WARNING: This is a vent/whine!
I am a bit of a tizzy. I live in a log home. I LOVE my house. However, it has not been given the external love it needs. We decided to hire someone to do it for us. It is worse than I expected. I seriously think I will have to take a second mortgage for this! I am really freaking out.
When we built the house we used pressure treated logs. We were told that stain was all they needed. That is all we did. Now I am being told we did that wrong and we needed to seal them, too. I am also being told we need to fill in the checks in the logs. That is NOT what I was being told 25 years ago. So...back to the research board.
I just have that sick feeling deep in the pit of my stomach. We could not have afforded a brick ranch (blech!) of the size we needed at the time we built. THAT is my husband's dream home. This is what I found that worked for us. I just need to find out how to make it keep working for us.
Cross your fingers that I am wrong and the estimate won't be in the $25K range.
Mary
Okay, 30 minutes of research refreshed my memory. I hate this getting old crap where I KNOW I know something but can't recall all the information. We did NOT do the wrong thing. For better or for worse, our logs were pressure treated when we bought them. We were not supposed to seal them with an air tight seal - and I am glad we didn't given what now know about CCA treatment. The inside of our home was sealed with polyurethane but the outside was let "breath" with water repellent sealant.
There are two schools of thought about checks in logs. I am not sure that I agree they should all be sealed up. That seems like a good way to lock in moisture.
I know none of this is of any interest to the quilters that read but it does help me to record my thought process here. I really liked the guy that came but I think we need to talk to some other folks, too. I still expect his bid to be in the $25,000 range. Did I mention we built this house with a $42,000 loan? I always compare everything to that. I am going to research some more and hopefully I have talked myself down before I freak out my husband, too.
Thanks for "listening"!
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Work in Progress Wednesday - French General
Hello, all! I will be honest and tell you...so far today I have not sewed a stitch. I am working night shift this week. To top that, Indiana is being hammered by storms for the past 18 hours or so. I swear the radar stayed orange, red or yellow all night.
My phones are messed up. I am pretty sure that we have lightening come in on the line. The old ones still work but not the newer versions. You know, those I bought two weeks ago! This makes me reluctant to turn on my sewing machines.
I do have a current WIP (not to be confused with my many UFOs and a few PIGS). I took this picture yesterday and hoped to get a better one today. The weather makes that a big fat NO.
This is sideways but every time I tried the other direction the colors were not true. Once again I seem to have gotten my colors segregated. I am still debating using some decorative stitching in red on some of the lighter solids. This will have three borders in increasing sizes so that it will fit a full sized bed - mine! I don't have any of my own quilts on beds here. As a matter of fact, I have only ever kept one quilt.
My other WIP looks awful but I am happy about it. I was successful in getting my abandoned sour dough "woke up". I may start a batch of cinnamon rolls before I go to work tonight but it will probably wait until tomorrow. That way the kids will come home and help me eat them!
I am going to link up to Freshly Pieced and whatever other blogs I can find. I am trying hard to get back to blogging and sewing.
Keep Stitchin'!
Mary
My phones are messed up. I am pretty sure that we have lightening come in on the line. The old ones still work but not the newer versions. You know, those I bought two weeks ago! This makes me reluctant to turn on my sewing machines.
I do have a current WIP (not to be confused with my many UFOs and a few PIGS). I took this picture yesterday and hoped to get a better one today. The weather makes that a big fat NO.
This is sideways but every time I tried the other direction the colors were not true. Once again I seem to have gotten my colors segregated. I am still debating using some decorative stitching in red on some of the lighter solids. This will have three borders in increasing sizes so that it will fit a full sized bed - mine! I don't have any of my own quilts on beds here. As a matter of fact, I have only ever kept one quilt.
My other WIP looks awful but I am happy about it. I was successful in getting my abandoned sour dough "woke up". I may start a batch of cinnamon rolls before I go to work tonight but it will probably wait until tomorrow. That way the kids will come home and help me eat them!
I am going to link up to Freshly Pieced and whatever other blogs I can find. I am trying hard to get back to blogging and sewing.
Keep Stitchin'!
