Busy are we?

[tomf]

Hello everyone welcome to spring and all the fun jobs that come with it. I know I have been very busy; there is gear that needs to be worked on and tuned up etc. Grass grows as you look at it. Spring clean up is underway. Planting and seeding, starts, transplants, trimming, landscaping, new shed just finished one more to go, new greenhouse to start soon. Logs and brush from the 400 + trees I thinned last year half cleaned up and of course the winter had a cold snap and some of the out side pipes need fixing, laying about 100 feet of new pipe as well, tilling up the garden and on and on. The deer wracked the plastic fence around the garden so I am ordering 330 feet of wire fence. This is a few of the jobs I am doing, what spring lists do you guys have? I should not ask as it may give me more ideas of things to do.

[digitS']

I can blame family health problems for a whole lot of time spent on things other than what needed to be done around the house, etc. Blame is entirely short of finding fault because they went through some difficult times. I'll just say one thing about one family member - Dad was 99 in February. I think he has just about entered the "blameless" time of life.

And then, you know what the PNW weather in March and April has been like, Tom. Rain every other day. We may see 65°f tomorrow afternoon; it will be the warmest day in 2017! Wow. We have had 2 afternoons gardening ... on too wet soil. Luckily, the tractor guy got in there at about the right time and the soil hasn't compacted.

In the front yard, I had a broken fence post on a picket fence that was looking beyond "distressed." Replacing that post and the gate attached to it, I found two more broken posts - meanwhile, trying to scrape and paint fence boards and replace the 2 by 4 rails. I can't get it dun! I pushed much of my greenhouse work off on DW. Soon, there will be more than she can do while I still have half the fence to re-do. And, I haven't made it halfway, yet!

No. The plants are alive and there are no delays possible. They are like hungry babies!

Steve

[LIcenter]

I'm not regimented enough to keep a list anymore. Whatever strikes my fancy on a particular day, gets done. A few years back I did make a list, but I found myself stressing over the list not getting completed in short fashion. One day at a time now, works for me.

[tomf]

I have to make a list and set a time table to stay organized, I do whoever do a nmber of things when it hists me to do them.

[gumbo2176]

Yes we are. I'm currently trying to finish up a whole house exterior paint job that I started on Ash Wednesday. My house is pretty big, all wood, 31 windows, 13 sets of working shutters on the upper floor windows, all rafter tails and roof lumber is exposed on the eaves and there are 6 exterior doors to the house between living space, man cave and woodworking shop.

Ladder work at my age is hard on the feet and legs, but with the cost of having a painting company do the job, it's well worth climbing up and down. The paint and related material so far has topped $1500. Gotta love sweat equity------or you'd go mad.

[tomf]

Are you using a pro paint sprayer? I got one as my house is also on the big side, it makes it so much easier and faster to paint things. Before I got a real one I went through two of the Wagner ones, they are junk and not worth getting. At my old house I rented a pro sprayer and did it in less than a day, after prep work that is. But that house was less than half the size of this one.

[tomf]

That must be a big house, mine is about 4600Sq', it has 28 windows and 4 doors. Is it like one of the cool New Orleans homes we see, the kind of Victorian French ones?

[tomf]

The new shed I just finished. This is on the side where all my shops are going, when done I will have about 6 small out buildings the biggest being 20' by 36' and two green houses, one 10'x12' already made and the one I will build this spring summer will be 20'x20'. I may add a tractor shed that will be 20x25' or so, I have not drawn up the plans yet. I will be able to hide out well then, right?

[tomf]

I have to make a list and set a time table to stay organized, I do whoever do a nmber of things when it hists me to do them.

"Number" sometimes I type to fast.

[digitS']

... I will be able to hide out well then, right?

You will need a cook shack!

Steve

[gumbo2176]

Are you using a pro paint sprayer? I got one as my house is also on the big side, it makes it so much easier and faster to paint things. Before I got a real one I went through two of the Wagner ones, they are junk and not worth getting. At my old house I rented a pro sprayer and did it in less than a day, after prep work that is. But that house was less than half the size of this one.

Not using a sprayer. I roll and brush on my paint. First taking the roller loaded with paint then using a 4 inch brush to pull all the stipple out and smooth out the paint for an even coverage. I'll start at the top and roll down several weatherboards and out about 6 ft., apply the paint and move the ladder until all boards in the top area are covered. Then lower the ladder and start all over again on lower boards until I hit the bottom boards. My house is about 20 ft. high on the sides to the gutter line and close to 30 ft. high at the peak in the front.

