Weaver's Web

LJ was off to the dentist today, which for him into trip to Santa Rosa, while I remained here at the house. The AC people were back today (amen) and informed me that when they're back tomorrow hopefully the central AC will be up and working, which in this heat will be a blessing. It will be a bit longer for the furnace, which in turn will slow down our work in the living room, but we can live with that for now. The wall heater that we currently have needs to get removed, and will be utilized when we remodeled the garage into a studio space for me. We're not taking it out until the central heat it for him, and since it's sitting where the china hutch is supposed to go, y'all can do the math.

By mid morning I was out in the back 40, continuing my assault on the invasive thorny bushes. There are certain things that continue to amaze me; A) that I'm gardening/landscaping B) that I actually went out today and a pair of short shorts, and a tank, & C) that I was actually comfortable doing so. Having been obese since my mid-20s, the Second Amendment right to bare arms was never something I choose to exercise. Amazing what losing 70 pounds, and working at the gym will do for you. Incidentally, when I started in the back 40 it was already 85° and in the hour and a half that I was out there it got up to an even 100°, by which time I have had quite enough, thank you. I did manage to remove all but one of the thorny bushes, including on most of the smaller ones a good chunk of taproot. I also noticed that two of the three stout wouldn't trellises out there needed some reinforcements, so I went ahead and attack them with an impact drill and some four-inch deck screws.

After that the heat was intense enough that I just laid low for the remainder of the afternoon. I did reach my quota of unpacking and putting away at least one box from the garage & I did get together seven more items to list on eBay, including getting them photographed. I packaged up the last pair of boots that sold on eBay to mail out in the morning. To my pleasure, all seven items that I listed initially, six pair of boots & one pair of shoes, have sold in the last two weeks, not for as much as I would've liked, but certainly pocketing $125 was the better option financially then bringing them to the Goodwill. I have another seven items that will go up for auction on Sunday, again six pair of cowboy boots & a pair of shoes. Divesting myself of things that are no longer items that are useful, but instead have a come clutter, is a damn good thing, but as I have said previously, not easy for me to do. In listing things for sale, I have to look at them with a detailed eye, to adequately describe them and hopefully get a better price for them. However that's often when Tim Tatian comes in to hold onto them. Today the item that almost got held onto was a pair of boots that fits me well and were quite comfortable – & are also bright red. If I lived in cowboy boots every day and we're getting more dressed up, they would periodically get worn, but it's been at least three or four years since this pair was on my feet, so honestly I don't need them. I'm hoping some cowboy will take them out for her to step on a Saturday night. They're in superb condition, so I'm hoping they'll get me at least 50 bucks, but we shall see. Can't count those chickens before they hatch.

The truth is that getting these things out of here actually feels pretty good. Decluttering is a good thing. Winnowing is a good thing. Some extra cash in my pocket, is a good thing.

LJ is sleeping peacefully right now, whiIe I have wandered out to the porch to post and to enjoy the cool of the evening. It's dark out here in the country and pretty much all I think you're a few lights in the kitchen behind me and some house lights in the distance across the lake. The night is alive however, with the sounds and of crickets & other fauna. Finally, I get to enjoy the feel of this cool porch swing & a gentle breeze across my bare skin.

Mercifully, as I write the AC people are working on the ducting under the house. It's been brutal here for the last half week. It made it to 105 here both yesterday and the day before. Last night I slipped upstairs to take the proverbial cold shower, generally not something I enjoy, but last night an absolute godsend.

LJ had beaucoup errands to run in Sonoma County yesterday, so I was here by myself. The day was productive. The curtain for the bathroom window got sewn and hung. The bathroom door of that painted and rehung. The toilet paper holder that hung. The casement around the pantry closet got its fourth and final coat of varnish. This morning, that door got rehung. The Roomba robot vacuum got unboxed and put into service. It is diligently working its way around the living room as I write. More items got put away and others into the car for Goodwill.




(I see a black door and I want it painted white!)

Need to pick up a couple of items that sold on eBay this weekend and get them into the mail. No rest for the wicked.

This was David's first experience using epoxy grout, and sadly he wasn't able to get everything grouted before the grout set up. There is a small section of the floor unfortunately right in front of the door which still needs grouting & we don't have enough of the gray grout left. Further, the finish plumbing (faucet and shower head) still remain to be put in. I still need to settle on a custom shower door, which unfortunately is going to be pricey, so likely we'll be living with a shower curtain ,hung from a tension rod for the next several months, while I search for a permanent alternative.

