December and Christmas Vacation

It has been awhile since I posted anything, so I thought that maybe I should catch up on what we have been doing.

We purchased a bird feeder to hang outside our trailer on the edge of the awning.  It has been fun watching the birds and one particular squirrel. We also had some deer show up but they did leave the feeder alone.
We have had titmice, cardinals, lots of sparrows, chickadees, a black and white stripped woodpecker, and a bird that I haven't identified yet.  I think that it may be an Easter Phoebe Flycatcher.  Pictures follow.

And the squirrel.

We went up to Northern New York for Christmas.   We had traveled through the above zero area and then waited until the next day to do the last two and a half hours.  By the time we were ready to go on they had gotten the roads cleared and salted. We traveled through areas that had been experiencing freezing rain for a couple of days.  The fields looked like ice skating rinks. What looked like frost on the trees was actually ice.  It was very beautiful to look at.  Due to ice, there were power lines down.  We did loose power Sunday evening and got it back late the next afternoon just after our daughter and family arrived.  The fireplace kept us warm.

One of our daughters and her family also came.  They came a couple days later and went up and around the area so that they only had about an hour of bad roads.

I have never seen trees bend so far and not break.  When the sun did finally come out, the ice glistened and was beautiful.

Things got so cold, gravity reversed itself.

We had a great Christmas.  As our youngest granddaughter said, "I got everything I wanted and then some."

Some went sledding.  We put a puzzle together, fixed Christmas dinner and shared it with six missionaries and a friend of our son and daughter-in-law,  play some board games, and even used the hot tub.

The ex Venezuelan missionaries even spelled us girls in the kitchen and made a stable of that country for our lunch, arepas.  Yum!

We didn't use our truck while we were there and had to thaw it out as it was encased in ice and snow layers.  Thanks to auto exterior starting, we were able to thaw the doors enough to open them.  We had to do this a couple times.  We left with about four to five inches of ice on the canopy.  We were afraid that it might come loose and hit someone behind us, but since it was below freezing all the way back, it didn't come loose.  It just evaporated some from the wind.  Here is what it looked like the next day before it warmed enough to come off.  I should have taken a picture before we left.

We hope that you had a great Christmas too.

It's December!

 Last Friday we started out with rain and warm temps.  The temp started to drop but the rain continued and started to freeze.  Then after everything had a coat of ice, it turned to ice pellets, then snow.  These pictures were taken throughout the afternoon.  By the time it quit snowing we had about two inches on the ground.

 We even got ice cycles on the awning.  You could watch them form while it was raining and the temp was freezing.

 

We had talked about getting a bird feeder and some seed, so I did that the day before we got the now.  We have seen cardinals, tufted titmouse, chickadees, finches, and some that I haven't ID'd yet.  They are fun to watch.

Today we had some other visitors.  They stay in the woods just beyond the fence.  They usually don't come out into this area.   I had to take this through our plastic covered window so it isn't as clear.

 

The temp came up some on Sunday so roads cleared and things weren't as slick.  Most of our ice cycles came down.  Now, tonight, we are to get more snow and maybe some freezing rain.  Sure glad we don't have to drive the roads.  Last Friday it took our son half an hour to go two and a half miles.

Enjoy the winter!!!

Passing It On, Work And Play

I remember several times that my parents would come to "visit" and helped with projects around our home.  Now it is time for us to pass their example on to our kids.

By and L purchased a home in northern NY with several projects to be done.  They have had a problem with some water seeping into the back of the basement into a concrete extension.  Since they back up to a hillside, the thought was to put in a drain line along the base of the hill and where the water from the house also drains towards.  There was an existing drain down past the house that didn't quite do the job.

They dug up the end of the old one, which they will bypass as it is too high, rented a ditch witch, and started digging the length of the house and yard.

This was the ditch after they were through with the machine.  (That is also their fire pit.)  Then it was widened and rocks, many rocks, dug out.  The part that looks like a storm cellar door is where the water would leak in.  The rain gutter to the other side of the door was also missing so that was replaced and also one put along the garage.  These were joined and taken down and tied into the new underground drainage, hopefully to get it away from the house.

 This little critter was found one day during the digging.

 The tench was lined and the pipe put in.  Then it was filled with many truck loads of gravel.  Eventually, it was covered with dirt and sand.  There are now many piles of rocks to be moved.

In the meantime, L and I have been busy painting.  Before we could do the painting, we had to clean up around door and window frames from the previous paintings.  They had gotten the kitchen, dinning room, living room, and front entry painted before we came.  No matter how good a job we think we did there was always some patching to do.  L is busy patching up missed spots.

This is the room off the kitchen, which is listed as a family room.  This was the color of most of the rooms with the exception of the bedrooms.

Almost everything takes a primer coat as well as the actual paint.  This is when it was done.

 During our working, we also enjoyed watching the trees change colors.

Another thing that had to been done, so that they could have insurance, was to rebuild the missing railing from when the hot tub was put in.  Here is the finished rail.  I just got it painted the other day after it had about five days to dry out.  We have been getting lots of rain.

This is the stairway upstairs with the same orange yellow paint before painting, and then after painting.  We still need to do the upstairs landing and hallway.

When B had a couple days off with fall break and it wasn't raining, we took a hike along the Raquette River.  It was a beautiful and warm day for seeing fall colors.  There are several sets of rapids.  Sorry, I didn't get any good pictures of any of the rapids.  There are also several dams along this waterway.

If you look back at the picture of the deck railing, you will also notice a jack under the deck.  The deck was also bowing under the weight and not properly supported.  Also there was a large deep hole under the deck towards the edge of the hot tub.  After researching, By found out, from the previous owner, that when digging the basement there was a large rock that was pushed to this area and then covered.  The dirt had settled around it.

So the guys collapsed the sides, poured concrete into the bottom, and are putting in a post here.  They also put in a beam under the tub the length of the deck, and replaced several other supports, placing cement supports under them.  This is By collapsing the sides of the hole,

and getting ready for the cement to come down the "chute."  Yes, he was sore the next day.

Some of the outer replaced posts.

This is the downstairs rec room before painting.  It isn't quite finished so no finished picture.  Notice the post under the stairs.  The guys put that in to help raise the main floor and above.

This is looking at their house from the road.

More pretty trees, these across the road from their house,

and just after turning off the main road.  This is some of their property.

I didn't post any pictures of their bedroom.  After several coats of paint, it is now how they want it.  By and L will have to show that picture.

So it hasn't been all work and there has been some play.  It is also good to be able to help them out.