Author Archives: admin

Burning Fields

Leave a reply

When I returned to our house on Saturday evening I was met with the sight of fields burning around our house.  It did cause a bit of excitement.  Apparently my neighbor decided to burn the weeds and dead grass in the hay field, since it didn’t get mowed and baled last summer.

There was an announced burn ban which took effect the previous Monday.  I was told the State Police showed up and issued a ticket.  It was still burning at 7:30pm, but died down shortly after that.

Sunday was a beautiful day.  Eric and Trevor opened up the sand box while I started recycling lumber by pulling nails.  I listened to the NCAA March Madness Tournament – Cornell winning vs Wisconsin and Michigan State winning vs Maryland.

Home Re-Modeling Phase 1

Leave a reply

We have been planning our home re-modeling for the past couple years. This remodeling breaks down into two major projects.  One major project is to built an attached garage with a mud room, pantry, laundry and 1/2 bath connecting it to our house.  This past summer we began contracted to have our basement drainage re-done, brought in a lot of fill to begin that project.  We are letting the fill settle for a year (or two or three) before building the garage.

The other major project is to remodel the interior of our house.  This project includes:

  • Using 1 of the 3 first floor bedrooms for a new, larger, more modern bathroom
  • Expanding the size of our master bedroom
  • Opening up the entrance way to the living room and installing pocket doors.  Our living room faces south with a large (9’x6′) picture window. Going through nu-eco.com.au/ helps in getting a lot of window design options. The view is nice and the solar gain is great during the winter.  We want to allow this warmer air to circulate throughout the house.
  • Opening up closets in foyer and Eric’s bedroom
  • Along the way we will be moving electrical switches, power plugs, and telephone jacks
  • Finally we are removing our cast iron steam radiators and installing a new hot water boiler and radiant heat for the 1st floor. You must have a look at the new boiler cost and know which one to get.

In the past few weeks we have been trying to move furniture, weed out books, clothes and nick-knacks.  It will probably take a couple of months to complete the structural items to be followed by weeks of painting and wallpapering.

Leprechaun Trap

Leave a reply

Last night Eric built a leprechaun trap.  His plan was to capture a leprechaun and hold him captive until the leprechaun revealed the location of his pot of gold.  The trap was checked frequently during the evening with no results.

However, an examination the next morning revealed some torn green cloth.  Apparently, a leprechaun was trapped overnight but escaped.  We are speculating that during the escape the leprechaun must have torn his coat and left some fabric.

Eric intends to continue his trapping efforts.

Backyard Olympics

Leave a reply

Our large snow pile and slope have been perfect for sledding. It has been the site of several Olympic competitions. Below Eric and Trevor build a jump to sled off.

Since the big snowstorm 10 days ago the days have been sunny with temperatures in the mid-30s, making for packy snow. These conditions are perfect for making runs and jumps. Below Eric and Trevor pack snow to build a jump.

The backyard olympic events included distance events but a participant favorite was the stunts categories: going over jumps with a leg in the air, falling off the sled and or catching big air. After about an hour the contestants are soaking wet and need to come in the house for refreshment.

Our Weekend

Leave a reply

Thursday night Kathryn went to play volleyball and  Eric and I started a marathon Monopoly game.  We set up on the dining room table which was more “cat proof” than other locations in the house.  We played about 30 minutes, recorded our locations, stored our holdings and set it aside until Friday night when we resumed for another 30 minutes.  Finally, on Saturday morning, after breakfast, Eric made the bold step of investing all his money into houses for Broadwalk and Park Place and neglecting all of his other properties.  On the other hand, my strategy was to equally invest into houses on the yellow and green properties. Unfortunately, I landed on Park Place and didn’t have the requisite $1,000+ for rent and I was wiped out. Eric was jubilant.

Friday Kathryn took Scout back to Beaver Meadow Veterinary to exam her torn ACL.  Previously Dr. Colleen had been skeptical of healing as she had not seen one repair naturally in a large (>50lb) dog.  We have kept Scout on house-rest for the past 45-60 days – not an easy task – and she has seemingly healed.  We are now at the stage where Scout needs leash exercise (walking & trotting) on smooth surfaces.  Not having a dog treadmill that means road walks.  Kathryn took Scout on Friday evening.  I took her out on Saturday and even did a little ill-advised jogging.  I felt the consequences of running in my work boots on the following day.  On Sunday I took Scout on a late afternoon 2.6 mile road walk – enjoyable in the sun.

Friday night we went to Floyd Fish Fry and then drove to Barneveld to sign Eric up to play Little League baseball.  In years past Eric has been resistant to playing baseball, but apparently several of his pals are playing baseball, so now he wants in.  Saturday afternoon we practiced a little pitch and catch and Eric did a little hitting using a plastic bat and a tennis ball.

Saturday & Sunday we moved furniture upstairs, culled our copious books, moved extraneous furniture to the barn and cleaned up the 2nd floor rec room in preparation of the living room remodeling.

Science abounds in Ithaca

Leave a reply

Saturday morning Kathyrn, Eric and I took a short vacation to Ithaca. In the AM we visited the Museum of the Earth an earth science and natural history museum affiliated with the Paleontological Research Institution (PRI) and Cornell University. We had lunch at the State Street Diner and in the afternoon we visited the Sciencenter. We played with the hydraulic, electrical and acoustic devices.

After the museum we went to have dinner with Kieran, his wife Victoria and their puppy Flavio.