What remains to be done in the bathroom is a curtain for the window (which I am likely to make rather than buy), a toilet paper holder, door knobs for the door, hanging said door, and deciding on a bathmat. Otherwise, the bathroom is done (& the check is in the mail).

I have just settled onto the porch swing, as the sun is sinking low in the sky. I've got my back to The approaching sunset, otherwise I'd be unable to sit here right now. My husband is napping & David is cleaning up, having tackled one of the more challenging jobs left, the shower floor.

LJ finished the initial phase of the repairs he was doing on the front steps. I was up early and out of the house first getting a final coat of varnish on to the kitchen door, and then get in the plants watered before coming in and making breakfast for the three of us. I'm really enjoying David's presence here; his calm and good humor go a really long way to reducing stress levels here and I'm thrilled with both the quality of his work and the speed with which it's happening. Further, he's a delight to work with, when you're working alongside him. No question is too stupid on how to get something done. He's everything our last contractor wasn't.

So, I managed to finish the kitchen door and get it back on its hinges. I managed to reinstall the entry door knob and it's working better than it had been before. The deadlock is proving more challenging, as it's refusing to go back in in the same way it came out. I have some work to do on it, shaving down one of the metallic supports inside the door in order to get everything sit just right.

David suspects that the door dates to the early 50s, which would correspond to a remodel we think was done in 1950. I'm really pleased to save this door. Junking it would have felt absolutely wasteful. The colored glass now that the door is it's original wood color actually looks kind of attractive. All in all, it's been a satisfying experience.

Late this morning I turned my attention to the mirror which in a few minutes we're going to hang in the bathroom. We've done some recycling with things within the house. The pedestal sink which was lost in the old master bath is now in the new smaller bath upstairs. The door (along with its jam) between the master bath & bedroom is now the door to my closet, not far from its original location. This mirror was in the upstairs powder room. The vanity it hung over was hideous, and having taken such an intense dislike to the vanity, in my mind's eye I had painted the mirror with the same broad brush. Guilt by association.

We had moved the mirror downstairs for temporary use a couple weeks ago. I noticed thereafter it really didn't look that bad and was kind of a match for the granite countertop on the vanity there. I decided that the mirror warranted some work to save it, at least for now. Fortunately, I've done some picture framing in the past and so I knew what was required here.

The frame of the mirror was basically in sound condition though it's backing was gone. I took a damn cloth to the frame to clean it up, then some Windex to the individual mirror panels. After scraping the back edge a little bit, I coated its edge with a thin layer of wood glue, then cut a swath of construction paper we've been using to cover the floors, and draped it over the back of the mirror to adhere to the frame. Once dry, I took a sanding block and lightly sanded the edges, giving a perfectly sized and shaped backing for the frame. I took a water mister to dampened the back, left it in the sun to shrink the paper, giving a tight back sheathing. Since this is going into the bathroom, once dry, some Aqua Net hairspray, essentially aerosol lacquer, got sprayed over the backing to give it some better moisture resistance. I reattached the eye screws, added some heavy duty picture wire, and it was ready to rehang.

David finished laying the tile on the shower floor today & mañana, grout awaits . The painting is done, the 'throne' is in, though the water supply isn't hooked up (I got the wrong hose at the hardware store), the mirror is up, the outlets above the vanity are in & working and the window is finished. While we'll still be showering upstairs for the next week (David's doing a building project for the place he went to high school next week), we'll be using the bathroom for everything else. I need to make a window treatment happen (& I've got clear thoughts about what I want) while he's gone and figure out how we want to decorate the room. However, that there will be a working john down the hall in the middle of the night, rather than using the patio's toilet or going upstairs is a boon, as will brushing my teeth in the bathroom rather than the kitchen tickles me no end. (Gotta get your thrills where you can.)

The kitchen door in situ:

Before



After



Bathroom Mirror



Shower (I can haz floor!)

No, this is not an homage to Gypsy Rose Lee. (And frankly, despite my sizable weight loss, I doubt there are many people out there who would be hollering, "take it off take it off.")

