Passive heat

Concrete floors have enough thermal mass to retain the heat from the sun for a day or two. The key is getting the sunshine to actually heat it up.

From my browsing of google on the subject, carpet & wood covering the concrete will hinder it's abilities to absorb heat.

So today I'm trying something new. It's sunny so I opened all east & south facing curtains and rolled back 1 rug. That leaves 2/3rds of the floor (roughly) exposed to the sun.

I have a tiny problem with frosted over windows though. Not sure how to prevent that without getting a dehumidifier which will run nonstop.

Garden update:  veggies are planted. I asked Heidi for a few seeds we didn't have. If she doesn't have them in her bank then the local nursery in spring will do. I'll plant the herbs directly in their pots in spring. I'll also start the pears here soon as well once I find an acceptable container for at least a 2 year growth.

I step out onto the patio first thing in the morning. Throw back the curtains and am greeted my a mass amount of condensation! So I tromp uostairs to get a towel or 2 and mop it all up. MOLD!

So I gotta fix this issue before me mold makes a home. Technically this is a whole house problem. Just not as bad as that room they slapped together.

So first the cause(s):

*poor insulation

*excess moisture via plants

*warmer then outside

*breathing

*cooking

*showers

Fixes:

*dehumidifier 

*remove plants

*charcoal

*insulate

*open windows

In reality the only think I can really do would be add charcoal to the room. Place them into a bowl. However, the doors get opened multiple times a day to let the dog out and being winter that just lets in more moisture. 

I would have to constantly empty a dehumidifier. We have one in the basement. It was a 2-3 times daily chore. It now empties into the subpump.....

Ultimately when we have to get a new furnace it will have a built in dehumidifier! 

Further research required. I still am giggling at JSB and all their proclamations! 

This weather is crazy! I'm loving the thunderstorms though!

My sycamore has a mold issue and those damn beetles are nomming it all up. I went through today and trimmed all the infected leaves off (hoping I didn't hurt it by doing that) and disposed of them via city yard waste.

Nothing to be done about the beetles until I get the grubs managed next spring.

Our patio garden is looking awesome! We had a nice storm just as we were gonna plant that filled all our holes. Thanks to the storms timing (right during Aidan's nap) Dan had to do all of it by himself. Poor daddy! I still got muddy planting 3 of the plants! 😏

Try new things!

WTF was he thinking? Motorcyclist nightmare!

Chilling with the car keys while daddy buys all the plants. 3hrs of shopping without a fuss! What a trooper!

I love our plant selection! Can't wait to get them planted!

Dan's hard work! All I did was bring the stone from around the house after digging it up.

I've been silent for a while because we've been getting stuff done....well sorta. More work on the patio garden. Hard when the mate works full time & has Irish skin. 😏

I can't do much because of Aidan with equally Irish skin & his desire to be near me. Can't play with puppy in the shaded part of the yard. Oh no. Too far away from mommy! 😂 I got no one who can (or wants) to come entertain him while I get some yard work done!

Luckily yeaterday Dan had off so he worked all morning (till he fried 😢), I helped during Aidan's 1st nap by trenching the border of the garden....I need to redo (extend) part & go finish it. Then after some dr visits he went down for his evening nap. I went out and finished moving the large stone slabs for Dan to sort as he will for the steps. Even though Aidan woke up he got some daddy time which was nice!

The garden is growing. A boat ton of volunteers this year, including a plethora of persline which I ended up pulling. The only space in the garden for a me only is for beets!

So many projects started right now! Still have work on the kitchen to do and curtains to attend....& as you can see it might be time to clean the studio. OMG it's killing me. 😵

More curtains!

While making a sweet potato and apple puree for Aidan's lunches I found lots of sprouted seedlings. So once I finished and cleaned up I planted them all! Then figured I should plant my cucumbers, butternut squash and cat mint. I planted a tini tiny garlic clove by the sycamore tree in back. I still need to plant the sunflower seeds I collected last year and the herbs.


Update on the oily hair! My blend of oils and no shampooing appears to be working! My hair is less greasy by far! Plus it's healing the rope burns on my ankles!

Gala seedlings

Sweet tater & apple

Bar seating

Grand adventure 

New rug

Will I ever finish this!

Cinquefoil not strawberry 

Bar seat damage

Some of our order came in.

Been a busy morning here at the burban homestead. (Haven't named it yet) Aidan thought he was gonna play at 4am....I wasn't having none of that so we snuggled on the couch till daddy came down @7:30 am. (like cuddling a feral cat!)

