Firewood, Fall Chores

Late afternoon yesterday the firewood delivery arrived.  I'd been done with work for hours and was pretty much in relaxation mode, but with my wife's help we got it all neatly stacked.  The small pile on the far left is the leftovers, the other small pile is new wood that wouldn't fit on the rack.  I don't expect either of these small piles to last very long.  Now I know I'll have enough to get through spring, or at least to spring.

Today has been overcast and blustery, with an expected high of 67ºF, and again the news is saying this will be the last 'nice' day as high temperatures will be going back down to about the 50º mark in the extended forecast.  I managed to get some yardwork done yesterday while waiting for the wood, including mowing/mulching the leaves in the back yard, but there is more to be done yet.

I contacted the fencing company yesterday to verify we're still on for replacing our fence about a month from now, and they confirmed.  The exact day may change due to the weather, but it should only take one day to complete.  I wanted to keep the old one as long as possible but it's just gotten so rotten it's starting to fall apart.  I probably should have done it last year and next year it will only be worse, so best to just get it done.  It should look pretty similar, 6' dog-eared, but brand new cedar.  At least it will be one thing crossed off the list, and it will look a lot better, too.

Is cedar the best wood for raised bed gardens?  I'm going to have to figure that out.  I'll not use treated lumber again as I may as well use regular lumber because it obviously won't last more than 9 years or so anyway, and my hope is to not have to rebuild these again, however wishful thinking that may be.

Most fall chores now are just hurry up and wait.  As the plants wilt I'll mulch them up with the string trimmer.  As the black walnut leaves fall I will mow to mulch.  After the maple tree leaves fall I'll rake and mulch them for flowerbeds.  And when all the leaves are done I'll need to clean out the gutters.   All the potted plants will need to be cleaned up and the compost turned.  And before it starts to freeze regularly (still haven't had first frost, but maybe tomorrow morning) I'll have to get the hose put away and the power washer stored in the basement, along with a couple crates of paint, lawn care and other products out of the garage.

So, while it seems like a lot of work it will be spread out for several weeks up to a couple months yet.  I hope for plenty of opportunities to relax by the fire along the way.  

Actually, I hope to be able to go out to eat, hang out at the bar, go see a show or just socialize with friends and family, but I'll take what I can get this year.  Stay safe, all.  And wash your mask.

Showered With Leaves

Tonight as I sat by the fire, I looked up.  It was about 20 minutes after sunset, which is when bats can start being seen flying above and I like to watch for them.  What happened next was a lot of leaves showering down on and around me.  I never did notice any bats while watching the leaves.

It's fall and leaves are changing, but neighbor Dave's three Black Walnut trees are always the first to lose their leaves.  And conveniently, mind you, as they are not good for compost or mulch in the flowerbeds.  They can wash out the color of flowers and we have a lilac under them that proves it.  I usually mulch them into the lawn with the mower and harvest the later leaves, mostly maple, for mulch around the yard.

That's almost it for my firewood until Tuesday, just a small pile left after this weekend.  On Friday I was looking ahead and put in an order to have another face cord of mixed hardwoods delivered.  I still have plenty of time for having fires before winter sets in, after all.  

First face cord took 2 years to burn.  Second face cord, only 3 months.  Thanks, 2020.

Friday Night Fire & More

 It was a dreary and overcast evening yesterday, but at least it was dry.  I went out to sit by the fire and decided to film a little and wound up taping the whole night.  Don't worry, this is only the first half hour.  After that I was on a video call with my mom for some time, then it just got dark.  Pull up a chair and relax by the fire with me.

I've gone through a lot of wood this year.  My previous face cord lasted me two whole years while this one, delivered in July,  has lasted about 3 months so far.  I'll have to get another delivery in the next couple weeks as last year I managed to have one more fire after the winter solstice but before the new year.  It's these pandemic times, I have nothing better to do and no other place to go, may as well do something enjoyable.