When we bought this place the kitchen door was nothing short of garish. Once upon a time it was probably a lovely door. However, somewhere along the way the nine panes of glass in the upper part of the door I suspect were replaced with multiple shades of colored glass. (Nine panes, four different colors.) The previous owner then compounded the insult, by painting the door black. Poorly. As in, he obviously hadn't bothered to mask off the panes of glass and there was black paint splashed along the edges of all of them. A razor blade and a little time could've corrected that. He hadn't bothered to do that either. To my eye, the door looked like something out of a carnival nightmare.

With everything else we had/have to do in the house, an ugly, but solid and functional door was not a high priority. They were many other more pressing things. Still, I had to look at that eyesore daily and I desperately wanted to do something about it. Now that warmer weather has arrived, late last week I took the door off the hinges, and started stripping it. Between sanding blocks, chemical stripper, & an orbital sander, The door was ready for its first coat of varnish early this afternoon.

What a difference! Against the natural wood tones of the door, the colored glass no longer looks garish, but warm and well, colorful. I was dreading the idea of having to take the wood supports the part to replace the glass, and so relieved with the difference. With luck by late Wednesday, the door will be reinstalled and one more chore will be finished.

Before:





In process:



Post first coat of varnish:

I'll get by with a little help from my friends, or so the lyric goes.

As we were packing up the old place to move out, I took a hard look at our old bed & decided new home, new beginnings, new bed. We've slept in a king size water bed the entirety of our marriage. I acquired one when I arrived in San Francisco, and it was the bed we kept when we moved in together. I guess it was 20 years ago that friends of ours bought a new bed frame & we in turn took their old one, replacing what we were then sleeping in. The old bed had been taken apart numerous times and put back together and it was looking sad, worn, & tired. When I drained the tubes inside the mattress, I found there had been some leakage. There were clear signs of mildew inside the mattress cover. Time to go shopping for a new bed.

With the remodel going on, and our bedroom being one of the rooms to be worked on, we had time to look around for both a bed and mattress. In late February while perusing Craigslist, l came across a bedframe that looked both really pretty, and formidable. It's a pecan wood sleigh bed, a woman was selling because she was now caring for an infant grandchild & her bedroom could not accommodate both the ginormous bed, as well as the infant's crib. She had already gotten rid of the mattress, taken apart the bed, the headboard in her living room, the rest in her garage. I arranged to look at it.

Her home with decorated very tastefully; the only thing she was getting rid of was the bed, not the remainder of her bedroom set which matched. More importantly she was willing to store the bed in the garage for as long as we needed her to, until such time as we could move it. For $400 I bought the bed, which had originally retailed at $4000. A month later, my friend Chris and I were finally able to move the bed, which came here to the property on his trailer. It went directly into the storage container. (Nota Bene: While the bed is still in pieces, most of it is now in the bedroom to be assembled, once David finishes the work on the baseboards today.)

While the purchase of the bed frame solved the problem of what to put a mattress in, it certainly did not solve the problem of the mattress itself. LJ and I have been debating what to get & up until recently, had been leaning towards a memory foam mattress, though not terribly happy about the cost of one, likely to run about $1200, if not more. There are a number of different ones out there, many marketed by the manufacturer directly to the consumer. The upside? Most will deliver to you directly at no added cost, then give you 3 months to decide whether you want to keep the better not. The downside? The less expensive ones don't have any brick-and-mortar stores were you can go in and actually lie on them to see how they feel. Given all the money we are currently spending on the remodel, another $1200 is not exactly something we want to spend right now, if avoidable.

I had mentioned to a few friends that I was looking for a king size mattress and boxspring to see if they had any recommendations on brands. Last Friday a good friend down in Marin called to ask if I was still looking for a mattress. A friend of his had a king size mattress and box spring set he wanted to giveaway. The man's father and stepmother had slept on it for a couple of years before going into an assisted living facility, and since then, it had been sitting in a storage unit, which in turn he was planning to empty by yesterday. It was a firm Simmons beauty rest in good condition. All I had to do was drive down, either to his storage unit in Point Richmond, or he was willing to drop it at my friends place in central Marin, if that would be easier for me. I gratefully indicated the latter and then set about to find a way to go collect said mattress.