We got the second floors all swept, chicken salad all made (the creamy kind you spread betwixt bread).

The patio swept, strawberries moved outside and sun tea set to steep.

When Aidan went down for a nap around 10:30 I showered, started de-petaling the dandelions Aidan helped me pick yesterday and set the paint out.

He woke back up before I got the flowers finished & wouldn't sit still long enough for me to finish so out on the patio we went. Had some lunch, read from "An Echo of Things to Come" for an hour then I figured it was safe to start painting the backkick of the patio steps. Clearly I was wrong! Aidan was all about what mommy was playing with...

Strapped his butt onto my hip and back into the kitchen to finish the mutilation of the dandelions! That didn't work neither! Wasn't having any raspberries in his chair so now we are upstairs destroying daddies gun & motorcycle magazines as I type this! 😂 The door is equally fun as it swings back against the wall after pulling it towards himself!

Today was a day to be outside. Daddy got burnt. I may have gotten burnt!

I brought a blanket out & alternately baby wore & sat Aidan on the blanket. Georgia guarded her yard & baby! All while leveling out the firewood bed's border. Those stones sunk pretty good over the last year.

Dan in the meantime, moved the Sycamore tree, dug a drainage trench around the patio and filled it in with stone, leveled out the dirt some & buried the downspout. I must say I felt lazy watching him work!

Wiring. Tamper outlets. GFCI outlets. Arc fault breaker. Patio enclosure. Condensation. What is wrong here.

Warning:  bitch fest to follow.

So I get that Andy is angry, frustrated and many other complex emotions with his underling Michael who didn't make sure the room was built to expectations. I don't however, permit that his emotions be taken out on us.

I'm the consumer of your product. With your price tag I have an expectation of what that product is & will nit pick the fuck out of the work.

So Dan also finished the side bed. Looks great. We'll need dirt for the bricked part so I can plant tall grasses & I'm thinking mint or lemon verbena.

Planning the layout of the garden, tree guilds and reconstructing our torn up back yard is a lot of work. *heavy sigh* Some things that people claim are great in the tree guild won't work in mine because they attract harmful bugs to my delicate peach tree!

I really wonder though if my peach sapling will survive in it's current location. What with wet feet and not being grafted ... I'm attempting to help it out with some companion plants that will help it grow strong and perhaps deter the wee [giant] bunnies that are nibbling on it's stems. The wee buggers!

So far:
Peach tree guild:

• [insectary] garlic around the base to deter borer bugs and build up sulfur for anti-fungal.
• [insectary & pollinator] basil to repel aphids and attracts butterflies
• [insectary & pollinator] parsley to attract parasitic wasps & hoverflies 
• [nitrogen fixer] ?
• [ground cover] ?
• [mulch] ?

Apple tree guild:

• [insectary] ?
• [pollinator] ?
• [ground cover] clover
• [mulch] ?
• [nitrogen fixer]?

Paw Paw

• [insectary] ?
• [pollinator] ?
• [ground cover] ?
• [mulch] ?
• [nitrogen fixer]?

Clearly still needs a lot of work. Years worth actually. Especially since the trees are all wee saplings, the oldest comping up on 1 year old! The peach is super happy outside though even being so young!

Still haven't started my vegetable garden. Heidi might come out Sunday to help me start some seeds. At least tomato and jalapeno. I'll need a lot of dirt to bring that bed back up!

Patio update:

Cold, not calked and the manager of JSB home solutions is coming out Sunday afternoon to talk with us about the ever lengthening project. Should be fun.....>.>

JSB came out on Thursday. Said they would be done by time they left that day. I had to work so I wasn't here to see them finish or what it looked like when they left. However, the little I saw yesterday before work and today was....Ok.

I had no choice on the darker siding as what is on our house is discontinued. [That sucks!] After talking with me that morning, we agreed that they could take siding from inside the unit to clean up the outside. They had to get a new corner panel to fix that missing chunk. According to Dan they squished it half assed like then screwed it in place. Now, I'm no expert but even I know that's jankie. When they told me that they were going to use metal sheathing to block off the wood they had to cut...I assumed they were blocking it off from the elements. Apparently they just bent it to cover the outside of the wood so it matched the unit....way past the unit, not matching my house & not protecting the wood from anything. When the snow piles up on the roof it'll just like under the metal and still touch the exposed unpainted part of the wood.