It only took the cats a few days to start using the walkway.  I had a brown stripe-y rug in front (see last post) and I had the thought would they rather jump down onto concrete or the rug?  So I moved the rug to the right a little bit two days in a row until I noticed there was very little litter on it anymore but there was more litter going down the walkway to the step.  The were using it!  So that rug has now been removed as it is not needed.  Now when I clean the box every afternoon I was sweeping up the walkway first and I had an idea.  I had bought two new mats for this, a big one and a small one.  The big one is in the drawer, the small one wasn't being used.  So I cut the small one in half, mostly, it's still connected in the middle, which was the open side, and I used two sided tape to hold it in place.  Hopefully this will catch most of the rest of the litter the cats track out of the box.  The mats are two layers connected on three sides, so to clean them you separate the layers and dump.  For the half mats on the walkway it looks like I can just put the walkway in the down position, maybe give it a little jostle, and sweep up the litter.  I'm not sure if I'll be putting the walkway down every day now or just pulling the box toward me in the drawer to clean.  Or if this will even work at all, really, but I'll know soon enough.

So the orange one finally got sick.  No, I'm not celebrating.  I don't like that anyone is getting sick and that some are dying.  What it comes down to is that it was preventable.  They were extremely careless, and they got the Covid.  It was just a matter of time, really.  The timing of his illness and the extent of how ill he'll actually get is very interesting, however.  Stay tuned on this one, folks.

Fall weather has definitely arrived here, and that brings outside chores that will need to be done soon.  I also have to get used to wearing long pants and socks again after several months of barefoot and shorts.  And non slip-on shoes seem like an atrocity now so I have been holding out still, even if that means wearing short socks with sandals, sorry.  But I don't hardly go anywhere or see anyone else but my wife these days anyway, so who cares?

Cat Box Area is Finished!

This afternoon I fastened the walkway to the drawer to finish the cat box area under the stairs.  Pretty much what I envisioned, but it took longer than it should have.  After considering it for years I got a start on it during my spring vacation last year.  It was a lot of trial and error as I cut and recut, screwed and unscrewed, and leveled the unlevel, but I did get to the point of getting the base installed - the base being the sides to attach the 32 inch, 400 pound capacity drawer slides I had already bought for the project.  And then when I thought I had finished, it still wasn't square.

So on my fall vacation last year I got a board cut and painted that would make it square, but as my back was giving me trouble then that's as far as I got and it sat for the winter.   Fast forward to my spring vacation this year, which was canceled as a couple weeks earlier I missed a whole lot of time from work trying to get over this nasty virus that's going around.  Yes, that one.  So the project sat and we and the cats just continued on as normal.  There was nothing wrong with how things were, I just wanted something better.

Pulled out for cleaning.

Recently on my fall vacation this year it was time to get this done.  I replaced the piece I needed to, built, fitted, caulked and painted the drawer, but due to the weather making for long drying times the project did drag on for a week and a half since my vacation now.  Not a big deal as it was mostly done and I was happy to enjoy the last of the work.  I didn't make any more trips to the hardware store for the last part and just used what I had, which is plenty, but the walkway is two pieces fastened together and I used screws that were a bit too long so had to grind down the points on the other side.  One thing I did order from Amazon is the folding brackets so the walkway will fold down.  I was searching Amazon for folding brackets and trying to figure out what I could use when I saw folding table leg brackets.  Odd, I thought, but they looked like they'd work and sure enough, they did.

So now the cats have a new area, including a brand new litter box, scooper and a mat that is supposed to catch the litter that gets dragged out.  There will still be some litter escaping on their paws as it's impossible to teach a cat to wipe its feet, but hopefully most of it will stay contained so I just have to clean the drawer once a week instead of sweeping the whole area every day.  I don't know if they will know to use the walkway or how long it will take them, but if they get tired of jumping up or we get water on the floor I think they'll figure it out.  So, regular readers have heard me mention this project at times for a long time now, what do you think?

