Colorado mountains, 7200 ft elevation.
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Enter At Your Own Risk
- Thread starter GoodEnuff
- Start date
So yesterday, the man came to remove the snow dams from the roof and patch the screw holes. He couldn't find anything that indicated a leak in the area where I heard dripping during the rains last week. He did say that some of the screws were placed at an angle so they did not have a good seal. Just in case, he also ran a bead of the roof sealant around the bathroom roof vent. Rain is predicted next week; if the drip I am hearing continues, he said he will go into the attic. Yuck.
The snow dams were installed about 18 months ago. They did not help with preventing ice dams, hanging icicles, etc. What they did do is keep the snow on the roof and make it difficult to remove. Pine needles, leaves, etc., also built up behind those dams. Perhaps that is the source of the leak? IDK. So off they came; $400 wasted.
He is coming back this evening to do a few minor things that are winter related. When that is done ( probably take 10 minutes), we will discuss the finishing of the formerly hot tub room. Once snow falls, his work schedule will slow down and this will be inside work. That will be the last major project on this winter's agenda, other than replacing some carpet in the extra bedroom (no big deal).
The snow dams were installed about 18 months ago. They did not help with preventing ice dams, hanging icicles, etc. What they did do is keep the snow on the roof and make it difficult to remove. Pine needles, leaves, etc., also built up behind those dams. Perhaps that is the source of the leak? IDK. So off they came; $400 wasted.
He is coming back this evening to do a few minor things that are winter related. When that is done ( probably take 10 minutes), we will discuss the finishing of the formerly hot tub room. Once snow falls, his work schedule will slow down and this will be inside work. That will be the last major project on this winter's agenda, other than replacing some carpet in the extra bedroom (no big deal).
The contractor said he can schedule finishing out the ex-hot tub room in February! I may try to find someone else to do it before then.
Meanwhile, I decided to pull the weeds that grew up over the septic leech field. Most of it came up fairly easily; a few had to be dug out and a couple not even that worked. Those will be chopped off. After a couple of hours, I stopped and left the rest for later. I suspect some of these are "tumble weeds". Will work on it again today. The now grassy area in the back that was cleared last spring could use cutting down. Maybe I'll do that first; it's much easier and once it snows, it will be packed down and very difficult to do.
The weather has been glorious; sunny, blue sky, cool in the 50's/60's. Perfect weather to be outdoors. The deciduous trees have donned their fall wardrobes and are beautiful. I managed to move the tomato plants to the south side of the house; they still have dozens of tomatoes on them and am hoping the sunshine will ripen them before the next freeze. One of them did get some frost damage but it is hanging in there.
Today's To Do List includes repairing the gate on the temporary fence, water the transplanted lambs ears and lilies in the small front garden, pull weeds, place the fertilizer spikes around/under the Blue Spruce tree in front and maybe cut back the grass mentioned above. That won't all get done but it will still be there tomorrow.
Meanwhile, I decided to pull the weeds that grew up over the septic leech field. Most of it came up fairly easily; a few had to be dug out and a couple not even that worked. Those will be chopped off. After a couple of hours, I stopped and left the rest for later. I suspect some of these are "tumble weeds". Will work on it again today. The now grassy area in the back that was cleared last spring could use cutting down. Maybe I'll do that first; it's much easier and once it snows, it will be packed down and very difficult to do.
The weather has been glorious; sunny, blue sky, cool in the 50's/60's. Perfect weather to be outdoors. The deciduous trees have donned their fall wardrobes and are beautiful. I managed to move the tomato plants to the south side of the house; they still have dozens of tomatoes on them and am hoping the sunshine will ripen them before the next freeze. One of them did get some frost damage but it is hanging in there.
Today's To Do List includes repairing the gate on the temporary fence, water the transplanted lambs ears and lilies in the small front garden, pull weeds, place the fertilizer spikes around/under the Blue Spruce tree in front and maybe cut back the grass mentioned above. That won't all get done but it will still be there tomorrow.
