Deck design complete.

Last week was pretty nice. It started off chilly, but warmed up towards the end.  I even started going out for walks during the week.  I am hopeful that the rodent was wrong; I can hear birds and stuff in the mornings again.

 

I walked to the bank on Thursday and made another big payment on the mortgage.  I noticed on the way home (probably because I was hungry) that the clouds looked like mozzarella pearls...

 

Saturday was all about cleaning up the driveway.  I still hadn't cleaned the top, and it was rough parking the truck.  I did have a minor casualty (one of my cheapo sawhorses from Harbor Freight got in the way when the tractor suddenly became unstuck), but the top is cleared now.  I still had significant traction issues, and I had to dig with the bucket, scraping with the bucket was inadequate, but I got several inches peeled off.  

Since I was digging, I ended up dumping it over behind the parking spot.

In a couple of spots, you can actually see gravel again.  

Most of it though is compressed into ice at this point.  I bought a thing of salt last time I went to Home Depot, and put most of it out.  Hopefully it helps. 

I didn't get this side done as good, but it is still a ton better than it was.  

More importantly, I got the truck up the driveway in 2WD.  Kinda/barely.

After clearing, I went to work on the deck design.  I ended up with a deck that is around 20x20, which seems awfully large to me, but I guess not unreasonably large.  I could shave a couple feet off if I find that the deck is going to cost something like 10k.  I am expecting it will run about 3-5k, most of which is fill.

Sunday was even nicer.  I decided to go to Otter Brook, but apparently despite them bringing a loader and clearing out the front and parking area, they hadn't cleared the road through the park yet.  There was only a little trail running down the hill.

I followed it until it split, and the packed trail was no longer strong enough to support me and I started sinking in with every step.  I didn't bring snowshoes because I didn't think I would need them.  But I still watched the brook for a little bit before heading back.

My phone didn't really have enough zoom, but the little opening was full of stalactites and stalagmites.

On the way back the ice on the cap broke and scared the crap out of me.  

I also started comparing the trailer and u-haul ideas head to head.  I narrowed the uhaul options down to a 10'.  I am working on a document, but that isn't quite finished yet.

Other than that, I did some more of the cleaning.

The deck design is pretty much done, though I might want to do some pricing for it before I cross it off.

Winter Projects:

• Build shelving for second room
  
• Design deck
• Eliminate cap
• Install whole house filter.
• Install new faucet in kitchen
• Install new faucet in master bath
  
• Access panel upgrades in master closet
• Cut trails, or at least mark paths.

2025 Projects

• Insulate the water lines
• Take scrap metal to Buffum.  Clean up trash.
• Storm doors
• Gravel the driveway
• Side yard drainage
• Build Deck
• Add the roof over to rocks
• Move carport up hill
• Smooth grade to shed.

Next year I am installing chains

This weekend was pretty much all abysmal weather.  Saturday snowed all day, though admittedly not as hard as expected.  Sunday was a mess and whatever whim of the clouds felt like at that minute; it was changing between snow, sleet, freezing rain, and gale.  Monday was also windy, but at least dry for the most part.  

I woke up early enough on Saturday to test the campfire in a can.  It took a little bit to light, but it took off once I did.  It put out a fair amount of heat (more than expected anyways), but still far less than a campfire.  It wasn't terribly smokey, but I still don't think I would want to use one indoors or without ventilation.  It would be okay in a tent though, or at least mine which is well ventilated.  

To put it out, just put the lid on (the lid on my ammo can is removable) and close it.  I only burned it for about 5 minutes, but the ammo can itself didn't get hot, though the very edges didn't catch.  I imagine it will eventually burn out the seal, but when that happens it was only a 10 dollar ammo can from Harbor Freight.  

The rest of the weekend was mostly playing games and cleaning.  I got all the carpeted rooms cleaned up  and vacuumed (except the third bedroom, though I did make headway in there as well).  All that left is to swiffer the floors.

For reference, this is what the bedroom looked like before I cleaned it up.

I did a little bit of cooking, and I think it might be to call Time of Death on my crockpot.  This is the second or third time it has burned the crap on one side, and the other side didn't cook well at all.  I might start looking at new ones, or perhaps something like a sous-vide or something; I don't use the crockpot that often.

I worked from home yesterday, so I waited until yesterday afternoon to do the clearing from the weekend weather with the faint hope that the wind would die down a bit.  There was so much wind that it had almost erased my driveway completely.

I had to do some digging but I found my winterizer stuff for the diesel, the tractor was running low.  

Unfortunately, I quickly realized that my tractor didn't have enough traction.  I spun out three times just doing this little bit so I could get the tractor out of the carport.

So I figured this might be a good opportunity to get the walk behind out.  I put gas in it, and it started pouring out all over the ground.  Great....  It didn't do that when I put gas in it when I bought it. it was dry so the guy let me put some in it to make sure it ran.  So that is something to look into.  Ugh.

