A lot of plumbing

Earlier in the summer, a lot of things were replaced at my mother’s house. 

It started with an outdoor spigot. 

It moved to the water shut off valve for her house, her bathroom sink drain, and her hot water heater. 

There might have been more, that’s what I can remember. I scheduled all those repairs and met the plumber and the city water department guy at her house. They were not on the same day. I think it was three appointments. 

This week, the water spout in her bathtub and her bathroom sink faucet were replaced. They were both leaking fiercely. 

In process, the plumber discovered the shut off valve under the bathroom sink did not work. He replaced it. And while he was there, we had him install a handheld wand in the shower. 

I booked the plumber and bought all the fixtures. She wanted as close to what she had as possible. Lowe’s carried what we needed. 

I met the plumber at her house at 8:30am this past Thursday. We quickly realized he needed one more part. I ran and bought it quickly. I stayed long enough for him to verify he had what he needed and then went to my book group. 

He was there until 10:30am or so. He had the replacement water valve on his truck. 

What is going on? 

I think the lifespan of the builder grade plumbing fixtures has been met. Things have worn out simultaneously. There may well be more. 

Peanut bird feeder

Wild birds Unlimited is my go to company for bird supplies. (Great gift ideas.)

Higher prices, much better quality, I have a feeder from them that is over 20 years old.

We added four new (speciality) feeders and a third birdbath to our bird area in the back this year.

A hummingbird, oriole, core/solid and the peanut feeder (above).

The peanut feeder empties shockingly quickly. We thought it was squirrels, but it is the birds. I need to find bigger peanuts that are harder to remove. They are natural/in shell with no salt.

Variety

Switch where you sit to watch TV.

Rearrange a room a little bit.

Work in a different room or outside. Relax somewhere different on the weekend.

Utilize your whole living space.

*** We are going to scrub the two big porch swings in the next couple days, and use our front porch this spring. The neighbors dogs cannot see us there. It is very secluded and WiFi works on the porch. It stays cool. Swings are very relaxing. ***

We have switched to online grocery shopping.

The stores are just too scary.

In fact, rumor is the store will be going to order/pick up only. I think that will be really smart. Safer for everyone. Less contamination for everyone.

Pick up is today. I started clicking on Saturday or Sunday.

My neighbor warned me that I will probably get 2/3 of what I ordered.

If I get 100%, we are going to be disinfecting for a very long time.

Tupperware

I go thru cycles of using and storing Tupperware.

We mostly eat and store food in glass containers these days.

But I have kept the Tupperware.

Mostly, recent years, the Tupperware has been used for transport. Middle baking and taking food somewhere, for example.

However, in these days of potentially contaminated packaging from the store, we are moving food to other containers. My husband and I do it together. He has the dirty pair of hands and I have the clean. He opens the store package, I hold the clean container, he pours and then takes it right out to the recycling dumpster. I put the lid on the clean container and put it away.

Five big and three small packages of oatmeal fit in these (below) four containers; yes, my husband eats a lot of oatmeal.

Recipes

This was dinner on Friday night. We are all eating two meals a day most days.

https://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-veggie-supreme-egg-bake-242506

I use kale instead of spinach.
I put the kale thru the food processor.
I use skim milk instead of half and half.
I do not use the cheese.
I use red potatoes instead of frozen.
I put in larger volume of veggies.
I use a huge glass pan.


Middle also made drop biscuits.
http://www.shutterbean.com/2020/simple-drop-biscuits/
I like this recipe because there is no yeast, simple ingredients, and it makes a small amount. We had 1 and 1/2 each.

Middle had never made anything like this and had never used a pastry cutter. She was pretty impressed with herself.

Everyone thought it was a really great dinner.

If a chef came to my kitchen, of course there would be things he/she would find missing. But for the average person, I have a well fitted kitchen. And everything is organized and pleasant.