A couple more views after the break!

Friday Firepit and Cat Box Update

Last night was the first time I had a chance to have a firepit for two weeks now, and it was very nice to once again sit by the fire and ponder life's meaning.  After the last fire I was on vacation for a week so, of course, every day was wet.  Off work all week and I couldn't even do what I look forward to the most, this year anyway.  Then this past week I was back at work, so I couldn't wait for Friday night.  Oh, I could have a fire during the week but it does put a damper on it knowing I have to get up early the next day.  Tonight, Terry and Becky are coming over to celebrate my and Terry's birthday - postponed from last Saturday.  It will be nice to visit again and catch up around the fire.

The bright dot is the ISS flying left to right across the sky last night.  Below and a bit to the right is the North Star, and on the right side is Cassiopeia with the top left dot of the W obscured by light pollution.  I could still see the Big Dipper over the garage, getting lower in the sky, and later I even saw Orion and his belt hiding behind one of the trees.  The ISS will be flying by again tonight at 8:02, 63 minutes after sunset.

The cat box project is coming along.  I was thinking I started it years ago but it was actually June of 2019, I'd just been thinking of doing this for years now to help contain the mess.  The biggest problem was that nothing under the stairs was square.  I had gotten everything pretty square last year except for one piece that had to be replaced, but I had that piece cut and painted already, just not installed.  With that installed I was able to build the drawer but then it's been pretty much waiting for paint to dry between coats.  The drawer is now installed as of yesterday, and the cat box is moved into it, so it's about 90% done.  All that's left is a walkway so the cats can go from the bottom stair over to the drawer without stepping paw on the floor.  This way I don't have to do anything for them on the occasions a few times a year when water comes in.  I built and started to paint that walkway today, so it shouldn't be long now and I can finally share with you my latest DIY creation.

53

My Mom said I was born about 8:30 at night, if I remember right.  Here's the numbers, screenshot taken from here as close as I could to the time, please forgive the yellow-ness.  What else can I do for my birthday this year, anyway?

As for my next few milestones, 700 months will be about 58.4 years old, 3000 weeks will be about 57.5 years old, but 20,000 days will only be about 54.8 years old.  If I can possibly remember 20,000 days, I'll celebrate.  That seems to be on Tuesday, June 14, 2022, and now that I know I'll have to add it to the calendar.  Save the date!

September This-And-Thats

Barring small mammals and firepits there's not been a lot to write about over here the last several weeks.  One day blurs into the next as we work and rest while barely ever leaving the house.  But life moves ever forward and I needed a vacation from, well, work.  Not working for a few days will be the only difference as I still will barely leave the house.  Good times, eh?  Well, here I go typing again, so onward we go.

• We set a record yesterday with a high temperature of only 57ºF and expect to set another record today with the same high temperature.  Both days have been cold, gloomy and wet, most especially for the date.  I've now worn socks, long pants and long sleeves again for the first time in several months.  Not the best week to take a vacation and try to get things done, but at least I'm not working.
• It doesn't always happen that my birthday falls the same week as Labor Day.  Usually it's the week after so I benefit from a short week in addition to a week off.  This year it is the same week, this week, so while I am using up less time I will miss the extra day off.  And my Mom's birthday is a week and a half later.
• For the holiday weekend I drove down to Dubuque on Sunday to spend some time with my Mom.  We enjoyed talking and relaxing, spending much of the evening sitting by her (gas) firepit.  Yes, we tried to social distance.  I know she's been careful and so have I, but it was nice to talk in person and not on a video call.  I left for home late the next morning, very thankful there was not the usual holiday traffic.  Thanks for having me over, Mom, it was a lot of fun.

• The above is one of my favorite pictures from spring, I used it as my background all year.  On another of our walks recently I got an updated view, below, and now I use that as my background.  If you look all the way down to the end of the street you can just make out the yellow left turn sign, which is right next to the canoe/kayak slide on the creek.

