conclusion that the recipe calls for less dough than needed for the buns I want, so I'll have to adjust next time, if there is a next time.  I'm not crazy about this recipe so I may look for another recipe for buns.

The pan pizza dough is awesome.  It doesn't make much, but plenty for dinner for two people.  My wife likes it, too, and it's easy to make so looks like this is another recipe that will get made more often around here.

Other than that, I won 200 bucks on the Super Bowl.  Came close to winning more, but I can't complain.  Overall, I feel I came out about even for the season with this win.  Much better than last year, but it's all in fun, anyway.  And we got a couple dustings of snow recently, but tomorrow looks like it will snow all day and we're expected to get 3-6 inches, total.  That would be our biggest snowstorm of the season so far.  We need it as it's been mostly dry all winter, but I hope mother nature doesn't try to catch up too much this late in the season.

Street Reconstruction Part 17 & More

Yesterday they installed two No Parking signs near the top of our street and the next one over.  Today they installed more down both streets, but spaced further apart.  There is a sign two houses up and two houses down from us, which makes me happy we don't have one on our terrace to mow around.  So rather than take a picture of one of the signs in front of a neighbor's house, here is a stock photo of what they look like.

I'm thinking all that is left is for the extra poles to be removed and trees planted in spring, but they may surprise me with something I didn't think of again.  Happily, it appears people are heeding the signs and only parking on the other side since I'm not sure how many neighbors looked into the work to be done as I did and knew about this change.  And while I'm happy parking is on the other side, that means I'll have to back out a bit more carefully on this narrower street since we're pretty much guaranteed to have a car across the street now, and it may be my wife's at times.

When I got home from my Mom's on Thanksgiving Day I caught this fat squirrel eating from the frozen pumpkins on the stoop, picture taken from the car.  Well, they lasted out front for about a month and a half, through Halloween and Thanksgiving, so it was time to put them in back and let them decompose or be eaten.  

I've had trouble with my display driver on this computer so haven't used the trail cams lately as reviewing all that video does bad things, but you can still see the squirrels eat up our pumpkin from a couple years ago here.  Question:  Does anyone know if you can download a new display driver?  I haven't found anything when I looked, so I fear I may need to get a new computer to fix the issue.  And yes, the driver is fully updated.

I placed the pumpkins on the rotting stump in back, near the frozen bird bath.  (We've been below the freezing point for several days now, though we might manage to get just above tomorrow so we can get some rain that can then freeze for us.  Wonderful.)  Whatever the squirrels leave of the pumpkins can help nourish the wildflower seeds we plan to spread on the stump again next year.

After the break is just some recent baking, if interested.

Street Reconstruction Part 16 & Miscellaneous

 It's late, but I wanted to share the latest update, however small.  Yesterday, temporary no parking signs showed up all along our side of the street.  Apparently to give the regular street sign installers more time?  Who knows.

First Snow & Street Reconstruction Part 15

Our autumn has been mild, overall, and I think I heard the mildest on record.  We started yesterday with a wintry mix (slush) that turned to light, wet snow, then more overnight to officially get our first snowfall of the season.  Below is what we had before I left for work this morning.

It continued with sideways, wet snow all morning with temperatures just above freezing and sustained winds 20 or more miles per hour, but by this afternoon it warmed up a few degrees and turned to a light rain.  Temperatures are expected to remain several degrees above freezing while the wind dies down overnight, so I don't expect to see much snow, if any, left tomorrow.  The foreseeable forecast has temperatures just above and below freezing, day and night, but I do see one day where we are not expected to get above freezing all day.

I'm not ready for this, but I never am.

I believe the same day of my last Street Reconstruction post we received a letter from the city that the contractor had completed their work.  Yesterday morning as I left, though, there were two of them out front; they had come back to try and connect my cable back to the top of the pole so they could get their pole holding the wire over the street, back.  From what I saw this afternoon, the newly-kinked coaxial cable is now pretty useless and would need to be replaced anyway, if we have a need for that again.  I should have just cut it off the house when they knocked it loose.

We got another letter today with a bit of information on caring for the grass or native plants, depending what the homeowner chose, and saying any trees would not be planted until spring.  Still no word on the unnecessary footbridge over the creek yet.  A waste of money, and this last election day a city referendum to raise our property taxes over state limits passed, inexplicably (who are these people voting for this crap?!).  We'll now have to pay a few hundred dollars more per year - with no end date - to see our money wasted on projects like that.  Ugh.

Moving on, there's now a new sign at the top of the street showing a 20 mph speed limit, but not any no parking signs on our side of the street yet, so everyone is parking as they had before but now on a narrower street.  I'd think with winter coming the signs would be a priority, and I expect to see them soon.

I'll continue with updates as they happen, but surely fewer and farther between now.  All in all, this went smoother than expected and we're glad the worst is over.

Street Reconstruction Part 14, And A Surprise Text

Since late last week they started filling the terraces and other areas with dirt, and when I got home today we had all the dirt, seeded and covered with a straw mat.  I do have grass growing in a spot I seeded in the back just a couple weeks ago, so maybe there is time yet for a little growing before winter.

As far as I can tell, signs need to be installed and the cable company must move wires so some poles can be removed.  Not sure if anything else is left.

As I sat to write this my phone made a noise... after the break!

Happy Halloween 2024

The windows mummy is no more this year, but I did get a neat black skeleton with lit eyes to hang on the front door tonight.  I also got a cheap purple spider web that I was hoping to cover from awning to bottom rail but it was way too windy to try and set that up, so it'll be put away for next year.  A flickering flame porch light and a couple squat pumpkins would round out our Halloween look this year.

