Signs of the times

Driving up to the Bolt Hole today I opted to take Route 12 through New York's Broome and Chenango counties. This area sits atop the Marcellus Shale formation and is ripe for gas drilling. There were lawn signs along the way both for and against exploiting our natural resource. Most were the size of the typical political sign. Some said things like "Friends of Gas NY" or "I [heart] NY, NO Fracking," but one larger billboard sign--perhaps 3' tall and 6' wide--made an excellent point. Along side the traditional peace symbol, it read "Bring a soldier home, Drill for Gas."

Tundra Timing Terrible

With 67K miles on the odometer, the Tundra has given me no serious mechanical problems and for that I'm thankful. Sure, there was that thing with the low roof in the hotel parking garage in Toronto but that's physical not mechanical. It's hauled the travel trailer from NY to Alaska and more--probably 15K of those 67K have been with trailer in tow. It's bumped along gravel, dirt and mud roads in PA since it was purchased.

Still, I make the last of the 0% interest payments in November. If it could have waited just three months I wouldn't have minded so much.

Ouch!

So. I took the Tundra in to have them look at the brakes. Two hours latter I left with four new discs, calipers and pads and a much lighter bank account. (Okay. I'll be honest. Like Congress, I put it on the Cabela's charge card and I will have to pay it off somewhere down the road. At least I'll accumulate points with which to purchase slightly over priced stuff at Cabela's.)

They did give me a discount of 10% when I mentioned I had been there just a month earlier and they had told me everything was fine. Still, the total damages were just north of $900. Ouch!

******

Meanwhile, I'm back at the Aerie for the night. Early tomorrow, I'll hit the local Lowe's for more supplies (brushes, rubber refinishing gloves, and brush cleaner), get the utility trailer hitched to the Tundra and load the ATV on board, and then gas up the Tundra and head back north. The powers that be are forecasting some showers and T-storms during the day and along my route. I'll bring a tarp with me so when I get to the Bolt Hole I can at least cover up the ATV.

Those same powers say the weather is supposed to dry up for four or five days starting Thursday so I'll be back up on the roof hoping to get the south side of the kitchen finished. The kitchen roof is the oldest on the building and really looks it. From a distance, you'd swear it's nothing but rust. This south side gets the most sun even in winter when the large sugar maple drops its leaves. It also gets a lot of snow as the stuff drifts to the lee side of the roof and just sits there. I've never seen any snow slide off this particular side. (Snow doesn't slide off the north side either, but that's because the lower and less slanted wood shed roof holds it in place.) This should be a brief job of three hours or so.

Then it's on to the living room roof. The highest of all, this roof is about 25 years old but is already showing rust. The snow regularly slides off this roof...when I'm there and have a fire going inside. Last winter I wasn't there and Mark says the snow was two to three feet deep on this roof and, until he used a rake on it, wasn't going anywhere. The rust may help hold the snow in place so a new roof coating may get it to slide more easily. Or not. At least the coating will seal some small leaks around the roofing nails...I hope.

The living room roof is probably an 8 to 10 hour job because of the need to move the climbing and roof ladders frequently as I work my way down the roof's length. At approximately 20 feet, it's also one of the longest roofs on the building.

With persistence and luck, I should be finished with the roofs by Friday evening. Then it's wood hauling time.

Compromise, they said....

...over and over.

The last couple of weeks we've been hearing talking heads and politicos from the inner circles of Washington talk about the need to compromise on the debt ceiling and budget cuts. Knowing how words get twisted by those groups of folks and the media, I finally looked that word up at Dictionary.com to see what it really means.

com·pro·mise
   [kom-pruh-mahyz] Show IPA noun, verb, -mised, -mis·ing.

noun
1. a settlement of differences by mutual concessions; an agreement reached by adjustment of conflicting or opposing claims, principles, etc., by reciprocal modification of demands.
2. the result of such a settlement.
3. something intermediate between different things: The split-level is a compromise between a ranch house and a multistoried house.
4. an endangering, especially of reputation; exposure to danger, suspicion, etc.: a compromise of one's integrity.


verb (used with object)
5. to settle by a compromise.
6. to expose or make vulnerable to danger, suspicion, scandal, etc.