• The rest of Monday was spent being lazy, and looking back I wish I would have done more but the driving is tiring.  Yesterday, being so gloomy, the laziness continued.  And while today is much like yesterday there is no water in the basement so I got to work on the cat box area.  I have the structure of it as square as I can, installed the drawer slides and took all my measurements needed for building the drawer.  Hopefully with a little nicer weather I'll be working in the garage tomorrow.  Cutting and assembling should go quick but the paint may take longer to dry.
• I've been watching the Bucks again since they restarted the season, but I stopped when they were down 3 games to nothing in the playoffs.  Why put myself through the anguish?  I told myself that if they come back and win 4 straight then maybe I'll watch the next series, but, of course, that didn't happen.  And after a short training camp and no preseason games the Packers will play this Sunday.  It will be interesting to see them play in an empty stadium, but I don't think the home viewing part will change much, especially if you've already been watching other sporting events without in-person fans.
• We had another couple over for a fire last Friday, the sixth and seventh people we've had over for essentially all year.  The most we'll have is a couple at a time so social distancing is easy, and masks are required if they need to go into the house.  I do miss seeing other people, socializing and catching up.  This Saturday, Terry and her sister Becky are coming over to celebrate my and Terry's birthdays, just days apart.  Eight and nine, and there are others I still wish to have over this fall at some point.

That's all I can think of at the moment.  I think I'm in a little bit of a pandemic funk, despite being on vacation.  The weather is supposed to get better, so hopefully my mood will, too.  Be smart, stay well and stay safe, everyone.

Jacob Blake

Well, it just keeps happening, doesn't it?  Again, close to home in nearby Kenosha, Wisconsin, a white policeman shoots an unarmed black man.  7 times.  In the back.  If you've not heard of this or the ensuing protests in Kenosha and Madison, among other places, then you've been under a rock.

It wasn't surprising that the Milwaukee Bucks boycotted yesterday afternoon's game.  It also wasn't surprising to see other sports teams and leagues follow suit.  The players felt they had an opportunity to draw attention to this systemic racism and took it.  I don't blame them.  In fact, I wore a Bucks shirt today to show support in my own small way.

We need discussion, education, and change.  But how can you change the darkness in some people's hearts?  They can say all the right things, and even act like they mean it, but when push comes to shove another white cop shoots or kills another black man.  How many will it take? 

Godspeed, Jacob Blake.

Now, Mr Squirrel. The End?

Yesterday evening I noticed that something had been digging in the area of that chipmunk den, but did not dig around the brick I had covering the old hole, and I don't think it got in.  I knew I wouldn't be able to drive a chipmunk to another location until after work, so I waited to set the live trap.  After work I cleaned up the area again and set it with the usual peanut butter.

Maybe an hour later I heard it go off.  Nice to meet you, Mr. Squirrel!  Definitely not who I was after, so after a few pictures I let him go right there.  He scampered straight away to the back of the yard and under the firewood, I believe.

This live trap is just big enough, but not meant for a squirrel.  The damage to the trap that you see in closeups is mostly from last June when a squirrel would not leave the inside eaves of the garage.  I wasn't going to leave my garage open overnight, so I set the trap and closed it up.  The next morning there was a pretty ticked off squirrel.  I'm not sure how long he was in the trap, but a few more hours and he may have broken out.

So, that tells me that's enough of the live trapping of small animals until and unless there becomes another nuisance.  Let's hope that's not anytime soon.

Mr Mouse? And Mr Chipmunk II

 Yesterday I noticed there had been activity at the old chipmunk den, a day after I evicted the occupant.  Was this Mr. Chipmunk back to claim his homestead?  Or another wanting to take over some prime real estate?  Can never know for sure, all the damn critters look too much the same.

I set out the trap again but after several hours got nothing.  I was outside late by the fire so decided it wouldn't be cruel to leave it overnight as long as I check it first think in the morning, which I did.

