Ridgetop - our place and how we muddle along

[canesisters]

I think you'll like the pine shelving much better. I have the wire shelving in my pantry & hate it. Small containers tip. Packets fall. Appliance feet get stuck.

Moving in is always so exciting. Everything is new & there's possibilities everywhere

 

[Ridgetop]

I have wooden shelves on one side and nothing on the other. I figured that it would be quicker to do the wire shelving (which I don't like for the reasons you stated) but DS1 said wood would be better. "Too bad", he said "that we don't have a saw". Actually, I told him, we do. I packed the small Skilsaw in the tool box we brought up last time. He immediately took off for the lumber section. We will try cutting the 1x12 with it. We are using 1x2's for the shelf supports. Since we are using cheap rough cut lumber, I will have to hit it with sandpaper before painting just to get the splinters off.

I installed a robe hook in the bedroom behind the door, put a spray head on the kitchen faucet, installed a paper towel holder on the inside of the cabinet, and raised the towel rods up about 15" (who puts towel rods 30" off the floor? Our bath towels (large ones) kept dragging. Supper is in the oven.

DH's frat brother from college dropped by for a visit. He lives in Canton. These guys keep in touch with 2 reunions a year. Since the fraternity has given up it's charter no young guys are joining. The last ones ledged in the early 70's. These old guys are dwindling which makes them even happier to see the ones still alive. Several have moved to Texas.

 

[Bruce]

I think you'll like the pine shelving much better. I have the wire shelving in my pantry & hate it. Small containers tip. Packets fall. Appliance feet get stuck.

They make special plastic "liner" with slots to hook onto the wire. That will solve your problem.

 

[Ridgetop]

Back again . . . .
We are using a Roku to watch TV and running off a hot spot DS1 rigged up. It gets slower with more use so I was not able to use my computer, then I figured I could use my own hot spot.

Another day, another dollar – spent . . . .

Tractor broke down after 20 minutes cutting. DH came in and said “transmission fell out”. !!! No idea what that means. He explained it this way “there was a pin holding something in place and something fell out so the pin was missing which caused something holding something else in place to fall out.” Make sense to anyone here? Me either. Luckily, I was talking to Devonviolet at the time to get a number for the tree trimmer and she gave me the number for a mobile mechanic who is coming out tomorrow after church -or Monday afternoon if the wife has scheduled something.

Church in the morning Sunday. On the way home we will return both fans that did not work, and pick up another of the cheap model fan that will work. It is attractive and only $50 since it is the contractor model. I also will get some hornet/wasp killing bombs for the attic, some cricket bombs for the house, another hose, and a sprayer end to wash the windows on the outside. I did the inside and they are not too bad. The outsides are horrible, and it bothers me to look through the windows! The spider webs, dirt, etc. all seems to be on the outside of the panes under the screens.

At Lowes I need to pick up a small container of tile cement and one of premixed grout since a piece of the tile in the shower fell off when DS1 was showering last night. Need to reattach it – DS1 says the neighboring piece needs reattaching too since it felt loose. Also, a couple plumbing items for the kitchen sink.

DS1 tried to fix the leak in the kitchen sink and says that he found the problem. After removing the drain plate in the sink, he discovered that the screw in part was rusted out and would no longer seat into the sink. We need a new drain connection. He said get 2 because if one went the other is probably ready to go too. Eventually we will get a new sink and countertop after we are moved in. We also need a new kitchen faucet since this one spews water like Old Faithful but as long as I dn’t turn it all the way on t os controllable.

Monday morning at 8 am DS1 is taking DS2’s truck to the Ford dealership in Sulphur Springs to see if they can locate which fuse is out on the trailer brakes and lights since they stopped working on the way in. DS1 hitched Twinkles up to the stock trailer and the brake and turn lights worked fine so must be DS2’s truck. DS2 said it might be one of 3 fuses (this is one of those new complicated trucks). $$$

Monday 9 am we have an appointment in Quitman to fill out the paperwork for NRCS program on rotational cross fencing.