[Emphasis added.]

There's quite a bit of difference between the assumed meaning (definitions 1 and 5 above) and what the word "compromise" can mean (see definitions 4 and 6).

The Democrat participants in this little theater of the absurd that has played out daily on cable and network news shows would tell you that when they called upon the Republicans to compromise, they meant the Republicans should do as definitions 1 and 5 would have it. (Minus those pesky little words "mutual concessions" found in the first definition.)

The Republicans, stood fast, no doubt believing that to "compromise" would be akin to definitions 4 and 6. Indeed, if they had gone along with the Democrats and ceded additional points, they would have compromised their standing with the folks who went out in 2010 and elected them to stand up to the profligate spenders across the aisle. No doubt, quite a few of those compromising Republicans would have found themselves facing stiff challenges in 2012. Some may yet.

Between now and that 2012 date, however, there are still more battles to be waged about spending reductions. It will be interesting to see how this plays out between the stubborn as an ass Democrats and the ever mindful Republicans. They (the GOP) had best remember and remember well, the 2010 elections.

Monday at the Bolt Hole

The Bolt Hole did not get the 40% chance of rain that was forecast so the applied roof coating is getting a chance to cure nicely. After two strenuous days on the roof and in the glaring sunshine, I'm going to take today off and do some house cleaning. This will give the (very) red top of my head and backs of my ears a chance to stabilize. I had strips of toweling and a square of the same on my sparsely follicled pate but that that did not cover the tops of my ears. The one time I wore a ball cap, I forgot that the rear of said cap was nothing but loose mesh and the sun could--and did--easily shine through. Even my face, which I seldom raised to the sun, got a nice reflective burning from the roof surface. (Maybe I can get the muscles in my buttocks to unclinch and my toes to uncurl, too. Standing on a sloped roof for hours fearful of that one slip that might carry you over the edge followed by a half full bucket of paint will do that to ya.)

At the moment, the sun is attempting to break through the cloud cover. The temperatures are in the upper 70s after an overnight low close to 60 degrees. The humidity is close to 80%. T-storms are still a 40% probability for this evening.

Tomorrow (Tuesday) calls for a trip back to PA to see what's causing the Tundra to suffer the shimmies when I apply the brakes (dirty discs?) and to the Aerie to pick up the ATV--should there be no serious problems with the Tundra--as well as some supplies.

Wednesday I'll be heading back up to the Bolt Hole. The forecast is fro some T-storms on Wednesday followed by four days of sunny weather. I should be able to finish my roof painting on Thursday and Friday giving the coating a chance to cure before the next rain is expected on Monday.

Those are the plans at any rate. Subject to change as always.

Painting progresses

Okay, about that "Up On The Roof'" falsehood: the Amish crew didn't show up with their paint brushes and ladders either (then again, it was Sunday) so I had to go back out and do it myself!

I managed to finish the upstairs bedroom (west side), the north side of the kitchen, AND the wood shed roof before 1:30 PM. I called it quits at that time because I could. Hey! I'm not only the work crew, I'm the boss, too! I can do what every I please when it pleases me. Got that? (Besides, IF it should rain this evening, I want the roof coating to have some time to cure before the water hits it. Weather.com says maybe. AccuHunch says possible. Both say it WILL most likely rain tomorrow afternoon. (75% chance according to the crew at AH.)

Here's today's progress:

First the upstairs bedroom on the west side. I got part of this yesterday but managed to reach the center panels today and finished it off.

A reminder of what it looked like before painting.

Before: West side of upstairs bedroom.

And here's what it looks like with a fresh coat.

After: West side of upstairs bedroom.

The north side of the kitchen roof and the wood shed roof were also on my list for today.

Here's those roofs before painting.

Before: North side of kitchen and wood shed.

And after.

After: North side of kitchen and wood shed.

The little maple sapling had to come down--again. The wood shed roof took just an hour to do after lunch. I could stand up and use the long handled brush on it. Not climbing or concern about slopes on that baby!