Well, hello, Mr. Mouse.  I didn't expect to see you.  Just an ordinary mouse got trapped for a time, but he had a feast of peanut butter for his trouble.  It wasn't inside so I really paid it no mind and took it to the compost bin area to let it go.  I had the trap sitting on the bin and when I opened it the little squeaker ran straight forward down the lid of the compost bin and off the edge, his momentum bouncing his little body off the fence.  I'm sure he'll be okay.

After this there was still a little peanut butter in the trap so I set it and put it back.  When I came out later the ants had found it, so I hosed off the whole thing to get it all cleaned up and set it in the sun to dry.  A couple hours later I re-baited it with peanut butter and set it up again.  The second time I went to check on it I saw from inside it had been tripped, but could not see what was in it.  When I went outside it was Mr. Chipmunk.  Probably the same one, but can't be sure. Hello again, Mr. Chipmunk, shall we go for another walk?

This time I took him down to the bike path to the right, crossed the bigger road and kept along the bike path, veered off to the left and across a footbridge that goes across another arm of Starkweather Creek, and then about 50 feet further down a path.  There, I let him go.  This is about twice as far as I took him last time, which I should have went farther.  Starting my walk back, I took a picture from there and you can see it is a very clear area with shelter and water so he could do just fine there.

If you come back, Mr. Chipmunk, you will get a ride in the car.

Mr Chipmunk and Neighbor Dave

 We are entering the dog days of summer here.  We've had 7 days at 90ºF this summer, topping out at 92º about two weeks ago, though recently we've been a few degrees lower so just the afternoons and evenings get a bit uncomfortable without the air conditioning on.  Plants are still flowering but are past their peak and are starting to look a bit ragged.  And the lawn has brown patches, including all of the front lawn.   All in all, August in Wisconsin.

A year ago I'd have been writing about bicycle rides, Atwoodfest, live bands and other summer adventures.  This year, 2020, the year of the pandemic, there just has not been much going on.  We wake up, work at home all day then lay around home all evening.  Oh, we take a walk now and again (and picking up trash as we go has made that a bit more rewarding), run errands only as needed, and my wife still has all her 'dad' work to do all week.

I'd like to say I've gotten more accomplished than I have, but that doesn't seem to have happened.  I have a week vacation in a few week's time so my plan is to knock things off my list then, including the cat box area which has turned into a very long-term project.  I think the last I worked on it was my fall vacation last year.  It will be different as my wife will be working at home all day so I'll have to mind her schedule, too.

But today I have something else I can write about - a chipmunk.   I know I've written about their dens on the side of the house before, I even trapped and relocated one a couple years ago.  Well, that time came again.  I knew I had a little guy living in the corner since Spring.  In the first and second pictures the entrance to his den is on the top right, under the hosta.  My early attempts to capture it did not work, so I let it be for the time being and just kept an eye on the situation.  Today that situation changed.

What I saw today was one heck of a mess in that corner, like Mr. Chipmunk had cleaned house.  There was dirt all over and an abundance of black walnut shells strewn about.  Okay, Mr. Chipmunk, I got no time for your messes so it's time for you to leave.  I started with the hose, since it's right there on that side of the house.  Water kept pouring in, but no chipmunk came out.  Finally I turned off the water.  I know neighbor Dave, 79 tomorrow (see below), has air gaps under his concrete walkway right there so I didn't want to fill that up and possibly give him water in his basement.  Besides, the chipmunk seemed not to be home at the moment.

Next, I got some peanut butter and set my live trap.  I figured I'd check it now and again the rest of the night, and hopefully I could evict Mr. Chipmunk, the squatter.  In actuality, I was in the second bedroom about ten minutes later and heard a noise outside the open window.  Sure enough, Mr. Chipmunk was caught!  Well, that was certainly easier than it was in Spring.  After humiliating the little guy by making him pose for a few pictures, I walked down to the bike path to let him go.  Not only did I walk to the bike path, but followed it for a time to get more distance between home and where I released him so hopefully he will not be back.  Then I cleaned up that mess.

