Yesterday was one of those days when I felt that all my efforts are in vain. 'In Vain Do We Labor...and all that stuff'.
I told Steve that I so desperately needed to be in the house working all day to get some of the holiday messes cleaned up. I worked like a dog all day, and it seemed last night like I had got absolutely nothing done.
The one thing I did get done that I'm pretty proud of is I got a storm window made and put on the door of the rear entrance foyer. Steve had complained about how cold the foyer was, so I had him cut a large sheet of plexiglass for me to mount on the door. In the summer, the sun comes in so hot, and in the winter, the cold just whooshes away from that door. There's double glass, but the door always seemed cold. I mounted the plexiglass permanently, as it will work well in all seasons.
It was an old sheet that we had bought at Lowe's because I could get it discounted. It had a chipped corner. I didn't need all the size, so it worked for me. It had warped some in storage, but I put it on the heated floor in the bathroom under the Flokati, and, in about 30 minutes or so, it had straightened considerably. When I mounted it, though, after a good cleaning, the warped nature re-asserted itself. I already had the adhesive (silicone caulk) on it, so I couldn't remove it. I left it in place and got some tension curtain rods and put them between the door and the buffet on the other side of the room. It worked like a charm.
I left them in place all night, as we weren't going outside, and I wanted the door to properly seal.
I noticed a great deal of difference this morning when I took the rods down.
I'm going to put a new sweep on the bottom of that door today.
I'm presently pressing some plastic upholstry material under the Flokati to use in in some places to cut down on heating bills and the continual drafts that seem to characterize an old house.
We made a terrible mess in the kitchen last night having supper. I had pot-roasted a beef all day, and I cooked a large skillet of cornbread to go with it. It seemed like every dish in the kitchen was dirty. I just don't know where all the dirt comes from.
I did several loads of laundry, and had to dry them in the bathroom on drying racks. The days are just so overcast that they won't dry outside, and I just refuse to run a dryer.
It's still quite cold. Snow is still on the ground.
I un-loaded several things from the camper on the back of the white truck yesterday evening, and I got so cold! I had only worked a while up at the bird houses, and I didn't realize how cold it was outside.
I haven't worked on my Hut since before Christmas. Steve went up there to get a box to put some things in, and told me that my buckets of water that I clean with are frozen.
While we were at Lynn's, Steve took me shopping one day, and I found a lot of those window shields that I use for insulation, and I'm making plans for them for my Hut.
He told me this morning that he'd like to get the bedroom of the Hut finished before he goes back. I have a rather large bamboo rug that I had bought last summer, and I'm wanting to use it on the floor of the bedroom, where the tanning bed will be. That way, I can use the insulating mats under it to assure a warmer floor, and we'll have a beautiful wood floor on the room where the tanning bed will be. I had suggested this to Steve about a month ago, but he wasn't keen on the idea at the time. Now that it's his idea, it's a good one. A small, washable rugbeside the tanning bed will be way more practical than carpeting for that room. The bamboo will look just like a wooden slat floor....and it's paid for.
I need to give the walls another coat of paint before we can install any floor covering, and I suppose today would be a good day for that, though a little cold.
I need to do a lot more cleaning on the house, but I don't know if I'll get the chance today.
Betty Pike had told me last night that Ma Pike had fallen on her concrete porch yesterday, and that she was going to take her to the ER later. I asked her to let me know what was happening, and she e-mailed me this morning to tell me that nothing was broken, but Ruth is badly bruised and will be quite sore for a while.
She's over 90, so a fall is not welcome news.
I've got to get back to my morning work.
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