Great re-do! Their guest room turned into an arts/crafts homework room.

https://www.younghouselove.com/kids-art-homework-room/

Forcing bulbs

I hunted very hard for a Valentines decoration for my kitchen island (this year and last year).

No luck.

By pure chance I was in a different grocery store and saw containers of forced bulbs a few weeks ago.

I got tulips to try. When they bloomed and were very fun, I also got a started container of crocuses, and I got an identical empty container and started my own paper white narcissus bulbs.

There is a plastic device in the bottom of each base to keep the started bulbs up out of the water. The two started containers came with the plastic piece. The extra vase was missing the plastic piece. My husband cut 5 quarter/coin size holes in a plastic oatmeal lid and it works perfectly.

So I have three sets of bulbs going, all at different stages.

We all think this is very fun. Even my husband thinks it is a creative and interesting winter thing to do.

I will order bulbs next fall, put them in the refrigerator, and then start them at a staggered pace after the first of the year. I will reuse these 3 vases.

So far, not bothering my respiratory system.

This would make a great gift.

Silly project

I am a very good recycler. Better than average.

I use real dishes, we have stainless kanteens, not a plastic person.

One area where I could improve is paper towels.

Yesterday we bought a ten pack of white feed sack cloth kitchen towels from Walmart. We are cutting them in 1/4’s and hemming the cut edges.

Then these will be our kitchen paper towels for hands and washing counters and wiping up. I will probably still use paper towels to scrub kitchen sink and bathrooms.

Fleece dog bed covers

Yes, JoAnns always has coupons and sales, but fleece fabric is still fairly expensive and I am not a fan of the colors/prints.

Walking thru Walmart, I realized 90” x 90” fleece blankets were $10. That is a lot of fabric for $10.

I bought one tan blanket and made two dog bed covers from it. I made them like pillow cases, one end open, that slip over the dog beds. Super easy to remove for washing.

 

I have kept old beach towels on these two dog beds previously. It is shocking how dirty they get. And not very attractive.

Yes the dog beds are made with zip covers that can be removed for washing. But keeping original cover clean and using something else for wear and tear keeps the beds themselves really nice looking.

My third dog bed has a double sided/thick fleece blanket covering it. It is tucked out of sight and the pup really likes it. And it is a good use for an old blanket that was not big enough for anything else.

Yes, that is three dog beds for two dogs, but they all get used daily and the dogs really like them.

Corner cabinet

This corner cabinet and the oriental dishes came on the truck when my husband and his brothers cleaned out his mother’s house after her death in 2010.

It got stuck behind the backdoor next to the laundry room door because it was the only empty corner in the house.

A couple years ago it almost was sold/removed because I really wanted to put a floor to ceiling shoe rack in that spot. We ended up building shoe rack right outside the backdoor which pleases me hugely. So that solved that.

https://baby-steps-v.blogspot.com/2019/11/cubbies-in-use.html?m=1




The corner cabinet matches/blends with four other pieces that came from husband’s mom, and everyone else convinced me to keep it. And there was no where else to move it in the house. So it stayed and it was useless.

It sat with the oriental dishes (that came with it) in the top and silver stored in the bottom for 9 years. (I have been slowly selling the silver. I don’t use it, the kids do not want it.)

And one day it occurred to me that my odds and ends like phone carrier and sunglasses could go in the (now empty) bottom of the cabinet.

As you can see, hard to find containers that really fit/fill the area. I went on to try other bins and even oval buckets. But I got used to putting my things away in the bottom of this cabinet. I realized the value of the spot  and the cabinet. And I also started condensing things I had stored other places.

Several weeks ago I sold the 3 oriental dishes and their stands. I had one more set in the living room that I sold too. And I channeled that money into baskets.

I had to hunt a lot of places to find four oval baskets that were the right size. I had the one round basket.