Spent a good part of yesterday pulling those weeds and amazingly that is finished. Decided to wait until today to bag it all; then I saw the weather forecast for rain and went back out there. Managed to get most of it bagged but then just had to quit. Sure enough, it rained during the night so may have to wait until tomorrow to finish that part. The local waste management company will take them for an extra $3/bag.
I think today I will take a break from such hard physical labor as this morning my back is complaining a little bit. Glad for the rain, lol.
I think today I will take a break from such hard physical labor as this morning my back is complaining a little bit. Glad for the rain, lol.
Managed to get all the pulled weeds bagged and out to the curb to be picked up on Wednesday. 11 heavy duty 55 gallon contractor bags. Ouch. Maybe tomorrow I will do some grass trimming out back, or leaf raking. Add to those bags.
Can't decide whether to rake leaves twice, or wait until they have all fallen and it will probably be more difficult. Hmmm...
Can't decide whether to rake leaves twice, or wait until they have all fallen and it will probably be more difficult. Hmmm...
Yesterday, I managed to bag five bags of leaves. The good thing is that even when packed down, the bags aren't very heavy. I need to get more bags. There are now 16 bags sitting on the roadside to be picked up today. This is the first time I tried using the leaf blower in that area; didn't think it would work very well because those leaves/pine needles settle down into the vinca (vinka?) ground cover and are hard to get out. It worked pretty good. I have decided perfection isn't always required. It just has to be good enuff, lol.
The 26F/-7C temps finally killed the two cherry tomato plants. There were still a LOT of green tomatoes on them so I picked them all (about 2 quarts) and made green tomato salsa. It turned out...ok. It'll probably just sit in the fridge/freezer for a month or two, then get thrown out. Oh, well. At least I tried.
I have an appointment this afternoon for a haircut. Will pick up a few things while in town, like leaf bags.
The 26F/-7C temps finally killed the two cherry tomato plants. There were still a LOT of green tomatoes on them so I picked them all (about 2 quarts) and made green tomato salsa. It turned out...ok. It'll probably just sit in the fridge/freezer for a month or two, then get thrown out. Oh, well. At least I tried.
I have an appointment this afternoon for a haircut. Will pick up a few things while in town, like leaf bags.
The haircut is way too short. Oh, well. It'll grow back.
The far off mountains now have snow on them. We haven't had any snow yet. Stepped outside yesterday and the creek is down to its winter trickle. It happens overnight; this water is levee'd and they close the gates in winter, open them in early summer for irrigation for the farms down below. It's so quiet outside now. I should get out there and clear out the branches, etc., that tend to get stuck between rocks and such. Maybe wait a day or two to let the now exposed rocks dry out; they can be very slippery.
Went to town yesterday for a few items. It was pretty quiet, not much traffic, although comparatively there is never much traffic like in the cities.
I was a bit concerned because of all the internet talk about looting and such. I cannot imagine that happening here. All was calm. I have mixed thoughts about all of this shutdown business.
There was a time, long ago, when I was a working single mother of two and had no money, I called about food stamps but was told it would take more than six weeks to receive any benefit; all I needed was enough to get through a week or two. If there were food banks back then, I didn't know about them. We managed; it wasn't easy. The thought of stealing never occurred to me.
The far off mountains now have snow on them. We haven't had any snow yet. Stepped outside yesterday and the creek is down to its winter trickle. It happens overnight; this water is levee'd and they close the gates in winter, open them in early summer for irrigation for the farms down below. It's so quiet outside now. I should get out there and clear out the branches, etc., that tend to get stuck between rocks and such. Maybe wait a day or two to let the now exposed rocks dry out; they can be very slippery.
Went to town yesterday for a few items. It was pretty quiet, not much traffic, although comparatively there is never much traffic like in the cities.
I was a bit concerned because of all the internet talk about looting and such. I cannot imagine that happening here. All was calm. I have mixed thoughts about all of this shutdown business.
There was a time, long ago, when I was a working single mother of two and had no money, I called about food stamps but was told it would take more than six weeks to receive any benefit; all I needed was enough to get through a week or two. If there were food banks back then, I didn't know about them. We managed; it wasn't easy. The thought of stealing never occurred to me.