Unfortunately, there's no way to get a king size mattress, let alone the box springs into a Prius, even my Prius V. My friend with the trailer was unfortunately tied up and I was unsuccessful in finding anybody that could fix me up with a trailer hitch for the Prius on Saturday. Borrowing the trailer was out. I checked with the various rental places for either a pick up or a van, and while they were available and the rental was only $20 per day, every last location had a mileage fee that was absurd. The best that I could find on short notice, was $1.09 per mile. Given the cost of gas, and the distance, the rental would've cost me somewhere in the vicinity of $400. Fortunately, a local friend was kind enough to offer me the use of his pick up on Monday. My friends in Marin were OK with the mattress sitting in their garage for the weekend, and so Monday morning I went over to my friends place to get his pick up.

What I hadn't counted on, is that my local friend, because of a previous DUI has a breath detector installed in his vehicle, which allows him to drive for work. Using the pick up meant I had to learn how to use the breathalyzer in order to start the car. Moreover, anywhere from every 15 to 30 minutes the breathalyzer beeps at you, and you have to do another breath test. I thought, I can do this. This shouldn't be a problem. Well, learning to operate the breathalyzer was not so simple. It took roughly 8 attempts for me to get it right & actually get the thing to analyze my breath, which of course came back with a blood alcohol level of zero. In the state of California, you're not allowed to hold a cell phone while driving, but there is no such injunction about doing a breath test. Let me simply say it made the trip down and back, um, interesting.

The truck is also tall, with somewhat oversized tires, meaning you have to climb up into the truck. Before returning to the gym last fall, this would have been a challenge. That aspect at least did not prove difficult. I had absolutely no trouble getting in or out.

Once in Marin at my friends place there, I had to figure out how exactly to get the mattress and box springs in to the truck. This beast is equipped with iron racks for construction equipment and materials, & ultimately the boxsprings went into the bed of the truck, one on top of the other, the head of the box springs up on the utility box, the lower end in the truck bed, while the mattress was strapped to the roof rack much the way this truck carries drywall or plywood.

As I write, David is at work in the bedroom finishing up the baseboards. The boxsprings and mattress are on the floor in the center of the room, while the massive headboard is lying on top of the mattress. Early this afternoon, I will wind up putting the bed back together and getting the mattress and box springs into it. Tonight, for the first night of hopefully many, many more to come, my husband and I will cuddle up together in our bedroom, & awake in tomorrow morning to a glorious view of the lake.

I've got a lot to feel good about. The house is coming together. And many things and my wife are coming together for that matter. We have a new contractor not only who's doing the good work but who we are simpatico with. I'm sitting at the table on the porch finishing up a light breakfast of Greek yogurt over some fruit, accompanied by my morning coffee. I have just emerged from my closet, comfortable in my clothes, a pair of jeans marked 42, that I don't dare wear without a belt, & a favorite old Lands' End shirt that's not a 2X, but an 18. I have to run a brush through my hair come out and water the garden plants, throw a hat on my head, & I'm out the door off to Santa Rosa. I've got multiple errands to run including getting the car serviced at 11:30, and then there's Christopher's graduation party starting at three. There's much to get done.

David (our new contractor) brought me a high-end pole saw,so this weekend I can live the trees on our property that were too high up for me to reach with my own pruning hook. I started stripping the back door yesterday, the garish black paint is gone for most of one side of the door& I'm thrilled with how much better the door looks. David is promised to bring his orbital sander with him today to leave with me for the weekend so I can finish the door, throw a coat of varnish on it and rehang the thing. Getting that chore done is going to make the kitchen the feel much closer to being completely finished. To me, it was a complete eyesore prior; now the warmth of the wood underneath will shine through and be a welcome to all who enter this house. Tomorrow morning I have items that I wish to sell that I must photographs and get listings ready for eBay. Part of getting moved in and really nesting In this home is getting rid of things that I do not want or that are not be needed. It is a decluttering of my space and my life & it feels really good to be doing it.

On the list for this weekend will be starting to move into the bedroom and reaching unity with my husband about what kind of mattress we're going to put in the new bed. New bed here is a bit of a misnomer; It's new to us. I found an absolutely gorgeous, but huge sleigh bed early this year. It's pecan wood nicely carved designs in its side and will dominate the room, but that's not a bad thing for a bedroom now is it?

