Basement Bedroom 1

It all began in the summer 0f 2010 when DD realised he could get his room to himself if he helped JJ get a new room in the basement. The first thing was to dig access for a new escape window (two exits are required for all bedrooms). DD got off to a good start but lost steam when he realised that the room would not be ready until well into the year (now it's May 2011 and the room is still not ready!).

The next step was to cut out the concrete block wall for the new window; first, a hole in the gibboard. This hole allowed a look at the conrete wall behind the gibboard wall. This revealed mold about a foot from the ground. So the gibboard wall had to be taken out and the wooden floor was soaking wet and moldy too. So the floor had to come out too. Neither wall or floor would be replaced. The wall would remain painted concrete and the floor finished with ceramic tile.

While the floor was uncovered it made sense to cut drainage ditches into the floor for perforated pipes. The moisture under the floor made this important too. Last time I did this in the boiler room I borrowed a jack hammer from Chris, my neighbour. But he has shifted. So I bought a similar jack hammer for this job. The pipe along the west wall was connected to the existing pipe in the boiler room. This means that if either pump fails (the new bedroom or the boiler room) the water will run to the other pump and there will be no flood. Also I put a 2 inch output pipe from the boiler room pump in the ditch last time. So this time I connected that to a new output pipe so the boiler room output pipe can go underground instead of running over head (I haven't connected it yet).

I cut the concrete blocks for the window, then knocked out the hole with a heavy hammer. Once the blocks were out to the way, carpenter ant damage was revealed in the south wall sill. About 8 feet of sill had to be replaced. Then the window went in. This window was bought new for the bathroom upstairs several years ago. It was a stock size smaller than the existing window. It never quite looked right so we took that out for the basement, and bought two new custom size windows for upstairs (bathroom and east bedroom). Those windows went in before the work began downstairs.

Motor Mower Carburettor

This red mower came from a neighbour (Catherine) who couldn't get it going, and left it sitting for years(?). The petrol had turned to gel and the carburettor and petrol tank had to be cleaned out. After that, it started up. I've used it for a year or so, and this spring when I started it up, it worked fine for most of the lawn, then suddenly stopped. So it seemed like time for another carburettor cleaning. I took photos so I would remember the route of the springs (and also made a sketch). The starting string broke too, so I had to take the top apart and re-attach that. The muffler has to come off to get the carburettor bolts off. Squirting carburettor cleaner into everything did the trick. It works fine now. Actually, it works better because I stretched the spring out a little so the choke would turn off sooner.

Escort Muffler

1997 Ford Escort: after work on the transmission, a joint in the exhaust pipe broke (between the bolted flange at the front (after/behind the catalytic converter) and the flex joint/pipe. Eddy (transmission mechanic) brazed it for free, but a few weeks later it broke again. This time I tried to fix it myself. I took the pipe off. The first bolt broke (on the flange), the second I cut off with an angle grinder cut off wheel. There is a bracket under the pipe in the middle of the car that had to come off (10 mm socket, six nuts). Then the muffler had to come off the pipe. This was held on with a clamp which was almost rusted away (like the bolts at the wharf). I disconnected the rubber brackets to pull the pipe back a little and was able to cut the clamp with the grinder. The muffler was still rusted on, so I cut the muffler pipe half way through and broke it off the pipe. Unfortunately I did not cut back far enough and it damaged the exhaust pipe. I thought that would have to be welded, but I managed to buy a small extension and an extra clamp to make up the difference.
A neighbour (Kevin) welded the broken joint back for me. I had to drive for more than a week without a muffler until he completed it. He has welded two parts in the lawn tractor for me too (the shaft for one of the blades [which I erroneously ground off], and the lever to raise the deck).
I sprayed some undercoating around where there were rusty areas and reinstalled the exhaust pipe. At first my new bolts were too short so I had to wait until the van came home to by some 1 1/2 inch bolts.
Lifetime warranty muffler: $109
Weld: $20
Clamps/bolts: $16.

Winter on the Hudson

Photos taken today during a visit to one of our favorite parks by the Hudson River. Yes, that is pack ice (no waves) on the river!

Sewing Project

Someone is having a birthday!--Ju & A's school friend. Their circle of friends are American Girl doll enthusiasts, so we decided to try a doll clothes sewing project as a gift. Fleece was our fabric of choice as the girls are beginning seamstresses and fleece does not require "edge" work. We found directions for a dress online here: http://my.joann.com/topics/1420287/ and directions for a hat here: http://www.makingfriends.com/winter/doll_fleece_hat.htm. The next step was to find fabric. The only local shop that sells fabric is Walmart, so I made a drive down there and investigated their fleece collection. The print fleeces all had very large prints and thick fleece--unsuitable for a dress for an 18" doll, so I settled on a lightweight pink fleece. There was less than a yard left on the bolt, so I took it all. It was hard to carve out time for the project, between school, music lessons, church, etc., especially with dad out of town and mom having to take all the kids to every kid's appointments. We ended up squeezing it in in bits and pieces. We pinned the dress pattern on the fabric at home. Then, while the big brothers did quizzing practice at church, the girls and I borrowed the church office where we worked on measuring and marking the hat pattern, cutting both and beginning the sewing. We soon realized the scissors we had along for the job were rather dull, so mom had to do the tricky bits of the cutting. Then Ju started to work stitching the first seam on the dress while A worked on the hat. We got about halfway through the seams in that session, then picked up our work again the next morning, sitting in the corridor of a school while brother D auditioned for the All County band. The first hat turned out a bit small for an American Girl doll, so we decided to keep it for our girls' Best Friends Club, Ink. dolls which are more slender, added three inches to the original pattern and sewed up a second hat for the birthday girl's AG doll. J trimmed the dress with bright buttons to add some interest to the plain pink. We found we had plenty of fabric remain- ing, so the girls decided to make scarves -- all cutting, no sewing, one for each of their dolls and one for the birthday girl. We decided on an 18" length for the scarves, measured out with a ruler and that worked out just right. The birthday party is Saturday, so we'll find out then how the Birthday Girl likes her new AG doll outfit!


The photo above (left) shows the outfit on our Ju's BFC Ink doll, Kaitlyn. It will fit better on the Birthday Girl's AG doll.

Field Trip

The third graders make four field trips to Black Rock Forest, one each season. While there they make observations of temperature (water, air and soil) , plant life, animal life, wind, water, sky, precipitation,etc., both in the forest and at the reservoir. Usually, mostly moms volunteer to chaperone. Today, for the winter visit, it was fifteen dads, my neighbor Sue and me. The Valentine's Party is this afternoon, so I'm guessing the other moms preferred to help at the party, but I'll take Black Rock any day!
It looks cold, but it was a balmy, breezy 49 degrees Fahrenheit with a gorgeous blue sky, hard packed snow on the trails (there was that one place where I stepped through and found one leg thigh deep, but it wasn't on the trail), and 16.5 inches (depth) of ice on the reservoir. I understand that's deep enough for a mid-sized car to safely drive on it (our guide encouraged the kids to jump up and down on the ice!--all together!) The kids' favorite part of the trip?--sliding down the banks by the reservoir!

Black Rock Forest in Winter

Ice and Snow.

Glorious winter! We're getting a storm (or two) a week these days. The latest brought freezing rain on top of the snow. Dropping temperatures ensured the ice stayed on the trees. Photos here show branches of trees and bushes encased in ice.
When the wind blows, ice breaks off the branches and shatters with a clatter on the driveways below.