Shoes, Shoes and More Shoes

Between Andy's hip surgery at the end of September and Hurricane Sandy at the end of October a lot of house projects got put on hold and there were several that I forgot to blog about.  So hold on to your pants, people -- there's a lot of blogging to be done before the end of the year!

I have been using my new closet for clothing since the end of July but we hadn't figured out how we wanted to arrange shoe storage just inside the closet.  My shoes remained in my office for a few more months.  We debated a fully built-in cubby system but it lacked flexibility, then we talked about a pre-made unit but there are conflicts along the bottom wall because of baseboard heat.  We finally settled on a shelving system with rails and adjustable clips for the shelves. It's perfect and holds all of my shoes (I promise -- it didn't look like I had so many when they were on the floor of my office!). And I share with Andy too (he gets the top shelf for less used shoes).  He prefers to keep most of his shoes in a bin by the backdoor.

Hurricane Sandy

On Friday I slept with less than 2 sweatshirts and long underwear and I also took a shower and wasn't wearing shoes.  That can only mean one thing -- WE HAVE POWER!  After 4 days without power we were miserable. I can't imagine what it's like for the people that still don't have power.  

The first day without power was still tolerable and Andy was looking for jobs to do that didn't require power tools.

He started with the trim along the steps that has been bothering him since we moved in.  There's some thing about the carpet wrapping around the stair treads that just didn't seem right.

So he pulled the trim off and cut the carpet (that's going to be replaced anyway)

And we ended up with this.  Sometimes things have to get worse before they can get better.

Next, he moved on to the handrail on the steps.  We want to replace it and there was significant drywall damage where it was attached to the wall.

Nice hole! Andy got out his drywall compound and set to filling all of the holes.

Meanwhile, I unscrewed all of the shutters that used to hang over the living room windows.  I remember sitting on that couch on the day we moved in and AB said "well, these should be one of the first things to go" and I totally agreed.  It only took me a little less than 2 years and 1 day without power to take them down!

While Andy was patching holes he decided that we need to replace the old thermostat that we still use to control our oil heat.

The Stairway Debacle

A few weeks ago we measured for a bought a load of trim from a local lumber store.  We needed crown moulding for the family room, baseboard for all of the rooms we plan to paint, casing for the doors and windows, a new windowsill for the powder room (and we learned that it's actually called a stool).  The crown moulding came in 16' lengths so all of the trim lived in the family room for what seemed like forever.

 

We were both excited to get the wall at the top of the steps finished.  Andy measured for the board at the top of the wall and sanded it super smooth and rounded the corners.  It's amazing how much time "simple" decisions that we didn't even know we were going to have to make can take.  I think the depth of the overhang took a good week...too short, doesn't look good...too long, permanently bruised hips (or in my case closer to my waist)!

 

But we finally made a decision and love the result.

The next dilemma was what to do with the trim where the steps meet the new wall. On the full wall side we had this odd triangular transition from the stair trim to the existing baseboard.

This is what was left on the side with the new wall.

Andy setup his handy laser level to make sure the cut on the full wall side (right) was the same elevation as the trim on the left.

With the old trim removed we found this interesting cut in the drywall.  Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't enjoy cutting drywall, who would take the time to do this?  Intentionally?

 

Andy had to patch the top section for the new trim.

Because a portion of the wall/trim stepped down we had to order a small section of a taller version of our new baseboard so that Andy could notch it out to the correct dimension.  Maybe we just think too much and make things harder than they need to be but this dilemma drove the new baseboard we picked because we need a profile with different height options.

The trim along the stairs still needs some work and some day we'll get new carpet.

And here is the final baseboard.  We still have nail holes to fill, lots of painting to do and some decisions to make about the trim going down the steps. 

Garden Pests

I hate slugs!  Not because they leave slimy trails on our sidewalk, not because they eat my marigolds, and not because we occasionally track one of them in the house on our shoes (GROSS! Kodak finds that extremely offensive.), but because they are destroying my garden and they especially love green beans and eggplant.  We try to keep the garden as organic as possible and I've learned that traditional slug bait can be very toxic.  I tried an organic type of bait but it's designed to make the slugs feel full instead of killing them so you have to re-apply regularly and it's expensive.  I read online to try beer traps and figured it was at least worth a shot.  

We saved some Chobani yogurt containers (apparently black cherry is popular around here)...

Dig a hole and bury the empty cup in the garden...

Fill with the finest type of beer available.  I won't reveal the source who donated the high-quality Pabst Blue Ribbon, but the slugs love it! We have since tried some Coors Light and it works but not nearly as well as the PBR.  At least it's good for something!

Fill as close to the top of the cup as possible and wait...

After a few days you have a cup full of scummy beer and dead slugs.  Emptying the cups is definitely one of the grossest garden tasks to date, but well worth it to get rid of the slugs.

Definitely Creepy (Installment 4)

Andy found this "friendly" garter snake sunning himself on the top of our wood pile.  I hope he's eating  some other less-desirables but he isn't my favorite visitor!

The Release 2012 (or Cool or Creepy -- Part 3)

As the snow peas were nearing the end of their life this spring I started to notice some aphids.  They never got to the tomato plants (at least not that we saw) but I didn't want to risk an infestation like last summer.

I ordered another container of lady bugs from Amazon since we had such great luck with them last year.

You are supposed to release them at night so that they stay in the garden and do not fly away.

They wanted out -- BADLY!

And the next day we still had tons of lady bugs and haven't seen any more aphids since.

July and August Garden Update

At the beginning of July I pulled all of the garlic that we planted last October.  We let it dry outside for a few days before bringing it in to the basement.  I am relatively pleased with the harvest and will plant some more again this fall.  Some cloves are definitely bigger than others and the small ones are a pain to clean when you need them for cooking but over half of the bulbs were reasonable (grocery store) size heads of garlic.

We have definitely been harvesting more veggies this summer than last year.  Lots of tomatoes, green bean (or in this case purple ones), eggplant, cucumbers, hot peppers, and basil.  I liked the purple beans but they turn green when you cook them.  I had the best luck with a green variety called Provider and a wax variety called Gold Rush.

 

Provider green beans in blossom.

The zucchini and yellow squash both have mildew.  I planted a second planting and should be harvesting from the new plants soon.

We had some wonderful eggplant a few weeks ago before the slugs got to them.  It looks like they have some new blossoms now so we'll see if we get any more eggplant this season.

Garden Salsa pepper -- good and not as hot as a jalapeno.

Andy built this large tomato cage at the beginning of the season and it's been wonderful!  The tomatoes can grow taller than with traditional tomato cages and I haven't had as many branches break off this year during storms.

The cucumber plant has wilt but did well most of the season and produced some wonderful cucumbers.  I planted some faster growing cucumber plants about a month ago.  Hopefully we'll get some more cucumbers before the end of the season.

I know worms are good, but we have TONS of them.  And they are closer to snake size than worm size!!