Our Little Yellow House

New Roof

2011-04-05T20:39:00.010-04:00

Back porch roof has been an eye sore for us for almost 6 years...

MUCH need of a new roof.

Front of the house

No before pictures of the garage. That's Reese's dog run in the middle of the picture.

The back porch roof finished. Will need paint and other details later.

Back of the house trim.

Part of the side

Driveway side, rear

That's enough for now.

It's a Fan!

2009-07-23T07:41:00.002-04:00

Ah, it's a post! Joe hung a ceiling fan in the living room last night. Air sort of stands still in our house, so we're hoping the fan will keep it moving. And just for fun, there's Rylan Chase this morning with cheerios strung out on the floor. =)

Fuse box to circuit breaker panel

2008-09-18T22:19:00.004-04:00

Here I am, prepared with a cleared area and the wires labeled:

The spaghetti on the inside:

In case you wondered, this is what the back of an electric meter looks like (analog):

And here is where it plugs in (hot on top):

Power's off, and so is the old box:

The new circuit breaker panel installed and wired up:

And with the cover on:

There are some breakers installed that I'm not using yet; some of you might have noticed that I have extra wires tapped into the main. There is another fuse box that runs the dryer, the hot water heater, the a/c unit, and the dishwasher on the other side of the house. I intend on running wires from those appliances to this new box in stages, hence the thirty amp tandem breakers. One fifty amp tandem might eventually run to the garage to another smaller service panel. The second runs the range. The third needs taken back to the store and more twenties put in. I'll break down the circuits in the house as I replace the wiring. As it is, one thirty amp breaker runs the south side of the house (living room, dining room, kitchen), and one twenty amp breaker runs the north side (two bedrooms and a bath). The remainder run small odd circuits in the basement (one powers only one outlet, one powers the furnace, another powers only one light bulb).

It took me about three or four hours to complete the switch. I've tested everything in the house that I can think of, and it seems that everything is running fine. Now we're all set up to get that fuel oil tank and old furnace out and make the switch to electric.

* 3 *

2008-07-22T08:59:00.003-04:00

3 Years ago we signed on our house! 3! WOW!

Nursery

2008-06-02T07:02:00.008-04:00

The middle picture is of the "closet bubble" the day we moved in. The bottom picture shows the shelves Joe built into the wall.

Garage Door Re-Hung

2007-10-12T23:10:00.002-04:00

This is the garage door and the track it runs on. It is hard to slide back and forth because the door catches in spots and falls off the track in others - all because the rail is falling off the side of the garage. So...

Door down (heavy), rail coming off.

The rail had to be drilled out for some larger bolts.

And there are my dirty paw-prints all over the re-installed door and rail. It's ugly but rolls like a dream.

New Bathroom Floor

2007-10-12T22:44:00.001-04:00

At one point, the toilet seal had worn out enough to start working on the floor. Instead of just trying to find a matching tile and patching a hole, we picked out a new pattern of linoleum. It turned out nicely.

Ripping up the old tile.

Messy.

The floor was getting squishy around the leak, so it had to be replaced. The floor is two crossing layers of lumber, and the top layer was the only one that was wet. So, a custom cut chunk of 3/4" plywood and we were set.

Floor mostly done and everything re-plumbed.

Angie caulking around the edges.

Ta da!

We plan to eventually put in a ceramic tile floor, but this floor should last a few good years.

Clothesline

2007-10-12T22:36:00.000-04:00

It's a clothesline. What do you expect?

Where did summer go?

2007-09-07T10:21:00.000-04:00

Hi all. It's hard to believe we've lived here for two years already. Sometimes it feels like we've always lived here. Other times, we moved in yesterday.

The house is pretty much the same as it ever was. We got a few projects done over the summer, and a few more to go. The nursery is done (I'll dig up some pics) except the closet. The bathroom is next, I believe. The yard got out of hand over the summer (as yards tend to do). I'm planning more yard stuff to eliminate more mowing. Grass sucks.

