Never thought retirement would be like this
- Thread starter NancyNGA
- Start date
Very true, Meanderer. And TWO halves would make a whole ONE.
This is a picture of the only place where a *big* shelf might go. There are some problems, which might be obvious. There used to be a 4th door.
Just came up with a possible idea.
Heading out to check on the goats. Need to think some more.
This is a picture of the only place where a *big* shelf might go. There are some problems, which might be obvious. There used to be a 4th door.
Just came up with a possible idea. Heading out to check on the goats. Need to think some more.
Hi maggiemae! Have you been working on your winter projects? In 4 or 5 weeks winter will be essentially over. Time is flying. I've done nothing in the last 2 weeks.
My latest excuse: Stubbed toe on step ladder, foot swelled up for 3 days, hobbling around, sore for another 10 days. That excuse is now gone. Back thinking about the storage shelves.
I have been a "slug" in the past weeks too! But I did make one run to Goodwill with the back of my Santa Fe packed with boxes for donation. And speaking of my Santa Fe, went to get the oil changed and they come back and say I need both front Half Shafts replaced. This is a 2004 and I love this car. It has 180,000 miles on it but I have never had to have any major work done on it because I have been faithful to keep the maintenance up to date. They quoted me $600 for repair and labor. Beats a car payment any day...so I guess I will schedule it to be done.
I have been going through file cabinets and pulling out old paper work that needs to go! I bought a heavy duty shredder a few months ago because I decided I did not want to box this mess up and meet a shredding company somewhere. I have already shredded a Home Depot Contractor's Bag full! Still got the basement to sort out of so much old unused things and I still want to paint our master bedroom and do some floor repair! It's never ending!
Hope your toe is better. I have done that before and my toe was actually "black". It was probably broke but since I hate going to doctors, I suffered through it!
I think you can build your own storage shelves and they would be much sturdier than any you would buy. Can't wait to see the finished product!
I never heard of Half Shafts before. Googled it. I hope I don't have any. Ha! The $600 is a lot, but I guess it could be worse. I suppose you are sure you *really* need them? I never trust what most car mechanics say now. I try to get them to show me, and see if it makes sense, or at least half sense.
It sounds to me like you have been doing A LOT!!!
This toe stub turned out to last longer than I figured. Must be some kind of muscle or ligament tear. It's farther up. I hate to go to doctors too. It's OK as long as I don't take long steps.
You are putting the pressure on me now.
Yesterday afternoon...
..Surveillance Report - Thursday 1/26/17 (performed on a drive by)
The new neighbors now have at least 19 animals in the pasture up near the road. Today there were 2 more alpacas and a strange looking white dog. Google shows it to look most like an Akbash, a livestock guard dog,
but could also be a Great Pyrenees. With the donkey, that means at least 14 goats now. What will they get next? A zebra? These may be my kind of people!
PLUS, they have put a U.S. flag right out near the road. Was yesterday a holiday? I Googled it to find out. Could be left over from Wednesday. Wednesday, January 25th was National Opposite Day. I need to learn the flag codes out there. There may be a flag war going on and I don't know it.
Back home, get a call from a friend---the mole for the old next door neighbors who moved out 5 years ago. Friend said the guy (who said I had hairy arms and surveillance cameras) called him, said one "Hello," then immediately asked him if he thought that the people who owned my property would let him go duck hunting on their lake now! (They *never* give up.)
Duck hunting?!? Seriously? Who eats duck? Duck and geese season is over Jan 29th.
Finally, one of the big planted pines in the front yard out there looks like it has pine beetles. It is turning brown. There are approximately 20 pines out there. I SHOULD get someone to come out and see if the others are infested. They can be removed for timber for little to no cost, if you catch them early enough. Otherwise it will cost a fortune to have them all removed.
Too many things I SHOULD do! Don't want to think about it.
The new neighbors now have at least 19 animals in the pasture up near the road. Today there were 2 more alpacas and a strange looking white dog. Google shows it to look most like an Akbash, a livestock guard dog,
but could also be a Great Pyrenees. With the donkey, that means at least 14 goats now. What will they get next? A zebra? These may be my kind of people!
PLUS, they have put a U.S. flag right out near the road. Was yesterday a holiday? I Googled it to find out. Could be left over from Wednesday. Wednesday, January 25th was National Opposite Day. I need to learn the flag codes out there.
There may be a flag war going on and I don't know it.Back home, get a call from a friend---the mole for the old next door neighbors who moved out 5 years ago. Friend said the guy (who said I had hairy arms and surveillance cameras) called him, said one "Hello," then immediately asked him if he thought that the people who owned my property would let him go duck hunting on their lake now! (They *never* give up.
