This blog post is going to be a mish-mash of things. I had been preparing for the Fabric Dyeing class that my daughter-in-law Kate and I were taking. It was part of the online Fiber Fest that normally is an in-person event with classes and vendors and exhibits. In the course of that preparation, I took some pictures of things that will fill in the blanks on some things I have spoken about and also update the current state of affairs in the garage.
First is the method that I use to battle the snow that falls here in the winter. The previous homeowners left behind yard items. There was a lawnmower, a weed wacker, and a snowblower. Rob had made arrangements with a lawn service from North Pole, AK to take care of the lawn and plow the snow. The lawn service was not cheap but it was the end of the season, so I was OK. But I soon realized that the snow here comes down weekly, if not more often. The yard here is nice, but there was really no place to plow the snow off the driveway. I did not want to spend more money to have someone come in and clear my driveway as often as I imagined I would need to have that done. So Rob got the snowblower running and then showed me how to start it and use it. And that became my winter exercise. By the end of the snowy season, I was doing pretty well.
Over the summer, Rob changed the oil and spark plug. It fired right up a couple of weeks ago. Thus far there have been three amounts of snow that were enough to blow. The first was about 4 inches when it finished. The second was the 14 inch overnight blast and then a couple of days later, there were another 4 inches. Rob and Kate were here during that last one and Rob spoiled me by clearing the driveway, along with steps, deck, and walkway back to the oil delivery pipes. Poor Rob has to keep up with their home up near Ester Dome and then do some of the hard labor on the steps, etc. here so I do not hurt my back. Plus I just run out of energy after an hour of up and down the driveway until it is finished. Hopefully, the snowfall will go back to the inch or two at a time so I am not using the blower every day.
This is my snowblower. Not top of the line, but it cuts a nice swath through the accumulated snow. It was almost too much for the 14-inch snow, so I had to go slowly and then just shave off half of the scoop to not overwhelm it. Hopefully, it will get me through the winter and then we may look for a replacement. The red containers are my gasoline stash. It is there for me to use, not only with the snowblower but in my generator should the power go out for a prolonged period of time. It was one of the first things I had initiated when I arrived. I had the proper outlet installed outdoors along with the ability to switch my power from the pole feed to the generator feed. I felt that with temps in the winter falling to -40 to -50 degrees, I needed a way to power my heating system to protect my home and my life!
I finally have my freezer in the garage. The fridge in the kitchen is a tad smaller than the one I had in Parkesburg. The way I cook and eat, I needed a little more storage space for frozen food. I had ordered a Whirpool upright in the middle of June. By the time I had decided to get one, the freezers had become the appliance version of toilet paper. There were none to buy and orders were backed up for many weeks. But I ordered it and when it came it came, I was in no hurry. It was to come in August, then into September. On one of the calls to Home Depot, I was told that the list of people getting that particular freezer, the person above me was getting one, and starting with me the order had been canceled by the manufacturer as they were discontinuing that model. So, I was back to square one. I headed back to Home Depot after a couple of failed phone calls and got another one ordered. This time a Frigidaire. It was finally delivered last week. Not a big one, but big enough. I picked up an order at Fred's yesterday. Frozen veggies, french fries, Pot Pies, TV dinners, and frozen seafood... oh, and some ice cream.
The cardboard and foam are the packings that the freezer came in. The green light tells me at a glance that everything is working. The ice cream was so good tonight. It has been quite a while since I had room for any in the kitchen. I am also freezing the ice cream maker bowls so I can make my own. Happiness is a cold freezer.
I do not know how many of you have moved recently. When the van left this house a little over a year ago, the dining room was filled with boxes. The furniture that I brought had been placed in the rooms they were intended to occupy and the second bay in the garage was full to overflowing with the rest of my stuff, carefully wrapped and boxed and marked. It has taken almost this entire year to finally have all but a few boxes opened. Most of the contents have found homes.
The garage has three workbenches/tables. They get filled and then emptied, only to be filled again. The bay is finally clear of moving boxes. Now there are two appliance boxes as the new dishwasher and trash compactor for the kitchen are waiting for us to get time from our contractor to put in the new floor and the new appliances.
This is the table that is against the house wall and between the wall and my car. This one has been covered and cleared and covered and cleared many times. Note the large rolling tote under the kneehole. It is a very nice, heavy-duty sewing machine case. It holds my Janome sewing machine, all of my travel rulers and cutters and the small plastic container has extra bobbins, thread, scissors, and notions. It lives out here and is ready to be loaded into Miss Gaddy when my sewing group meets.
This is the tool bench located on the back wall of the garage. Little by little all of the tools... that somehow ended up in many, many boxes during the packing process in Parkesburg, are making their way to this bench. Lots of cubbyholes and slots. I still cannot find the tool I end up looking for!!! It will be organized better someday soon. Rob keeps trying and then I keep finding things.
This is the window at the back of the garage and beyond that is another slim workbench. This one is still junked up. Lots of miscellaneous stuff that does not yet have a home. Those last few things are so hard... so close and yet so far.
I hope you enjoy the tour. The rest of the house will be much more organized.
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