Mary
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Tasty Tuesday - Over Night Steel Cut Oats
Okay, let me confess. I hate oatmeal. I can remember one day when I was five years old my mother made me sit at the table with the same bowl of oatmeal for over four hours. She swore I would set there until I ate it. I did NOT eat it and I am not setting there!
As I got older I discovered I still don't like it but if I mix it 50/50 with apple sauce I can eat it. Mom would put butter and sugar on it. I don't like butter at all and never have. I digress...
I am no longer five. Now I have borderline high cholesterol. Oats are good for that. Soooo......I discovered steel cut oats and found I can tolerate them. Did you know they are what the Irish and Scotts refer to as "porridge"? Who knew that was what Goldilocks was eating? They take 35 minutes to cook. I am not that dedicated in the morning. After a little research I discovered some recipes for cooking them overnight in a slow cooker. This is my version. I hate to admit it but it is pretty tasty. At least I think so at 0400!
Overnight Steel Cut Oats and Apples
Ingredients:
2 apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1/2 inch pieces - you could leave peels on but I don't like them cooked
1 cup apple juice - if you are going healthy check to make sure it isn't sweetened
2 cups water
1 cup uncooked steel cut oats
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon cloves - I like them but they are over powering to some people
Directions:
Spray the inside of a 3 quart (or bigger) slow cooker with cooking spray. Alternatively, rub it with butter or shortening. Add all ingredients. Stir, cover and cook on low for around 7 hours. This depends on your slow cooker. The recipe can be doubled if using a 6 quart cooker.
You can eat it hot in the morning or store in the fridge. To reheat put 1 cup in a microwave safe bowl (with a third cup of milk if you desire) and microwave for 1 minute.
Top as desired. I don't use milk but my husband does. I like to put chopped nuts on mine. He likes crumbled bacon. I work rotating shifts. At 4:30 a.m. this is a nice quick snack to tide me over and it doesn't mess with my stomach while I am trying to sleep.
As I got older I discovered I still don't like it but if I mix it 50/50 with apple sauce I can eat it. Mom would put butter and sugar on it. I don't like butter at all and never have. I digress...
I am no longer five. Now I have borderline high cholesterol. Oats are good for that. Soooo......I discovered steel cut oats and found I can tolerate them. Did you know they are what the Irish and Scotts refer to as "porridge"? Who knew that was what Goldilocks was eating? They take 35 minutes to cook. I am not that dedicated in the morning. After a little research I discovered some recipes for cooking them overnight in a slow cooker. This is my version. I hate to admit it but it is pretty tasty. At least I think so at 0400!
Overnight Steel Cut Oats and Apples
Ingredients:
2 apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1/2 inch pieces - you could leave peels on but I don't like them cooked
1 cup apple juice - if you are going healthy check to make sure it isn't sweetened
2 cups water
1 cup uncooked steel cut oats
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon cloves - I like them but they are over powering to some people
Directions:
Spray the inside of a 3 quart (or bigger) slow cooker with cooking spray. Alternatively, rub it with butter or shortening. Add all ingredients. Stir, cover and cook on low for around 7 hours. This depends on your slow cooker. The recipe can be doubled if using a 6 quart cooker.
You can eat it hot in the morning or store in the fridge. To reheat put 1 cup in a microwave safe bowl (with a third cup of milk if you desire) and microwave for 1 minute.
Top as desired. I don't use milk but my husband does. I like to put chopped nuts on mine. He likes crumbled bacon. I work rotating shifts. At 4:30 a.m. this is a nice quick snack to tide me over and it doesn't mess with my stomach while I am trying to sleep.
Monday, June 24, 2013
Design Wall Monday
I am trying to make this post from my phone. We shall see how that works. Last night I managed a little sewing.
Hmmm....on my phone at lunch I could not see this.
Okay, back to the design wall. Do you see a quilt there? This is a jelly roll 1600. This evening I managed to trim and press all the seams. This was after my husband and I tried to kill ourselves in the garden. He more so than I. He was home all day. I joined him when I got home at 3:00 p.m. I made it two hours and then I was done.
