Autumn Bits and Pieces

I took today off of work to try to get a bunch done. It turned out to be my first work-in-the-yard day in quite some time that it did not rain at all, and I did end up getting a lot done.

During recent rainy days, I had put together a new house number sign for the end of the driveway. (The old one was falling apart; for some reason, woodpeckers had taken an interest in it.) I screwed the new sign onto the tree today. It looks normal during the daytime...

and is highly reflective at night. Since I've had to call an ambulance before, I want to be sure I'm easily found.

I renewed the JayBee's registration today. Only five months overdue! Since the JayBee has never been out on the road, it's not like it was illegal. But I do have to devise a better reminder system for myself, in order to keep up with it.

I stopped in to see the Code Enforcement Officer because I thought the JayBee's building permit had expired as well, but I found out that the expiration date on it doesn't apply since the work is underway. I actually have another year before it expires. Good thing, given the way I'm taking my time with this project.

Next, I worked on the door latch and dead bolt on my old house--the house I have to limp through yet another winter. The latch and the dead bolt haven't worked for a couple months now. Since the door hinges look fine, I thought the problem was possibly due to the extra humidity from the recent rain. I've been keeping the door closed with a chain and padlock, but this has gone on long enough that I decided I needed to fix the problem. I lowered the holes for the door latch and dead bolt by 1/4 inch, and now the door works perfectly!

Next, I moved on to the JayBee. Just as I started, the furnace-cleaning-guy arrived to clean my furnace. As long as the guy was there, I could only dub around with things on the JayBee because it became a major challenge to keep the two cats out of the guy's van (since he left the doors open the entire time) and out of the basement (since the entrance is through an outdoor bulkhead). At one point, on one of his many trips between the furnace and his van, the guy nodded his head toward the JayBee and asked, "What project have you got going there?" I explained that I am building a house on a trailer to live in so I can tear down the existing house. He exclaimed a few times and then summed it up by saying, "Not many people would take on a project like that!" I laughed and said, "With good reason." Once the guy left, I managed to get a bit done on the JayBee. See my next post--Entryway 6. 

At one point, after I brushed a "leaf" off the ladder, I realized it wasn't a leaf at all. It was a praying mantis. I used to love watching these when I was very young! I haven't seen one in many years, so this was a bit thrilling. She stayed so completely still, I thought she might be dead--but it was just a good act. She was very much alive.

Here is Bear acting all sedate and well-behaved--after the dramatic show of ill behavior earlier.