Waiting on the dew.

Doggone it! These north country birds are worse than Chester! Three freakin' thirty and they are making a racket. The bloody sun isn't even hinting at coming over the horizon and they're singing their hearts out. Mating season was weeks ago fella's! If you've not met a lady yet, it's probably too late so give it a rest, will ya!

And they're not just loud, either, but very, very annoying and repetitive. The kind of noise you can not ignore. I know, I tried. Finally gave up at 5 AM and got up, had breakfast, drank some coffee, took some pain pills did some stretching of aching back, knees and hips. Then sat and waited.

Just waiting on the dew on the roof to evaporate so I can get to work. Checking the forecast, there's a 30% chance of showers late tonight. Now, the instructions on the roof coating says not to apply if there will be rain in the next 36 hours, but 30% sounds like a good bet to me.

I want to at least finish the upstairs bedroom roof, the north half of the kitchen and the wood shed roof today. Then, Monday, I'll see about tackling the living room roof. That one is quite long and steep with a sizable (10'?) eave. Could be a challenge with the ladders I have and may have to wait until I can get an extension ladder up here.

You'll notice I've not mentioned the south side of the kitchen. Frankly, that's the one that scares me most. It's steep and the drop off seems worse because there's a slight slope off the porch that makes it seem further than it really is. Plus there's a gutter system on the eave that is, shall we say, iffy. I was going to leave it until last, but if my ladders can't be used on the living room section, then the south kitchen may be Monday's target.

Filed Under: Things learned on the roof

You know that song "Up On The Roof" by the Drifters? Yeah, this one:



Well, I'm here to report that the line: "...where you just have to wish to make it so..." is a falsehood.

I spent all day yesterday up on the roof and not once did a bikini-clad lass show up with an ice cold beer.

Maybe if I had spent my time "Under the Boardwalk"....



At least then the top of my head and backs of my ears would not have gotten burned.

My day at the Bolt Hole

As I mentioned in the previous post, today was the day I was to get up on the roof and paint the rusty, rusty metal roof. (Or at least part of it.) And that's just what I did.

Like many an old home that has undergone periodical improvements, the Bolt Hole has a complex and troubling roof line. There are roofs for the kitchen, the upstairs bedroom, the living room, the kids' bedroom, the screened porch and the wood shed. Some may have ridge beams that run in the same direction--but they are NOT at the same elevation. Others have ridge beams that are perpendicular to their neighboring roof. Even these, however, do not meet at the same elevation. Finally, there are two (the woodshed and the screened porch) that slope in the same direction as their adjacent roof but at a different pitch and, in the case of the screened porch, at a different elevation.

Only the roof over the kids' bedroom will escape. I replaced that about 6 years ago and it's got a bright red roof now. So that leaves the living room roof (second newest but very rusty), the upstairs bedroom, the screened porch, kitchen and wood shed to paint.

The screened porch and the wood shed roofs are my favorites. They have pitches that are approximately 3:12 and 4:12. (That's the number of inches they rise over a horizontal foot.) They are nearly flat compared to the roofs that are closer to 10:12 or 12:12.

My favorite steep roof is the one over the east half of the upstairs bedroom. It's close to a 12:12 pitch but the eave is just two feet above the screened porch's 3:12 roof. Slip and slide on the bedroom section and I'd end up on the screened porch with an excellent chance of stopping. (The back half of the kitchen--also a 12:12 roof--ends up on the woodshed roof at the same elevation. This is the one that Mark used as a ski jump one winter. 'Nough said.)

So today, I thought I would do the east side of the upstairs bedroom, the screened porch, and the west side of the upstairs bedroom if time permitted.

Here's a picture showing what the east side of the upstairs bedroom looked like before I got to work. (the screened porch is just below the eave of the bedroom roof but, because of the angle, doesn't show up to well.)

Before: East side of upstairs bedroom & screened porch.

Notice the roof ladder hooked over the ridge on the lefts of the chimney. Very useful that IF the over hang at the eave end allows it to be used.

Here's those same roofs after they got painted.

After: East side of upstairs bedroom & screened porch.

