things we need to get fixed

Outer yard mowing – a sadness!

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Today, I broke out the riding mower to work on the outer yard.

Although I don’t intend to focus on any clean up out there, we do still need to keep parts of it mowed.

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I started by “framing” out the areas I wanted to mow, mostly for access.  You can see how tall it is, plus there is last year’s grass under it, too.  So I was extra slow and careful while going through the thickest parts, and keeping a very sharp eye out for anything I didn’t want to mow over.  I did have to get off a couple of times to move away sticks or old wooden shingles.

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Next, I started working on sections, beginning with the driveway.

The area to the left of the driveway in the photo had lots of horse droppings.  Just that side.  The other side didn’t.  Which is weird.

My parents didn’t have horses.

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The next section I focused on was in front of the shed we’re storing my parents’ stuff in, so we can get in and out of it more easily as we add more to the shed.

I had to go over this section twice.

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I had not originally intended to do this, but decided to mow a pathway to the other gate.  We still need to fix the barb wire gate, and this way, we can get to it without having to fight our way though tall, tick infested, grass.

I was REALLY careful doing this section, because I remember there were all sorts of random piles of stuff.  Basically, I just followed old tire tracks.

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Next, I started working on a section between my dad’s old car, and the burn barrel.

I had just got around by the car, when this happened.

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Yeah.  I broke a belt.

On my new mower.

Sadness.

Woe.

Thankfully, belts are not expensive, but I will have to enlist the help of my older brother to fix it, I think.

I guess I just pushed it too hard. :-(

I wasn’t about to let all that wonderful cut grass go to waste, though.  After putting away the mower, I got out the rake and a wheelbarrow, and started hauling grass to the flower garden.  Amazingly, I had to actually start scrounging for grass clippings to finish it!  I not only raked in front of the storage shed, but also to the barn, then back to the driveway.

Which is when this happened.

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It finally gave out.

And this was the good fan rake!

We do have one other one, though I expect that one to break soon, too.  I only needed one more load of grass clippings to finish, though.  I had to go to the path I mowed to the back get to get enough!

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But it is finally gone!  The entire flower garden is now covered with a thick later of straw, leaves and grass clippings.  I’ve even started adding the contents of our compost bucket.

It is now being thoroughly soaked down.

The next step we plan to take (aside from continuing to add any grass clippings, etc. that we can, over the summer) is to pick up a couple of bales of peat moss and add that as another layer.  I really want to build it up, to kill off the invasive plants and cover any little remaining stumps from stuff I’d trimmed away completely.  Especially at the old fence line at the end of the garden, where things had gotten pretty wild.

Over by the fire pit, my mother’s lilies are now in full bloom.

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They are doing really, really well.  I think, once we have the flower garden built up, I’ll transplant these into it.

While I was taking pictures, I felt something rubbing against my leg…

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It was a Butterscotch!

She looks ticked off. :-D

She was seen earlier today, carrying a kitten.  My daughter barely saw more than little legs and a tail, and couldn’t even tell what colour it was.  It seems she had moved her kitten(s?) to the garden shed.  I’d gone into it yesterday, looking for something, and she came out from under stuff in the back and began hissing at me.  Even though I didn’t go much past the doorway, I guess it was still too much for her, and she found another place for her kitten(s?).

So we are back to not having a mower, until I can replace that belt.  I won’t be able to phone the shop my brother got it from until Monday.

*sigh*

Ah, well.  It’s not like there isn’t plenty of other work to be done!

The Re-Farmer

Domesticity

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It’s been a lovely day today!  Enough that we’ve actually opened most of the windows in the house.  We even got the inside front door open again.  I’d tried to open it while my brother was here, to show him how the outside screen door was stuck, as if it were painted shut (it isn’t).  I had managed to get the top unstuck, but not the bottom.  I wasn’t able to show him this, though, as the inside door wouldn’t budge.  He tried it as well, but we both stopped because we didn’t want to break the door knob.  When I tried it again this morning, I discovered it wasn’t the door itself that was stuck; it was the knob!  For some reason, it turned only part way; far enough that we didn’t notice, but not enough to get the tongue out of the groove.