We managed to weed the strawberry patch and the onions. I hate weeding. There is now a local CSA that I would love to participate in. However, the garden failures are the only real exercise WE get.
It is now 8:45 p.m. and I am exhausted. Tomorrow I hope to sew, weed the lavender bed and plant the remainder of the annuals I have setting around.
Keep stitchin'!
Mary
Hmmm....on my phone at lunch I could not see this.
Okay, back to the design wall. Do you see a quilt there? This is a jelly roll 1600. This evening I managed to trim and press all the seams. This was after my husband and I tried to kill ourselves in the garden. He more so than I. He was home all day. I joined him when I got home at 3:00 p.m. I made it two hours and then I was done.
We managed to weed the strawberry patch and the onions. I hate weeding. There is now a local CSA that I would love to participate in. However, the garden failures are the only real exercise WE get.
It is now 8:45 p.m. and I am exhausted. Tomorrow I hope to sew, weed the lavender bed and plant the remainder of the annuals I have setting around.
Keep stitchin'!
Mary
Sunday, June 23, 2013
Potpourri
Hello, all! I have missed you! I have just been busy. Just not at blogging. One of my buddies from the quilt retreat I did last year emailed me. Sallie, I am fine! I also had one of my blog hop winners NOT get her prize. I have another setting in my sewing room to mail her but haven't gotten to that again, yet. I am going to.
So, just some miscellaneous stuff to dip my toe back in the blogging waters.
See this high chair? Looks pretty pitiful, doesn't it? I bought this at an auction when I was pregnant with number two. He was born in 1986. It was old when I bought it. We used it through him and his younger brother. It has been stored in barns, garages and sheds. I assumed it was rusted. We would wash it down when we drug it out to use for a visitor. The tray looks fine. We would put a towel on the seat and make do. That is the way people around here have always been.
Now we have a grandchild. I bought some of the laminated cotton from Connecting Threads to recover it but never got around to it until this week. Of course, the child is now six months old and needs it. Nothing like procrastination. We do that a lot around here, too.
Last week I pulled the seat and back off to recover. They are just too embarrassing to show. The screws were rusted almost through. The pressed wood was rotted. The foam was beyond description. So...I took them to Mr. Wonderful and he cut new plywood pieces. Then, while I was at work, he started cleaning on the metal. My DIL had suggested some "Hillbilly Chrome" - spray paint. If I painted it I was going to do a flat color to hide the imperfections from the rust. Turns out that was not rust. It was just grime. YUCK!!!
We recovered the seat on Friday night and used the new foam I had picked up that day. It looks pretty spiffy.
You have to enlarge the photos to appreciate the difference in the metal. The chair didn't have a belt on it. We are just using the one hanging over it to hold him in. He loves it! The tray is metal and it makes so much noise when he bangs it. He blinks and jerks every time but does it again. It is so fun to watch him.
Arrggghhh....took a break in this post and went to Wal-mart - which I call Hell-mart. That place gives me an anxiety attack almost every time I go any more. I have made a decision this afternoon. If at all possible I am going to sign up for the CSA next year. I would have this year but didn't know about it early enough. My husband works himself silly in the garden but a few years ago we "poisoned" it with hickory leaves and shells. We knew about black walnut but not hickory nut until it was too late. Still trying to recover. We do pretty well with root crops but nothing else.
Number 2 and his wife came down to pick up their dogs. We have had their dogs for three weeks while they went to Glacier National Park. They had a ball. Saw a bear toward the end of the trip but never in danger. They brought me moose pajama pants and socks. I developed a thing for moose when we went to Yellowstone five years ago for our anniversary - in February.
They also brought me these.
I have never seen any like them but my research indicates they were made from the 20s to the 60s. I was born mid sixties.
Aren't they cool? I love vintage stuff in general but sewing and cooking in particular. They gave them to me for Mother's Day.
I was trying to remember if I had done any sewing since I last posted. I know I have done mending. I also made my MIL and my DIL table runners. I think that is it. But I am starting to feel the bug again.