This area is now a very functional/useful station. The top basket holds all my winter socks. The top/center basket is currently empty, waiting for a guest. Middle uses the big round one for her purse and sunglasses. My hats, gloves, foot warmers, phone holder, fleece jacket and other things are stored in the lower two  baskets. A lumbar pillow and blanket I use in the car are also stored below. So I take up three of the five baskets. But I no longer have anything setting out in the backdoor area. I eliminated the hooks that used to be on the backdoor, a basket that use to sit on a bench, a bag that hung on hooks by the backdoor and a bin of socks in the laundry room.

If you are wondering about the heavy metal bucket in the lower left of the cabinet picture, it holds dog toys. I had the bucket.

Super pleased with this little redo. I ended up $30 ahead between the selling of the dishes and the buying of the baskets.

Monday’s theme was Light Bulbs

I did not really understand about the color/hue of LED bulbs until last week. The electrician explained it to me. And his recommendation was to stay below 4000.

Here is John Petersik explaining it very well:
https://www.younghouselove.com/best-led-light-bulbs/




In my white kitchen fixtures, a 2700 LED bulb (that John Petersik prefers) looks very yellow/brown.

A 3500 LED looks white, but it is not so bright/white that it is uncomfortable. A nice clean white. And great clear light for cooking, reading, playing cards or doing a puzzle.

I know this because (as I said) my electrician suggested I stay under 4000. And the lady in the light bulb department suggested I buy a package of each (2700 and 3500) hue in 60W, go home and try them, side by side in the fixtures over my table, and return what did not work.

That is exactly what I did.

I waited for my husband. We agreed on the 3700 in 60W for all the kitchen fixtures. (75W LED was too strong even in 2700).

And this 3500 blends nicely with the two small LED can lights above the island. Which I bought before I understood LED’s at all. I have no idea what they are. (Previous old/regular bulbs looked very weird next to the island LED).




So we went back to the store, returned the 2700’s and bought more 3500 LED to cover all the regular kitchen lights and we also bought 3500 floods (which are 65W) for the canned lights in the kitchen and front entryway.

My kitchen is now so nicely lit that I do not have to have every kitchen light and all the hallway lights on to see.

And entry is now nice and bright, I am realizing it was really awful.

So we have two areas done. Entry way and kitchen/pantry are set with 60W and 65W 3500 LED’s.




The front hall, area by the backdoor, stairs (all cans) will also get 65W 3500 indoor floods. Those will be next. Watching for good sale.

I think the bathrooms will also get 3500. But it may be 40W because the mirror reflects the light and there are multiple bulbs in each of the 2 fixtures.

I think My studio and the computer room will get 3500 60W too.




I am waiting until the girls are both home see what they think about the rest of the house.

Because, we think the bedrooms need 40W or 60W 2700 LED’s, the ones that looked brown in the kitchen, seem like the right amount of soft in the bedrooms.

I think the living room and loft might also need 40W or 60W 2700’s.

I started out thinking “one hue for the whole house”, which is exactly what John Petersik did, but now I think it might be two hues, 2700 and 3500,  with different areas getting one or the other (but not mixing hues in same room).





So, what am I doing with the old light bulbs?

First, I got every bulb/package out of the cupboard above the dryer and sorted them on the kitchen table.

I had 2700 LED in a variety of watts and bulb styles. (So I took back the ones I had just gotten to try.)

Had outdoor flood 2700 LED 75W and so we checked the porch. The porch was a hot mess. Of the 4 cans, two were regular old bulbs and two were LED. My husband got the ladder and now the whole porch is 2700 LED and I have two extra 2700 LED for the one above the door which is used all night every night. I labeled the box “porch”.

I was also able to return some full packages (of the wrong bulbs) that were in my cupboard to stores. (I told them I had paid cash and did not have receipt and they gave me gift cards/store credit).

I gave all (3)  new Packages of (Non LED) incandescent bulbs (in cupboard) to my mother for her stash.

I started a box of regular size screw in used bulbs for college kids who do not care what they are.