Looks like we’re going to have to add “door knobs” to the list of things to replace.

Then, I set up our little step ladder in front of the screen door.

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Yeah, I’m a suck when it comes to the cats, but in this case, without it there, the cats keep trying to get onto the dining room window, which involves jumping up onto shelves that hold a bunch of plants, coffee pot, kettle, etc.  All stuff that can be knocked over by our less then elegant (amazingly clumsy) cats, too easily! :-D  So, the lady gets her own perch, to look out the window at the birds.

I had hoped to get more work done on the wood pile in the garden, but today ended up being more of a day of domesticity.  Things like cleaning the bathroom took priority.

It’s remarkable how different something as basic as cleaning a bathroom changes when you are on well water that is so rich in iron and minerals.  Regular household cleaners don’t cut it – literally – while the specialty cleaners need greater care, like making sure windows are wide open!  At least they’re septic friendly.

That’s another thing that’s reaching the top of our to-do list.  The tank hasn’t been emptied in 2 years and, while the house was empty, it was still used now and then.  No way of knowing how full that tank was, but with 4 people now living here, it’s bound to be overdue for emptying.  The ground should be thawed enough for it too be done.  After this, we’ll go back to the usual emptying of the tank in the late fall.

I did make a point of going out and starting my mom’s car again, to make sure all is well, after yesterday’s troubles when the battery was put back.  All was well.

Except for the bird, trapped in the garage.

Though the main door stays open right now, until we can replace the handle, the bird stayed in the rafters and wouldn’t fly lower, though the wide open door.  When I later found it bashing itself into the window in the lean to my mother’s car is parked in, I went around and opened the back door from the outside.  That seemed to do that trick.  I heard it flying out before I got much more than 10 feet away.

My brother was sure the new door handle we got would work, even if the cable doesn’t go through the squared post like the old one did, so I took another look at it.  I think he’s right.  One end of the cable was woven through a hole in the plate, the squared post, and then a second hole in the plate, before being tied to the cable from the other side.  I managed to get the knot undone.  The end of the wire cable that threaded through the holes is fraying, however, so it took some doing to get it undone.

I’m only bleeding a little bit.

I’m going to have to put tape or something on the end, to be able to thread it back through the second hole in the plate.

As for the handle itself, it was intended for a wooden door.  The screws it came with are wood screws, and short.  I’m going to have to look around for some nuts and bolts in the appropriate size.  There are jars and tins of screws, nails and who knows what else, all over the place, so I should be able to find something, somewhere.

That squared post is still a bit of a problem, though.  It’s a couple of inches longer than the old one.  Which means the plate won’t be as close to the back of the door as it was, before.  I’m hoping that won’t actually make a difference, since the whole thing freely turns to pull the cables.  It should still be up against the door, though.  Ah, well.  We’ll see how it works once I find some fasteners for the handle.

The cables, themselves, could probably use replacing, too.

So does the entire door, really.  It’s definitely the worse for wear!

More things to add to the list!

The Re-Farmer

Un. Be. Lievable. Part 4

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Oh, what a day!

This morning, my husband and I went into town so that he could transfer his driver’s license, which was required in order to transfer our vehicle’s insurance and registration, to this province.

To recap some of the issues we’ve had so far;

I could not transfer my driver’s license because my married name did not match my birth certificate.  I also had to prove I actually lived where I lived with a street address, instead of just a box number or the service location that is on our utility bills, when we live in an area that has no streets.  Everyone now has drive way markers so the police, fire or ambulance can find people who live in the sticks like we do, but isn’t on any of our utility bills, because we don’t get mail delivery.   I got the physical location address by basically going to the bank and saying “hey, this is where we live, can you give me something with that on it?”  And the bank did, which was accepted.  For my name, I had to pay to get my marriage certificate.  I had to get it to get my health care card, too.