)Duck hunting?!? Seriously? Who eats duck? Duck and geese season is over Jan 29th.
Finally, one of the big planted pines in the front yard out there looks like it has pine beetles. It is turning brown. There are approximately 20 pines out there. I SHOULD get someone to come out and see if the others are infested. They can be removed for timber for little to no cost, if you catch them early enough. Otherwise it will cost a fortune to have them all removed.
Too many things I SHOULD do! Don't want to think about it.
Meanderer
Supreme Member
Very interesting, Nancy. Keep your eyes peeled for Red Wattles, Randall Linebacks, Chocktaw Hogs, Cotton Patch Geese, and Sand Clemente Goats! They might become extinct because nobody eats them!
Messed up day today. Routine annual Dr. appt in the afternoon. I never have anything to complain about, and he always seems to act disappointed, so this time I wrote down everything I could think of, including the numb finger and stubbed toe. It turned out to be an elaborate thing this time. All kinds of tests and questions and samples collected. The assistant wanted to hear all the details about the toe and the finger. Ended up spending 2 hours there.
I guess it was the Medicare Annual Wellness Visit thing. Apparently Medicare is getting more picky. Assistant said if they did not do a thorough exam and send in all the data, Medicare would dock them points, and if they got docked too many points they would be punished and couldn't do Medicare patients. Darn those gov't regulations. Ya can't get by with anything nowadays.
All I know so far is blood pressure was 93/55, in spite of putting on a few pounds since last time. I figured it would go up. Got to get those pounds off before summer...Again. Seems like the same old story every spring.
About the numb finger. She knew exactly what it was, and said you'd just have to be vigilant about not putting pressure on that nerve until it heals. Nerves take a really long time to heal. It's down to just the tip of the pinky finger getting numb now. As long as I don't lose any strength in the finger, not to worry, keep doing what I'm doing.
Maggiemae, I thought about you and your stubbed toe. If you read this, the assistant said she could do an X-ray if I wanted, but even if you have a hairline fracture in your toe, there usually isn't a whole lot you can do about it, except maybe have your foot taped up.
So I did good not running to the doctor. Saved Medicare a lot of money and me a lot of time.
Then some grocery shopping. Then fell asleep around 8pm and didn't wake up until midnight. Missed all the news and I'm wide awake at 1am. Hopefully back on track tomorrow.
It turned out to be an elaborate thing this time. All kinds of tests and questions and samples collected. The assistant wanted to hear all the details about the toe and the finger. Ended up spending 2 hours there. I guess it was the Medicare Annual Wellness Visit thing. Apparently Medicare is getting more picky. Assistant said if they did not do a thorough exam and send in all the data, Medicare would dock them points, and if they got docked too many points they would be punished and couldn't do Medicare patients. Darn those gov't regulations. Ya can't get by with anything nowadays.
All I know so far is blood pressure was 93/55, in spite of putting on a few pounds since last time. I figured it would go up. Got to get those pounds off before summer...Again. Seems like the same old story every spring.
About the numb finger. She knew exactly what it was, and said you'd just have to be vigilant about not putting pressure on that nerve until it heals. Nerves take a really long time to heal. It's down to just the tip of the pinky finger getting numb now. As long as I don't lose any strength in the finger, not to worry, keep doing what I'm doing.
Maggiemae, I thought about you and your stubbed toe. If you read this, the assistant said she could do an X-ray if I wanted, but even if you have a hairline fracture in your toe, there usually isn't a whole lot you can do about it, except maybe have your foot taped up.
So I did good not running to the doctor. Saved Medicare a lot of money and me a lot of time.
Then some grocery shopping. Then fell asleep around 8pm and didn't wake up until midnight. Missed all the news and I'm wide awake at 1am. Hopefully back on track tomorrow.
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Nancy, pretty good blood pressure reading! Yep, I figured there would not be much you could do with a broke toe. My Mother was an RN and my sister and I had to "suck it up" when we got hurt! I remember when they came out with the oral polio vaccine, she would volunteer to go to the schools on the weekends to give the children the dose on a sugar cube. She brought my sister and I a dose home but we had to take it straight (no sugar cube for us)! I remember cutting my leg pretty bad on a piece of tin by our chicken houses because I was running around like some wild child. She just cleaned it up and I can remember my grandmother saying "She probably needs stitches." but mother said "She will be okay". I still have a scar there. I grew up to be tough!
