Beebe -- our 1935 Bungalow on Baker Street.

[Lily left the valley]

Square hole screws, a Canadian invention. EH!
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._L._Robertson
Most likely you will be asking for a #2 Robertson screw diver at the hardware store.

Might be asking indeed. Given all the odd and end tools and bits and such I've managed to give a home to over the years (like my recent acquisition of the star bit), there's a very good chance I might have one. But that means going through the three tool boxes we already found, and if not there, hoping the other boxes show up as we continue to open boxes.

Funny thing about tools...I have a very slim flathead I am using today to finally try to break down the two originally-curtains-not-shades into parts so I can start fiddling with patterns when I divide them down to make three former-curtains-converted-to-shades. I've been taking pictures as I start each step for my "How to convert MCM straw curtains into 1939 roller shades". The 1939 Armstrong Catalog image I'm working from does have large color blocks just like this particular set does (I have another set that is more vareigated), but I'm going to layout to different sized color blocks to see which looks closest to the image.


Speaking of...tea break's over. Time to get back to pulling threads.

Later Add: I started a thread about the project.

[Lily left the valley]

I've been reading up on bat boxes because...oh yeah, Sean left the side door open because he's lazy when taking out recycling, and we had another bat in the house. I welcome them...but not in my home. I will give them a home because they can't stay inside with us. Hopefully they will learn eventually that the side door is not their door.

We got mired down a bit lately in stuff needing to be done, so that killed some time. The rest of the time was overtaken by too much distraction stuff. Need X? Maybe it's in this box. Oh! Finally! The WD-40. Took us long enough. Now where are we putting stuff like this? And so on...

Since we still have no dryer, and all the rain, that meant hanging a lot inside, which, fortunately, someone left behind an already strung up line by the boiler. The basement was still so damp I wound up bringing a lot of it upstairs anyway for the last bit of dry out, but we only have one rack, so cycles.

Speaking of clothesline, the shorter one in the basement aside, still haven't found that yet, nor the clothespins. I did find the junk iron I wasn't sure we still had, so there's that. (We use it for all sorts of things.) I think I mentioned before I found the good iron, then realized the built in ironing board has no where to store such designed into that cabinetry.

Now it seems the rain is finally giving it a rest, and the lawn/garden has growthsploded in the last two weeks, so there's lots to do. I just have to keep telling myself that we never intended to make it all perfect in one season, and that's enough to keep me going. Still haven't found the seeds and pips. No idea where they got off to, although I did finally find my one huge indoor pot. I might plant some kitty grass in it.

I've already been making a list of things that are going to get put off til fall or winter because they can wait. I will have plenty to do when the growing season winds down.

Many creatures are starting to pop up, some welcome...and some not. When I find out who's digging all these holes, I'm going to dangle them in front of the many, many cats who looooove our yard. (Maybe not, but I'm strongly considering it. )

Found some stuff on Craig's List that could be very useful to have, but we'll just have to see how that goes. I love ads that say things like "Prefer to sell instead of taking them to the dump." You mean those antique wood cupboard doors that seem to be in perfectly good condition and have their original hardware? (Well, maybe not the interior catch I bet, but still! The rest!) Of course you want to send them to the dump, and not donate them to the ReStore that does FREE PICK UP.
I thought maybe showing the item would be good. I'm writing to them in a bit. I've got two possible projects in mind for these...



The PYCA lady said they are doing a clean out this week, and part of what is there is wonderful old garden tools--the kinds I've been pricing out new and wasn't always sure if they were worth the funds. So I'll be picking up some of that next weekend, finally! Hooray! A real long handled shovel! There might even be a spade! It'll be lovely.

Oh, and before I forget...two pics:

[Lily left the valley]

Yesterday when we were coming back from Agway, I noticed a neighbor had some things on the lawn with a FREE sign. Something caught my eye and I meant to go back right after we got home, but the food truck thing and then the transplant, etc.

I went back today, thinking it wouldn't be there or might be in really bad shape...but it still was and it's in faboo shape. Only one teeny nick in the laminate. Woo! The tabletop is 24" x 36". It's like it was born for where I wanted it.

Once I find wood or brackets, this will be permanently in place. Pics below with the nearest to height object in the room for the short term...

[Lily left the valley]

Today was bits and pieces and errands day. Met with someone from the conservation commission here in Gardner, had an interesting chat about rain gardens and rain barrels and all sorts of related bits. Also stopped by the health department which is where you get your transfer station sticker and also pay for your rain barrel, although you pick up the barrel at a different location.

