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Yes ladies and gentlemen, I discovered what that mystery flower is…a Tiger Lily.
If you remember back a few posts, I couldn’t figure out what a certain flower was. It’s the one around the mailbox. The flowers are all over the place and now I know what they are.
Aren’t they nice? They are really tall. I heard somewhere a long time ago that you can eat Tiger Lilies. Is that true?
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Last night was pretty fun. My brother, Jeff, came over and we went out to dinner.
Lately, you pretty much have to drag me out of my chair to get me to do anything. I have my head stuck staring at this horrible computer screen 24 hours a day. It really is unattractive. Jeff told me that I have to get out more often. I explained to him that it’s not like it used to be.
When I was younger, I had no responsibilities. I was also bored a lot. Now, I am always busy and running a business takes a lot out of me. There is no one else to handle things if something needs to get done. I mean, I have help, but the majority of things rest right on my shoulders. Good thing they are so muscular.
It was good to get out. I decided that we would go up to Applebees in Glastonbury, CT. We drove up there and when we passed by the restaurant, I realized it wasn’t an Applebees, but a Chilis. Jeff told me that he always goes to Chilis and would rather not go there. I really didn’t want to go there either. I made a left from Main Street onto Glastonbury Boulevard. Glastonbury Boulevard is really cool. It is tree lined and there is a lot going on. I basically just wanted to show him the road and then turn around to find somewhere to eat. We drove down the road a little and noticed a Houlihan’s on the left. We pulled in and parked.
Since the restaurant was so close to Somerset Square, I thought it would be nice to show Jeff where people do some shopping. So, we got out of the car and walked.
I gotta tell you, I really love sidewalks. I also have to tell you that it did feel a little foreign to me to be walking. I am so used to driving every little place I need to go that walking felt very out of the ordinary.
Right before we began our walk, I ran back to the car to grab the camera. I could see that Jeff was wondering what the heck I was doing. I mean, what in the world is there to take pictures of during a little 15 minute walk to no where? I explained to him that this is what blogging is all about. I told him that I searched for photos of the different things in different towns a lot before we moved here. I thought people would appreciate it if I posted some of my own. I think he got a kick out of the camera thing because he jumped on board.
Anyway, the photo above is of the tree lines and sidewalk I was talking about earlier.
Before we got to the enterance of Somerset Square, we passed the backside of a few restaurants. I didn’t think the photos would come out so blurry, but because it was getting dark, I guess that’s what happens. The photo are of Max Fish, Max Amore and some other one. Perhaps we will eat at one of these next time. I have heard good things.
We walked a bit more and made it to the enterance of Somerset Square. The lighting of this place was really cool and it felt like I was on vacation. We walked through a little bit and took a picture of Cold Stone Creamery. Jeff told me that I had to get a picture of that.
We did our thing and walked back to Houlihan’s, which I forgot to get a picture of. We went in a sat down to eat. When we did finally eat, I have to tell you, I was really very pleased. I mean, the food was really great. I could believe it. Even Jeff told me that his potato soup was the best he ever had.
I had my usual Guinness. He likes to drink sweeter drinks, and mentioned that he didn’t really like beer. He took a sip of the Guinness and I think he might have changed his mind.
What’s the moral of this long story? Try Guinness, you might like it.
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Seven Ways to Save Energy by Saving Water
Though many states and localities are waking up to their water shortages and taking steps to plan for “peak water”, people generally continue to waste water and to ignore the energy-water link.
New Material Absorbs Light Completely And Generates Electric
A partnership between Duke University and Boston College turned out to be very beneficial for the science world, as they obtained a metamaterial that absorbs all the light it gets (yes, it becomes invisible) and that is supposed to generate energy more efficiently than the solar cells.
Civic Outsells F-150 for First Time Ever
Go little Civic, go!
It seems incredible then that the U.S. Senate has again failed to pass a bill that would extend solar tax credits to build new power plants.
Prius is Now the Most Searched New Car on Cars.com
Cars.com has announced that for the first time ever, the Toyota Prius has become the most searched for new vehicle on the popular vehicle classifieds site — surpassing long time favorites such as the Accord and Camry. The Prius first appeared in the top 10 most searched vehicles list last summer.
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I did a bunch of weeding yesterday and then pulled out the weed whacker. I cleaned up all along the front edge of the garden and really was quite proud of myself. Today, I was outside doing something when Laura decided to visit me. I asked her to look how nice the front of the garden came out and she relied, “Um, yeah…it still needs something. Some sort of an edge.” Then, she went back inside.
Well, listen to this. I could read the writing on the wall. I knew that if I didn’t get my butt in gear and make a brand new stone wall, I was in for some serious punishment when I walked through that door later on. What did I do? I made a new stone wall, that’s what I did. I am actually quite gifted the art of stone wall building.
The only thing that went wrong was I forgot to take a before picture. That kind of stinks. I always forget because I really never intend to do these things. It starts off with me grabbing a big rock and walking over to the garden with it. Then, I grab another. The rest is history and I really don’t think I am able to change.