Looks like it is becoming "Wild Kingdom" out there at the cabin! Interesting?!
Well, the shower in the master bath is leaking again. Noticed some water dripping out of the ceiling in the kitchen/breakfast area yesterday. I looked at my records and have an invoice where the same thing happened in 2005. Plumber had to replace seats and washers on the shower valves. Did a test by pouring water in the shower (to make sure it was not the shower pan) and no problem but then when I turned on the shower handles and it started leaking! I will be calling him on Monday. And I just painted that ceiling this past October where there was water stains! It is always something!
Gosh, I am rambling! I don't mean to "hijack" your diary!
Looks like it is becoming "Wild Kingdom" out there at the cabin! Interesting?!
Well, the shower in the master bath is leaking again. Noticed some water dripping out of the ceiling in the kitchen/breakfast area yesterday. I looked at my records and have an invoice where the same thing happened in 2005. Plumber had to replace seats and washers on the shower valves. Did a test by pouring water in the shower (to make sure it was not the shower pan) and no problem but then when I turned on the shower handles and it started leaking! I will be calling him on Monday. And I just painted that ceiling this past October where there was water stains! It is always something!
Gosh, I am rambling! I don't mean to "hijack" your diary!
I remember my grandmother showing me a scar on her leg once and telling me she got it chopping something with an axe when she was a teenager. Her mother chewed tobacco, and she just plopped a wad of tobacco on the gash, and that was it. My grandmother was one of 11 siblings, and only one, the youngest, was a boy! The girls had to do serious chores. Did you have brothers and sisters?
Oh no! That's terrible. Leaks happening inside of walls scare me. I've been lucky so far. It finally rained enough last week for me to decide the leak in my bathroom was, in fact, from around the vent pipe. I tried patching around that already, but it didn't work. Soon as the weather warms up I may go up on the roof. Ha!
You are not hijacking anything. I really enjoy your contributions. It's no fun to talk to yourself.
Not at all, My mother was also a beautiful seamstress. She was all about "detail"! I caught on real quick but my sister could not sew a straight seam if her life depended on it! As we grew into adults, I made her children's Halloween costumes. She would mail me the patterns and fabric and I would make them and send them back. Funny how two sisters can be so opposite in so many ways but brought up the same way!
Reasons (excuses?) for not getting started with storage shelves
I have trouble making decisions. But this is definitely where I want those shelves. (Closer view of floor)
The basement runs up under the front porch. The concrete floor was poured split level, with two step ups beginning at the left where the porch starts. There are 3 granite threshold stones protruding below where the old door was removed. These can't be removed. The triangle of bricks on the left are laid into the brick pillar support, so they *shouldn't* be removed. This area is an eyesore, and useless right now because water seeps in with heavy rainfall from the porch side. It's only happened 3 times in 20 years. I could probably stop it if I weren't so lazy about cleaning gutters.
My new idea is to pour a concrete curb, level with the first step-up on the floor and covering those threshold stones. That would give a flat, level, base for shelves, something like this.
On top of the curb, frame in just one wall between the two brick pillars with 2x4's, and cover it with sheetrock, or possibly barn siding. Then the shelves could be built up against this new fake wall, they wouldn't need a back to keep things from falling behind, and water would never seep in underneath them up on that curb.
The last piece of the puzzle...
How to put a form down for the concrete without messing up the floor? There is nothing to attach it to. This curb doesn't have to be pretty. Only the front edge would show.
Maybe make an L-shaped form like this out of wood, with heavy weights on the outside edge?
I don't much like that idea. Any suggestions? (DIY forums are too brutal for novices to enter with dumb questions.)
I have trouble making decisions. But this is definitely where I want those shelves. (Closer view of floor)
The basement runs up under the front porch. The concrete floor was poured split level, with two step ups beginning at the left where the porch starts. There are 3 granite threshold stones protruding below where the old door was removed. These can't be removed. The triangle of bricks on the left are laid into the brick pillar support, so they *shouldn't* be removed. This area is an eyesore, and useless right now because water seeps in with heavy rainfall from the porch side. It's only happened 3 times in 20 years. I could probably stop it if I weren't so lazy about cleaning gutters.
My new idea is to pour a concrete curb, level with the first step-up on the floor and covering those threshold stones. That would give a flat, level, base for shelves, something like this.
On top of the curb, frame in just one wall between the two brick pillars with 2x4's, and cover it with sheetrock, or possibly barn siding. Then the shelves could be built up against this new fake wall, they wouldn't need a back to keep things from falling behind, and water would never seep in underneath them up on that curb.