I ended up doing it with the tractor a few feet at a time.  The biggest problem was steering, though having chains on the back would have helped the few times I started spinning pushing the snowblower.  Because of the steering I couldn't do the top part of the driveway pretty much at all.  I did a couple of passes with the bucket, but I literally had no control over where it went and slid sideways several times.  I was lucky a couple of times I didn't get the tractor stuck and had to push the tractor back using the bucket.  Yuck.

I had a casualty while I was out snowblowing.  It is annoying because this was off my new fake fur hat.  Grumble grumble.

None of this stuff is on the checklist, so no movement there.  I am still leaning towards the smaller deck with the pool behind it, and maybe I will draw up something more formal for it.  Thankfully there is currently no snow in the forecast for the 10 day.

Winter Projects:

• Build shelving for second room
  
• Design deck
• Eliminate cap
• Install whole house filter.
• Install new faucet in kitchen
• Install new faucet in master bath
  
• Access panel upgrades in master closet
• Cut trails, or at least mark paths.

2025 Projects

• Insulate the water lines
• Take scrap metal to Buffum.  Clean up trash.
• Storm doors
• Gravel the driveway
• Side yard drainage
• Build Deck
• Add the roof over to rocks
• Move carport up hill
• Smooth grade to shed.

Getting ready for another snowy weekend.

When I went shopping on Tuesday, I stopped by Harbor Freight (they finally put out a coupon for it) and picked up the last piece for my next piece of curiosity.  The goal is to make a campfire in a can.  In theory, it is a self contained fire, so while somewhat gray, should be legal to use during burn bans (I say gray because the rules for burn bans vary from state to state).  And for short periods, should even be safe to use indoors, though I don't think I like that idea.  I have seen people use them for heating tents and stuff though.  

In a nutshell, it is a massive candle.  The cardboard acts as a wick.  Cramming it all in there made a mess.

I had to do a bit research on the wax.  Most said you had to use a double-boiler, but I decided to risk it and melt it in the microwave.  It wasn't clear how well it would wash out, so I used disposable bowls.  It seemed to work okay, and I didn't light the wax on fire in my microwave.  

I put 5lbs of wax in it, and didn't light any of the wax on fire in my microwave.  Pro tip - make sure your cardboard is shorter than the sides of the container.  I made a mess on my counter where it ran off the side.  The center is full, and almost all the cardboard is at least covered, if not filled.  I have no idea is sufficient, but we will find out.

The storm that came this week was a sloppy mess.  It started off as snow, and then changed over to freezing rain.  It looked cool when I left work though.  A single star, and the clouds on the left being backlit, and the clouds on the right lit up by Keene.

My curl is now flat as it has gotten heavier.

I didn't clear the snow hoping that the rain would just form a crust on it, but it didn't go that way.  It completely saturated it and turned the whole thing into a frozen mess.  My driveway is still passable, but without a 4WD, notsomuch.  The fun will come this weekend when we get a foot of snow, what will the snowblower do to it.

All that is left on the deck is to make a decision.  Right now I am leaning towards integrating the pool and making the deck shorter.  It will be much cheaper to build (because it will be a fair bit smaller) and I still end up covering the area that doesn't grow anything, just with pool sand instead of deck.

Chances are I will not be doing much this weekend, since it is supposed to snow all weekend from mid-day Saturday onwards through Sunday evening.

Winter Projects:

• Build shelving for second room
  
• Design deck
• Eliminate cap
• Install whole house filter.
• Install new faucet in kitchen
• Install new faucet in master bath
  
• Access panel upgrades in master closet
• Cut trails, or at least mark paths.

2025 Projects

• Insulate the water lines
• Take scrap metal to Buffum.  Clean up trash.
• Storm doors
• Gravel the driveway
• Side yard drainage
• Build Deck
• Add the roof over to rocks
• Move carport up hill
• Smooth grade to shed.

Snow is piling up.

Last week was  bunch of paper work, things like filing taxes, renewing my license, and so on.  The weekend was rather snowy though, so I was inside pretty much all day Saturday.  I am debating on moving this and putting it up in the project room above the work bench.  

I also got around to making the flaps that hold the two different access panels in the closet closed.  I am still debating on putting a clear panel in the one in front of the water filter, that way I can see the display on it, but for now this will suffice.  

My "wingnut" is actually just some mending braces with spacers...

I also went and took a look at the back deck design.  You may recall I at one point looked into it before.  

I have two finalists for arrangements, which will impact the design.  The one on top basically has the deck be large and go all the way back.  This would give me a monstrous deck, but means I am sacrificing yard for the pool.  The second option basically cuts the deck short, but instead I would level the area with pool sand and put the pool behind the deck.  This means the pool size is essentially fixed, but I don't think that really bothers me.  If I want more pool, I am more likely to want depth than diameter.  

