An urban micro farm experiment. Adventures in trying to live a simple life.


Saturday, December 31, 2011

The end of 2011

Grab your party togs and toast the end of 2011.


Some end of 2011 musings and mutterings.
I remember 2011 as being a bit of a downer year. Maybe I'm just not far away from it to appreciate it.


Couldn't resist posting the last laundry photo of the year. That's correct. It's December 31, 2011 and I have laundry hanging on the line. I am resisting the obvious which would be to blame global warming for this tepid weather but I know that the last few years have brought beat-me-to-the-ground winters. Those were made of unrelenting snow shoveling, a blizzard, freezing cold and a huge snow blower that refused to start. This year, I had the snow blower overhauled and it starts. My son is back home so I'll get some help shoveling. But there is no severe winter weather......yet.


I lost count. By now I could be on my way to a calendar called 365 Days of Dead Mice.


My son, the electrician, is helping me with some electrical-related issues around the place. Right up there on the list was removing a useless vent hood that hung unusually low over the cooktop and it wasn't venting OUTSIDE!!! So now I will get under-the-counter lights in my kitchen, a new ceiling light fixture, light restored to my closet, new outlets here and there and the circuit that is assigned to each and every electrical outlet, light, etc. in this place identified. Hmmm, 20 circuits and the original house is being powered by 4 of them! I guess we have more electrical devices in 2011 than were available in 1941.




Two weeks ago, I had the dormer on the right resided/insulated and the window frames on both rooms on the 2nd floor rebuilt. This got rid of the old aluminum window frames and now the windows are set in their frames without a gap in front of them that allowed water to drip down into the room below. Problem solved and I discovered the beauty of steel siding! Guess you could say that I'm still blinded by my love of this house.


Boy, these guys are big. It's the peanut butter that is getting them.


My daughter and her smiling dog enjoying some holiday downtime.



The holiday celebrations had barely wrapped up when I removed the makeshift tree and put it upstairs to enjoy retirement in the window of a bedroom. It took almost all day to clean the first floor and return it to some sort of order. Usually, I leave Christmas decorations up until well into January. It's nice to have everything clean and back to near normal. I found myself thinking about seed starting.

Here's to bounty, prosperity and contentment in 2012!

Cheers!


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