About the only sense of dread or for building I have now focuses on Washington. I wish I could put that out of my mind completely, but I can't. I am so completely appalled by trumps most recent grandstand yesterday pulling out of the Paris accord, but sadly I'm far from surprised.

Enough navelgazing for now. I need to get my ass in gear.

Today I:

Finished giving a walnut tree a much needed haircut.
Taped & mudded drywall in our bedroom.
Patched and mudded a hole in the bedroom ceiling.
Smudged the house and driveway.
Unpacked the herbs, spices & extracts and put them away. (Unpacked box quota met!)
Spoke with an old friend.
Made an appointment for the Prius' 10k service.
Did laundry.
Got the last of the outlet face plates installed in the kitchen.
Opened a bottle of wine with dinner.
Watered all the potted plants and the youngsters in the ground that still require watering.
Installed a corner shelf in the upstairs bathroom.
Confirmed with the new contractor he starts tomorrow.

I've been on CPAP for obstructive sleep apnea for over 20 years. My apnea is not as bad as it was when I was heavier, but from the description of my college room mate, I'm likely one of those people who had it at normal weight. My husband has teased that my nightly use of the machine is evidence of belonging to the Borg collective.

Last night he joined the collective.

For the past several years he has been tired all the time, napping almost daily for several hours by late afternoon. Then recently, now that I'm home much more since retiring, I witnessed him obstructing. I insisted on a sleep study, which revealed moderate obstructive apnea. Yesterday, he drove back to Sonoma county & after seeing his dentist for a new crown and then driving out to check on our old place, he went to the CPAP class at Kaiser and got a trial machine. He'll use this for the next couple of weeks, then return it for them to analyze its data card, after which he'll be getting his own machine.

He's not happy about this, but if it will make him feel better rested, he's willing.

To my surprise, he opted for the full face mask. (I use nasal pillows, with a chin strap to keep my mouth closed.)

I think he slept better last night, for which I'm grateful. Me? Not so much.

He was clingy last night. On a gut level, I think the admission he has a problem, a diagnosis that needs chronic management, is frightening. We're still in the full bed in the guest bedroom upstairs. It's not a comfortable bed for me. With my weight loss since last fall, we now both 'fit' in the bed, but it certainly isn't roomy. If he has plastered himself to me, as he did last night, I can't move. I have no place to turn over. While he was in Santa Rosa yesterday, I spent 4 1/2 hours clearing brush and landscaping in advance of fire season here. With the previous bad fires that hit Lake County over the past several years, I'm taking the warning to create a defensible space around your house seriously. Dry grass and dead tree limbs are fuel for wild fires. I'm in better shape than i once was, and I'm happy I have the ability to do this work, but truthfully, I'm good and sore. That partnered with the lousy bed & a clingy husband did not add up to a good night for me last night.

I need a massage and a long hot soak. Sadly, I don't see either of those happening today. Time to get up.

The beginning of last week while I was rummaging through the garage looking for clothing, I had a moment of abject dejection. The amount of stuff I have to go through is verging on overwhelming. After a moment or three of hyperventilating, I made the resolution that I will open and empty a bare minimum of one box a day until they're all taken care of. Now, that's not a maximum; it's a minimum. On days when there is adequate time, I can do as many boxes as I have space and time for, but every day there is a minimum of at least one box.

Friday it was a dozen, yesterday morning before I left for Santa Rosa, five. So far today, I think it's seven or eight. How many I do in a given day isn't important. As long as it least one got done, I can cut myself some emotional slack, secure in the knowledge that eventually everything will be gone through, put away, or gotten rid of.

My former office manager invited us over for a barbecue at her place, intent on having the entire office staff over. My husband decided to take a pass, to stay home to get stuff done here. I felt the need for some R & R; further, other than seeing Oana last week when she came over, I had not seen any of my office self since early December, at my medical assistant's mother's funeral. Not only did I want to see them, I wanted them to see and hopefully take some pleasure in the changes that I'm making physically.