So I finally got my temporary paper license, with my new license soon to come.  However, in order to transfer our vehicle, I needed to get it safetied, which I couldn’t do until the end of April, which then required some costly work done (which is why I waited until pay came in).  Safety in hand, I went to transfer the vehicle, but my husband is co-owner with me, so he had to be there.  So that had to wait until after Easter.

My husband hasn’t transferred his driver’s license yet, simply because he’s been in too much pain to make the trip into town for something he doesn’t really use.

He was still in a lot of pain, but this morning, we went into town, anyways, making sure he had his birth certificate, his new health care card (with our box number on it) and a utility bill with our physical address on it (our internet bill, which we could put the physical address on, ourselves, then print out).

He couldn’t get his license.

His ID doesn’t match his birth certificate.

His birth certificate has his full name – his given name, two middle names, and his surname.  In Acadian tradition, he has gone by his second name all his life.  This became a slight issue when he was in the military, where they ended up simply reversing his first and second names on their documentation.

Everything has been with this second name.

Except, it turns out, the license he used to have in this province, when we lived here up until 2004.  That one had only his first name; no initials.

Meanwhile, his current driver’s license has his second name, with the initial of his first name, like it was when he was in the military.

But his health care card?

After they required he resend a copy of his birth certificate in a more legible form, they chose to simply drop his first name.  It has his second name and the middle initial.  So even the ID he does have, doesn’t match his current driver’s license.

The woman at the counter phoned the public insurance company about it.

According to them, he can’t get a license with his first name, as was on his old license, because none of his documentation has that name.  But he can’t use the name he actually uses, even though that name is also on his birth certificate, because it’s his second name, not his first name.

They say he has to get a legal name change.

Un. Be. Lievable!

Just to get his driver’s license.  Which would also be the only photo ID he would have.  Even if he let his driver’s license lapse and just wanted a photo ID, it has the same requirements.  He wouldn’t be able to get that, either, because they won’t accept the name he has been using HIS ENTIRE LIFE.

This is even worse than my having to prove I’m married to get my driver’s license transferred!!

Unbelievable!

In the end, he had to sign a gifting form (using the name he always uses), which allowed them to use only my name in transferring the vehicle insurance and registration (the insurance just has the name he uses and his surname, no initials, while the registration has his name with the initial of his first name, as it is on his license).

So I was able to get that done, at least, and the new license plates.

But my husband can’t even prove he is who he is, to the satisfaction of the public insurance company.

It took so long to the the van transferred that my husband had to leave and sit at a coffee shop, because the chairs were too uncomfortable for his back.

This is getting beyond ridiculous.

Oh, and we couldn’t even get a new disabled parking permit.  In our previous province, he only needed a prescription from the doctor, and it was done at the same place we registered our vehicle at.  Not here.  The woman who helped us went online, found and printed off an application form for us, which we’ll have to mail in to a completely different organization.

The woman behind the counter was so apologetic, but there is nothing she could do.

In conversation, she had mentioned that it’s been like this since 9/11, but also there is the problem of identity theft.  Which I can understand, but in trying to improve security and combat identify theft, there is no room for common sense.  And it’s the front line staff like her that has to deal with frustrated customers like us.

But… when it comes to the van, it was finally done!  At least at their end.

Once at home, I called our insurance company to cancel our vehicle insurance tomorrow, giving us a bit of time to get the new plates on.  I could have had it cancelled beginning today, but I couldn’t put the plates on yet.  Because our previous province only required one plate in the back, there were no screws to attach the front plate – or even holes to screw into.  So I would need to go back into town and try and find the right kind of screws for this.  Odd that, with all the stuff around this place, including a wide range of screws, I’d have to do that.  I suppose I could have gone to one of the cars lying around and see if any of them had screws, but I really didn’t feel up to tromping through the snow to do it, or hunting through sheds.

Interestingly, since ending this insurance meant I no longer have the car/home insurance bundle, my monthly content insurance payments will be going down, instead of up, as I expected it to – as did the agent I spoke to.  Also, there was no cancellation fee.

