the Latest..

SOME photos from this post got lost.

Although it may seem I havent made much progress, dont forget I work full time!!  Wish I had something other than WORK to share but thats all I seem to be doing lately...as the work continues on The Old House.  The weather will soon come into play since Spring is normally short in these parts we go right into HOT...really hope to get a lot of the outdoor work done before it turns so hot...

meanwhile I will enjoy working outside while its spring..

The project house 

It took a while but we finally evicted the family of squirrels that was living in the porch attic...and the pack rat from the tool shed! HE was up in the rafters...what a messy nest... I didnt get any photos of those pesky critters but we relocated all safely. 

I removed the awnings on the end of the porch because the wood underneath was water damaged, and bad.

 and that is where the squirrels chewed their way in, so with that removed we put back new wood.  I dont plan to put that awning back up...

We peeled the screen wire back its going to be removed and the porch uprights painted, then new screening

I was thinking of making awnings from some of the redwood scraps I have and corregated acrylic roof panels instead of the metal...that way water can't blow in when it rains and yet light can get in....SO that's next on the list AFTER we finish painting the entire roof overhang and the porch itself!

This is how it came out.

 I think it would give a more modern look to the old tired porch

I had to get WAY up there to paint his gable end...the fascia board, and soffet Im learning these new terms...this gable end is done, that was hard!! THERE's 2 more gable's to do one involves getting UP on the roof again...not looking forward to that.

(The gable ends are the high peaks) 

Got a sunburn for my trouble, tomorrow I'll be on the shady side I hope!

I sprayed the English Ivy it seems to be dying, I have more to spray I wanted to see if it would work, it took about 3 weeks to start dying.  The label says it only kills what you spray it on, so I have to move some things before I spray the rest...

Meanwhile my annual flower seeds have sprouted and soon they will be ready to plant in the yard! I save plastic food containers that have lids to start my seeds, the Zinna seeds sprouted in 3 days! The lettuce is also up...

AND i found this unique  junk shop buy, a tiered unit that cost all of $5...its very sweet looking!

Tiered shelf unit right side corner  

I do hope to get in a waterfall hike sometime in May, around the 10th if all goes as planned...and thanks to all of your well wishes to my Mom she is much improved and watching her favorite Western Shows as I type this!!  That makes me HAPPY!!:o)

So that's what Ive been up to lately!

PEACE

Spring Time

WE had rain for dayssss...finally its stopped and its windy but clear! Whew I was getting stir crazy--
One good thing about it is the flowers got a boost!  This wisteria grows wild all over the place its native--it can go crazy and cover acres of trees--it usually finds a tall pine to creep up and then this time of year the long grape like clumps of flowers hang all over the place!  These clumps are anywhere from 6 to 12 inches in length!  Very tropical looking to me-

Another creeping flowering vine that is native and the state flower of SC is the Yellow Jasmine--yes the Jasmine's in bloom~ summer breeze comes to mind~

In the yard one of our favorites is the Bleeding Heart-not native but a perennial that we enjoy year after year...

And the azaleas are blooming spring here wouldn't be the same without these....the Rhododendrons will come next...



The dogwoods are in bloom too....I tried for hours to get a photo of a RED Northern Cardinal sitting on this platform feeder with the dogwood blooms in the background---

                  the bird is always waiting for the squirrel to finish so he can get a turn at the feeder!

Spring is a time for renewal and sprucing up so ---never mind the dust bunnies under the bed I had a pressing job that had to be done....so I replaced
  the Heater Core in my car!  WOW what a PIA that was but by doing it myself I saved $700.00!! IT was not necessarily a hard job just time consuming and required some knowledge of tools-- and some contortion of the upper body-to get to those hard to get to places...down by the pedals--

I had to take the entire dashboard out of the car!! WIRES and screws everywhere--what a crazy place to put a part that could and does fail when a car gets a bit of age on it--mine is a 2001.  I found some good videos on You Tube that helped me figure out what I needed to do to get this part out and replace it--
Since I was in the Upholstery business for many years I kinda knew what to expect...Ive redone many car, boat, and plane seats, and headliners, and even a few carpets and many customized van interiors ....BUT its been almost 11 yrs since I did that kind of work--it was very physically hard due to the "confined space" but once I got it all loose the part was easy to replace--and it cost me only $70!
My bruises and cuts are healed up now..and all is well!!

Had to remove this WHOLE thing-- this is the second piece I removed--it all comes out one layer at a time. The instrument panel, the radio, the heater, the fuse box, the glove box the dashboard cover- I took photos along the way to help me remember where everything went--as well as NOTES and drawings!
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It took me 10 hrs to get it out over 2 days...4 hrs to get it back in and I had 4 screws left over!! (yikes) but I'm sure those are not Necessary--lol
THE hardest part was disconnecting the park brake release cable--omg I need to wash my mouth out with soap..*&^%$#@

 

PEACE