My house is kind of a typical N.O. house for my area of town, not Victorian, but more on the Raised Bungalo style with exposed rafters. My entire house is clad in cypress, as is all my doors and trim work inside. The weatherboards, windows, trim, shutters, porch beams, etc. are all old growth cypress and it is framed in true dimensional 2 x's of old pine. Some of that wood is so hard it is difficult to drive nails into it unless using an nail gun.

[tomf]

My paint sprayer also has an attachment for a roller so you just give it a shot when you need paint. Your house sounds like it is a bit complex to paint.

[gumbo2176]

My paint sprayer also has an attachment for a roller so you just give it a shot when you need paint. Your house sounds like it is a bit complex to paint.

My house was built prior to A/C being what is considered a necessity in our part of the world by today's standards. The amount of windows allowed for cross ventilation to occur in the summer months when it gets sweltering hot.

My upstairs windows are all 6 ft. tall by 3 ft. wide and one of them is over 8 ft. tall and 3 ft. wide and allows access to my back porch simply by raising the window that has an upper pocket to lets the window raise into the attic space above it. My two front bedroom windows are built the same way. When you open them to full extension, most of the frame disappears into the attic above the window frames. I had fun the first time I painted this house back in 94. I took it pretty much completely down to the wood and started over again with modern paint. Just about all the windows were painted shut and I worked like a dog getting them loose and functioning again. Some folks just don't know how to paint properly to avoid that.

[tomf]

I just finished putting in a run of water pipes for outside water to the Rodi garden, now I need to seed the area and a few more areas. Remolding the mudroom to make it part of the laundry room, I just need to paint it now. Starting on the green house 20x20'. Landscaping a 25x25' area to be a sort of patio. Tuning up tractors and riding mowers and other power tools for the yard. And the never ending mowing and weeding, yes I love the relaxed country life, LOL. Oh it is time to rototill the garde.

[gumbo2176]

I just finished putting in a run of water pipes for outside water to the Rodi garden, now I need to seed the area and a few more areas. Remolding the mudroom to make it part of the laundry room, I just need to paint it now. Starting on the green house 20x20'. Landscaping a 25x25' area to be a sort of patio. Tuning up tractors and riding mowers and other power tools for the yard. And the never ending mowing and weeding, yes I love the relaxed country life, LOL. Oh it is time to rototill the garde.

LOL, you don't have time to spend on the internet with all that to be done. I've gotten real close to finishing my exterior paint job and have just finished the last of the body of the house with the exception of my back porch decking that is on hold due to rain for the next few days. I also have 13 sets of shutters and more than a few window screens to paint, but that can be done in my shop on my leisure since they are not really in bad shape and only needing a bit of prep work before applying the paint.

[tomf]

Getting closer to finishing the patio.





I made the seat for this ski chairlift swing and sanded and painted the chair, it is hung.



A friend and good neighbor.



I have the green house pad leveled, after using almost 6 trucks of rock, fill and gravel.





There is a broken concrete wall in all that.

[gumbo2176]

That's a lot of rocks to level out. Good thing you have the heavy equipment to do so. A year ago my sister-in-law got a 12 yard dump load of rocks for her driveway and my brother-in-law and I moved that with wheelbarrows. That was back breaking work, but it sure looked nice when we were done. That was a well deserved "Have a few ice cold beers when we're done." day.

[imafan26]

When you guys are done, come over to my house. I could use some painting, fence mending, fixing the fallen shade house, cleaning up the clutter, fixing the hole in the ceiling where the toilet leaked, digging out some weedy trees, replacing the door locks that were damaged when the house was broken in to, replacing water heaters, replacing leaking faucets that the painter painted over, putting in an outdoor sink, replacing an indoor faucet, hanging an 8 ft shade in my patio (It is hard to do that by myself), getting the vines off my trees, and sorting through a whole lot of junk. My to do list is getting longer, my done list is very short.

[tomf]

When you guys are done, come over to my house. I could use some painting, fence mending, fixing the fallen shade house, cleaning up the clutter, fixing the hole in the ceiling where the toilet leaked, digging out some weedy trees, replacing the door locks that were damaged when the house was broken in to, replacing water heaters, replacing leaking faucets that the painter painted over, putting in an outdoor sink, replacing an indoor faucet, hanging an 8 ft shade in my patio (It is hard to do that by myself), getting the vines off my trees, and sorting through a whole lot of junk. My to do list is getting longer, my done list is very short.

I am not sure we will ever be done.

[applestar]