On another front, while my MIL was in the hospital from having valve repair surgery I had pneumonia. While at the doctor I asked for my cholesterol and glucose to be checked. My cholesterol was borderline high. I expected that. So, I have been eating oats every day. I don't like oats. I have discovered that if I get steel cut oats and cook them with apples in the slow cooker I like them much better and I have 5 days of breakfast. It is working out well because I eat with M when we are off together.
I have also been walking. I think I am going to try to do another half marathon in the fall. I want to do a full but I can't seem to commit to walking enough to train for that. Working 12 hour shifts makes training hard and when you rotate, too, it is nearly impossible.
Okay, enough for now. We shall see if anyone is till following this mess.
Keep stitchin' and stirrin' and just movin' in general!
Mary
So, just some miscellaneous stuff to dip my toe back in the blogging waters.
See this high chair? Looks pretty pitiful, doesn't it? I bought this at an auction when I was pregnant with number two. He was born in 1986. It was old when I bought it. We used it through him and his younger brother. It has been stored in barns, garages and sheds. I assumed it was rusted. We would wash it down when we drug it out to use for a visitor. The tray looks fine. We would put a towel on the seat and make do. That is the way people around here have always been.
Now we have a grandchild. I bought some of the laminated cotton from Connecting Threads to recover it but never got around to it until this week. Of course, the child is now six months old and needs it. Nothing like procrastination. We do that a lot around here, too.
Last week I pulled the seat and back off to recover. They are just too embarrassing to show. The screws were rusted almost through. The pressed wood was rotted. The foam was beyond description. So...I took them to Mr. Wonderful and he cut new plywood pieces. Then, while I was at work, he started cleaning on the metal. My DIL had suggested some "Hillbilly Chrome" - spray paint. If I painted it I was going to do a flat color to hide the imperfections from the rust. Turns out that was not rust. It was just grime. YUCK!!!
We recovered the seat on Friday night and used the new foam I had picked up that day. It looks pretty spiffy.
You have to enlarge the photos to appreciate the difference in the metal. The chair didn't have a belt on it. We are just using the one hanging over it to hold him in. He loves it! The tray is metal and it makes so much noise when he bangs it. He blinks and jerks every time but does it again. It is so fun to watch him.
Arrggghhh....took a break in this post and went to Wal-mart - which I call Hell-mart. That place gives me an anxiety attack almost every time I go any more. I have made a decision this afternoon. If at all possible I am going to sign up for the CSA next year. I would have this year but didn't know about it early enough. My husband works himself silly in the garden but a few years ago we "poisoned" it with hickory leaves and shells. We knew about black walnut but not hickory nut until it was too late. Still trying to recover. We do pretty well with root crops but nothing else.
Number 2 and his wife came down to pick up their dogs. We have had their dogs for three weeks while they went to Glacier National Park. They had a ball. Saw a bear toward the end of the trip but never in danger. They brought me moose pajama pants and socks. I developed a thing for moose when we went to Yellowstone five years ago for our anniversary - in February.
They also brought me these.
I have never seen any like them but my research indicates they were made from the 20s to the 60s. I was born mid sixties.
Aren't they cool? I love vintage stuff in general but sewing and cooking in particular. They gave them to me for Mother's Day.
I was trying to remember if I had done any sewing since I last posted. I know I have done mending. I also made my MIL and my DIL table runners. I think that is it. But I am starting to feel the bug again.
On another front, while my MIL was in the hospital from having valve repair surgery I had pneumonia. While at the doctor I asked for my cholesterol and glucose to be checked. My cholesterol was borderline high. I expected that. So, I have been eating oats every day. I don't like oats. I have discovered that if I get steel cut oats and cook them with apples in the slow cooker I like them much better and I have 5 days of breakfast. It is working out well because I eat with M when we are off together.
I have also been walking. I think I am going to try to do another half marathon in the fall. I want to do a full but I can't seem to commit to walking enough to train for that. Working 12 hour shifts makes training hard and when you rotate, too, it is nearly impossible.
Okay, enough for now. We shall see if anyone is till following this mess.
Keep stitchin' and stirrin' and just movin' in general!
Mary
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)