You might want to call me up right now and ask, “Hey man, where’d you get all those cool rocks?” To which I would reply, “They were around.”
Peace out.
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I hadn’t taken much notice of it until a friend mentioned it to me a few days ago. He said, “You might want to do yourself a favor and take that Tulip tree down while it’s still small.” Upon later reflection, we noticed it wasn’t a Tulip tree, but most likely a fast growing softwood.
I don’t know about you, but I am not interested in having a fast growing softwood tree about 30 feet away from the house. I remember in my past life, we removed a 20 year old Tulip tree that was about 80 feet tall. I couldn’t believe it when the homeowner told me that.
Since I haven’t figured out what kind of tree it is, I thought I would put it out to you. I know it’s not a Tulip…the leaves are nothing like them. I was thinking it could be a Poplar or an Aspen, but the leaves don’t quite fit. Thereare over 40 different types of Poplars, so it could be one of them.
If you know what kind of tree this is, please let me know while it’s small enough to cut down and drag into the woods. I can always replant an Oak in its spot. They seem to be springing up all over the place.
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You have to believe me when I tell you that I am really sorry about all the posts with photos of flowers in them. Really, it’s for the ladies. Sometimes, I feel like such a gentleman. Yesterday, when I was up front doing some trimming, I clipped a rose for Laura. Isn’t that sweet? You don’t have to tell me.
The whole hillside is almost fully in bloom. I had no idea there was such a variety of flowers. It is so exciting to watch what blooms next. Every morning, I wake up and do my thing. Then, I go outside with the camera. Today, I was just standing there on the hillside looking at everything. There was a cricket chirping and a bee going from flower to flower. It was pretty cool. Sometimes it’s nice to just watch things. There are even baby bunnies living under one of the bushes. I almost stepped on one the other day when I was trimming around the Blue Spruce that I planted. It ran and scared the heck out of me.
This is another prize winner from the same garden as my last prize winner.
This is what I am talking about. There are Roses upon Roses. They are all different colors too. There are pink, red and white so far.
Pretty neat, right?
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As I am sure I have mentioned numerous times, we needed to replace the doors downstairs in the basement. There was some rot at the bottom of the framing. Just this morning, I realized why. Remember that big long post (directly below) about rain gutters? Well, it now all makes sense.
When it rains, the back gutter overflows. The water falls, hits the ground and splashes. Guess where the water hits. That’s right, the bottom of the basement door. Good thing I am working of the gutter project. These new doors are vinyl and the exposed framing is inside the house, so that should help things.
I had Lowe’s do the install. Actually, it was a contractor that works with Lowe’s. I was a little nervous about the whole thing because I really didn’t know how good a Lowe’s contractor could really be. I have zero experience with them. It ends up that this guy did a better job than I ever expected.
This is the old door. I removed the door knob and all the other goodies I put on it, like the automatic closer. These were French doors. I don’t really like French doors because they are a bit more difficult to deal with. There were no screens on these and I kept thinking they were going to open by themselves. I really like the sliding glass door we had installed.
This is the rot at the bottom of the door. This and the fact that one of the outer panes of glass was broken prompted the replacement.
These are some photos of the installation. A nice guy who immigrated from Poland about 20 years ago did it. We talked about Communism and Socialism and all that stuff. It was pretty fun. We talked about the ups and downs of different types of government. He said he really loves this county and there is no other like it anywhere. See, I even found a little first hand education in the process.
When you make an appointment to have a Lowe’s contractor come out to measure the job, they also take note of any extra work that needs to be done. Since this door is a few inches shy of the previous door, there was some work that needed to be done. When Lowe’s calls you the next day to give you the price on the job, they give the price for the materials, the standard installation and any extra work. In this case, the extra work cost over $500. That was more than the installation price.
When he was here, he kept telling me that he was going to make it look nice. After I got the price, I was wondering what in the world could be costing an extra $500. After he finished up, it appears that he did all the trim on the inside. He did all the caulking and waterproofing too. This stuff, plus the reframing of everything was the cause of the extra money. He even got rid of all the junk. I was pretty impressed.
Overall, the installation was a bit pricey (probably double of what it should’ve been), but it is a complete job. All I need to do it paint up the trim on the inside. I would definitely use the service Lowe’s offers again and probably ask for this installer.
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If you have ever gone through the agonizing process of dealing with gutters, you would certainly know that it’s…well, agonizing.
Here’s one for you. Have you ever realized that every single gutter cover company claims they are the best? It actually gets comical after a while. They all seem to have the “latest patented technology” and all have 100% effectiveness. Wait…some of them go the honest route. They tell you that no gutter cover is 100% effective. They say that you will still have to climb up that ladder at least a few times a year.
Well, what is someone supposed to do when they have to maintain gutters that are about 40′ high? There ain’t no way this old man is getting up there.
It’s the same old story. These are the things I deal with when I move to a new house. I guess it’s only been twice now, just try to ignore that. Each time, I go around and figure out what needs to be done. I just do it. I don’t wait. The longer I wait, the more something rots or gets clogged or prices go up. Plus, I like doing these things. I have a certain affinity for “systems.” I like to watch things work. Who else takes pictures of gutter cover installations?