Having finished the east side, I moved over to the west. Here's the north end of the west side of that bedroom roof. The kitchen roof on the right forms a T with the bedroom roof about half way up the slope. And, if you look carefully in the lower right, you can see the change in pitch between the kitchen roof and the wood shed roof.

Before: North end of west side of the upstairs bedroom,
the kitchen and wood shed roofs.

And after I quit for the day due to knee, back and muscle aches; dehydration (actually, THAT was not a problem--3 Gator Ades, and equal number of liter bottles of water and temperatures "only" in the upper 70s helped) and fatigue, here's what had been done on the west:

North end of the west side of the upstairs bedroom roof.

South end of the west side of the upstairs bedroom roof.

Access to the middle of this west side of the roof is hampered by the length of the roof ladder. It's too long and doesn't latch over the ridge when bumping into the kitchen roof. The problem is trying to walk that steep roof with a five gallon pail of aluminum, fiber impregnated, paint in one hand and the need for a sky hook on your mind.

******
Incidentally I've been saying "paint" when in fact this is more a roof coating--sort of like a silver colored tar with fibers mixed in. It will seal small cracks but can be applied with a masons brush or a roller. With the little ridges on the crimped roofing, I chose a hand held brush for most of my application. A few times, when things got a little too distant for comfort, I used a brush on a long handle to r-e-a-c-h out there and get the edges.

This coating is kinda weird in that it is a bronze-gold color in the can but as soon as it hits the roof and starts to dry/age/oxidize it turns a brilliant silver. During the day, I splashed so much on my pants and boots, I thought I was the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz. As my knees, back and muscles started to ache I could have used an oil can. And as I continued to push myself, I could have used his heart.

Tomorrow I need to get those center panels and then the north side of the kitchen roof as well as the wood shed.

Roof work

The rain stopped late last night and everything remains quite wet. The sun is rising, however, and it won't be long before the roof is dry enough for me to climb up and start brushing and blowing the loose rust off in preparation of a coat of paint.

Both weather.com and AccuHunch agree that Saturday and Sunday are going to be lovely days with mostly sunny skies and highs in the low 80s. Monday, however, has a 40% chance of T-storms.

I'll post some "Before" pictures later. Hopefully followed by some "After" shots.

Aerie Report, July 28, 2011

I was laying on the couch late this afternoon wondering why I felt so tired. I mean besides getting to sleep after midnight last night and getting awakened by Chester just before 0600 this morning. And making three trips in to town. Then it hit me: I cut the grass this morning! Sheesh! How could I forget an hour and a half with the mower?

******

Traveling around on Monday and Tuesday I noticed a shimmy in the front end of the Tundra whenever I applied my brakes. Yesterday, on our way to Binghamton, I stopped at the dealers to see if I could get the vehicle in to get looked at. Tuesday at 2 PM was the earliest slot he had, so I took it. As soon as we left the dealership, the dang shimmy stopped! All the way to Binghamton and back to the Aerie: No shimmy! Today I purposefully made three trips down the hill and on two of the three I detected no shimmy when I applied my brakes. I came t-h-i-s close to calling and cancelling my appointment.

I'm going up to the Bolt Hole tomorrow using the Tundra to haul some materials to paint the roof. I was going to haul the ATV up on the trailer, but until I'm sure about the cause of the shimmy, that's will have to wait. I will get some work done on the roof--once the forecast rains of Friday end.

Accuhunch says there could be 1.5 plus inches of rain around the Bolt Hole Friday and Friday night. Then again, they said we would see mostly sunny skies at the Aerie today and only scattered showers. We got the scattered showers, but never saw the sun. As a result, the forecast 82 degrees didn't happen and we maxed out at a very pleasant 72.