Our lives have changed already, enough to make some of the past projects languish in disuse and others shine. All that basement work for the boom boom room? Covered in dust. The dogs live in the basement through the day, and we don't get enough visitors to play the games. Oh well. Maybe it will get new life in the future. So far, so good on that fuel tank patch (though it will probably pop today, just because I mentioned it...).

The clothesline was a great idea - and so simple. It's down in the bottom of the yard, between Cassie and the rose of sharon. We get more use out of it than the dryer.

The garden was fun, and we've got new ideas for next year. This year, we got loads of tomatoes and corn out of it; peppers and beans. The lettuce, carrots, and broccoli didn't make it. The sunflowers are really amazing, with some around thirteen feet tall and heads bigger than serving dishes. Critters ate most of the strawberries until we wised up enough to cover them. I'm told the remaining few were really good. The blackberries did well, but not enough for a pie. Maybe next year.

We moved the computer onto a corner desk in the dining room for a while, until we get a better idea. We probably won't always need a desk for the computer; I foresee a printstation for a wireless, but for now we're still in the 80s.

Owning a home (well, renting from the bank!) certainly changes things, a lot more than we'd realized. It's nice to have a place to do with what you wish, but the work and the worry never stop. Darn adulthood.

What's next?

Hello Yard!

2007-05-20T18:06:00.002-04:00

A lot of mulching going on here.

Marigolds next to the house.

Close up.

Our strawberry patch.

Again.

Our garden.

Our clothesline, in action.

We've been busy lately. Hopefully before long we will have some nice garden pictures to show.

Stinky No More

2007-04-01T12:26:00.000-04:00

Angie and I have been eyeballing the mildew in our bathroom for some time. In fact, except for the new vanity, mirror, and shower faucet, we didn't remodel the bathroom when we moved in. Not even paint. We knew that we would be doing some major work down the road, so we left it be (and if you've ever been in there, you can tell!). Unless we open the window, the wet air stays in the room; probably because it was built so well - zero draft. Wet air makes for some problem mold and mildrew. Well, I took care of step one this morning: ventilation.

Pretty, but it had to go.

Just like any other fixture.

See this board? Normal bracing, right? Just wait.

Yeah, anything I could to get that thing out of there.

My new cordless HandiSaw did pretty well, until about here. Had to go get the big one to finish...

Good, it fits.

The entire bathroom is made like this. Drywall, concrete backer board, and a hard ceramic top. I don't even know how they did that.

All those layers are bad on blades.

Of course, in the tradition of the compulsive carpenter that built the place, count all those nails.

Ta Da!

See! It works!

Back Porch Light

2007-03-13T23:22:00.000-04:00

This weekend Angie and I decided to stop fumbling for house keys on the back porch. The bare bulb porcelain socket was fine, as long as we remembered to turn it on before we left the house. Arriving after dark when we forgot, though, meant trying to find the keyhole in the yellow-orange glow from the nearest streetlamp (and I have a love/hate relationship with those - why disturb the dark with those damn things - and why aren't they bright enough to actually do anything by?).

Anyway, Angie picked out a nice light to replace the old one. It’s an overhead with a motion sensor; cast black aluminum holding a half-inch thick frosted hexagon of glass. Four tiny chandelier bulbs bring the total wattage up to one hundred. There is a different setting on the fixture in addition to the usual motion sensor range and time: a half-power accent option, set from dusk to a certain amount of time, or all the way to dawn. I’ve set it to run half-power for three hours beyond dusk. It stays dimly lit until the dogs break its path, suddenly intensifying to announce their nighttime potty breaks.

Enough talk, here are the pics:

2007-03-13T23:19:00.000-04:00

Let's see... Cut the blue wire? No, maybe that was the red wire...

2007-03-13T23:14:00.000-04:00

Inside the dome, one motion sensor and settings and space for four small bulbs.

2007-03-13T23:08:00.000-04:00

All finished!

the deadly pointy spike of deathly doom!

2007-02-18T13:30:00.000-05:00

First Snow of the Year

2007-01-21T10:17:00.000-05:00

Our house.

Cassie enjoying the
snowflakes.

Reese in her first
real snow!

We woke up to this today. We think this is the most snow we've had at the house so far. It's still coming down!

