Back to the Grind

August 4 ~ Finally the tree stumps were ground up. This took about six hours. Those filberts had very wide bases (of multiple shoots). Dust was EVERYWHERE! I had to hose off my brand new painted house -- but it cleaned off easily.



August 13 ~ I didn't get a picture, but we discovered standing water in one of the stump holes. So I had a "french drain" put in. This is basically a trench filled with sand and a large pipe to provide a conduit to move the water away from the house.

Road Trip

July 25 - 28 ~ No sooner did my brother and his wife leave than my sister and I took off for the San Juan Islands. I had never been there before.

Everything being relatively impromptu, we waited at every ferry landing for several hours. PLAN AHEAD if you ever make this journey (especially on a weekend in summer).



But I was enthralled with the magical tranquility and beauty of the inner passage ways.



We "couch surfed" on San Juan Island and Guemes Island. Our hosts were generous and welcoming. We got an intimate taste of life on these islands that a hotel or spa could never provide.

My niece, Royce is a camp counselor at "Camp Orkila" on Orcas Island. She and Nancy pose for a snapshot in East Sound, Orcas Island.



See the entire slide show at my Picasa website.

There's nothing like a brother!

You already know Tom hung my front door and installed the hardware. He also did the following:

• leveled my refrigerator so the door would fall closed
• installed the two outdoor lamps the painters weren't able to do
  
• redid all my outlets and switches in white
• installed "push" switches in the hallway
• adjusted the flusher chain in my toilet
  
• calculated, ordered and supervised Vickie, Rob and I hanging insulation in my garage
• calculated, ordered and hung dry wall in my garage

It seems like everywhere he went he'd notice things that never occurred to me -- like the color of my switch plates to my refrigerator door falling open rather than closed ... or the air coolant line from the heat pump blocking access to the water heater.

I am a very naive first-time home owner!

Family Visit

July 18 - 24 ~ My brother Tom and his wife Vickie drove up all the way from Ojai, CA. They brought my Tour Easy recumbent bike too.

It is so wonderful to have a guest bedroom and guest bathroom for company. It makes it so easy and comfortable to cohabitate.

My sister Nancy donated a brand new grill she'd never even taken out of the box. (I'm a suburbanite now!) Tom and Vickie used it every single night they were here.



Tom and Vickie are cooks. My new frig got a work out! After a day of hanging out in Portland and a shopping spree at Kitchen Kaboodle, Tom & Vickie oversee making my very first pizza.



Nancy's son, Rob paid us a visit from Pacific City, OR and he was put right to work.



Here's the very first pizza ready for the baking on my brand new pizza stone.



Mr. Lincoln found all the kitchen activity very interesting indeed.



We hated to see Rob go. He slept over night in Nancy's van and was a real trouper.

My New (old) Door!

July 23 ~ I was prepared to buy a new door. Imagine my surprise when Arty of Arty's Door Shop suggested that I just put windows in my existing door. Cool!

Now about the paint. My sister has had a feature article from the Oregonian on her wall for the past two years about a Portland paint company, Chromatix . I was honor-bound to use their Fine European Paint on my door.

I went so far as to BUY the paint before I realized just how extraordinary it was. No way could I or my painters apply this paint. I hired Mike Snelson in Tigard, OR to do the job.

Here Nancy and Tom carry the precious cargo home.



Here's my brother Tom installing the hardware. The hinges, knocker and doorbell are still on order.



And here's the finished product. It's still more orange than I'd like. I'm told it will cure to a deeper brick color. I love it's glassy sheen.

My house gets painted!!

July 1 - 12 ~ As anyone whose ever painted their home knows, the hardest part is choosing the color. I knew I wanted something in the aqua - green spectrum.

My sister and I drove through the neighborhoods in search of the right color. (Those little 1 inch square color samples are WORTHLESS.) I left notes on peoples doors and spoke to three home owners personally. Everyone was very helpful.

Here's the winning model house ~ Clary Sage (green) and Muslin (trim):



Then there was removing the plants from places they shouldn't be -- namely the wall-hugging/damaging climbing hydrangea and the overly robust wisteria. This was all done by yours truly.



July 14 - 18 ~ Combs Painting had painted the interior while I was an absentee landlord. They did such a good job that I went back to them without any searching. The crew is all Russian ~ (from left) Ivan, Alex and Vladimir, the foreman.



Day 1 - power washing. Believe me, this was a dirty, messy job. It took about six hours.

Day 2 & 3 - The generation of LP siding on my house is not hardy to the wet climate of the Pacific Northwest. But only the chimney (kept damp by the filbert trees) and a few isolated slabs needed to be replaced. Additional trim was added to the garage and front windows.



Day 4 ~ Painting! First all the windows were taped and the plants draped. (Note the missing hydrangea and the radically trimmed wisteria.)





Nothing like the Russian sense of living on the edge.



My front door was removed and taken to a shop for cut-glass windows to be installed. It was painted in Portland, so plywood was screwed to the opening while the door was gone.



Day 5 ~ Trim gets 2nd coat.



Exterior lamps are installed. This was the only sore point. The crew on hand had never installed lamps before and clearly did not know what they were doing. Between their broken English and a trip to Home Depot we managed to get the the two lamps beside the garage door installed successfully.

My brother arrived later that evening from Ojai, CA and finished the installation. In his capable and experienced hands, it was a "no brainer". We just had to come and go through the garage or back porch until the door came back from Portland.

Removing a Few Trees

July 11 ~ Several trees around my house needed to go because they were just too big and too close. Additionally, I decided to take out the mini-forest of filbert trees that lined the south border of my property. They provide privacy and shade in summer -- but they were UGLY to look at from inside the house.

This White Pine would double in size if left to grow. It's roots were overwhelming the surrounding flower beds.



Here's a view of the filberts looking to the southwest.



Kunze Farm Landscaping is just down the road from my house. Besides a crew of 6 they brought a chipper to pulverize the massive amount of branches and leaves.



Here's a video of the white pine coming down:


Here's a video of one of the last branches coming down. The guy in the tree was a real acrobat and artist. It made for great entertainment:


There's a lot of light where none was before!

New Heat Pump

June 27 ~ This is not pictorially interesting, but (hopefully) will significantly lower my carbon footprint. Again, my energy audit started the ball rolling when it was suggested I get my old heater cleaned. That's when I learned it was nearing the end of its life expectancy.

After several sleepless nights worrying about it, I paid a LOT of money to replace my existing gas heater and air conditioner with a heat pump. I followed the EERE guidelines and interviewed three companies -- something I was reluctant to do, but was very grateful for. You learn a lot just by hearing the sales pitch from different angles.

Area Heating got the job. It was a happy choice. Look at all the cars (and sunny skies) on the day of installation. Temps were in the mid-90's over the weekend.



The new pump is QUIET. I can barely tell it's come on. Here are some views of the final job.



Did I mention I had to prune the cypress to make room for the new equipment? (note the mold on the old paint from the too close tree)



Like I said, these aren't going to win any photo contests. Here's my new Trane XL16i.