Back to the painting.... The metal roof up there is really in need of a coat of silver paint with some fiber in it. This should keep it cooler in the summer, water proof what few small leaks there may be, and allow the snow to slide off more easily. At least that's my hope. If a few hundred dollars in paint and some elbow grease will help the roof last a few more years, well, that's okay too. (I got some patching tar and ringed, washered screws to fill old nail holes as well.) The problem with the painting is you can't do it if it's too cold, too hot, too wet, or if it's going to rain within 24-35 hours. I figure, IF I can believe AccuHunch, that I've got Saturday afternoon and Sunday to get something accomplished. Scattered T-storms are forecast for Monday night but the chances are slim. If the forecast changes I'll do more painting on Monday. If the chance of rain increases, I'll go cut some more firewood. I'm flexible that way.

******

I'll drive back on Tuesday for the Tundra's checkup and stay the night at the Aerie. Then Wednesday, IF the Tundra gets the okay, I'll haul the ATV up so I can get the firewood out of the woods. With a long range forecast showing no rain until August 6, I might even get more painting in on Thursday and Friday (August 4 & 5).

Take me out to the ball game!

Went to a ball game last night over in Binghamton, NY. The Mets' AA farm team (the B-Mets) were playing the Red Sox affiliate Portland, ME Sea Dogs. Terry got tickets because one of her EGA (Embroiderer's Guild of America) contacts who owns a shop called Stitchery Row was a sponsor. For $6 each we got seats behind home plate, a hot dog and a small soda. Since the program included not just the game but a post-game fireworks show, that was a pretty good deal even for a two hour drive.

The gal from Stitchery Row had a table set up and we stopped by to chat. Terry had emailed a particular need and she picked it up and paid for it while we chatted. There were a few pieces of needlework on display as well as some magazines. Anyone interested could also get information about EGA and its activities.

Two of the pieces on display:





The ballpark is a simple affair, as to be expected for AA ball, but quite nice. The B-Mets are celebrating their 20th year in Binghamton--for which I have mixed feelings. Their previous home park was in Utica, NY just 25 miles from the Bolt Hole and I would have attended lots more games if they had stayed there. Alas, they moved a few years after I bought the Bolt Hole and before I actually had the time to attend those games.

As far as last night's game goes...well, it could have gone better. The B-Mets lost 5-2 after falling behind 5-0. The play was a bit spotty at times, but that is to be expected in AA ball where players are often still learning the game. I thought a few fly balls that were allowed to drop should have been caught. The pitchers for the B-Mets gave up two home runs and allowed another run to score on a wild pitch. The B-Mets' second baseman threw one ball way out of the reach of the first baseman on a sure out. (He may have had too much time to think about that one.)

And the Sea Dogs were not faultless either. They ran themselves out of more scoring when, with men on first and second, the hitter lashed a single to left only to run up the rear of the runner ahead of him. He was caught in a run down between first and second and eventually tagged out for the third out of the inning. (He wasn't helped by the slow poke in front who stood on second but should have made a break for third once the run down started.)

Still, it was good to get out and watch a game. Weird though, as Terry mentioned, not to have a play-by-play commentary going on. Forces you to really pay attention.

Top of the 5th and the Sea Dogs lead 5-0. Seats were pretty good!

There were 20-24 folks there as part of the Sit-and-Stitch promotion and Stitchery Row's owner welcomed them all. She even had little goody bags for most of the women who did, indeed sit and stitch, or knit, or crochet during the entire game. Only one other husband was in attendance (besides the Stitchery Row's husband, that is). A retired Navy Chief, he seemed to be enjoying the game. Certainly, he got the attention of one of the B-Mets mascots, Ballwinkle.

Ballwinkle makes the rounds.

Ballwinkle and kids of all ages.

I've no idea who the little kid is in this photo, but the guy to the left of Ballwinkle is the retired Navy man. The women seen here are part of the Sit-and-Stitch contingent. Terry would be right behind Ballwinkle and my seat was #22 visible in the upper right.

Aerie Report, July 26, 2011

It was a (mostly) clear night last night so the temperatures plummeted to a glorious 58 degrees early this morning. I say "mostly" because we did get a few brief showers that brought our rainfall total for Monday-Monday night to 0.2 inches. That's not much in the grand scheme of things but it was much needed. After a little morning cloudiness the skies cleared and the temperatures rose again but only to a high of 84 late in the afternoon. The steady breeze that blew from the north-northwest made it feel cooler even in the sun. We opened all the windows and doors to let that breeze in and the house cooled off nicely. With the sky still clear, I'm looking forward to another cool night and lovely day Wednesday.

