House project #9.768

Here goes! At this posting, we are into this project for about 3 weeks. It has been a project chalk full of fluidity.

Hubby is a researcher. When he lights upon an idea to do something he hasn't done before, he starts to research. He spends hours figuring out how he is going to do something.

We did have someone come out and give us a bid to remove all the insulation out of the attic. Now that we are into it ourselves, we know that whoever would have signed up for the job would have walked off in a heartbeat. It is a mess up there. Not only is there blown in insulation, there is roll insulation that can't be vacuumed out, drop ceiling in pieces, trash galore. All of that makes it a job and a half. But .... we are almost there! (I use we loosely.)

This is how the brainchild started. A hose runs to a 55 gallon drum and then through a shopvac and out to a collection device. Don't ask me. I'm not the science person. However, the suction in the drum was quite awesome.

Then the ShopVac became unnecessary as a plain old leaf blower was added to the top of the drum and did a great job of pulling insulation and blowing it.

Closing off insulation leakage holes with rags. No big pieces can be sucked in or it gets stuck. Easy enough to unplug tho'.

At the end of week 1, there was serious progress going on! The red circle is around 1/2 a piece of ancient luggage. It is a serious trash and treasure trove up there!

Where is all that blown insulation going? To a bag outside the garage. They sell insulation collection bags at over $200 a pop. Hubby came up with the idea to use sheets sewn together. I went to Goodwill and found that duvets are sold for the same price as sheets. A whole lot less sewing involved when 3 sides are already done for you! Air moves through the fabric (the cheaper the sheet, the better it works) and allows the insulation to sort of pack in a bit. Not as tight as would be nice, but we have a whole lot of these bags full.

This would be the insulation removal team. Day #1 we did this with no protection over our breathing spaces. I've been coughing for the 2 weeks since then. And insulation fibers? We may be throwing clothes away when this is all over.

The blower finally decided it had enough. (We did figure out a way to stop the collection of stuff around the top there.) It just worked itself right out of commission. Plan #267 came into play shortly after that and works well!

This is 1/2 of the trash bags we filled at the end of week #1. There is another pile that is just as big. Can you just imagine the weight that has been hanging on our ceiling?

These are duvets of insulation. Not exactly good bedding material anymore.

Why are we doing this?

Before it warms up and the temp in the attic hits triple digits, we hope to have new and sensible electrical wiring up there. The plumbing will all be redone up there. New ducting for our heat/air conditioning system will be done. And then .... we will blow in new insulation.

There are wires running all over creation up there. Pipes that go nowhere. Ducting that sends our air conditioning straight to the attic instead of inside the house.

It is a huge job but will be so worth it in the end!
I'm actually looking forward to seeing an electric bill!

More updates soon ...

Fun Holiday??!!

Last Saturday I learned that this holiday exists.
Like who comes up with these things?
Why would one celebrate ditching their New Year's Resolutions and who would consider giving up fun?
Okay, I don't make them but consider replacing the NYR with goals.

Are you really willing to just give up after 17 days? 17 DAYS??!!!

I am a goal setter.
Many of mine are the short term goals.
My goals for today, tomorrow, this week, this month.
I am a serious maker of lists.
Written or highlighted in colors. I do love color and lists that show accomplishments.
I have written goals for where I want to be at the end of the year and in 5 years.

Way back when I needed to see accomplishments that were hard won, my lists were even more broken down. Wash Laundry. Fold Laundry. Put Laundry Away. In the middle of feeding little people, changing diapers, wiping spills, giving hugs/kisses, running bigger kids to and from numerous places .... it was sometimes the only progress I could see. In those days where accomplishments were hard to see, it helped.

Do I always achieve everything on my lists of today?
Absolutely not!
There are some that get carried over to the next day, week, month or year.
Sometimes it depends on the level of my distraction, other times life just interferes and other things take a place of importance. That's sorta life.
Does that mean I just make a national day for giving up on all of them?

