Category: Home Improvements

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Storms Are Brewing

Like all over the US, we are having some really scary weather. I have to now get a new roof, since I lost so many shingles this year. Not only the need to get a new roof being a big issue, I  also need to replace lawn and patio furniture, gathering up the wood from the trees that went down in the yard. I have to say, it could have been a whole lot worse.

To my readers… Please take precautions and Stay Safe.

Looks like I’m going to have to start looking for construction workers and also someone to cut my trees up into fire wood for the summer. I’d do it myself, but age is settling in and I’m not as strong as I was a few years ago. It’s a drag.

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Thanksgiving Shopping and A New Pantry

I’m a firm believer in lists. While going through my pantry, and listing what I have and what items I need to buy for Thanksgiving dinner as well as to basically stock up on, I realized that the pantry that I have is not roomy enough. I need more space. Yes indeed, I feel another project coming on. I haven’t decided yet as to why it is that I always have a mega need to do home improvements at the most inconvenient times. With the holidays coming and I’ll be in the kitchen for a good ten days, my mind is on the pantry project, I would indeed call this an inconvenient time.

Shopping today (while my mind was/is still on the pantry project) did not go as well as I thought it would. Normally I use coupons, but not to the extent a lot of my friends do. Today I forgot my coupons. Fail #1. While looking for 22 to 24 pound turkey who I just know will catch my fancy to the point I want to take him home, will show himself, was shy today. Fail #2. I did however get a good deal on giblets, necks and backs. Also some pretty good prices on spices I needed.

I’ve got a couple more days to power shop if I can get the building of a new pantry off my mind until after the Holiday season, I’ll be just fine and dandy!

 

 

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Deep cleaning at a reasonable price

When my daughter and her boyfriend moved to a new home they had purchased, they discovered that the carpets had been soiled deeply by the people who had moved their belongings into the home, and yet they couldn’t prove that the moving company had messed up the carpets, so they couldn’t be reimbursed for the cleaning of the floors. My daughter got online and found http://www.thesteamteam.com which is a site of professionals that cleans everything from dirt to smoke damage and a whole bunch in between.

My daughter’s boyfriend was a bit skeptical about having more people come in to do things, but the steam team are reputable and they have a long list of satisfied customers to vouch for them. And they were reasonably priced.

I must say, that my daughter is very happy with the service provided. She called to tell me how clean her carpets were and that they looked brand new. Then she posted pictures to me of her laying on the floor in the middle of an empty room, and she said she didn’t want anyone walking on her nice new clean carpet! Of course she was joking, but the rugs and carpet does look nice and the “kids” are happy with it, so I am too! Now they have to learn to take their shoes off at the door!

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One long weekend to come

Two weeks ago, we had a storm come through while I was at the other house in Ohio. The high winds and rain along with hail flattened my tall zinnias which were one of the show pieces of the gardens. The trellis that was holding my Hyacinth vines tipped over and was pulled down by the wind and also the weight of the vines. I did some hasty repair jobs in order to get the flowers to stand up again with the help of twine but this weekend, I’m going to have to pull the flowers up.

This season was too short to allow me to get as much produce as I usually harvest. It seems to have taken forever for the cherry tomatoes to grow and ripen, and the husky tomatoes on grew the size of golf balls. I wasn’t happy with the zinnias in the front of the house. I had planted what I thought were the giant flowers I usually plant and it turned out that I must have gathered the seeds last year and put them in the packs then marked the contents wrong.

This weekend I’m going to have to pull up all the things in the garden that was flattened by the storm. We had another mega storm come through last night and I’m sure I’ll have more of a mess than I originally have seen. Where the heck did our summer go?

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And so school starts

In a way I wish I didn’t have to send my son to school today. We have had a great time “getting to know one another” in a whole new way. He is now a junior in high school and it seems like yesterday he took his first two steps.

All summer I have been picking up school supplies when I would see sales on the items he will need this year. Also we went shopping for some school clothes, but he generally only wears band Tshirts and jeans. I got a few flannel shirts for him and will get shoes and also some hoodies for him this coming week.

I have hit a lot of sales and in my shopping I kept an eye out for items I need to start my winter projects. Not quite sure what I’m going to remodel or make some home improvements to yet, but I’m sure I’ll find something to do to make winter go by faster. There always is something to fix or improve upon in old houses!

