Saturday, December 25, 2010
Friday, December 24, 2010
Friday, December 17, 2010
First Tooth Gone
I delight in the way kids look, when their front teeth are missing. It's an adorable look.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Holmes at Home
I like Mike Holmes. I enjoy his reaction to poor workmanship. It's great, the way he fights for the average guy who knows nothing about carpentry, plumbing, electricity, and the like. I had a Mike Holmes moment today.
Yesterday, I noticed a drip from the ceiling; it came from a wet spot the size of a baseball. Ugh. Called the plumber and he came today. He did an inspection of the visible areas of plumbing that are around bathroom and the laundry room. He ran the washing machine, he inspected the pipes (the parts that aren't in the wall), he looked at the toilet, tub and shower. The only thing he could find that was obviously wrong was a gap between the tub faucet and the wall. He said that gap was enough to cause dripping into the floor below. So, he caulked around that gap and now we have to wait to see if there's any more dripping. He said he tries to do what he can on the outside, before ripping open walls to see what is wrong inside. Thus, we'll have to see if the dripping happens anymore, now that the tub is properly caulked. And, just to test things out, I've put two loads through the washing machine twice since he left and there isn't any dripping, yet.
But, to get to my point about Mike Holmes. As my plumber inspected laundry and bath, he grumbled about the fact that the builders had not left any access panels in the walls by either laundry pipes or tub/shower pipes. I agreed with him that, upon reflection, that wasn't wise of them. We'd had that same problem with our renovated Feltwell house: a plumber had to cut into a wall that should have been left with some sort of access panel. When our plumber noticed the faucet gap, he said right away that it was certainly something the builders should have done right the first time.
I took him down to the basement to see the water pipes and he immediately said, "You've got a gas leak!" For four and a half years, I've been insisting I could smell gas. No, no, that's just the basement smell. No, actually, it was a gas leak. He put soapy water on the places where the pipes join together and he easily found the leak. He criticized the inspectors again: they are required to do some sort of testing along the line as far as the switch-off valves, but then they are meant to test the rest of the connections with soapy water, as he did. When he went to tighten the connection for us, he said it was so loose, it was most likely only tightened by hand, not with a tool. The incompetence of those builders, again!
He walked around the basement, following the path of the gas line and he shook his head, "That 1/2-inch pipe never should have passed inspection." It's too long and should be a 3/4" pipe.
It was as if I were walking through my house with the ever-thorough Mr. Holmes!
So, now we wait. While I am pleased with the service provided, I do hope we don't have to call him here, again!
Yesterday, I noticed a drip from the ceiling; it came from a wet spot the size of a baseball. Ugh. Called the plumber and he came today. He did an inspection of the visible areas of plumbing that are around bathroom and the laundry room. He ran the washing machine, he inspected the pipes (the parts that aren't in the wall), he looked at the toilet, tub and shower. The only thing he could find that was obviously wrong was a gap between the tub faucet and the wall. He said that gap was enough to cause dripping into the floor below. So, he caulked around that gap and now we have to wait to see if there's any more dripping. He said he tries to do what he can on the outside, before ripping open walls to see what is wrong inside. Thus, we'll have to see if the dripping happens anymore, now that the tub is properly caulked. And, just to test things out, I've put two loads through the washing machine twice since he left and there isn't any dripping, yet.
But, to get to my point about Mike Holmes. As my plumber inspected laundry and bath, he grumbled about the fact that the builders had not left any access panels in the walls by either laundry pipes or tub/shower pipes. I agreed with him that, upon reflection, that wasn't wise of them. We'd had that same problem with our renovated Feltwell house: a plumber had to cut into a wall that should have been left with some sort of access panel. When our plumber noticed the faucet gap, he said right away that it was certainly something the builders should have done right the first time.
I took him down to the basement to see the water pipes and he immediately said, "You've got a gas leak!" For four and a half years, I've been insisting I could smell gas. No, no, that's just the basement smell. No, actually, it was a gas leak. He put soapy water on the places where the pipes join together and he easily found the leak. He criticized the inspectors again: they are required to do some sort of testing along the line as far as the switch-off valves, but then they are meant to test the rest of the connections with soapy water, as he did. When he went to tighten the connection for us, he said it was so loose, it was most likely only tightened by hand, not with a tool. The incompetence of those builders, again!
He walked around the basement, following the path of the gas line and he shook his head, "That 1/2-inch pipe never should have passed inspection." It's too long and should be a 3/4" pipe.