I am glad I managed to get some mini things off the To Do list today. Small, but forward progress! I'll happily take that.

Not too long ago, I was trying to remember if I ever took a picture of the library again after the comics got moved over. I realized I hadn't, and now I have. Soooo much to do in there still just organizing wise--forget the built-ins. The last few moves before the move to here, we had quite a few longs bust, and comics went willy nilly into whatever boxes were available, so a lot of sorting we had done is now undone. Minor, but it's part of the catch up from moving too many times in a not very together sort of way.




They altered the weather report for tomorrow, so my continued work against my new enemy, Oriental Bittersweet, might get put off more than I'd like. That was actually another thing I chatted with when I met the fellow above. They're actually trying to put together a sighting report system, so folks can note where they see it, and if it's not on private property, they can send out some folks from the city to get rid of it. He's still working on a budget for that, and we also talked about possibly having some volunteer days for such in areas where it's on city grounds and bad (like the one school near us). Now that I know about this stuff, I was seeing everywhere when I was walking around doing errands today. Gratis, quite a bit of that was near to the edges of the train track area, so not everything is kept homes.

Anyhoo, long day. Hit 94°F today, and I got a bit too much sun. (I am super fair.) Hopefully the rain won't be all day tomorrow, and I can make some more headway pulling down the wretched Bittersweet.

[1918ColonialRevival]

That '50s-looking formica counter was an excellent save! I can't believe people throw stuff like that out.

As for the Oriental bittersweet, good luck with it. I can't believe people actually used to plant that stuff intentionally. When the houses in our neighborhood were built, it was English ivy. The developers planted that stuff in most of the yards when they did the original landscaping and needless to say it's out of control everywhere.

I grew up in the Southeast and the invasive weed there was kudzu. The funny thing about that is much of it was originally planted as part of government-funded erosion control projects. I've seen kudzu completely overtake buildings in a matter of a couple of years.

[Lily left the valley]

That '50s-looking formica counter was an excellent save! I can't believe people throw stuff like that out.

As for the Oriental bittersweet, good luck with it. I can't believe people actually used to plant that stuff intentionally. When the houses in our neighborhood were built, it was English ivy. The developers planted that stuff in most of the yards when they did the original landscaping and needless to say it's out of control everywhere.

I grew up in the Southeast and the invasive weed there was kudzu. The funny thing about that is much of it was originally planted as part of government-funded erosion control projects. I've seen kudzu completely overtake buildings in a matter of a couple of years.

