Moolie - Happy Thanksgiving :)

[MetalSmitten]

Metal, I think we had the same house as you--our home was owned by an electrician and then a junk collector before we bought it. The electrician was the one who originally "finished" the basement did all sorts of weird electrical stuff everywhere, and the basement had 3 different kinds of ceiling, two different kinds of fake wood paneling (some painted, some not) plus drywall and a weird kinda stucco wall. By the time we moved, that basement was beautiful AND all up to code

that's so inspiring though my basement is also kind of a horror show as far as cosmetics go, but, i use it as my metalsmithing studio, so it actually works in my favor that it's completely unfinished (less flammable!) so i just haven't even tried to do anything with it.

I'll just pop in here to add a note of caution with those trusses. If they are true engineered roof trusses, you aren't even supposed to put any kind of flooring, plywood, etc on them to try to make a finished attic area. I was surprised to learn that most are not engineered for that extra weight unless specified.

oh yeah, i'm definitely not even gonna attempt anything with the attic as it stands. i'm just sad that they set it up that way in the first place, seems like a waste of space. c'est la vie.

 

[moolie]

Just got back from a drive across the city to check out a FoodSaver that was listed on Kijiji--got it for $40 and she threw in 2 rolls of bags! I wish she had the jar attachments, as I've been reading about some great uses for them here on SS lately, but I guess I'll just have to order those from the company. Looking forward to using this thing

Metal, glad I've inspired you. We totally took our time as we worked on our place, but it was worth it every time we completed something

 

[moolie]

Ugh, it started snowing in the wee hours of the morning--we had 1" by the time I did the school run this morning and it's just stopped--there's about 3" out there judging by the benches on the deck:

We got the cover back on the greenhouse yesterday when it was nice out, but building the front and back frames for the new front door and back window and going to be interesting unless this all melts by the weekend! Hubs says he's up for the challenge, so that's good

 

[moolie]

Well, we took Saturday off as a family day--slept in, played board games, watched a movie, baked Banana Bread together etc. and then it snowed overnight and we were kicking ourselves for not getting to reinforcing the hoop house.

Got it done yesterday morning in just under a foot of snow and it's very sturdy now. Attached 2x4s to the front and back of the middle garden box and attached a 2x4 ridge pole to the tops of those poles under the pvc pipe ridge pole. Were going to add middle supports set on bricks in the garden bed, but hubs tested the span by hanging from it with his full weight (almost 200 lbs) and it held just fine, so we're leaving it for now.

We didn't get any more framing done in the front and back arches because we're still deciding how to do the door. We've looked at tons of hoop house photos online and think we want double doors--one on each side of the center support, since we have 3 raised beds in there. But things are holding up just fine at the moment and it's stopped snowing so we'll get more done throughout the week.

 

[FarmerChick]

Snow pics are very pretty.

I love to see pics, so happy I am Southern and don't have to deal with it!

 

[rathbone]

ahhhh, I love family days like that.

 

[snapshot]

I love the snow photos and the family day sounds like a blast!!!!!!

 

[moolie]

Well, after over 3 weeks of spring-like weather than melted all the snow and caused a few trees/plants to bud up (fortunately none of ours as I banked snow around the perennials), we're back to snow (as of yesterday morning) and -10C temps. Only a couple of inches out there and it's a sunny blue-sky day today even though cold, but I guess winter is finally really here.

Just as I'm working on my final garden plan and getting ready to order/buy seeds--oh the irony!

 

[Denim Deb]

Just keep all that cold white stuff up there!

 

[moolie]

Haven't been keeping up with my journal lately, been too busy doing things and haven't thought to write about them. But I find this journal helpful as I look back and see dates when I did things so I really need to keep on top of it

Cleaned some leftovers out of the freezer yesterday:

Turned a big pot of ham stock into Borscht, got 15 pints canned up and still had a soup pot full for lunches yesterday and today.

While that was processing I made a smaller batch of turkey stock into Turkey Veg Soup and canned 7 pints.

Will make for easy school lunches over the next few months along with some Split Pea with Bacon soup and Tomato Soup that I canned up just before Christmas.