What I did at my house today...

[Lily left the valley]

also dont breathe vinegar either - very bad for your lungs (ever heard the cough of somebody who has spent too long in a badly ventilated darkroom?)

True.

Texas_Ranger, I forgot to ask if that bathroom has a window or not.

[awomanwithahammer]

Sanded and put the first coat of paint on the new drywall ceiling in the living room:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1uL8Qp ... dV5tloyQ9Q

Also scraped wall paint. The paint chips off with my fingernail, so I need to remove as much as possible before resurfacing the wall. Finally found that a razor blade works better to get under the paint than a paint scraper. Still tedious and arm-busting.

[Jeepnstein]

Spent the morning helping our local preservation society with some mowing along the highway. Got the mower stuck in a ditch and there was much hilarity. I'd love to come up with the funding for a decent tractor.

[Texas_Ranger]

Unfortunately I'm already back home in Austria so I can only pass on info via the internet/chat. There are no fuzzy bits, just black spots on the ceiling, so things aren't too bad. And yes, the bathroom has both a fan and a window (actually even two of them) so ventilation shouldn't be an issue, especially opening the back door and the bathroom window.

And yes, vinegar can be nasty! The worst thing I've ever done was boil vinegar in an electric kettle to de-scale it after decades of neglect. Boy, did that kitchen smell afterwards! I did my best not to spend too much time in there too soon! Just dashed in to unplug the kettle (ooooold one without automatic shutoff, probably 1970s guessing by the orange plastic) and then waited until the fumes were gone. It did work though.

[Old house lady]

Put inside chores and projects on hold for the day to try to tackle some yard work on a beautiful sunny day. Trimmed the junipers some to let some air and sun into them, cut down the 'weed' trees (no idea what its called, but it grows wild along the roads in this part of PA), planted some perennials, cursed the squirrels when I found a bunch of bulbs dug up and chewed, and did some general cleanup.

Got the idea to use the cut up 4"cast iron waste line (left behind when the line to the sewer was replaced) to create a multi-level planter. Picturing the pipes upright with small pots in the top of each, or maybe annual plants directly in the pipe.

Tiring, but it was nice to spend time outside in the sunshine!

[phil]

previous owners had laid tile overtop of what was there, cork flooring with jute backing. under that was black paper. it was stuck to the floor but getting it really wet released the glue after I smashed the tile and got it and the cork stuff out of the way.
the floor underneath is pretty nice. Ill have to wait to see how the floor in the adjoining living room looks after I rip all that out.
there was some white paper thay had used as a shim and that's being stubborn but I think it just needs a strong solvent to release it's glue.

anyway here's a couple pics to prove it happened

[Lily left the valley]

Good grief, what didn't I do today?

I think I made up for all the lazing around I did this weekend that I knew I shouldn't. I actually started writing all that up for here, then felt kinda weird because it wound up being a crazy day in the manic way where lots of things got done or started. The sort of day when you look back and think, "How did I manage that?" Of course, my shoulders are now reminding me that I still need to do a lot more of that sort of stuff before I manage it well so I'm not a creaky mess the next day. Tomorrow, I'm sure my thighs will join in on the reminders.

When I did finally take a break, I was then reminded that I really need to take a look at the downstairs bath, especially the window. Despite having both storms closed and no obvious gaps in the aluminum track, a caterpillar, a stinkbug and a jumpy spider all kept me company while I took a well deserved shower.

Still hunting for the elusive doorbell transformer. It seems to have been hidden away behind the ceiling patch recently installed over the newish boiler.

I did find more pieces to something I honestly don't know what it is in the garage. It looks both useful and portable.


After this, I'm going to finally post some images of the view I keep rambling on about from Beebe, then it's off to bed with me!

[Mick_VT]

Test fit of some replica early C20th carbon filament bulbs in the dining room overhead

IMG_6599.JPG (1.12 MiB) Viewed 317 times

IMG_6600 2.JPG (1.2 MiB) Viewed 317 times

[Lily left the valley]

Looking good, Mick!

[Corsetière]

Yum on the lighting, Mick!

And yum on the hardwood floors, Phil!