Their loss, my gain. At least they had the sense of mind to lawn "Free" it instead of dump it. That fact that the color was close enough to our scheme in there made it all the sweeter. I did decide instead of doing a standard bracket brace to put dowels in the top and two sets of holes in the cross piece brace, so depending on if I'm using that for sewing or something else longish, I can have the space behind for fabric/whatever to run down the wall, or no space behind so nothing can roll/fall behind.

~~~
Yesterday was another bits and pieces day. I did get more of the Bittersweet out of the trees, but there is much to do still. So far so good, none of it has broken off, and the northmost tree has it running all the way to the top. I also did some clear out of overgrowth in the garage bed because it had gotten worse with the recent rains, and the one climber was already trying to work its way back inside the garage again. Mowed the front, although I'm being a bit more picky about the back because we still have a lot of surprises showing their hand, as it were. This does take more time, but it is making it easier for hand removal of all undesireables because they are easy to ID this way.

We did pay for a rain barrel through the town program, but we couldn't pick it up because the location where you do the pick up was closed. We'll get that later in the week, and set it up in front. The town sells them at a discount, so there is a limit of two per family. Since we only have the one gutter across the porch, we're going to wait on the other until we either realize we're getting enough rain that we're not useing that we can use the second as an overflow, or we decide to gutter the back. We really wanted to do rain chains, and I found something at the dollar store I might be able to use to make one. I have to do some measurements once we get the barrel to figure out how much I'd need for materials. I'm not sure yet how I would secure the "anchor" line from the chain so it doesn't blow in gusty storms and miss hitting the mark. The unit is almost entirely plastic, so I'll take stock of that once we get it set up.

I did unpack a few boxes yesterday, and in doing so was able to access the lower drawers to the built in then. I realized we'd never pulled out the bottom drawer to see what was in the space between. (Treasure?) So, I did, and although there wasn't any treasure, I did find this sort of recent addition that likely spilled over the drawer edge:


Still making some progress in the craft room, although a lot of what we're still doing up and downstairs is putting boxes in the room it should have been placed in the first re-sort of boxes. Some of that was because we just hadn't decided where some occasional use stuff, like Xmas decor, would be stored. As the craft room gets cleared out, it'll be easier to set up our temporary shelves, unpack, and be closer to using the space as intended.

Another small thing I did yesterday was fix an issue with the front screen door. Whomever installed it used the already there cut out for the catch plate, but that was both too high and too far in for the door to ever close properly, let alone lock. The screen even blew open a few times when there were strong winds. We know we want to make a wood screen door at some point, so I didn't fuss overly much with the repair. I simply took a wood shim, figured out where on the shim was the right depth for what I needed, cut it, and using a hole that was already in the frame at the right height, then drilled a pilot for the top screw which also is holding the shim in place.


Today was mostly focusing on still trying to find the clothesline, although I think I may have found two electronics boxes where the missing extension cord may reside. The attic may finally get a proper clean out yet! I have been strongly considering making the windows in there larger. They are currently a very small triangle. One may have broken, as it has been boxed over in an odd way where there are holes in the material. If we do go the bigger window route, that may solve how to get the batts in there when we insulate. We had thought about trying to find a spot for a pull down, but we're both not keen on that idea still. I'll start looking for old windows that could go in there once I get measurements.

[Texas_Ranger]

As for the Oriental bittersweet, good luck with it. I can't believe people actually used to plant that stuff intentionally. When the houses in our neighborhood were built, it was English ivy. The developers planted that stuff in most of the yards when they did the original landscaping and needless to say it's out of control everywhere.

I hear you!

Our neighbours have ivy growing pretty much their entire property line on one side (not the one shared with us) but as they only "keep it in check" by mowing it from time to time (usually two times a year or so) it grows and spreads. When we started doing something about it yesterday it had pretty much swallowed our fence on two sides, looked like a hedge instead of a fence! I got the shared fence pretty much cleaned up but still have a lot to do along the other side. The neighbours also grow ailanthus trees all over the place and don't really do anything about it - pretty bog-standard apartment building with absentee landlord and a seriously lazy property management company.

[Lily left the valley]

So, now that I've met the lady with the cabinet doors, I feel a bit bad about how harsh I was. She was really sweet and we had a nice brief chat in the misty night. She had gotten stuck at work, but she still let us go over to pick them up even though it was just after nine--one good thing about being less than 10 minutes away. The left rear shelf latch is still intact! I already found a catchplate for it, as I knew that would long be gone since the shelves most likely are as well. She mentioned she has a lot more in the attic she wants to clear out, including what she thinks might have been the original windows of the home. The home is listed as a 1900 build on zillow. (Yes, of course I checked. ) I told her to call me when she was ready to get them out of the attic and told her about my desire to build a walapini.

Here they are in the parlor for now, and we'll be deciding which of the two projects we'll use them on for certain. Fortunately, the paint is not too thick. I think, from the hinges, that these were a newer build despite the latches. The joinery is pretty straightforward, and not (as I had hoped) like what we have here.


The rain barrel remains out but not in place. Deviled by rain, which I just find so funny that I can't get mad. Hoping to catch a break in the weather this weekend. Time will tell.

I hear you!

Our neighbours have ivy growing pretty much their entire property line on one side (not the one shared with us) but as they only "keep it in check" by mowing it from time to time (usually two times a year or so) it grows and spreads. When we started doing something about it yesterday it had pretty much swallowed our fence on two sides, looked like a hedge instead of a fence! I got the shared fence pretty much cleaned up but still have a lot to do along the other side. The neighbours also grow ailanthus trees all over the place and don't really do anything about it - pretty bog-standard apartment building with absentee landlord and a seriously lazy property management company.

I had a long standing battle with a Japanese invasive at the place I used to manage. At the time it was planted, no one knew it would be an invasive. It was an underground runner variety so I eventually wound up digging up the entire section of yard it was mostly contained to thanks to the driveway, street, and a retaining wall on two sides.

[awomanwithahammer]

Great find, Lily! I fight the temptation to buy stuff all the time because I'm SURE I can find a way to use it...someday. Craigslist is like your kitchen junk drawer--you can't get rid of it because the minute you do, you'll need it. With CL, if you don't buy it now, you'll sure as hell need it someday!

[Gothichome]

AWH, can't speak for others here in the District, but I suspect we all are (a little bit) pack rats when it comes to old home parts, bits and bobs.