Not that I’m complaining!

The next call was to the company we registered the van with.

Turns out, that one requires a letter that explains why we were cancelling it, among other details, including what we planned to do with our plate.  It’s a veteran’s plate, so we’ll be keeping that for posterity.

That done, it was time to go back into town.  Aside from hoping the hardware store would have the right screws, I needed to stop at the pharmacy.  My younger daughter came along, so we could play some Pokemon Go.

Did I mention it was a chilly day today?

As we were driving in, I noticed the van wasn’t heating up.  I’d sort of noticed that earlier, but hadn’t actually needed to turn up the heat, so I didn’t think much of it.

Odd.

We parked at the pharmacy and took advantage of the location to walk a block and do a raid and get some achievements in the game.  This close to the lake, the breeze was freezing, so we were glad it was an easy fight, and we could rush back to the pharmacy and take care of things there.

Then it was back to the van, and we were going to do a bit more game playing before hitting the hardware store.

As we drove to our usual park, I tried to turn the heat on.

It was blowing cold air.

What’s going on?

We parked the van, and I decided to leave it running as we played the game.

I also fiddled with the heat settings.  It was still blowing cold, so I shut the fan off completely.

Then I watched as the temperature gauge began surging up.  And up.  And… the engine is overheating?  How?  It hasn’t been on long enough to overheat!

I shut it off.

We caught a few Pokemon, then I started the engine to move to the other end of the parking lot, where more Pokemon would be.

Before I even got to the other end, the temperature gauge screamed up to overheat, warning lights started turning on, and my onboard computer started telling me the engine was overheating, and it was shutting off the A/C to protect the engine.

The A/C wasn’t on.

I shut off the engine and popped the hood.

The engine was cold.  There was no sign of anything untoward.

Crud.

I started the engine.

It did it again.

I shut it off and called the garage, describing what happened.

Sounds like the thermostat.  They could look at it for me, but they did have two appointments coming in.  I told him I could be there within 10 minutes.

I started the engine.

The gauge was fine.  In the middle, where it should be.

I start driving.

It goes up to about 3/4s, then drops down to below half.  Then it settled.

Also, we had heat again.

What the heck?

I get to the garage and discuss it for a bit.  Sounds like the thermostat got stuck, then unstuck.  It might not happen again.  They wouldn’t be able to do anything about it until tomorrow, anyhow.  We’re driving to the city tomorrow.  Should I be worried?  Keep and eye on it; if it starts to go up, pull over and give it time to cool again.  We talk some more, then my daughter and I start to head out.  Before we do, I remember to ask about screws for the license plate.  Would they have any?

Yes, they did.  And the mechanic was even willing to put them on for me, but I didn’t have them with me.  So they just have me the screws.  :-)  I asked, and it turns out a hardware store likely would not have had them.  So there’s one positive, at least!

As we are leaving their parking lot, the temperature gauge starts going up.  We have no heat again.

By the time I drove the quarter mile to the highway, it was high enough for a warning light, so I pulled over and shut off the engine.

I called the garage again and told him what was happening.  We talked for a bit, but he was with a customer, so he asked if he could call back.

So my daughter and I wait.  I start the engine.  Still doing it.  I shut it off.

I then figure, since I’m already so close, I’ll just drive over and talk to the guy in person.

Of course, once I was driving, the phone rang.  My daughter answered.  He told her that they could fit me in after an oil change they were doing.  She told him we were already pulling into their parking lot!

So we go in and I talked to him again.  They have a thermostat in stock and they’ll fit me in.  We talk about what it might be if changing the thermostat isn’t enough.  Then my daughter and I wait.  And wait.

At one point, a mechanic comes by on his break and he comments on our need for a thermostat.  We talk for a bit, and I tell him what the vehicle was doing.  After his break, he comes for the keys and takes the van in.