It was as if I were walking through my house with the ever-thorough Mr. Holmes!
So, now we wait. While I am pleased with the service provided, I do hope we don't have to call him here, again!
Monday, December 13, 2010
Winter Updates
No dramatic snow stories from us. The ride home from The Nutcracker took longer than usual, but it wasn't harrowing. One more weekend of performances, but (so far) next weekend's weather is meant to be merely cold, without snow.
Most of our blog visitors know who was travelling through northwest Indiana on Sunday, but I won't reveal their identity. They did, indeed, get trapped -- but in a hotel, not their car. Here's an article about that weather, for the friends who don't live nearby.
Most of our blog visitors know who was travelling through northwest Indiana on Sunday, but I won't reveal their identity. They did, indeed, get trapped -- but in a hotel, not their car. Here's an article about that weather, for the friends who don't live nearby.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Not a creature was stirring . . .
. . . not even the mouse, because he had a warm place to sleep.
Lydia and I visited the nursery/garden center that is the source of so many items in my garden. They have a Christmas display with an electric train that circles a miniature village. I stepped closer to the display to get a closer look at some of the houses, when I saw something moving out of the corner of my eye. It was a little brown mouse! It ran away from me to hide underneath a puff of cotton (fake snow).
When I stepped away, it came out of its hiding place and ran back to sit next to the electric box that controls the train. It curled up in a ball and fell asleep. I'm sure that box was a warm and toasty place to sleep, with outdoor temperatures hovering around freezing. As we watched the mouse, I noticed a cat not far away. There are cats at this nursery and I always assumed they were around for rodent control. The cat didn't see this mouse, however. Rather funny, since it was in plain view!
About an hour later, after Lydia had finished up the kids' crafts class she was taking, we stopped by the display and noticed the mouse, still sleeping next to the warm box. An employee happened to be passing and I asked her why the cat hadn't caught the mouse. She laughed and said that they'd just been discussing that amongst themselves. Apparently, the cat is an experienced mouser, but she hasn't yet found this mouse.
We're going to return to the nursery sometime in the coming weeks, to buy some poinsettias. We'll see if there's a little brown mouse around. If it isn't, we'll know what happened!
Lydia and I visited the nursery/garden center that is the source of so many items in my garden. They have a Christmas display with an electric train that circles a miniature village. I stepped closer to the display to get a closer look at some of the houses, when I saw something moving out of the corner of my eye. It was a little brown mouse! It ran away from me to hide underneath a puff of cotton (fake snow).
When I stepped away, it came out of its hiding place and ran back to sit next to the electric box that controls the train. It curled up in a ball and fell asleep. I'm sure that box was a warm and toasty place to sleep, with outdoor temperatures hovering around freezing. As we watched the mouse, I noticed a cat not far away. There are cats at this nursery and I always assumed they were around for rodent control. The cat didn't see this mouse, however. Rather funny, since it was in plain view!
About an hour later, after Lydia had finished up the kids' crafts class she was taking, we stopped by the display and noticed the mouse, still sleeping next to the warm box. An employee happened to be passing and I asked her why the cat hadn't caught the mouse. She laughed and said that they'd just been discussing that amongst themselves. Apparently, the cat is an experienced mouser, but she hasn't yet found this mouse.
We're going to return to the nursery sometime in the coming weeks, to buy some poinsettias. We'll see if there's a little brown mouse around. If it isn't, we'll know what happened!
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Winter!
It's finally here. Cold. And a bit of snow. It's sticking to the mulch in the garden and a bit in the grass. Not much else. There are some people anxiously awaiting enough snow to use some sleds I bought a few weeks ago. . . . but this snow won't do.
I had a brief, but unpleasant, experience with "bridges freeze faster than the road" phenomenon. I started to fishtail -- but without having done anything to deserve it. You know how sometimes you have scary moments behind the wheel, but you know you could have been driving more cautiously than you were? This was not the case. Luckily, the car in the next lane over was a number of yards behind me, so he was able to slow down before he met the bridge.
Stay warm, family and friends!
I had a brief, but unpleasant, experience with "bridges freeze faster than the road" phenomenon. I started to fishtail -- but without having done anything to deserve it. You know how sometimes you have scary moments behind the wheel, but you know you could have been driving more cautiously than you were? This was not the case. Luckily, the car in the next lane over was a number of yards behind me, so he was able to slow down before he met the bridge.
Stay warm, family and friends!
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