Tuesday the electrician is coming out. %%%

Wednesday the HVAC guy is coming out. Still not getting air through vents in end bedrooms. $$$

Need to text the tree trimmer and have him give us a bid on a couple “widow makers” and the still living Cedar tree that is completely hollow inside. Removing this tree will also allow us to put a driveway into the side yard where we want to eventually put up the carport. $$$

Need to text the plumber and have him come out to look at the tap in the shower. It seems to be leaking slowly. $$$

The bid from the generator guy came in just over $11,000 for a 24KW Generac installed. That does not include the propane tank install for which I still need to get a bid from the propane guy. Will call him and get an appointment for next week. $$$

On a happy note relative to my fence wire, I called and spoke to the manager of McCoys who looked over the bill and made some calls. He called back and said they had found the problem and would refund me some money. We had to drive over to the store today which we did. The original bill was $8700, the refund od the tax and overcharge amount was $1900. They had charged tax and had not given me the volume discount. Very happy that they took care of that. We will need that money for all the other things that seem to keep going wrong.

DS1 said that since there is no drywall behind the heavy 3/8” paneling he thinks we can probably fish new wiring down through the walls. If we have to remove any paneling, he think we won’t need to remove more than a couple panels where we want additional electric outlet boxes. The paneling is good light oak wood paneling at least ¼” – 3/8” thick.

Once I remove the very 70’s half wall with spindles, it will make the area large enough for a dining table, buffet and hutch. There is a coat closet right there on that wall which interferes with furniture arrangement. I would like to remove the closet and panel over the opening. The other side of the wall is the spare bedroom and could open the back of the closet up into that room, making a second closet in there, or even a niche for a highboy. Then I will have a solid wall for my buffet or hutch in the dining room. I just need to come up with the paneling to cover the doorway. I think I can carefully remove the paneling behind the refrigerator when I enlarge that space. By careful cutting I can reuse the paneling to cover the doorway. If I have to have a horizontal seam, I will put it on the lower half of the wall where it will be hidden by the buffet or china closet.

Another major problem we have is that darn armadillo! At least he doesn’t cost any money! Yet. He lives under the shed in the back yard. The stench inside the shed is unbearable! I thought at first it might be cat pee, but I think it is armadillo body odor. Ugh! I hate to kill him, but I wonder if pouring moth balls into his burrow would encourage him to leave. Or at least mask the stench. He has been there for several years and has made himself very comfortable under the concrete slab on which the shed sit. The burrow entrance has gotten a lot larger than when we bought the place. He probably has the armadillo equivalent of a mansion under there now. If only he would bathe, use deodorant, and fumigate his house my nose would be much happier. Nothing like a stinky neighbor!

 

[canesisters]

Nothing like having a stinky neighbor!! At least he's not throwing empty beer cans into your yard letting his dog poo in your driveway....

 

[Baymule]

Oh the joys of moving! Oh the joys of moving into a 1970’s house! Well kept, but time marches on and does quirky things like rusting sink drains, throwing shower tile at you. Not to forget old trees that give up and die when ownership changes hands.

The Generac bid is about what I expected, not bad. You will be glad of it.

Did the traveling mechanic show up and fix the tractor? The pin falling out, leading to the chain of events that caused the transmission to fall out makes sense to me. Sh!t happens.

 

[SageHill]

something fell out so the pin was missing which caused something holding something else in place to fall out.” Make sense to anyone here?

Of course - it's a Tractor Prolapse.

 

[Ridgetop]

So last post was written in word a couple days ago and transferred to save the Roku hotspot since DH was watching Fox. DS1 fixed the sink leak. He had to install a new drain thingy which required him to re-do some of the piping under the sink. Luckily it was PVC. 3 trips to SS for parts from Lowes.

The tractor mechanic can't come until the end of this week or beginning of next. DH is attacking the goat weed with the weed wacker. Will need more string. Another trip to lowes (we just got back from there.)