*          *          *

A couple weeks ago, Neighbor Dave told me he was planning on moving.  He was facing an expensive repair to the house and did not want to spend the money.  He told me all about how old all the appliances were, the furnace, and the myriad other things that were wrong with the place.  I didn't like to hear it, but supported his decision and offered my help with anything he needed.

About a week later, he told me he couldn't find a place to move.  He doesn't drive, so wanted to be close to the bus and a library, and rents were expensive and more so because he has a cat.  But mostly there wasn't much of anything available, and that's what I've heard recently that Madison currently has a housing shortage.  He discussed with his kids and they're going to do the necessary repair themselves, so he decided he's going to stay probably for the rest of his days in his house of over 50 years.

Before all this I figured I'd get him a birthday present this year, but now I really wanted to.  I noticed that I had it on a spreadsheet with other people we know, and then I remembered him telling me it a year or two ago and so I put it on there.  I just got him a card and a couple funny fishing t-shirts that I think he'll like.  Hopefully I run into him later tonight or tomorrow, now.


Now, to end, I only have one thing to say.  I really hate Blogger's new dashboard and template.  It's especially hard to strategically place photos within the text.  Much harder that it used to be or should be.  Happy summer everyone.  Maybe a firepit later tonight...

CarPEEt Removal

Before

Well, I can't let Blue Witch have all the home renovation fun this summer. If you remember, last year our cat Basil had all sorts of urinary tract issues and eventually wound up having corrective surgery. But not before he ardently let us know he was having issues by using our only carpeted room as his litter box. Time and time again I would shampoo this carpet, over and over and over again. I even used carpet deodorizor, and thought we had it taken care of - until we got the heat and humidity this year that brought back the smell.

Now, this is in our second bedroom, the one with the computer and otherwise used as an office and a place for much of my stuff. Yes, the room where the brilliance that is this blog is written.  It got a little old going to work every morning in here and smelling it, so the carpet had to go.  Last weekend was the time to do it, so it got done.  And it had to get done in a weekend so I could work on Monday.  We removed the carpet in the living room, hallway and bedroom #1 before we moved in. The carpet in this second bedroom was still in good shape so I decided to keep it at that time. I kind of wish we removed it back then, but I remember being pretty tired of removing carpet at that time, too, so that may have factored into my decision.

This time, just one room was more than enough for me.  My knees still hurt and my wife and I both still ache from the work needed to get this done.  It was a lot of stuff to move out of that room and back, but working on a floor is all down low work.  I don't do well with low work these days.  I remember telling my wife at one point, "The next carpet layer I meet I'm going to punch right in the mouth."  I won't, but they just go overboard with the hammer stapler and nails, it seems.  On the bright side, we have no more carpet to be removed.  At least the floor cleaned up pretty well, but it is noticeably a little rougher than the floors in the rest of the house

After

Not knowing ahead of time the state the floor would be in, we planned ahead.  We had a 7.5 by 9.5 foot rug in the living room that we bought shortly after we moved in and, while we like it, we replaced it with an 8 by 10 foot rug and moved the older rug into the computer room.  I didn't want to put a rolling chair directly on the hardwood, and we have the chair mat for a rug and it just made sense.  It's a little different walking into the room now and expecting a soft floor, but it looks pretty good and we'll easily get used to it.

Two things to end on.  First, I know I have two desk chairs at the moment.  One is for relaxing, the chair I enjoy, the other is for work, the chair that is better for my back sitting up and working.  I plan on looking for a better chair that can be for both, but I may have to spend more than I want.  Second, I took a bunch of pictures (more after the break!) and even a short time lapse video of myself removing the carpet and padding, before the real work began.  You can watch the time lapse video here if you want. I kept it private but I think you should be able to see it if I link it - if not please let me know.  But remember, I don't want to hear any plumber-butt jokes.  That's a warning!