It ends up taking an hour to replace the thermostat – a job I later learn is listed as a 2.4 hour task.  After it’s changed, they start it up and rev the engine for a few minutes to test it out.

While this was happening, I started chatting with one of the mechanics behind the counter.  He started asking how things were doing for us, and so on.  I suddenly realize.

I recognize him.  He grew up on the farm bordering ours.  In fact, we’re distantly related.  The other mechanic I’d seen before the weekend that recognized me is also a distant cousin.  That’s two relatives, in one garage!

After that, the mechanic that worked on the van comes to me.  It’s done and working, but there’s a leak.

I tell him I’m aware of the leak.  Start talking about the power steering.

No, it turns out.  Not that one; he’d noted that one in the safety papers.  He brought me over to show me.

There’s a pipe where coolant is leaking, right at the join.

I knew there was a leak in that location; there was a stain on the underside of the hood above it, but I had never seen the leak itself.  There were never any puddles or signs when I looked at it.  I just assumed it was from the power steering leak.  However, as he’d had to rev the engine for as long as he did, the engine was warm and the pressure was high, and now we could see the leak.

I had also been low on coolant, which he’d topped up for me.  This leak would be why I was low on coolant.

The possible solution; replace the pipe.  They’ve have to order one in, unless they could find a used one that was in good shape.  Or he could try a couple of other things that we discussed.

How worried should I be about it?

I got instructions on keeping an eye on the coolant levels in the overflow reservoir.  What to watch out for.  What to do, until I could get it fixed.

I bought a gallon of coolant to keep in the van.

Final cost?

Almost $240.

The thermostat itself was really cheap.  The gallon of coolant cost way more.  The highest cost was the labour, of course.

I also got a quote for the other work.  If they use a new part, it’ll cost another $200 +

*sigh*

In just the past 7 days, we’ve dropped over $1000 on the van.  Money from the moving company to replace the power pole they broke, once the ground thaws.  Money we’ll have to replace as soon as we can.

*sigh*

When we got the van home, I parked close to the house and got the license plates on – the front bumper didn’t have holes, but it did have marks for them.  After moving the van to the garage, I popped the hood.

No sign of the coolant leak; any liquid had already dried, but the level in the overflow reservoir was down.  The question is; is it down because of the leak, or down because the engine was now cold?  Or both?

I topped it up, anyways, just a bit.

Tomorrow, we go to the city for our monthly bulk shopping.  This is going to be the real test for the leak.

*sigh*

What a day.

The Re-Farmer

Snowfall Fallout

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Ah, the joys of dealing with a fresh dump of snow.

I am very grateful that we didn’t get the major storms others got – and that are still being predicted!  We don’t have to deal with floods or power outages, and massive amounts of snow.  We just have minor stuff to deal with, on what turned out to be a very lovely day.

On taking feed out to the deer, I paused to visit Eunice, who has started to loose part of her eyes. :-D

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This photo, however, was taken from our living room window, and there are 5 deer in it.

You can almost see one of them in the bushes, between the cross and the dead tree, and part of one through some trees, out in the garden area.

Eunice made them all very nervous, and for some time we saw them creep closer around the spruce tree on the left, where they usually come in, or go into the spruces, back out along the edge of the spruces or among the apple trees, chasing each other around, leaving, coming back…

Not a one made it to the feed.

I had wondered if the presence of Eunice would have that affect.

I hope they come back tonight, but either way, tomorrow I think I will make a small trail of feed, starting under that spruce bough, and around Eunice.  We’ll see how that helps.

Early this afternoon, one of my daughters and I went into town to pick up some prescription refills for my husband.  While there, I had them try adding the insurance to my file again, explaining that the problem was at the insurance end, not theirs.  If they fixed it, it would work.  If not, I’d just pick up my husband’s prescriptions and my own would wait a bit longer.

I picked up my husband’s prescriptions.

After we got home, the girls went out their window to shovel off some of the snow.  It’s already melting, but it they can make it so that the melt will go into the eavestrough instead of into their wall, that would be awesome.

