Nothing Much

I wish I'd have gotten the rain barrel project farther along ... there's supposed to be thunderstorms today with heavy rain. I'd have liked to have seen what one good rain storm produced at my one downspout. Ah well - baby steps.

Thanks for the information, Rhys - that does sound encouraging. I really don't mind if I need to get larger water storage containers. Like I said, the more, the better as far as I'm concerned, because I want to be able to water extensive areas all summer without running out during the dry spells. I'll find a way to camouflage them so they don't look too hideous sitting around the house.

There are only a couple things I wonder. Getting a hole cut in one of those heavy, plastic 55 gallon barrels isn't going to be as easy as using an Exacto knife, but I suppose we'll figure it out. I could look for something with the spigot already installed, but then the price starts going up ... and part of the point is a frugal solution to watering, not just throwing hundreds of dollars at the problem to save less than that on my water bill. It's not really all about the money, though - part of it is just the fun challenge of seeing just how cheaply (frugally) we can do things around here, with good results. It's sort of my personal experiment to see how far we can reduce our living expenses without major sacrifice.

My other concern is winter - I don't know if I can leave the rain barrels in place with water in them, because I'm concerned the freezing and thawing will crack the plastic, even of the heavier barrels. But I don't know that for sure, so I'll either find out, or experiment with one this winter to see.

Of course, if I want to start overengineering the project, I could always rig up solar powered heating elements for the barrels. ;o)

Although, I had my plastic pond at the old house that always froze solid in the depth of winter, and never cracked. So ... I don't know, I'll have to do some research on that issue.

We've been taking baby steps these last few months, in part because there's been such an overwhelming amount of stuff to do, and in part because we're just building up our buffer - the extra money we put aside every month for house projects. I didn't want to be spending it as fast as we saved it up, that's the whole point of having a 'buffer.' By next spring we should have it built up enough to be able to start doing some of the more extensive projects.

Okay, and there's a third reason for the baby steps - laziness. After the craziness of January through April - finding a house, buying one while selling another (to a buyer who tried to renege), and the disaster that was the 2 month move - I didn't have much energy or motivation for awhile. It's just starting to come back. Maybe next year I'll do better with the gardens.

Didn't I say that every year at the old house? I think my problem is I really want nice landscaping, but I'm just not much up for the work of it, or the initial expense. But eventually it'll come together - because for a little time and money spent in the early stages, my goal is a very low-maintenance garden scheme. Native plants that don't have high water needs, or need a lot of pruning or care; my rain barrel - soaker hose set up, which means when it's time to water the garden all I have to do is turn a couple of spigots on for an hour or so; and more plants and less lawn, to reduce mowing. Hey, I've seen articles in my Better Homes & Gardens magazine of people with beautiful landscaping, the kind I'm hoping for, and when I read the article it says it took them 20 years to get it to that point. So not having accomplished much in three months isn't the end of the world.

We did get almost everything we need to paint the dining room. One thing I forgot was spackling, because I want to countersink some protruding nails in the paneling, then smooth the spots over with spackling, before starting the painting. As soon as I get that, I'm going to start on the project, doing the nails and spackling a little at a time on weeknights, then taking a weekend day to do the painting. Hopefully I can get that done by next weekend.

We'll still have the floor to do something with, and the door to replace, both of which are going to be expensive, because I want special stuff, of course. Like a triple-paned thermal door with built-in blinds, and I'm considering radiant heating in the floor because that room is so cold in the winter.

The two projects I'm most interested in completing as soon as possible are the dining room (because it's so dark and dingy in there still), and the back deck - because I seriously miss having a covered back porch.

The projects that most need done, though, are a storage shed, and insulation.

Decisions, decisions. Not to mention time and money. But ... it'll all get done eventually. And planning it all out is half the fun.