When I headed out to Santa Rosa, the back of my car was full. There were some items to drop off at Goodwill, and a bunch of clothing I no longer can use, to drop off to a friend who has a son, plus three foster sons, all of them sadly approaching 275~300 pounds and beyond. I also very much wanted to hit the gym and treat myself to a soak in the spa after running. I started lifting weights again recently & my arms are not happy with me. When it comes to lifting weights, I really have to push myself to do it. I don't enjoy doing it, unlike my cardio, which I really do enjoy, but building up some muscle in my chest and arms will be a good thing, as I 'deflate'. I really don't want to have nipples down around my beltline. Given the amount of weight I've already lost, I'm actually surprised by the dearth of hanging skin. Frankly, I expected stuff to sag everywhere, and as I get towards goal, likely there will be major SAG, but so far, not nearly as much as I would have expected. Granted, there's probably still another 80 pounds to get rid of, but honestly I seem to be getting flatter. I laughed, when on two separate occasions I've been told by others that I'm "flatter", but as I look at my lower belly for example, that's exactly what's happening.

For years I've used a laptop while sitting at a table or desk, & absolutely never on my lap. I don't really have a lap. Between the size of my lower belly, and the fact that my thighs are actually rather short, there is no appreciable lap for me to put the laptop on, at least, not yet. Such is the case for most people with Dunlop's disease (A.k.a. when the belly done lops over the belt!). Over the last several months my lower abdomen has noticeably contracted. There is still much more there than I am happy with, putting it mildly, but it is shrinking noticeably & at least for the time being along with it, my skin.

This morning I focused on boxes that were upstairs in the house. Within the next few weeks, we will likely be moving into our bedroom downstairs (once the drywall is repaired and the room painted) & the bathroom is completed. Since very little is being done to the upstairs, that hasn't already been done, the rooms upstairs can soon be set up for a combination of my husband's office space and guest bedrooms. It's time to get boxes that are upstairs opened and unpacked – basically out of the way, so that the rooms can be put to their proper use.

I've been spending a lot of my time outdoors focusing on the landscaping. I'm learning. Up till now, I have done very little gardening in my life. I grew up a city kid. A tree may grow in Brooklyn, but it sure as hell wasn't in my neighborhood. Over the last month I have taken out a fair number of bushes & other plants that were unruly and unwanted. One of them was an oleander that despite its size (about 20 feet tall) was looking both leggy & rather sickly. Further, it was right behind the garage, a space that we are planning to enclose and create workshop space for me and my artwork. That oleander was blocking any potential view of the lake and so I decided it needed to go. I managed to get that plant out, but still need to deal with its root ball, which I'm sure will be no small task. I've done major pruning on fruit trees all over this property and have cut back many dead branches off of a fair number of beautiful Manzanitas we have dotting the property. Every couple of days I'm out somewhere with the Weedwhacker, trying to make a defensible space around the house in advance of fire season here. Our county has been hit the last several years by devastating fires, something in our neighborhood has been spared. I cannot afford to tempt fate and so I must continue whacking down the weeds and pruning the plants to reduce our own fire risk here.

60 to 70 years ago, there were a large number of rather stately grafted walnut trees here, both on our land and the surrounding properties. A fair number of them have died, and two of them are just outside of our fences. One is immediately to the side of the garage, while the other is right at the corner of out property where Cliff and Park Drive intersect. The one next to the garage still has some life in it; the rootstock seems healthy and whatever the native rootstock plant is seems to be springing to life. The grafted branches however, not so much. Up until a month ago, I thought the entire tree was dead, but in the ensuing weeks, towards the center of the tree, new foliage is springing up. Unfortunately, The bulk of the grafted tree is not coming back and in addition to it being a fire hazard, it's uglier than sin; not exactly what you want for guests to see, as they drive up to your house and park. When I went to take out the trash, I decided no time like the present to attack the tree with my pruning hook. My pruner extends to 18 feet and has a saw blade out the top. It's a lot of work to get through the trunk-like branches high up in the tree, but it's a hell of a lot safer than climbing the tree myself with a chainsaw. I came back inside, threw on a pair of overalls, without a shirt, slathered on some sunscreen and walked back out with the pruning hook. Did I mention it's 92° here today? I'm on the front porch now sipping a tall glass of ice water, before I go back out to take out the remainder of the dead wood. It's looking a hell of a lot better than it did and if I have the energy, thereafter I will start to attack the one on the corner. Later this week I see a dump run happening to get the deadwood out of here.

I was planning to hit the gym today, but I think I may just skip it given the upper body workout I've gotten today in the yard. Back to work.