I am going to list the (non LED) incandescent indoor (and 2 outdoor) flood bulbs on marketplace. 4 are new, most will be used. Will sell as set. I will wait to do this until I have switched out the whole house so it is a big set. And I am waiting to catch a very big sale on bulbs.




***I don’t know what think about the weird twisted fluorescent screw in light bulbs. I think I might sell all of them as a set on Marketplace too. ***

https://greenamerica.org/green-living/cfls-vs-leds-better-bulbs

One well placed security light

I called the electrician months ago to see about installing a security light. He referred me to local supply place and quoted a HIGH price (for this light).

When he was here last week, installing the kitchen lights, and I asked again and specifically talked price, he found the right motion detector light for the back corner of the house, on Amazon, for me.

I ordered it that day. It arrived Saturday. He came Monday afternoon to install it.

I waited to get bulbs until he got here. He sent me to the store with these requirements:
Led, Flood, 75W, Outdoor, approximately 3000 color


The sensors are set to turn (2) lights on if there is motion on the driveway by the basketball hoop and air conditioner. And it also turns on when a neighbor (or dog) is on the back path to our house.  So it covers a wide area.

I saved the box it came in and the box the light bulbs came in (attic) so I can duplicate if needed.

Sensor requires it be dark outside, and there be heat. So a car, person, dog, bunny, deer, fox, raccoon, bird will turn on lights at night, but blowing branches will not.

This will be extremely helpful when the dogs are here late. The old dog is a problem because she is going deaf and she is very hard for us to see/find in the dark.

I thought carefully if lights were needed on other back corner of house, but did not think so.

Balloons to lights

I mentioned we replaced the top of our kitchen table, expanding it to 8’ x 4’.

At the same time we pulled it away from the island to provide for seating on all four sides. I now keep four chairs on each side. I keep a bench on the end closest to the island. I have another bench that can be pulled up to the opposite end. So it seats 10 all the time and can seat 12 easily.

All this combined to put the ceiling fan with the light fixture at the very far end of the table. My youngest walked in the door at Thanksgiving and noticed the light issue immediately.

The opposite end was so dark that we had to plug in desk lamps on extension cords to do puzzles and play games over Christmas break.

So clearly we needed more lights on the ceiling. And I was eager to get rid of the tired/old ceiling fan (which is never used).

I found white pendants on cords so the height was totally flexible at Lowe’s. They are not an exact match to the lights over the sink, but they blend nicely. I bought extra globes just in case. I routinely do that for light fixtures. (At the old house I had to replace the whole kitchen light after a globe was broken and replacements were no longer available.)

In the process of looking for pendant light fixtures, which took a while, we debated light placement. We had to work around where the ceiling fan was located at the far end of the table. So the answer seemed to be one light at each (far) end and one in the middle.

The guideline seemed to be 36” up from the top of the table, but with lights at the very end of the table, that was a head banging risk. So we thought they needed to be higher, more like you would hang lights over an island. But it was hard to know how high.

My middle suggested balloons. We got white balloons, tied them with strings and taped them to the ceiling, hanging down like a pendant light. The balloons were the right color (white) and also the right size. So it was very very visual and we adjusted until we got the right placement.

Then we lived with those balloons for a couple weeks, and when I was sure, I called the electrician.





Since we were all confident I had correct placement, electricians wasted no time. They took down the old fan/light and measured to get precise placement, and started as soon as they walked in the door. We did not have to debate or figure anything. (If we had not used the balloons, I am guessing it might have taken an hour, with the meter running, to figure out where to put the lights).

Luckily the kitchen ceiling studs were running the right direction. And they were able to cut two new holes in the ceiling and run the wires from the old box from the ceiling fan and hook all three lights up to the same switch system as the old fan/light.

