Week 19 of 2012 - Contrast

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And I was thinking for awhile about the weekly theme "contrast." WHAT could I use for contrast? Hmmmmmmm.........  Then all of a sudden it came to me!

Spring cleanup - once every 6 years.

I decided to power wash stuff. Started with the fence:

Moved onto the mossy patio:

The patio lead to the sidewalk:

7 1/2 inches

Refer to the post on Wednesday October 14, 2009 concerning "2 1/2 inches"

Today's project fun: new sump pump! Even in winter the sump pump can fail. By fail I mean would not shut off and then when I unplugged it, it wouldn't come back on! So impromptu project day!

Loads of fun... until the power cord was 7 1/2 inches too short!

Where's my electrician?

40/52: Electricity

Yup, electricity is on!

Note on previous project post:

As I review the manufacturer website of the garage door opener I installed last week I discovered they offer a quicker option called the "Excelerator." It opens twice as fast and its claims to fame are "eliminates aggravating waits" and "when seconds count."

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OMG! I didn't realize my garage door was aggravating me so!
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I now wonder how many seconds of my life I would save if I would have opted for the faster version.

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According to the stopwatch on my cell phone the door opens in 12.59 seconds and closes in 12.32 seconds. (Times are an average of 3 consecutive closed to open and open to closed cycles.)

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OMG! That would be a savings of 6.3 seconds every time I open the door! I could use those extra seconds during nap time!

Kitchens and projects 3

Yesterday's "project" post reminded me I didn't finish the

KITCHEN PROJECT postings from back in July.

I'm SURE someone has been wondering. Anyone? Anyone?

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6-spray all doors and drawers with STONE.

This is the "final process" mentioned in an earlier post that will hide 60 years of wear and tear on the surfaces.

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7-paint the edges with dark glossy gray.

Just because I need a step 7. AND it looks cool too.

2 1/2 inches

PROJECT FUN!

Last weekend I took on another home project.

What could be better then a little home project?

Like installing a well overdue new garage door opener!

Hours of fun... until the power cord was 2 1/2 inches too short!

Where's my electrician?

Don't worry! By the time I decided to post about this project I had moved the plug box so all is powered up and running great!

Kitchens and projects 2

Project update from the other day:

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4-paint insides white. Ahhh... peaceful white.

5-paint outsides dark grey (or is it gray) as an undercoat

for the final process.

(of all 13 doors & 2 drawers)

Kitchens and projects

13 DOORS & 2 DRAWERS

More painting fun!

1-strip last 60 years worth of paints and stains

2-sand them all smooth
3-prime them for painting

(more to come at a later date)

Chim Chim Cheree

SO the last thing left to paint on the house (the chimney) is DONE. NOT only is it painted Olivine (as is the rest of the house) but the motar has been painted a lighter shade I personally mixed with Olivine and Pure White (the trim paint). Many say "DON'T PAINT THE CHIMNEY" but it was painted by the previous owners and peeling. The easiest and most cost effective thing was to repaint it. Most cost effective because I seem to have miscalculated and ended up with almost 2 gallons of paint left............. SO OLIVINE CHIMNEY IT IS!

The utmost most funnest part was painting the 334 1/2 feet of motor with a 3/8" brush!

New web address

but the same exciting content!
Why the new address you ask? Don't ask. Just deal with it.

Deal with it like Mr. Sparrow deals with things.

Shown here perched happily on his roof back in March.

(His roof on his house that is attached to the side of the neighbor's garage)

Enter the neighbors who decide to side their place this summer.

SO yesterday was operation Sparrow Relocation.

And Mr. Sparrow dealt with it.

Hose, as energy.

Hose is back!

This time not as art but as solar heat for the lukewarm tub..

Back in May I posted a pic of the art installation "Hose, on Pavers" as displayed on my backyard patio. It was showcased for 3 days in that particular installation until it was rolled up. Although Hose did reappear repeatedly in the last 5 weeks it's artful presence was never quite the same. Now art becomes power!