First Post of the New Year

2007-01-06T09:01:00.000-05:00

These pictures are a little old, but we never got around to posting them. Joe made a trellis from some pine branches that had fallen. It is holding up our tame blackerry plants.

Our Christmas lights

2006-12-10T18:59:00.000-05:00

Our front porch all lit up

2006-12-10T18:57:00.000-05:00

Joe decorating Christmas

2006-12-10T18:54:00.000-05:00

Angie decorating tree

2006-12-10T18:51:00.000-05:00

Santa Cassie

2006-12-10T18:49:00.000-05:00

Reese's first Christmas

2006-12-10T18:48:00.000-05:00

Our Christmas tree 2006

2006-12-10T18:44:00.000-05:00

2006-12-06T20:50:00.000-05:00

As nice as it was to get forked, we decided to pass on the love. The dogs now live in the basement, chilling out on the concrete and not eating the couch.

That's about it.

Oh, and Angie hung some xmas lights out on the porch, and the stockings are hung on the mantle. Looks like it's that time of year again...

We've been forked!

2006-10-29T08:05:00.000-05:00

2006-10-29T07:59:00.000-05:00

2006-10-29T07:58:00.000-05:00

2006-10-29T07:57:00.000-05:00

2006-10-29T07:55:00.000-05:00

Oh, more paint!

2006-10-21T18:54:00.000-04:00

OK guys, the garage is finished. Well, the white trim needs to be done, but it is yellow finally. Joe should not have been painting today since he is under the weather, but once he sets his mind to something..... (you know)

Enjoy the pictures posted below.

Joe painting the garage

2006-10-21T18:53:00.000-04:00

Side view from one of the roads.

2006-10-21T18:51:00.000-04:00

The view from our neighbors across the street.

2006-10-21T18:50:00.000-04:00

The door side- Joe to the right

2006-10-21T18:48:00.000-04:00

Must do the trim... But it's yellow!

2006-10-21T18:46:00.000-04:00

Goes with our house, dontcha think?

2006-10-21T18:43:00.000-04:00

Beautiful flowers by our back door that bloom when the weather gets cold

2006-10-21T18:25:00.000-04:00

2006-10-15T23:17:00.000-04:00

One coat of paint on the garage this evening.

It's too damn cold for much else.

Front porch finished!

2006-09-30T11:17:00.000-04:00

2006-09-28T20:52:00.000-04:00

Finally, 33.3 degrees later...

2006-09-28T20:51:00.001-04:00

Front rail done

2006-09-28T20:51:00.000-04:00

Side two on, front in progress

NEW PORCH!!!!!

2006-09-23T23:08:00.000-04:00

We were at Home Depot FOREVER today! We went up to make our To Do List, but ended up buying the stuff to redo our porch. Crazy! I think we're really going to like it. The only problem I know of so far is that we might have to wait a while before we paint the new spindles and stuff. The wood is treated, and we're not sure about the paint yet. If we want to do it again in a year, then we could probably paint it tomorrow. We'll have made up our minds before anyone even reads this post, so it doesn't matter.

The point is that we are pimping out the porch and I'm pretty happy about that!

Pictures (we are not finished yet, so these are "under constructions" pics) are posted below!

2006-09-23T23:03:00.000-04:00

Supplies

2006-09-23T23:02:00.000-04:00

Supplies

2006-09-23T23:01:00.000-04:00

We demolished all of it! The iron side rails for the steps are even gone!

2006-09-23T23:00:00.000-04:00

After the demo!

2006-09-23T22:59:00.000-04:00

After the demo!

2006-09-23T22:58:00.000-04:00

Joe and Vinnie, working well together.

2006-09-23T22:57:00.000-04:00

Pretty, huh?

2006-09-23T22:56:00.000-04:00

Almost finished with this side.

Joe's ladder... Scary!

2006-09-10T12:41:00.000-04:00

Yep, that's right guys, I helped!

2006-09-10T12:39:00.000-04:00

Painting the Trim!

2006-09-10T10:02:00.000-04:00

Joe and I are trying to get all of the trim painted this weekend!