Not if I want to get anything done or reach personal/professional goals in my life.

I'm a getter donner kind of gal.
I need lists to help me focus on what I need to get done or it just twirls around in my brain and gets lost in there somewhere.
I may put off things that are most uncomfortable for me. (I'm working on that and it hurts.)

A National Give It All Up Cuz You're Tired of Trying Day?
Nope. Never.
That's sad.

Certainly doesn't teach our children much about sticktoittiveness. 

Happy Go Get 'Em Day!

Just in case you're inclined to celebrate this holiday, I'll help you out. It falls on January 17 every year. It doesn't follow the moon, sun or snow patterns. Same month. Same day. Every. Year.

White glass catchalls

This kitchen cabinet of our is in the most awkward place ever. One of those where you almost need to do a yoga move to get anything out of it. Not a place for your coffee cup. For. Sure. I should have showed you the countertop under the cabinet but it 'twas a bit embarrassing.

I've been cleaning out cupboards and closets ... one at a time. Pitching things. Call it January cleaning or whatever. Sure feels good!

This cabinet is sort of the catchall. Things you need at the ready but don' really want on the counter top. Combine that with a collection of white glass for the catching and .... you get a little of this action.

I am an avid collector of colorful writing implements that don't need to take up space in here.
The kids markers?
Yup.
Took them away.
I think their mom took them away.

This young man would be the reason. He really doesn't seem to have a color preference. Any color will do.

Seriously. He is the sweetest little quiet dynamo disaster love bug.

Blanket wrapped memories

Last week, if you don't follow me on IG or aren't my friend on FB, I posted this:

The temp in Virginia, MN is suppose to -15 by 8am tomorrow according to my trusty phone. That's downright chilly! My BIL Shawn said he doesn't need any of my old insulation but ... that's cold! So I sacrificed my last Braun box and filled it. (We are in the process of removing all the insulation from the attic ... more later on that one!)

I put my boots on.

I loaded that box in the car.

Drove to the local UPS store.

And shipped it to the cold climate. Hoping it helps warm the family up a bit.

If you know me at all, you know I'm sort of a squeeky Finn when it comes to my pennies. I don't mind spending pennies and I spend a good deal of them at Hobby Lobby etc. But I would never pay to ship old insulation across the country. Never.

In August of 2018, we lost a dear family friend Randy. He was an uncle to, and incredibly close with, Heather and Shawn's children. Incredibly. Close. After his passing, I had asked Heather to save a few of his clothes and I would make a memory blanket out of them. She asked for three of them ... one for each child. The clothes came down last February in the trunk of my parents' car and sat, until recently, when I had time to do something with them.

Randy was a simple man. This picture is Randy. Green tee shirt and suspenders. That was about it. Add John Deere to that and you've got the man. One liners and a quiet kind of guy who was a friend to so very many.

So I started sewing. I found three different John Deere fabrics, a separate one to back each blanket. Added some suspenders and a very special square out of a pair of jeans.

My IG/FB post talked about keeping the family warm. I sure hope they do. Warm from the weight of the blanket and, more importantly, warm in the heart.

The embroidered squares were done by Kathy Johnson who is somehow related to this family. She, too, has lost a very special person in her family and understands the love in these blankets and the comfort they can bring.

Lots of love to Heidi, Hailey and Sawyer.
Many warm hugs.

Krispy Kreme kind of lunch

We were on our way home from church on Sunday and I was flipping through Facebook as is my habit in the car sometimes. Came across this post that included this thing by Krispy Kreme. I read it to Jari and he didn’t take his usual turn on the way to our breakfast place. Breakfast being at nearly 1 o’clock because we were late at church. He headed instead to Bell Road and off toward home from Cave Creek.

Then he proceeds to ask me where Krispy Kreme is.

Apparently we were skipping the Village Inn 2-2-2 breakfast and going straight to Krispy Kreme for lunch instead.