******

Terry heard on the TV news that the closing of the post office is not a done deal. They're on a "study" list and several things need to be considered before the final cut is made. I hope they consider the fact that there are no bloody stores within 8 miles of the current PO to serve as their "Village Post Office!" Our part time post mistress also says they've been doing a booming business out of our little PO since the gas drilling started, too.

******

Early tomorrow the Tiadaghton Audubon Society will be performing it's annual cleanup at the bird observation blind over at The Muck. Not much has to be done according to our coordinator, just a little cutting back on vegetation and turning of boards on the boardwalk, so we should be finished before 10 AM.

******

Terry and I have tickets for tomorrow's minor league baseball game over in Binghamton. The Mets AA team will be playing the Portland, ME Sea Dogs, an affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. The teams seem evenly matched (i.e. they both stink being 14 games out of first place with nearly identical records of 42-61 and 41-60) so it should be a good experience. The B-Mets have a Sit-and-Stitch promotion going on for folks like Terry who do a lot of stichin'. At $6 a ticket plus a voucher for a dog and coke, how can you go wrong? Oh yeah, and the seats are directly behind home plate!

Busted!

It's the end of the month and I've managed to (mostly) pay all the bills. This song seems to come to mind. Perhaps Washington (where folks are also spending my money) should adopt it as an anthem.



That's the original writer and singer. Many more have sung this song and made it famous--Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, Waylon Jennings, etc.--but it's good once in a while to hear it from the man who wrote it--Harlan Howard.

Aerie's Post Office on THE list.

The US Postal Service is discussing the closing of some 3600 post offices nationwide. These are, for the most part, small post offices that do little business monetarily or old post offices that would cost too much to revamp. They are located in tiny villages and large cities. Yours could be one of those under consideration. Ours is. THE LIST is euphemistically titled the Expanded Access Study List.

Not to worry, though. Your address, right down to the zip code will not change as the functions of your local post office will be merged with larger facilities in a nearby town. Even if you have a post box, that will, somehow, be transferred to a nearby facility. (I made that last out of whole cloth for the USPS does not tell you what happens to the folks--like Terry and I--who do not have home delivery but rather a PO Box at their (soon to be defunct) local post office.

The USPS is going back to the days of yesteryear in part. They are touting the creation of the Village Post Office run in small businesses like pharmacies, groceries, and "other appropriate retailers." For those of you who watched Little House On The Prairie or Northern Exposure you might get part of the idea. The local general store served as the post office. Today's plans do not say if these Village Post Offices will, you know, deliver mail via PO Boxes.

Oh. And don't call it a cut back in postal services. It's a "retail optimization effort."

Guess too many of us have "gone green" and started paying our bills electronically, heh?

Rain! And Cool!

We went over to Murphy's Blueberry Farm this morning to do our weekly pickin'. Unlike last week when it was already nearing 80 degrees when we pulled in at 8:30 AM, it was a cool 72 degrees with a lightly overcast sky. Terry and I were picking for nearly an hour when a light drizzle started but it felt good and didn't seem threatening. Twenty or thirty minutes later, however, there was a rumble of thunder in the distance that continued to get louder and louder. That was threatening! So we (and everyone else in the field) called it a day. In little better than an hour and a quarter we had gathered 5 1/4 pounds of blueberries.

As we checked out the rain began in earnest and it rained all the way back through Mansfield but when we turned south off Route 6 the rain diminished considerably so there was just a light drizzle falling when we got home. Since then, the temperature rose to just over 80 degrees and then fell to 69 degrees as a line of T-storms marking a cold front moved through. We did get rain from that but not in gully-washing proportions; more a gentle, soaking rain that will do the lawn and garden some good.

After lunch, as he front approached and the temperatures outside began to fall, I went to work turning those 5+ pounds of berries into seven pints of blueberry jam. We've now got a dozen jars of strawberry jam and 14 jars of blueberry in the larder. That should last us for a good while. If we do go berry picking again--and why not? It's fun!--we'll freeze what we gather and use them for muffins, pancakes and buckle.