2006-09-06T06:14:00.000-04:00

If Ernesto would leave us alone for a few days, we will finish the house and garage! Hopefully with my new teaching job, we'll have the money to do some more things around here too.

2006-08-26T10:42:00.000-04:00

Just a little update; no, I'm not done painting, and no,
I won't get any done this weekend. It's Angie's birthday!

2006-08-19T19:07:00.001-04:00

Typical side shot without the fence and stuff.

2006-08-19T19:07:00.000-04:00

Typical side shot without the fence and stuff.

2006-08-19T19:06:00.000-04:00

A close up of the back porch freshly painted and no fencing and wall.

2006-08-19T19:05:00.000-04:00

Back porch without the fencing and wall.

2006-08-19T19:04:00.000-04:00

The back porch all opened up.

2006-08-19T19:03:00.000-04:00

Bye, bye side fence!

2006-08-19T19:02:00.000-04:00

Before the fence was removed...

2006-08-19T19:01:00.000-04:00

Take a last look!

2006-08-19T19:00:00.000-04:00

Goodbye mailbos and other junk that didn't belong on the wall.

2006-08-19T18:56:00.000-04:00

During.

2006-08-19T18:55:00.000-04:00

Before.

2006-08-18T20:15:00.000-04:00

Back porch.

2006-08-18T20:12:00.000-04:00

By the chimney.

2006-08-18T20:11:00.000-04:00

The back.

2006-08-18T20:10:00.000-04:00

Looking good.

2006-08-18T20:09:00.000-04:00

Work in progress.

2006-08-18T14:48:00.000-04:00

Roadside.

2006-08-18T14:46:00.000-04:00

Back of the house.

2006-08-18T14:42:00.000-04:00

A pretty side shot

2006-08-18T14:34:00.000-04:00

Paint Dave, paint!! :-)

2006-08-18T14:26:00.000-04:00

Roadside of the house.

2006-08-18T14:25:00.000-04:00

Front. Not finished, but you get the idea. And yes, the blue porch ceiling will be gone soon!

2006-08-18T13:50:00.000-04:00

Our Little White house is turning into our Little Yellow House!!!

2006-08-18T13:41:00.000-04:00

After scraping.

2006-08-18T13:40:00.000-04:00

Dave painting!

2006-08-18T13:39:00.000-04:00

You can see the white to yellow difference here.

2006-08-18T13:38:00.000-04:00

Dave painting the house. I think you can get a good idea of the color on this pic.

2006-08-18T13:35:00.000-04:00

Joe putting paint in the sprayer. Nice side house shot.

Might Be Getting Somewhere!!!!

2006-08-18T09:20:00.000-04:00

We bought 10 gallons of pretty (or at least it looks pretty on the card) yellow paint Wednesday night. Joe is hoping to get the scraping done today and possibly started on the garage. I fear that yet AGAIN, weather is NOT on our side as it is supposed to rain the next couple of days. We didn't know that when we bought the paint, but we have to have it anyways. So maybe we'll have some updates for you soon!

The Pictures You Were Promised!

2006-08-14T19:00:00.000-04:00

Our basement has turned into a practice place for Joe's new band HYBRID SOCIETY. My brother, Vinnie and our friend Chuck play with him. They are looking for a drummer with major skills...

2006-08-03T09:23:00.000-04:00

Our basement's turning into a practice area for a band. Stay tuned (that's a joke, man).

I Unintentionally Lied!!!

2006-07-29T10:11:00.000-04:00

We were wanting to paint the garage this weekend, but with the rain and Joe not being home, I guess it's not going to happen. Sorry guys, I'd really like to post something new in here, but we just haven't done anything.

Joe and I were able to get a rough draft for the patio and yard drawn out. If we can do it, it's going to be so beautiful. It will be a work in progress. And yes, we will be doing the work ourselves, but I would rather it be that way.

Anyways, I just wanted to let you know that the painting won't get done this weekend.

ONE YEAR!!!!!!!!!

2006-07-26T10:11:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure why this wasn't posted when it should have been, but:

We have been in our house for one whole year!!!! Saturday, the 22nd, was a year since we signed the papers. Monday, the 24th, was a year since we stayed our first night!