As they were finishing that, I took the stuff for the burn barrel out.  They won’t do a burn until dark, so they can see any sparks that need to be put out.  I got a giggle out of this…

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It’s a cat path, from wherever it is they’ve been saying the night lately. :-D

(The sticks in the foreground are the remains of Sydney, an earlier snowman my younger daughter had made. :-D )

Since it was so nice out, I decided to take advantage of it and do some shoveling for a path of my own.

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See that electricity meter on the post?  We need to be able to reach that to read it.

The snow piled in front is the edge of where my brother used his tractor and snowblower, near the burn barrel.

Also, there is no way we’re getting anything from the house to the shed any time soon.  That red building is the old pump shack, and the shed is behind that.  The driveway itself goes as far as the pump shack, then peters off.  The rest of the way to the shed is tall grass.

Ah, well.  We can maneuver around the stuff a bit longer.

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Yay!  I can reach the meter now!

There was about a foot of fresh snow on top of the old snow, with a thin layer of ice melt in between.  Digging this out required breaking through the the layers with the shovel, first, about half a foot at a time.

Thanks to the time stamps on my phone’s file names, I could even tell how long it took me to do it.  Only about 15 minutes!  Not bad at all.

Before heading back inside, I walked around to the back of the house to look at the trees that are growing at angles.  I really, really am not comfortable with the two that are growing over our roof – especially the one that’s actually touching the roof, but there is another tree that overhangs the opening to the garden.  It’s very beautiful, framing the space and all draped in winter’s glory.  Unfortunately, it’s also tilted right from its roots, with three major branches all leaning the same way.

It’s only a matter of time before a large snowfall will cause it to fall.  This is not a young tree.  If we want to save it from breaking at the main trunk, we’ll at least have to cut back the biggest section leaning over the yard, and likely one other section.  That should take enough weight stress off the main trunk that the weight of the third section won’t be a problem, even if it’s still growing off at an angle.

Oh, how I’d love to have an arborist come in and go over the trees in the yard.

Which reminds me; I did a bit of research for lifts.  Turns out we can rent a scissor lift for a week for $480.  They are drivable.  Potentially, we could rent one, somehow get it out here, then spend a week using it to get all the pruning done at once.

It’s going to be a while before we can afford that, and there are many things higher on the priority list.  But it’s a potential option for the future.

After checking on the trees and walking back to the main entry, I noticed something.

I now know why there is a rock in the old bird feeder.

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The weight of snow on its roof had caused it to tip.  There is only one nail?  Screw? holding it to its base.

I straightened it out and all the snow fell off the roof.

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Rather than fixing the base, someone put a rock on it to act as a counterbalance.  The recent snowfall put enough weight on the roof that the rock was no longer enough, and over it went.  With the snow knocked off, it is now heavy enough to keep the whole thing from tipping over again.

I wonder who came up with the idea of using the rock like that?  It’s rather creative, but not a good substitute for actually… you know… Fixing the thing.  My guess is, once the rock was put on, the fact that it is broken got forgotten about.  I have no idea how long it’s been since anyone has tried to put birdseed in it – oddly, it still has old popcorn kernels in it.  Nothing else.  Just popcorn kernels.

So I guess we’ll have to see if it’s still in good enough shape to warrant fixing it, or if we should just replace it.  I’m thinking fix, but we’ll figure out for sure later on.

Another curious find for this place!  I’m sure we will find many more.

The Re-Farmer

So. This Happened

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Last night, the girls alerted me to a leak that started in one of the rooms upstairs.

Right near an outlet, too.  So they shut down their computers and unplugged the power bar as soon as they could.

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The water was coming in between the window box and the moulding.  It was leaking out the bottom, too, for a while.

These windows were installed just this past summer.  Wherever the water is coming from, it’s going into the wall, first.  The girls crawled out to clear things a bit, and they found the wall itself was quite dry on the outside.