Here is my situation. We have about 136′ of gutter. They are all clogged with oak leaves. There are no pine needles. When it rains hard, the gutters fill up and overflow. This makes my face turn red. There are two reasons why I don’t pull out the big 40′ ladder and clean them out right then and there…one being I don’t have that 40′ ladder and two being I don’t like the feeling of lightening running through my body.
The whole reason for gutters is to stop the rain from pouring down and the water sitting against the house foundation. This keeps the basement dryer. Gutters are very good, but we, as a species, have yet to perfect a cover that stops debris from filling them up and stopping their functionality. You would be amazed at how few leaves to takes to clog a gutter.
You are lucky I didn’t have this blog when we moved into the other house. I went through this whole fiasco then. I would’ve dragged you through it with me. The difference there was the highest gutter was about 14′. That was nothing. If I tried to climb a ladder to reach parts of the gutters here, I probably would get “shaky leg.” If you have ever climbed something high, you know what I am talking about. I remember one time I was at the very top of a 100′ oak tree and my leg started to shake. I guess that’s the body’s way of telling you to get down.
Since I am not about to do the gutter thing here, I decided to call some professionals. I had a gutter cleaning company come over yesterday and they gave me a price of $125 to clean them. That was fair, but the problem is that the cleaning really doesn’t solve the problem. They would have to come at least twice a year. I decided to try to solve the problem. Later on, I called another gutter company, this time, one that installed gutter covers.
Back at the other house, I installed “Leaf Relief” gutter covers that worked very well. I was, and still am, very happy with them. I put them on when we first moved in and never had to clean them out again. I checked each year and they were spotless. Because of my experience with them, I really want them on this house.
I spoke with the other company on the phone. He gave me a price of $7.50 a foot to clean and install the Leaf Relief gutter covers. That wasn’t a horrible price, but about twice as much as the actual gutter costs to install. Weird, isn’t it? I can tell you from experience, gutter covers are really easy to put on and there really isn’t much material to them at all. Why they cost that much to install is beyond me. At that price, this job would be costing at least $1,020. I would pay it if I had to, but I am really trying to find another way.
Since I was making a trip to Home Depot today anyway, I thought of a great idea. Why not buy some gutter covers from the Depot and install them where I can reach? If I do that, I can at least knock a couple of bucks off the job.
When I got there, I looked through the gutter covers and one type stuck out. It was the Amerimax Home Products 4 Ft. White Solid Gutter Cover. These were about $1 per foot and seemed to remind me of a few other big name brands. I thought to myself, “Heck man, what the freak, let’s go for it.” I bought 44′ worth.
There are two spots I can reach on this house…one in the back, over the porch and the other the front of the garage. If I could install the 44′ worth, I would be saving $330. Not bad.
I gotta tell ya, I really like installing gutter covers. Seriously. I cleaned the gutters out and slid these covers up, under the shingles. Then, I clipped the fronts around the lip of the gutter. They were secure after that. I went one step further and screwed two self tapping screws in the front edge of each cover, just to be sure. The screws are rust proof…yeah, that would be a mess.
After I installed them, I got the garden hose out and sprayed the roof. I watched the water slide around the nose of the cover and enter the gutter. What a great feeling it is to hear the water running down the downspout. The cool part is watching the water “cling” to the gutter as it goes around the bend.
While the first (and cheaper) guy was here, I asked him if he could install the covers if I got them. He agreed, for a price. I am sure I can negotiate a decent price with him to install the rest of the covers. I am pretty sure that he got the impression I am not the type of person that has a gutter cleaning company come over twice a year. As I said, I like to “fix” the problem.
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If you call a porch a garden, then that’s what I have.
I told you that we bought some tomato plants the other day. We put them in a bucket that we had here. Well, they have been taking off so nicely, I decided to get some more. I figured buckets will work ok. My mother used to get the biggest tomatoes from a couple of 5 gallon buckets.
Check ‘em out. They grow fast too. I have a few different kinds there, so it should be exciting. Now, I just have to find out if these plants are related to the current salmonella issue.
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A few weeks ago, I realized I needed three new tools…a pressure washer, a leaf blower and a snow blower. I am going to have to wait on that snow blower, as they are pretty hard to find these days.
Yesterday, I picked up a RIDGID 3000 PSI Gas Pressure Washer. I got a pretty sweet deal. I had a 10% off coupon as well as $100 worth of Home Depot gift cards, so I didn’t feel too guilty buying this thing.
I put it all together this morning and let ‘er rip. Everything works as expected, but the soap is a little quirky. I can’t get it to turn off. I am going to have to look at that. I tried it on one side of the house and I think it worked ok. I may have not been using the soap in the beginning. All I know is that the green stuff needs to come off the siding. I got some of it off, but not all of it. I will try again in earnest another day. My fiend also does this a lot, so I will ask him for advice.
This machine came with four nozzles. The first one is for soaking with the soap and the other three are high pressure, “tear your hand off” nozzles. I have to be careful with them.