I really can't believe that neither of us have updated our blog on one of those days, but I guess later is better than never.

We are hoping to paint the garage this weekend. We are wanting to try out the paint sprayer on it first. We are painting it the same yellow as the house, with white trim, so if you're curious as to what the house will look like, hopefully (barring the weather), the garage will be painted by Sunday.

We have also been working out plans for a patio in the side yard. We were wanting to go on a nice vacation next year, but are contemplating putting in a pool instead. I'm sure we'll go on our vacation, but it won't be Europe or Hawaii like we wanted. Just a few ideas for this fall and next spring.

Thanks for sharing our first year as home owners with us!!!

2006-07-13T08:46:00.000-04:00

The nests that were still in our wall!

2006-07-13T08:44:00.000-04:00

We set the nests on fire, just to be sure the babies didn't make it. I know, PETA will be knockin on our door soon.

2006-07-13T08:41:00.000-04:00

The white piece of wood is the plug. Let's hope they can't get in now. What a mess they made!

2006-07-13T08:39:00.000-04:00

The plugged hole.

Killer Bees!

2006-07-09T22:28:00.000-04:00

Okay, not really. But they were still pretty scary.

For the past few weeks, I've noticed some large buzzing critters flying in and out of a little hole in the garage. I've not really got a problem with them; I leave them be; they leave me be. Until yesterday...

I was in the garage, getting who knows what, and I heard some odd chewing noise - the noise a mouse would make in the wall. Again, no big deal, it's just the garage; but... this was up high. I looked around and tried to find the sound. After following my ears a bit, I traced it over to the wall above the door. I remembered the bees flying in there on the outside and realized that they were chowing down on my garage. Hmm.. Okay, I'll let it go for now. Maybe this winter I'll climb up in the attic and bug-bomb it all.

Not the case.

This morning, I went out to the garage to start on another project. I wandered over toward one window, when I noticed that there were bees or something crawling all over the place. Goosebumps flashed up my arm and down my neck. I watched them for a minute, and figured I'd need to take them out this summer, probably some night when I had time. I turned back to the door and saw a hole - the size of my fist - buzzing with activity. Chewing, buzzing, humming... The hum of an active nest nearby is really a unique sound - something that will always make your skin crawl. The little buggers had chewed through the wall overnight and were trying to take over the garage. No way was I letting this happen!

I went in to tell Angie the news - much to her pleasure, I'm sure (she's allergic). Then I took some pictures (of course), and started to think about what to do. Let them go until night, and take them out while they sleep? Take them now, before the nest gets really active? I decided to figure out what I needed to kill before actually going after them.

Photo identification is of the European Hornet. These buggers are the only true hornet in the States, introduced some time ago. They are actually nocturnal, and relatively passive. Lucky me...

With this new info, I determined that the time to take them out was now. I grabbed the flyswatter and delayed going in there as long as possible - talking strategy with Angie, stalling for time, not really wanting to do this but I knew it had to be done. I was honestly a bit scared. After stalling as long as possible (or as long as she would let me), I walked into the garage (but not again through the walk door, thanks! I'll take the car door) and singled out a loner.

Smack!

One down.

Smack!

Two down.

Smack! Smack! Four.

Then I looked, and saw that the rest didn't even flinch. Kinda creepy, actually. I was expecting immediate retaliation. These guys could care less that I was thinning their ranks. But, I had a problem. The rest were still huddled up in a tight formation - no way was I swinging into that and only getting one or two. I wandered back to Angie (my hero!) and talked strategy [stalled] some more. I grabbed a can of starter fluid (easy, Mom) and tried to find another loner. I doused the little sucker with it, and boy was he pissed! He buzzed and flipped and flopped and stung and stung and wow was he angry. But, he couldn't fly, and couldn't do anything but flop around stinging the air. Oh! Maybe this would work. I waited for him to die. And waited.

And waited.

And still, I waited.