The old ceiling fan now has the blades removed and is with another old fan in the attic. We have had two young males break blades on upstairs ceiling fans. One guy was messing around, the other was helping move a king size mattress. With the first break, I had to buy a whole new fan. With the second break, I had spare parts saved in the attic and it was a free, five minute fix. I routinely save broken fixtures. I also use the same style fixtures over and over in the house for this reason. 

The electrician bill was 3X the cost of the fixtures, so this was a pricey project, but it really needed done.

And I am very pleased.

Very pleased with my tree tableau this year

Ribbon instead of hooks

Maybe the whole world does this now.

We tie a loop of ribbon around Christmas tree ornaments (instead of using a hook).

It just makes everything easier and feels safer.

The pup is not allowed on the living room, but if she saw a hook on the floor, she would invade/conquer and definitely chew on it.



Our living room got rearranged this year. I am trying new configurations in preparation for new living room furniture.

The TV is now where the tree has been for several years. A recliner is sitting the tree’s original Position.

I thought about putting the tree in the entryway. And that might be an option in the future. The drawback is it cannot be seen from the outside (in the entryway).

So standing in the living room, contemplating tree placement, it occurred to me that the window seat was perfect. The tree is 6’ and super skinny. From the outside, it looks like a 8-9’ tree that goes to the floor.

The years this 6’ tree is sitting on the floor, I have a wooden box, covered in upholstery fabric, that holds it. With the box, it is just over 7’. The advantage to this 6’ tree is it is super skinny. I do not think I could find a 7-9’ tree this skinny. I like the small space footprint of this tree. And 50 ornaments and about 40 picks covers it. It is easy to put up/take down but looks FULL.

I removed the cushion and all the pillows (from the window seat) obviously. And the room looks far less cluttered.

We removed all the toys that were previously stored in bench. My husband vacuumed/dusted/wiped out the whole thing. That bench is 7’ long so it is impressive. After the tree comes down, extra blankets and pillows (for the Living room) will be stored in the bench. That will make the room look less cluttered.

We discovered there was a plug in the cavity part of the window seat/bench, so cords were easily handled. My husband enlarged the pull/hole and the cord/plug is totally invisible.

The tree is on a 5pm-midnight timer. I have many things on that same timer schedule including all the outside lights. I love having everything inside and out pop on at 5pm.

I do not think the picture does it justice. The lights on the right are our backyard tree. The lights on the left are our neighbor.

I no longer use childhood ornaments on tree. I like a coordinated tree of one or two blending colors. I call that a store or magazine tree.

I sold the (new) ornaments I have been using for the last several years. I spent a whopping $10 on a bucket of 50 ornaments yesterday. The color blends with the ribbon, picks and white lights I already had.

I am also going to weed out the 4+ boxes of old traditional ornaments. I plan to save 50, in case there is a year where I want a traditional tree. But I am selling/donating/rehoming the rest.

So our tree got a new location and a $10 make-over and I am really pleased.

New table top

I must have been taking a picture of the rug, in this old kitchen picture. Obviously the chairs are missing. But it really shows the rest of the kitchen. The old table top was laminate and green. It looked huge when we built the house. When my kids and their attachments are here and my brother’s family is here, it was not big enough.

Lighting is not good here, but it shows placement.

The base stayed the same, but I switched out the table top this week. The color changed and it went from 3’x7’ to 4’x8’.

It looks like there are just four chairs on each side, but there is an old bench my grandpa made, tucked down between the island and the table. He would be thrilled and we have wondered if it is the last bench (of many he made) surviving in the family. It is older than I am, but a woodworking friend checked and it is sound.

The bench at the bottom of the stairs, just visible in this (above) picture, can be pulled up to the near end of the table. So it now easily seats 12. I bought two new chairs, if you notice there were previously three on each side. They are mismatched on purpose. There are three color variations.

The table used to be housed up against the island. It now has four rounded corners and stands, free floating in the middle of the kitchen. When the ceiling fan/light dies, I will replace it with something long that is centered  over the table better.

