Football Epilogue

A favorite scene from "The Money Pit" . Sometimes feels fitting :) Calling weather in the mid-40°Fs (~7°C) comfortable seems absurd but that's the hand we've been dealt at the moment. At least it's warm enough to keep things thawing and to start out on some outdoor projects. I even had a tree cutting/trimming crew out this past week (I've got a recommendation if you need it) to take care of a few things including a branch that was significantly deflecting my power line, removal of an overgrown birch and trying to keep a couple of ash trees cleaned up and treated for ash borers as good as possible (although that may ultimately be a lost cause).  The tree work is one small part of the greater home ownership challenge I've been encountering. It seems it's near time to reset/refresh on most everything to do with the house. Starting with the trees, they seem to have been planted with the notion that they'd stay small-ish. Spruces and oaks were planted w...

The one thing the stay-at-home order for Covid-19 along with having a bit of time off to use (use it or lose it) is I have made quite a bit of progress on my basement remodel. Yesterday's accomplishment was getting one part of the new recessed lighting installed.  I used three Ostwin 6" LED lights to replace one very old ceiling sconce. This might be the first time that far corner has gotten adequate light. I was initially thinking this was an overkill amount of lighting, but now I think it works to give the area a much bigger feel. Additionally, I also put the lights on a three-way switch to allow operation from either end of the room.  There are two additional recessed lights I'm nearly done adding on a four-way switch to operate at the top and bottom of the stairs as well as at the walkout entry door. I have the remainder of the electrical in place and will be finishing up the drywall hanging. In hindsight, I really should have bought the big bucket of dry...

I don't know who ever dubbed it "summer vacation". Summer is most certainly not a multi-month holiday or anything that us Americans assume much of Europe is like. In reality the "vacation" is an archaic remain of an agrarian society where kids were needed at home to help tend crops. Farming is now technologically advanced to the point that many farm kids have three months to kill. Better synonyms to describe triple-entente of June, July and August are chaotic, busy, stressful, fast paced, hot, tired, crabby, bug-laiden and "when does school start again?". That said, it's not all awful. I do enjoy the extra time with the kids. They are at good ages where they are agreeable to most things. When they're not I still have enough clout to move them along as I feel necessary. There are a lot of fun activities we've partaken in as well: fishing, bonfires, camping, basketball, pickleball, swimming, bike rides, yard projects (as I call them ...