I'm a little impatient sometimes, but I really tried to give this guy my full attention. I wanted to know how long it would take to kill just one. A few minutes later, I had my answer: approximately never. No, not really. He eventually died from machete wounds to the um.. thorax. Or the head. Let's just say that I mercy'd him and gave a taste of French justice. Anyways, I decided (with much coaxing from my assistant and hiding place) that the starter fluid really wasn't going to cut it (pun intended).

I drove over to the dollar store to see what they had on hand. After reading the labels, I settled on a couple cans of Black Flag. The instructions (pointy end that-a way) and list of uses (kills everything) took up less than half of the back of the can. The rest was what to do if you spray it in your whatever. Let me tell you, every single one ended with 'and contact the poison control center immediately'. Grr. Very dangerous. Very macho. Very hornet-killer-ing-ly. ness. es.

Grr.

Armed with my fearless weapons (yeah, not really - I was still nervous), I drove home and showed Angie what I wrangled up [stalled some more]. After another cup of courage (black, thank you) I grabbed a can and tracked down a test target. There was a small wasp nest on the outside of the garage eave. Two quick pops, and I waited. One, two, three.. and they started to drop. All right! Let's go kill us some hornets!

I tip-toed into the garage and sucked in my breath. The starter fluid plan had agitated them a little, and the few in the window were beginning to stir (I guess it's good starter fluid! Get it? Starter fluid? heh heh... Bah.). I steadied my arm, took a couple deep breaths, and aimed for the smaller group. One breath in, slowly let it out, and bang!

Without letting off the trigger, I soaked all of them on the window. I blasted them and tried not to let out some macho yell. Then, I peeked over my shoulder to see if I pissed off the hive before counting the bodies. Again, the live ones really didn't care about the suffering of their comrades. Stuck-up european bugs...I mean, go Italy! I looked back to the scene of the July Window Massacre with horror. Bodies everywhere, twitching. I was a murderer; a mass murderer! YES! Now, let's look at this nest...

I misjudged my ammo before the Battle of the Doorway. After picking off the guards, I was out of ammo. I ran back to the house (what dummy leaves the back-up can on the dining room table?) and grabbed the spare. I puffed my chest a bit at Angie and ran back out to the western front.

I soaked the hive. Men, women, and children - I spared none. I hurried around to the entry hole and gunned down the retreaters before filling the hole with neurotoxins. A few came flying in from the field, and I shot them down too. A couple got by me, but I clipped them with the spray. It's only a matter of time before they too go to the great beehive in the sky. Hornet hive.

Whatever.

I watched them twitch. I watched them die. I watched them flinch and flip and cry. In the end, there was silence.

The hive was silent.

The hum was gone.

I straightened my back, leveled my shoulders, and held my head high. With a cock-sure look in my eye and a [goofy] grin on my face, I showed M'Lady the spoils of war - the trophies themselves. Most of them were around an inch long. The white larvae were half that size. One gigantic monster sent by the devil himself had to be three feet long and ate the neighbor's cat on its way back down to the fiery pits of hell (to rule, no doubt). Don't believe me? I've got that one in the freezer. I'm getting him mounted over the fireplace. The rest I gave a proper military funeral, complete with twenty-one middle-finger salutes.

This evening, I showed the neighbor the hornets and the hole (swagger, swagger). He hadn't seen any like that before (and really, neither had I). We talked shop for a bit, and got a closer look at the hive. It really was dead. It's still in the wall, but nothing is moving - and better yet - nothing moves when I poke it with a stick (the true test of deadness). I intend on waiting a couple days before worrying about it too much. The label said to wait twenty four hours before removing the nest. With its potency, I'll lean on the safe side and wait a bit longer. Sometime this week, I'll gut the hive and plug that darn hole.

If you've got the stomach for it, there are seven pictures following. Remember: they're all dead now. They can't get you.

2006-07-09T21:36:00.000-04:00

They came in this tiny little hole - about the size of your thumb.

2006-07-09T21:35:00.000-04:00

..and chewed through to here! (Nice plate, eh?)

2006-07-09T21:33:00.000-04:00

They took over this window in another corner.

2006-07-09T21:32:00.000-04:00

..with some more all over the place.