The last piece of the puzzle...
How to put a form down for the concrete without messing up the floor? There is nothing to attach it to. This curb doesn't have to be pretty. Only the front edge would show.
Maybe make an L-shaped form like this out of wood, with heavy weights on the outside edge?
I don't much like that idea. Any suggestions? (DIY forums are too brutal for novices to enter with dumb questions.)
Meanderer, that is a great idea.
Just took more measurements. The step up is exactly 8". Total length of floor space is 73". With serious tweaking, 4.5 blocks would fit in there.
But maybe I could also go with patio or driveway pavers, or decorative bricks. They would be solid, not hollow. They would fit in with the granite "décor" down there, too.
Thank you! Just what I wanted---I get tunnel vision sometimes. Back to the drawing boards. Ha!
Just took more measurements. The step up is exactly 8".
Total length of floor space is 73". With serious tweaking, 4.5 blocks would fit in there. But maybe I could also go with patio or driveway pavers, or decorative bricks. They would be solid, not hollow. They would fit in with the granite "décor" down there, too.
Thank you! Just what I wanted---I get tunnel vision sometimes. Back to the drawing boards. Ha!
Oh yes, go with the pavers or the windsor stones. And they are high enough that any moisture would not damage anything on your shelves (if they are in air tight containers).You want to keep it with the style it is. Too pretty to cover up with drywall! And then the shelves with barn wood gives an extra old feel! Oh, I am excited to see how it turns out!
Nancy, the plumber came out today....not good news. Both bathrooms upstairs need basically new internal parts replaced. Does not surprise me, this house is 31 years old and it was built when they were building them as fast as they could in the 80's when there was a "building boom" around here. So they did not use the best quality supplies. But then again, I think we got our money's worth for 31 years! Atleast we have one workable shower and then we have a garden tub. So we can get clean! I just do not want anymore leaks through the ceiling downstairs!
Oh Maggie, you made me laugh. You haven't seen the rest of the basement walls. Not a whole lot prettier than that wall. I was being a little silly about "décor."
Anyway, grey Windsor stones. Had to Google it. That would be perfect! They would look even better with mortar in between, imo. And now I know what to call them when I go get them---if I can find them. Thanks. I guess I have to do this, now. :eewwk:
Oh boy, sorry to hear that. And most of that expensive work will be hidden behind the walls, so you won't see an improvement. At least I assume you will get new fixtures. It takes me forever to pick out things like plumbing fixtures. The plumbing in my bathroom upstairs is about 30 years old too. But I had real good plumber put that in. I can still remember him hollering to his helper one day, "Now Maynard, you have to get that shower level, or it won't drain!" :eewwk:
Is this as bad as posting a picture of what you ate for breakfast? layful:
I've been cleaning dirt and old mortar off the wall and re-discovered this brick. It was lying in the dirt in the basement when I bought the house and I saved it. The corner was already gone. It is not a clay brick, more like white stone.
I like to imagine the history of things like this. Who could Florence and Annie be? What was the occasion? Was the brick made when the house was built? I prefer to imagine that Annie was the woman who first lived in the house, and her sister (or mother), Florence, gave it to her when she and her husband started to build it. An old neighbor told me the husband died before the house was completed, but she lived in it until near her death. Very sad.
Flo & Annie would probably be surprised if they knew someone who is not even a relative would be interested in it.
First change in plans already! The concrete curb should go a few inches higher than the step (long story). That is doable.
I hate digging around the foundation of the house. I keep thinking the bricks are probably deteriorating and the house will fall down. They sometimes didn't do foundations carefully back then. Sure don't ever want any building inspectors in the basement. Ha!
layful:I've been cleaning dirt and old mortar off the wall and re-discovered this brick. It was lying in the dirt in the basement when I bought the house and I saved it. The corner was already gone. It is not a clay brick, more like white stone.
I like to imagine the history of things like this. Who could Florence and Annie be? What was the occasion? Was the brick made when the house was built? I prefer to imagine that Annie was the woman who first lived in the house, and her sister (or mother), Florence, gave it to her when she and her husband started to build it. An old neighbor told me the husband died before the house was completed, but she lived in it until near her death. Very sad.
Flo & Annie would probably be surprised if they knew someone who is not even a relative would be interested in it.
First change in plans already! The concrete curb should go a few inches higher than the step (long story). That is doable.
I hate digging around the foundation of the house. I keep thinking the bricks are probably deteriorating and the house will fall down. They sometimes didn't do foundations carefully back then. Sure don't ever want any building inspectors in the basement. Ha!