******

Strange to watch the windmills rotate so much and so frequently as the front approached and passed. First the winds came from the west, then out of the north and then--as the front moved on--from the south.

Right now, we're just pleased to be getting some much needed relief from the hot, dry weather we've had for the past few weeks.

******

When we came home, I noticed one of the flower pots that was sitting on the retaining wall had, well, disappeared. This is a big sucker that holds several pounds of potting soil and it could not have just blown away. I found it on the ground beneath the utility trailer at the base of the retaining wall. Something had knocked it off severely denting a drain spout in the process. Another, larger flower pot had been tipped over. Terry's vote has gone to raccoons while I'm partial to a large black bear.

Aerie Report, July 24, 2011

"Only" got up to 83 today as compared to the 97 degrees yesterday and 101.8 on Friday. THEY keep saying a chance of T-storms but nothing ever shows up on the radar. Terry and I cancelled a trip into New Jersey yesterday for an open house at my niece's. The forecast here was for 98-100 and there for 100-105. Too bloody hot to be traveling 500 miles round trip unnecessarily. (Sorry Kristen!)

I spent a few hours each afternoon in the basement where even that temperature has risen to 70 degrees. Usually it's between 65 and 68 degrees down there, but the very late afternoon sun has been shining in the walkout French doors and adjacent windows warming things up. That and the two escape wells on the southwest side of the house are--although vented--regular greenhouses. Sorting through computer hardware that no longer is compatible with anything I've got and software/floppy disks that I may or may not ever use again. Hardware/drives can go to the dump eventually. The useless CD's can be turned into 1) targets or 2) deer reflectors around the garden, but what can I do with all the hundreds of floppy disks? I've no need for that many drink coasters.

(From my Facebook account)
A quiet (but hot) weekend at the Aerie. Picked lots of string beans, zucchinis and cucumbers. Even got a few onions out of the ground with many more promising a winter's supply. Bear knocked over a small (4" diameter) chokecherry tree. Cuckoo flew into one of the windows (DOA). Nothing much happening.

******

Terry and I will be heading out early tomorrow morning to go blueberry picking again. I can never get enough blueberries! There are still a few ripening raspberries around the yard but they are small due to the heat and lack of rain. (Yeah we got 1.5 inches last Monday and--maybe--a dozen drops since then. Between their predictions for temperature and rainfall, the Old Farmers' Almanac really screwed the pooch this month!) The blackberries are not yet ripe on the hill. When the do turn from their current green color, I expect them to be hard as marbles from lack of moisture. If I pick any for my breakfast cereal, I'll have to watch out that I don't crack any teeth.

******

That's about it from the Aerie for now. Time to head off to the air conditioned bedroom for some shuteye.

Still Hot, Hot, Hot! (Enough already!)

Got up to 101.8 degrees late this afternoon on the Aerie thermometer. That is by far the hottest it's been since we moved in at the end of '06. Tomorrow, while not quite so hot will still be in the mid to upper 90s and Sunday will be more of the same. We may get a break on Monday with some T-storms ushering in a cool (not cold!) front and temps in the mid to upper 80s. Average high in these here parts for this time of year is 82-85 degrees.

Maybe I'll set the sprinkler out tomorrow and sit on a lawn chair for a bit. Well water can be a tad chilly though. Might shock my system. Maybe a beer or two four first to create some internal cooling. And numbness.

While I was stripping...

...Terry was in the kitchen putting up some dill relish from the cucumbers we have harvested. The slicing, chopping and dicing went well and the product of her labors looks yummy. It could have used a little color from yellow and red peppers but we didn't have any on hand. As a result, we have a completely green product.

Cup Jars of Dill Relish

Terry packaged these in cup jars and then sealed them in the boiling water manner. THAT took its toll. Boiling water for 10 minutes in (at that time) 94 degree heat (outside temp, 86 degrees inside)! No wonder early settlers opted for a separate summer kitchen. As the photo shows, she sealed seven jars and the leftovers are in an eighth jar in the fridge for immediate use.