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Bathtub woes

Seems we are going to have to replace all the master bathroom’s pipes and get all new plumbing. I pretty much had a feeling that a simple repair job wasn’t in the cards this time. I admit that I was kind of keeping my fingers crossed, even though I knew we had been having problems with the pipes for some time now.

Looks like we’re also going to have to call in a professional to do the job also. My Al just got put on 12 hour shifts at the plant where he works and even had a shift change to nights, so between the hour and a half  it takes for him to drive to and from work, and also the long hours, he just won’t have the time to do the job himself.

Needless to say, my small nest egg and my “me” vacation money is going to go to the professional plumbing guy. I then can start all over saving up my silver change all over again. On the bright side of things, at least I have the funds to pay for this and the peace of mind and also a working bathroom is well worth it.

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Hiring a House Cleaning Service Miami FL.

When my daughter told me that she and her boyfriend were going to rent a house in FL, but that it needed a good cleaning and she was going to hire a House Cleaning Service Miami FL, to first come in and clean the house they want to move into. I think this is a great idea, considering the fact that my youngest daughter used to be quite tidy and neat until she met her boyfriend. Plus with both of them going to school and working they don’t have time to really clean this house before they move into it and if they are to hire a service, at least it is something that they wouldn’t have to worry about doing.

Keeping the house clean on the other hand after they move in, will no doubt be a problem for them. I suggested that they hire a maid service from the same company and that way, they would not have to worry about the cleaning too much. I know both of them are working hard and going to collage also, so there really isn’t much time to actually keep the house clean. A maid to come in once a week, would be totally ideal for them.

In the mean time, just in case…I’m going to box up some new cleaning supplies, a dust pan and items like that, then send it out to my daughter. Who knows? She may use it all one day!

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AC problems

Go figure, this week has been the hottest and most humid weeks we’ve had so far this summer and the air conditioning unit went on the fritz. Normally in my younger days, I could handle the heat and wasn’t bothered with it at all, but now…not so much.

To say everyone is rather miserable, despite of fans in the windows and the floor and ceiling fans it feels like they are just moving the hot air around. The heating and air conditioning guy is booked solid and can’t get out here until this coming Monday. Umm, a bit late I would say, considering the heat index will no doubt drop by then. At least we are all hoping so.

In the mean time, I’m drinking plenty of iced tea and water, and my son and I are putting ice cubes in the dogs water. Everyone is kind of irritable including myself. I just keep thinking about when we didn’t have an AC and how we coped with it. People have dealt with this issue a long time ago, and didn’t have an air conditioner so,  if we must we must.

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Leaky Basement

I’ve discovered that our basement now has started leaking and gathering moisture in places that it never has before. Looks like I’m going to have to call in a professional to check it out and see what it’s going to cost to fix the leaks. I have a feeling that this is not going to be a inexpensive fix.

For years we’ve been leak free, though the basement has always had a sort of damp cool feeling to it. I had just chalked it up to being a normal Michigan basement as it is called…which I still have never learned the reason why it’s called that, though I do often get various reasons thrown at me.

All I know is now there is some water coming in from someplace and I do have to have it checked out. I wouldn’t call the basement someplace that is actually livable, but it’s good enough to hide from a storm and also to have the washer and dryer down there. I also keep the Christmas decorations and some other items in storage down in our basement where unlike the attic, are easy to get to and some of the ornaments are keepsakes and I don’t want any dampness getting into them, and causing mold. So like I said, it’s time to call in a pro.

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A work in progress

My daughter and I bought a small lake house to renovate and then sell, but the more we work in the place, the more we are starting to think of it as our special project that we are going to keep. I know this doesn’t look like much right now, but as you can see, we have totally gutted the inside of the house and hope to at least get much of it finished by the end of the summer.

It is amazing to me that we can work so well together on a project like this. We have very similar tastes in color and style. And she knows how to use the tools properly, because – I taught her!

My parents used to do these kind of projects while we were growing up. All of us kids were expected to pitch in and help with every project. Even the youngest kid was able to drag trash across the room to the trash can, or pick up trash from around the yard. The older kids would swing a hammer, paint, even hang cabinets. We spent a lot of time together as a family and when we were finished we had a beautiful home ready for some lucky family to live in!