Our little bit of heaven is going to be on the local garden tour this year and Barb has been working hard to make it look nice. The one-minute video above was created with Apple Photos slideshow tool. For some reason I keep forgetting about this wonderful tool.
Category Archives: Home
Washing the house before staining

This is Bob. Bob and his boys have been repairing the cedar siding on our 30 year-old-home. The woodpeckers have been eating us up! He’s washing off decades of grime before putting on fresh stain.
He’s about 30 feet up on a wet, slanted roof. Refuses to use a safety harness because it slows him down. I can’t watch.
Home fix-up
The cedar siding on our house is 30 years old. We had it restrained some years ago and patched woodpecker holes when we could get to them. Over the next three weeks a couple of hard-working guys are retaining and replacing boards. Big job.

I don’t know how practical cedar siding is but really wouldn’t want anything else. Barb and I like the “cabin in the woods” look.

Backyard Paradise
Handrails
When we built our home in 1986 we decided we did not want railings on the stairs. We liked the clean, open lines of the stairs and figured we were smart enough to avoid falling off. The upstairs is mostly my domain and I go up and down many times every day.

I recently decided it was time for some handrails. Just something to hold on to when going up and down. I reached out (once again) to artist/machinist Andy Cain and he came through.

These will look even better when painted.
Just look for the red Buddha
We live at the end of a gravel road, at the top of a hill. I can’t imagine living anywhere else. Not all of our neighbors agree, but mostly only those that would like to sell and move, so…

Most of us don’t have house numbers (on the house) rather some kind of sign out by the road. Today I upgraded ours with a little color. Before/after pics so you can see the scale better (The log is about 30 inches high).

This will look much nicer when Barb’s flowers start blooming.
Shelves. I love shelves.
But I’m not the sort who builds his own shelves. So last night I hit the Lowe’s website and ordered some shelves for the garage. Today they were waiting for me (the only way to shop).
The acquisition of the Land Rover has brought more stuff to our garage but these simple shelves will bring some order to the chaos. Ready for the best part? The only tool needed to assemble is a rubber mallet. Amazing how simple it was to snap this thing together.
Just checking
Walk-in shower
When we built our home (30+ years ago) we put one of those molded tub-shower things in the upstairs bathroom (the one I use). I’ve been stepping into and out of the tub to shower ever since. I never take baths. Earlier this year I decided I needed a walk-in shower and the workers finished it yesterday. Still have some painting and trim work to do but I can use the shower and I love it.
Land Rover 4WD: LOW RANGE!
I think I understood the concept behind the high range/low range gear lever on my Land Rover. But I had never had a real opportunity to use it this weekend’s snow (about a foot).
Went down the hill in 4WD (high). Came back up in 4WD (low) and it finally clicked for me. I need to remember to engage these gear combinations from time to time to make sure all the doodads are working.