Love it!

I didn’t notice the top of the box until we were home and found that one of the favorite people in my world shares a birth year with Krispy Kreme. I wonder if  Krispy Kreme opened on the same day he was born. Happy sugaring up!

I checked 'cuz the google window is right next to the blogger window. Krispy Kreme has 3 months of age on my favorite person.

Instapot Yogurt Success

I can’t believe this was six weeks ago that I was out black Friday shopping. I actually braved the morning and ran to the Fry’s grocery store for some items that I wanted from there. It was a rainy morning and the parking lot was emptier than I have ever seen it on a regular trip to the store. I filled my cart with all kinds of goodies and headed for the checkout in record time. As the woman was ringing up my purchases she said, "you don’t want the Instapot that’s on sale for $49.99?" I hadn't gone there for that item and it wasn't on my brain. She proceeded to sell me on the great deal and why not? It was much less expensive than the smaller ones I had just sent as Christmas gifts. To make a long story short ...I paid the price she quoted which ended up being about $34 less than it should have been. Really.  I should have picked up several of them!

I finally took it out of the box but am scared to use it. Why? I have used a pressure cooker many times for canning things but never for cooking food. This must be much safer than the contraption I can with.

My girls will talk me through my fear, I am guessing, because they are making meals with them like champs. I did try the yogurt business last week. Wow! Much easier to run to the grocery store refrigerator section and fill my cart.  So eight hours of cooking and another at least eight hours of chilling and I have yogurt. I didn’t add the sweetener this recipe calls for and just made it plain. Enough to pucker up right quick. I love honey for sweetener so dumped a whole bunch of that and some blueberries and it is actually very delicious.

No additives. No fake flavors. No fake anything. I did add vanilla to the entire batch when it was done, but I make my own. And ... lactose free milk! How good can this get?!

Now I wonder if I can use the yogurt that’s left for a starter for the next yogurt. Has anyone done this?

If you have any other Instapot miracle recipes… Share them with me please!

I promise (hand over my heart) to share any that I find and love with you.

First though, I am going to hard boil eggs and see if my kitchen is still in one piece when I'm done.

Four months of silence

Four months.
Four long months.
I am amazed that for four months I have been quiet on this blog and am at a loss as to why.

I am not a setter of New Year’s resolutions. Never have been. I probably tried and found it much easier not to suffer constant failure. I do attempt to set some goals and hopefully get close to achieving at least something along those lines. One step closer is always better than no step at all.

Maybe part of the reason this has become difficult is that I need to sit at my computer to make this happen. I upload photos on my phone unless I want to email them to myself every time, which has become quite a daunting task. Not my favorite thing to do anymore. I find it amazing that, at one time in my life, all uploaded photos came from my camera. They required uploading and editing before they ever hit a blog. Yet somehow I managed that and a house full of children at the same time. Now we are down to the two of us and it is a challenge to post anything.

Is it that there are so very many things on my Want To Do List that I can't seem to give them all the time and attention they deserve?

My goal this year is to come visit you at least once a week. May not be much but I do know that there are some of you who will read this to see updates on our life and what we are up to. (And goodness but do I have some catching up to do!) Perhaps my thinking cap won’t be on it and you won’t get any deeply meaningful and heart heavy writings, but maybe I can make you laugh once in a while. Or at least you can shake your head at me.

Let’s just wing this and see how it goes.

As I write this, it is Sunday late afternoon, about 5:00 PM. The sun is going to soon start to set. The hawks are not in the yard today. The chickens are at peace. The weather is absolutely divine. Life is incredibly good.

Have a blessed New Year.

May health be abundant in your life and joy your faithful companion.

*** And now it is Tuesday evening, 9:17pm, and I am finally sitting to finish this. I voice dictated on Sunday. This post should see you at 4:30 a.m. tomorrow morning in the Pacific Time Zone. Go figure.