That is ok since DS1 needs to get a painter's suit to venture into the attic to check on the electric wires so he can put up the living room fan. He figured out why the fans were having trouble working in the living room ceiling. Apparently, the homeowner, decided they wanted to be able to turn on the fan light from a wall switch. Instead of hooking up the fan and using the on/off chains, he wanted to just leave the fan on and only turn off the lights from the wall switch. Or something. Anyway, someone ran a hot leg to the fan from the ceiling and another hot leg to the lights from the switch. The fan would not turn off with the chain or the switch, but the lights would turn off at the switch. Go figure. DS1 could hook the fan up now but wants to inspect the wires in the attic to make sure that there are no live wires just laying across the beams ready to burn the house down. The electrician was supposed to come out yesterday or today but didn't show up. DS1 wants to go in the attic but needs a painter's suit or coveralls to avoid the insulation and wasps. He will be able to see if there is anything needing immediate work.


Eventually DS1 and possibly his brother will need to go in the attic and do some repairs to wiring. DS1 said that if we can get the paneling off the walls without damaging it, we might be able to remove specific sections and drop additional wiring down from the attic for new plugs. Then replace the paneling. There is no drywall behind the paneling. The paneling is attached directly to the studs.

 

[Ridgetop]

More from the front . . . . Empty boxes have been broken down and removed ready to return to California for more stuff to be packed.
Moving in pieces has its benefits. Lots of stuff put away in cabinets. Unfortunately, lots more to be packed and moved.

Some of the fence wire is up!

North side looking to Hwy 154 North side looking to rear of property. Wire is up, but still needs final attachment to posts.
I didn't think it looked tall enough so went to make sure that it was 6' tall. It is over my head. Just have to make sure that any hollows at bottom are covered. Levi said that they will level ground under fence. We brought a roll of 4' chain link with us and can attach that to the bottom of the fence like CA. Undo short lengths of chain link, lay it along bottom of fence with side of chain link against bottom foot of fence. Dig out shallow area along bottom of fence and let chain link settle into the dirt. Attach it to fence. Cover the chain link with dirt. The grass roots will grow through the chain link and attach it to the earth. No way anything can dig under that fence. Only necessary where there are low spots.

In addition, we need to have a new gate made to replace the current 12' gate at the end of the driveway. It is so heavy to lift and open that I can hardly do it and I get bruises. It needs to be rehung so we can open it without getting a hernia. This will require a small section cut out of the welded fence, new posts welded and set in place, and the new gate made and hung. The new gate will be 16' for the hay equipment. To finish the fence, we have decided we need to enclose 60' x 40' area on the other side of the driveway gate. This will have gates on all 4 sides for vehicles. This enclosure is a safety gated area to keep the dogs from getting out the front gate when bringing in vehicles, particularly trailers and the hay equipment. We also have 3 missing sheets of metal on the barn. The old lead nails are popping out of the sheet metal. Those 3 pieces must be replaced and the entire roof reattached with new screws. Got the estimate from Levi (current fence guy) at $6,800 for all items.

Propane guy can't get out for estimate for 2 weeks. No problem since DH now says he wants to wait on Generac till he saves more money in another month or so. Needs generator money to finish fencing and repair barn.

DS1 cut the boards for me to install in the empty side of the pantry cabinet. Just need to sand them down, measure for right spacing and install. Then paint everything. It was designed for a broom cabinet but the laundry is right across the hall with plenty of room for brooms.

Brought my old canning jar shelf and put it in the freezer space in the laundry room for now. There is room for it on the wall opposite the washer too so when we get an upright freezer, it can be moved. Brought all the Covid canned goods and put them on the shelves for Texas emergencies. Like storms and too tired to go shopping.

We have decided to put a large "hay barn" on the other side of the driveway. There are Farm Bill programs that will help with that by providing low interest loans. They won't lend $$ for a carport, but we can park the trailers in the hay barn since it will be a pole barn structure for hay storage. We need to take down the decaying Cedar tree along the driveway to allow access into the field. Surprisingly, it is still alive even with its entire insides rotted out! We have a native Pecan next to the Cedar which is also rotting out. I hate taking out old trees like these, but don't want them to come down on either the fence or the house.

More $$$$

 

[SageHill]

Was thinking why not put a wheel under the heavy gate. A friend did that and it works like a champ - BUT you're replacing the 12' with 16' so not really an option - but just a thing to file in the memory banks.