I had a good day with some Halloween celebrations at work, then getting ready for trick-or-treaters at home.  We'd had great weather the last few days.  I was even able to wear shorts and sandals out and about the last couple days, but today was to be different.

It had been windy recently with a couple nice warm days, but today was more windy, sustained winds 15-20 mph with gusts that can stop you in your tracks.  Thankfully that's easing off a bit tonight, but we've also gotten so much colder with this front coming in.  By morning we'll be near freezing with barely a breeze.  

Despite the weather, we had a few more trick-or-treaters than last year, but still only 14 by my count.  We shut it down before 8 tonight, more than a half hour since the last ones.  Gave out less than half of the candy we had, so now we have that problem, too.  Happy Halloween, everyone.

Street Reconstruction Part 13 1/2: A Different View

I noticed today the gap between the base of the tree and where it was growing over the old curb and now with the new curb and thought to provide a different view here.  The street is one foot narrower on each side now.

Street Reconstruction Part 13

There hasn't been any big updates lately, they've just been cleaning up the terraces and where they had to dig out for new sidewalk to a depth of so many inches, presumably for fresh soil to plant grass and trees.  They've also been raising/replacing the water valves (blue marker) to be at the height of where the ground will be.  I don't believe they had to do ours as it is close enough, I guess.

I'm afraid this series will last until spring for the planting of the terraces, but we'll see what happens.

Street Reconstruction Part 12, & Car

The work this week consisted of wetting, grading and compressing the gravel, and raising the manholes to the new street level (the orange barrels in the middle of the road).

 Then on Friday they laid down two layers of asphalt.

So by the time I got home from work we had a completed street!

There are still wires to move, poles to remove, terraces to finish, trees to plant (next spring?) and signs to put up, but the worst appears to be behind us and the end in sight.  We've been parking a block and a half away for quite some time now so it will be nice to park at home again - though we may not be able to some days due to the continuing work.  And I'll have to have the local second hand shop pick up a dresser in the garage so I can park in it again.

As for my car, I talked to the shop first thing Monday and they were booked for the week.  I've been taking my car there for 15 years and trust them, so do I wait or try to get it into an unfamiliar shop earlier?  I chose to wait, but did have it towed to the shop that day as they said if they had a cancellation or extra time they may be able to look at it earlier, otherwise it's scheduled for Monday.  Well, I heard nothing from them all week so I assume they never had a chance to check it out.  I have the rental car through Friday though I hope to be able to return it sooner.

Street Reconstruction Part 11, More

It appears we're ready to have a new street installed very soon.  There's not been a whole lot of activity lately other than grading and compacting the gravel.  They didn't work at all over the weekend, so maybe Monday.

I've not had many fires this year, and I've kept short the few I've had.  It was either too hot, too windy, or I was just too tired on weekend evenings.  Now, with cooler weather and an earlier sunset I may get out there more.  I did get out there for a bit on Friday evening.  It was nice, but I did build it up and let it burn down in just a few hours rather than spend all night.

And Basil got a visit from a neighbor cat.  People aren't supposed to let their cats out here in the city but many do, even despite the construction and large machinery going back and forth all day.

On my way to pick up groceries this morning I noticed an odd sound as I arrived.  I didn't see anything outside the car so kept the radio off and paid close attention on the drive home and I heard horrendous noises coming from the car.  I'm not sure what's going on, but first thing in the morning I'll have to try and get it into the shop.  I can use my wife's van sometimes, but I need my car.

Street Reconstruction Part 10

First order of business on Friday morning was pouring our driveway apron.  I hadn't left for work yet and they got started.

When I got home on Friday they had the steel plate over the new apron.  I thank them for the trouble but we never used the steel to enter the driveway.

No work happened over the weekend, but today (Monday) we got our terrace walk poured.  They've been working on all the concrete work and might be finished with it today or else very soon.  I did park in the driveway this afternoon.

The pole you see in the pictures is propping up our cable from the pole across the street.  It had been attached at the top of the pole but was knocked off early on, so is attached much lower and would hang too low over the street.  Apparently the cable will be moved to the new pole toward the end of construction.  We don't use the cable at all anymore, but the wire is still there and I don't want it to be hit and pull siding off the house or anything like that.

Aside from the construction it's really been life as normal, though it is starting to feel like the dog days of summer.  I started to do some fall yard cleanup last weekend and my to-do list has grown, but all in due time.

Street Reconstruction Part 9

Curbs and gutters were installed yesterday, an interesting process.

Yesterday I had off, so I was able to watch the progress made in front of our house.  They spent the morning on the other street, likely doing curbs and gutters, before moving to our street.

They gave our house driveway access at the end of the day, but we won't be using it.  Not all houses were given this treatment, curiously.

Today they appear to be working on finishing the sidewalks on both streets.  I'm not sure they'll finish, but probably tomorrow.  They're also framing up the driveway aprons, though ours still has the steel plate over the new gutter for access.  It may take a few more days to finish up all the concrete work, but we're still pleased with the progress so far.

My wife just popped in, we just had a knock on the door and she was told we would have our driveway apron installed tomorrow and we should be able to drive on it by Saturday.  Good news!  We think they may be prioritizing some over others as a few older and disabled people seem to be getting the same treatment.  And they may have noticed the wheelchair lift in my wife's van, so...

Street Reconstruction Part 8

As work on the roadway continues, we still had a driveway apron for the weekend, though we began parking elsewhere.

The driveway apron was already removed by the time I left for work this morning, just broken slabs to be hauled away now.

But they built us ramps to our driveways, so technically we still have access.  Overall, we're pleased with the progress so far.

Street Reconstruction Part 7

Working Hard?

Or hardly working?

Really, though, I think they have been working hard.  Everyone gets a break now and again.  Oh, and they were parked, not driving along like that.