Notice the white bench, under the picture rails, has been relocated (to the front porch). And the two shelves on either side of the bench have been removed too. There are several other things, not visible in the angle of these pictures, that have been decluttered too.  The black thing with a basket on top, at the end of the island, is a small refrigerator.

I attempted to replace this table top last year. The original firm, that did my kitchen and bathrooms when we built this house, was too busy to be bothered. I called them again a couple weeks ago and they were still too busy to be bothered. I called a couple other places too. Ditto.

Then I sent a text to ask if friends knew of a laminate guy. Someone did. And when I called him, he stopped by within 2 hours and looked at the project and then even with two deaths in his family this month, got my table top done and installed.

I am very pleased.

Cubbies in use

The basket holds dog towels (wet dogs, muddy feet). This basket used to be in the house. This spot is much more practical.

There are hooks on the wall just above the basket with all the other dog things (leashes, outside toys, plastic bags).

The vacuum is new. Works on carpet/rugs or hard flooring. I use it on garage rugs, kitchen rugs, front porch rugs, kitchen/hall floor.

Vacuum now lives right next to the backdoor. Very handy. The rugs just inside and outside the door (between the house and the garage) are my most vacuumed spots.

Empty drawer

I mentioned we added a tool cabinet in the garage several weeks ago.

Previously all the tools and supplies were stored in clear shoe box bins in garage.

Many people would think that was organized, but in reality it meant digging thru bins to find things.

One of my neighbors had a tool cabinet slightly smaller than the one we now have. And when I saw it in their garage, years ago, I was surprised. They are not very handy. They do NO diy of any kind. I doubt they open that tool cabinet once a month, maybe not even once a quarter.

But that planted the seed, regular people can have bigger tool cabinets. And how handy that would be for us.

Fast forward. We have a tool cabinet. I attached the wheels and sorted thru everything and filled it. I got rid of what was not cabinet worthy. (We now have a work bench with an empty/ready surface. I cleaned out and reorganized the cupboards in the garage too.)

I am in and out of our tool cabinet pretty much every day. It was a very smart addition.

Before we had the tool cabinet, during a kitchen drawer clean out (maybe in the last couple years), I added a tool drawer to the kitchen. And at the time, it was so handy. Instead of going out to the garage and digging thru bins, a tape measure or hammer or screwdriver was right there in a drawer.

Yesterday I emptied that drawer. I put the keepers in the garage tool cabinet. I packed a donate bag.

If I want anything, I can just walk out to the garage and get it. Having all the  tools in drawers in the garage is pretty much as handy as a few things in the kitchen.

I have had other empty drawers and shelves in various rooms. Sometimes for long stretches. And it a nice feeling.

I am in no hurry to fill it. If a need presents itself, it is available.

And actually there is a second drawer which I am considering. Because now that I have the post office cubbies in the computer room, this drawer in the kitchen may be able to be at least reduced too.

Trapping

If you remember, my husband consistently caught chipmunks in the snap (kill) traps in stone houses last October and then this spring/summer. He caught a somewhere been 75-100 chipmunks in the months he was trapping.

All this started because of hundreds of dollars damage to a car at our house, and thousands of dollars damage to other cars on the block. Not to mention what they can do to a house.

Our chipmunk population was way too high.

When the ants started stealing his bait and the stone houses were dismantled for the garden walls, he lost interest.

Seeing one chipmunk in the yard, prompted the building of the wooden houses and the reinstallment of four traps. There is now one house/trap in the front, one on the side, two in the back.

He has caught 3 mice and 5 chipmunks in the 2 weeks since the first wooden house was built (and the ant poison was added a week ago).

So he is not catching them with the one-a-day rate of before, but he is catching them.

And when a trap stops (physically) working, he pitches it and gets out another. I keep a couple new ones on hand.

I had wondered if the scent of the treated lumber would deter chipmunks. Clearly the smell of the peanut butter trumps.