The unit is still leaking. Or rather puddling up from under the frame. Not sure what to make of that. From what I saw of what they were doing [it was concrete patio, caulk, metal sheathing, then door frames.] There may have been caulk before the frame but I didn't see it. Either way if it's caulked why is water coming in?

I'm so tempted not to compost this winter. My barrel's contents are frozen! I had hoped to empty it out & was filling a bucket beside it with my fresh scraps till the compost was ready to dump.....not happening if I can't even spin it anymore! & walking out there...it's ouchie cold! It's been a while since I've HAD to go out into the cold to take care of anything besides my car! *note to self knit more wool ... everything!

The patio was staying in the 20's + until last night. It dropped down into the low teens. So not staying much warmer then perhaps 5-10 degrees warmer then the outside. I blame this on the lack of proper calking. Sigh. Probably won't happen till spring. Which means they ain't getting paid till them. The guy in charge of our project now (this makes #3, so much for 1 contact throughout the project) is a contradictory mess. He was like "I'll be out there tomorrow. We need to go over a few things and get it signed off", then when tomorrow came ... and went he was like "sorry we didn't make it, blah blah, we will be out tomorrow 100%". That didn't happen either and this time no contact! Lame.

Note to anyone wanting an enclosed patio. If you have any little bit of building know how, just take the time to build it yourself! It takes them the same amount of time it would take you! (2 weeks my rosy ass) In fact if you took a week off work and were diligent, you'd have it done! & save yourself thousands of dollars! (byer's remorse .... if only I hadn't been pregnant. I would have pushed we do it)

When we get around to building then fence....WE are so building the fence. Contractors be damned! It'll be cheaper and less of a headache even with purchasing a $700 pin survey and the permits to build!!!!

So onto better things! Aidan's curtains are complete! *happy dance* I finished them yesterday while he slept and hung them up! I measured a bit off on the right side and so when I shifted the tabs around it pulls up. I don't think it's all that noticeable. What do you think?

His elf socks are done and were a hit! I messed up my toes a bit so there are some holes but I got it fixed in the pattern. I'll try to write that up today and post it.

On the last day of 2017 we took a trip to the Zoo for the Wildlights! Aidan was loving the lights and the fishes. He lasted a whole 1.5hrs before passing out in his snuggly snow suit!

We got a lovely snow storm here on Sunday which lead to a white Christmas! All things considered, a decent snow fall, though I was expecting more! I took Aidan out and got a picture with his balaclava on. So cute!!!

Sunday Aidan and I got together with grand-da, Terri, uncle Kyle and Alisha for lunch and presents. Grand-da is a super happy, proud man who lavishes his grand-baby! It's so cute!

Christmas day Aidan woke us up early! Cooing and giggling! So we made some flapjacks and opened gifts. Dan of course got me stuff even though I told him NO. I feel so weird receiving things, especially since I'm a poor woman who's whole check goes to bills! [side note: I need to start making things for next year] After lunch we racked the strawberry mead! Now to bottle it.

The patio crew came out today. They got the screen doors on, the inside calked and the upper windows installed. There will be no outside calking due to the freezing weather (>.>) and the thingies that seal up the upper windows won't be complete, again due to the freezing weather. Foreman says that they may be measured and cut in the warehouse then brought out and installed. Also, all my wee grievances apparently are already aware of and will be corrected at completion. We shall see. I can only hope! Though cleaning up along the way is a great business practice they should think about implementing!

Saturday Dan got the electrical complete. Michael, from JSB, was to bring us out the box we would need. Wasn't able via text, to tell me what it was called & refused to call me. This was earlier in the week. Apparently he doesn't want this job to be completed by years end.

Sloppy workers. Besides what I've already bitched about we found loads more damage to the unit. I still haven't gotten any of my questions answered....because he wants to talk in person (I'll be at the work site) but never shows (unless it's after I leave for work).

Corporate is getting a call from me. Hopefully they are more communicative then the guys I've worked with so far.....have I even met this Michael ....I Don't think I have now that I think about it.

Some images that I had to take. I think I was making them nervous.

Paw paws!

Well it's coming along nicely. Better then we first thought it would look.... they did end up cutting into the house [that board that runs along the roof line of the living room] so I'm not sure how they plan to seal that up. That and the siding. It's almost time to start the wiring!

My yard is a construction site. La sob!

New Lynn Wheeler bowls