I emailed my brother about it and he thinks this has been an annual leak; we just happen to be here to see it.  Even when my dad was still living here, the upstairs was hardly used and, in the winter, blocked off completely at the stop of the steps, to conserve heat.

It stopped leaking during the night, but now there is water damage to the nice, new window frames.

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There is a similar water stain on the bottom of the frame.

20180303_120750.25%So today, the girls crawled through the window to try and clear the roof as much as they could.  This is what they found.

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This moss is over the north window (it’s the south window that’s leaking).  After speaking with my brother, he tells me that moss has been there for many, many years.  They had replaced the rotten wood all along the outside wall this past summer, too.  He also cleared the eaves (I believe they are called gutters in other parts of the world) several times over the summer.

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This is the ice dam they found under the snow; my daughter included her thumb for perspective on how thick the ice is.  Unfortunately, the ice was going under the shingles in some places, so they couldn’t get it off without damaging the shingles.

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Check out the beautifully clear – and empty – eavestrough!

This section of the roof was raised to make more room in the second floor, so the slope is not as steep as it should be.  Now that the upstairs is being used and heated, even though there has been very little snow this year, it would be melting from underneath and not draining as well as it should.

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They also got a picture of this for me.  I asked my brother about it, and apparently it has always been like this (I was very young when I was clambering on the roof as a child, so I did not remember it).  So the water is draining directly onto the shingles, rather than down the side of the building.

Not that there is much water to drain right now, since it’s not melting into the eavestrough.

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This is not the only area with potential problems.  These are new icicles outside our living room window.  Formed between the eavestrough and the eave.

Apparently, my dad did not believe in soffits.

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This ice jam has formed at the corner between the master bedroom and the old kitchen.  I’m told it’s an annual thing.

You can see the pruning saw leaning against the wall in the corner.  It’s on a very long pole.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like we’ll be able to do the actual pruning, before the sap flows, as we wanted to.

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This section of tree is the one that’s causing the most problems for the shingles.  Despite my brother cutting it back over the years, branches are touching the roof again.

I wasn’t able to unhook the broken branch that’s stuck on the TV antennae support wire.

The only way to make it not be a problem anymore is to cut that whole “branch” (it looks like a trunk!) back to the main trunk.  To do that, though, it has to be cut back in sections, so as not to cause damage to the house as the pieces fall.

Theoretically, it can be done with a ladder, but the safest way to do it is with a lift bucket.  Because a chainsaw would be the best tool for the job, and using a chain saw while on a ladder is just not ideal!

No one has lift buckets around here.  We’d have to hire someone.

We do have chain saws here.  There are three of them in the garage. I’m pretty sure one of them used to be ours; we’d given our chainsaw to my late brother before we moved out of province.  No need for a chainsaw when living in a city apartment!  It’s unlikely any of them work.  We’ll have to get some maintenance done on them.

It is not the only tree that needs to be cut back severely back there; there is another huge maple with a large trunk leaning towards the house.

Then there is the tree in front of the kitchen window.

Let’s look at this photo again.

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Ideally, we’d get rid of it completely.  It’s the reason the eavestroughs needed to be cleared so often.  I was thinking we might be able to, say, turn the stump into the support for a table top, so we’d have a sort of picnic table out there, but this is a Chinese Elm.  It has been cut back severely in the past, but it just grows back.  Apparently, these trees are very hard to get rid of.  It was a mistake to plant such a large tree so close to the house, but I think my mother had wanted the shade, and this is a variety that grows very quickly.

Little by little, we will figure out what needs to be done, and do it.  The challenge will be to prioritize things!

The Re-Farmer

Window woes

/ Re-Farmer / Leave a comment

Lots of stuff in this house is very old.  I don’t even know how old some things in the Old Part are, as I don’t know when it was originally built.

One of the good things is that we have excellent new windows in most of the rooms.

Most.

For some reason, my mother insisted that the big window in the master bedroom did not need to be replaced.

This would be the window that’s now about our heads as we sleep.

The following photo shows what’s going on in one half of it. Continue reading →