Finish Stripping 101

As the afternoon temperatures on Thursday climbed to 97 degrees at the Aerie (104 was the reading at the Elmira-corning Airport according to weather.com and AccuHunch), I "escaped" to the slightly cooler garage to strip the finish off a pair of old headboards and foot boards for twin beds that were once used by my sister and I as kids. The beds date to at least 1958 and have never been refinished. The wood appears to be maple. I once stripped the dresser and chest on chest that were part of this bedroom set and those pieces are sitting in the basement being used for storage.

When Terry and I were new home owners way back in 1973, I took it upon myself to strip the paint off our old home's solid wood panel doors. Each door was two-over-two; that is, had two square panels on the bottom and two larger rectangular panels on the top. Each panel was bevel edged and was surrounded by cove molding. And each door had a gazillion layers of paint on it. (The house was built around 1906 and this was the first time these doors were stripped.) THE product of choice for that task was something called Zip-Strip. It took me all summer and about eight gallons of stripper to clean the doors so I could repaint them. Zip-Strip worked but I could only get three coats of paint off at a time. It also was extremely volatile--and not in a good way--which is why I did all my work on a set of saw horses set up in the back yard. By the end of the summer the fumes from the Zip-Strip may have damaged some brain cells...or maybe it was all the beer I drank while toiling away in the hot afternoon sun. I figure the beer to Zip-Strip ration may have been 3:1, maybe even 4:1.

The bed pieces had only one coat of finish on them (varnish?) so I thought I'd give something else a try. I had read about an orange colored and odored product called Citristrip and found it on the shelf at Lowe's. The fact that the directions say it's safe to use indoors and makes no mention of using it in a well ventilated area intrigued me. Could it be that safe and un-obnoxious? It claims to work on varnish, paint, other finishes, and many, many coats, too. As a gel, it should cling to the work, no? So, even with a price of $18 for half a gallon, I thought, "Why not?"

Let me tell you something: Citristrip is Great Stuff!

I applied it as directed using a paint brush, waited 30 minutes and used a plastic scraper--also as directed--and watched the finish come right off. Little or no elbow grease needed. That simple. If I left the gel to sit for a longer time, it did dry somewhat, but it still scraped off easily--perhaps even more so as it didn't run. (The package says it will stay moist for up to 24 hours, but that must be with a much thicker application than I used.)

The only caveat on the use of the stuff is to NOT use in direct sunlight or when there's a stiff breeze blowing. They're worried about evaporation. I was concerned about the heat so the garage was the ideal place to be! (The basement would have been cooler, but the cats....) There was a slight orange citrus aroma that beat the tar out of the strong, head spinning vapors other strippers produce. (I did open the window and garage bay door when I popped the top on the mineral spirits--just to be safe.)

I finished up using a stainless steel scrubbing pad and some mineral spirits to get the last of the stripper and goo off the pieces. With a little light sanding with very fine grit paper, the pieces are now ready for a fresh coat of paint. Or, perhaps, even a staining.

Citristrip is biodegradable and easily washes off your hands with soap and water. Same for any spatters you may get on your clothes. Latex gloves or their ilk are recommended for when you're scraping, however. That residual paint and stain doesn't come off so easily.

My work was on a single layer of finish, if dealing with multiple layers, a thicker application and longer sitting time may be necessary.

My only problem with Citristrip is also a plus: It is so thick it's nearly impossible to get out of the plastic jug it is sold in! They should market it in squeeze tubes like toothpaste so you can get that last little bit out of the container! (Not that I have to worry about that for a while. The four pieces--both sides--only required a little over half the jug--call it a pint+ used. And just one beer.) This thickness is a plus if you were working on door or window moldings or anything that is vertical. Citristrip will stick around on those surfaces to do the job.

[Disclaimer: I am not now, nor have I ever been, an employee of W.M. Barr & Co., Inc., Memphis TN, manufactures of Citristrip. I have received nothing from them in making this endorsement of their marvelous product. However, should they wish to contact me....]