For reference this is my current pool.  If I am not mistaken, it is the same size pool that I brought down to KY, though I don't think it was ever set up down there.

Sunday was pretty peaceful.  I did pick up some pizza and stuff for the game, but I didn't actually watch the super bowl.  I had the game tracker up on my phone and finished up the game I bought for this year (Celeste in case anyone has heard of it).  I typically buy one game a year for something to do when I don't want to go outside.

The only other thing on Sunday was to clear the snow.  I have to say though it is nice that clearing snow takes the same amount of time whether there is 3" or 12".  We got more than expected; these are 12" boots.

But the snowblower didn't flinch.  I did have a few minor traction issues, but it handled it no problem, still full speed.

Winter Projects:

• Build shelving for second room
  
• Design deck
• Eliminate cap
• Install whole house filter.
• Install new faucet in kitchen
• Install new faucet in master bath
  
• Access panel upgrades in master closet
• Cut trails, or at least mark paths.

2025 Projects

• Insulate the water lines
• Take scrap metal to Buffum.  Clean up trash.
• Storm doors
• Gravel the driveway
• Side yard drainage
• Build Deck
• Add the roof over to rocks
• Move carport up hill
• Smooth grade to shed.

Yesterday's missing pictures.

This is mostly just the missing pictures from yesterday's post.  Though I did get to see the first snow curl of the season when I got home from shopping.  

The third bedroom.  It is finally clean enough that I can bring home the other rolling cabinet and the bins I snarfed from work.

The hanging baskets in the closet are full now too.  Apparently every time I thought about paint or stain I went out and bought new stuff, and then never used it; that whole second basket is all painting stuff.  

This is what the shelving in the third bedroom looks like now.  I still need to pull out the kayak and inflate it, see if I can find and patch the hole.

Unmotivated week

My shopping trip last week got cut short.  Apparently there was a gas leak at Dollar Tree, so that stop got skipped.

My other heat pump decided to puke too.  Despite the Samsung units being rated for well below zero (this unit has capacity ratings all the way down to -30F), they apparently don't meet the specs they post.  So much for the electrification crowd; I no longer recommend mini-splits to people who ask.  I am pretty sure it is only the Samsung units that suck, but there was no way I was going to pay >30k (about 2.5 times the Samsung cost) for Mitsubishi units though.

Fortunately my propane furnace fired right up.  Given how unreliable these Samsung units have been, I have decided against removing the gas furnace.

I was a little concerned about how much propane I had left.  Turns out plenty, and more than I thought.  I am still running the original fill of these tanks from about 7 years ago, but both tanks were in the 30-35% range.

I did get the heat pump to came back after a reset.  I  chatted with the guy who installed it; he doesn't do repairs, only replacements.  Something to think about; though he did confirm the units are still under warranty.

I did not do much this weekend.  Saturday was mostly clearing snow.  Since I hadn't cleared all the little 2" jobbies we had gotten, it took a bit longer and I scraped things down with the bucket to get it all the way down.  I did a much better job on the first pass with the snowblower though, the straight part of the driveway was almost straight this time.

Sunday was mostly rearranging things while Groundhog day was playing in the background.  The shelf is done and moved to the other room.  I apparently forgot to take pictures of it though after cleaning up.  

To my surprise, the door shelving thing I ordered after I decided to keep the gas furnace showed up on Saturday.  I put it together on Sunday.  While I love the way the cabinets in this house look, they are some of the poorest designed cabinets for usability I have ever seen.  So this is for the stuff I use more often.  I almost never close this door, so I am not too concerned about it going over the air movement grating.  I am honestly far more worried about whether this will warp the door or not; that is a lot of weight hanging on it.

I also came up with a sketch of the concept of the thing I plan to build for the back of the CR-V.  I will need to get better measurements of the car before finalizing it.  Looking at it now, I realize that I forgot the microwave.  Oops.

Yesterday I worked from home.  I had intended to write this post yesterday, but I kept finding myself outside (I didn't even need a coat yesterday, it was just a hair over 40, even in Sullivan).  The sunset was rather pleasant, despite my phone neutering the colors.

The shelves are complete, which is another one of the winter projects done.  I bought enough wood to build a second set of shelves, but I don't need to (when I take pictures of the shelves all loaded, you can see that they aren't full).  I will probably use the remaining lumber for the organizer for the back for the CR-V.

Winter Projects:

• Build shelving for second room
  
• Design deck
• Eliminate cap
• Install whole house filter.
• Install new faucet in kitchen
• Install new faucet in master bath
  
• Access panel upgrades in master closet
• Cut trails, or at least mark paths.

2025 Projects

• Insulate the water lines
• Take scrap metal to Buffum.  Clean up trash.
• Storm doors
• Gravel the driveway
• Side yard drainage
• Build Deck
• Add the roof over to rocks
• Move carport up hill
• Smooth grade to shed.