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The POC Spa-N-A-Box from Comfort Line Products finally got on my last 'I-can-fix-it' nerve back in August 2007. After a little over two years of fighting to keep the hot-tub hot (and pumping water) I finally gave up. Sad, I know. Too many times having the excitement of a late evening hot tub soak be ruined because the POC heater reset button was tripped (the button that is hidden underneath the unit and not explained in the owner's manual and you find out about it when you call customer service). Since the thing heats up at about 1.5 to 2 degrees an hour it's best to go take a hot shower at this point. When the water stopped circulating the $36 for a new water pump and reheating the water AGAIN was one thing, but two months later when once again there is no heat and the reset button isn't tripped they say "Now you need a new power pack. That'll be $395. Would you like to put it on the same credit card as your previous fixes?" Ummm, no!

Jump to present day. Lots of time on my hands. It's getting hot & humid. Now what? I guess this "spa" could still make a fun mini-pool for the unemployed. Sure it would. With approximate diameter of 62" and a water height of 25" I figured it would cost about $3.80 to fill (assuming my water rates are the same as the last bill) and I can afford that. Sure I can. But can I sit in 62 degree water? No. Can I wait for the sun to heat the water to 80 degrees? No. So that's where Hose comes in. 150 feet of it. The idea is to circulate the water from the tub filter through hose and back in the tub. The output of the system seems to be 2-3 degrees warmer then the input. $3.55 for a rubber connector with clamps and Hose is now a solar mini-pool heater!

From paint to caulk

Almost as much fun as painting is caulking.

And who put a 'L' in that word anyway?

Can't we change it to cawking? or kawking?

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These arrows times two sides equaled

hours of sticky silicone adhesive fun!!!

I almost got the hang of it... but not quite.

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In hopes that one day this project will be done.

A word about chimneys

A chimney is a structure for venting hot flue gases or smoke from a boiler, stove, furnace or fireplace to the outside atmosphere. Chimneys are typically vertical, or as near as possible to vertical, to ensure that the gases flow smoothly, drawing air into the combustion in what is known as the stack, or chimney, effect.

OR, as I see it...
the last thing I have left to paint on the house.

More things that are fuzzy

The annoying cottonwood fuzzies appeared just in time for me to start on the second coat of house paint. Oh joy oh joy. Their blowing in the breeze made it a bit more interesting... and resulted in a bit more swearing. Just a bit more. A tiny bit. Really, damn it!

Paint my house - the peak part

Acrophobia - Fear of heights.

Okay, 15 feet isn't that high. And I wasn't all that apprehensive.

But painting them was a bit if a challenge.

(Or shall I say pain-in-the-ass.)

Can't WAIT to do the second coat...

How yellow can yellow be?

Looks like it can be pretty darn YELLOW. Or maybe that's just a second sun rising as the other sun sets. I was told that a second coat will "tone it down a bit." I hope so since this "Warm Gold" door requires sunglasses to be worn to approach it.

(I think I'll try three coats just to be safe!)

With paint comes pain

Pain pills should come with every gallon of paint. I will need to contact Home Depot and let them know this!

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It's hard to believe that the garage only has it's first coat done and the rest of the place remains minty pistachio.

And the winning color is...

Olivine!!!
aka "the bottom one"










In case you haven't been following 'This is Eric's blog' as you should be... I've been picking a shade of green for my new house color. (The pic here is of the garage - by the way - and not the house.) Soon we will start to pick a color for the doors so don't feel totally left out if you're just now joining.
.And before I forget
I have to say
Happy 5th of May!!!

Or as our south of the border amigos would say...

Tacos and a Dos Equis for all!!!
As for me it's a couple of Oberon and some Advil (painting hurts!)

Stain my deck

Don't know of a joke about 'stain my deck" but I think the joke was on me. Since I needed things to keep me from starting the 'paint my house' project I decided to stain the front deck. I have the leftover stain I used two (or maybe it was 3?) years ago so it's a free project. Free is a good price for the unemployed! But I forgot about the labor costs. It took almost 3 hours JUST TO STAIN THE RAILS yesterday. Well, today onto the flooring. That should be quick and easy.
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Quick and easy... maybe. Free... not so much when you run out of stain. Maybe this calls for two coats! What could be more fun?