Friday, May 7, 2021

Friday!

 And work continues on getting the backyard cleaned up, the damaged gutter repaired, the weeds beat back, and the trees fed and watered.

Dropped 475 bucks at the Home Depot last week, and I've been putting the items to good use.

The gutter guys came by today, and quoted us $600 to replace the damaged gutter and downspout, paint the gutter, and replace the busted "gutter guard" that keeps leaves and other trash out of the gutter on that end of the house.

Mixed up a batch of "Roundup 365", and sprayed the gravel beds, back porch and driveway joints, and the window wells so nothing gets started in them.

Fed the maple tree and crab apple tree with my "Ross Root Feeder", and watered the ash tree with my "Corona Deep Root Irrigator", so they're good for a couple of weeks.

Got the hoses, sprinklers, shut-off valves and other miscellany out of storage and ready to go. One of my two-way water faucet adpators surprised me the other day when I hooked up the hoses, turned the water on, and it started spraying everywhere. I'd left it screwed on the faucet, under the styrafoam "freeze protector", but it had some water in it, it froze, and split the cast brass body. I'll have to dry it well, clean the metal, notch it out with my Dremel, and then solder it up with some "TIX Solder", and return it to service.

Itty-Bitty, Teeny-Tiny split, easily repaired. Should hold 60PSI no problem, but couldn't withstand the pressure generated by freezing water. Probably a post will follow.

I sure don't remember my Dad doing anything special to the outdoor water faucets when I was growing up in Northern Illinois, and it gets pretty cold in the Wintertime. I remember people having frozen pipes, but they were usually the water pipes to the house from the city water system. Here we put little insulated houses on the outdoor faucets, and use special "Freeze Rated" types. They're also anti-siphon faucets, which is a Good Thing, as sucking dirty yard water back into the house is probably a Bad Thing.

And I've been sawing, stacking, moving, and sawing some more on the pile of wood we "harvested" from the fallen tree, and the sections of the crab apple the arborist generated. Looks like we'll have several Winter's worth of firewood, perhaps more. I suppose I should look into the Do's-and-Don'ts of storing some of it outside, off the ground, and somewhat covered, as otherwise it'll take over all the storage space in the garage, and that's hard-won territory I'm not willing to give up.

Beautiful day here today, high 70's and partly cloudy. Wanted to spray the weeds, but the NWS is calling for rain, so I'll have to watch the weather radar closely. I just hate spraying 30 bucks worth of chemicals on the yard and have them washed away the next day. I'd get the granular stuff, but that means getting a spreader, storing the spreader off-season, maintaining the spreader.......naw.........I'd sooner pay more per application, and be done with it until the next time.

And I'm perusing nextdoor.com and craigslist for a snowblower, "global warming" be damned. I know what I want, I have a truck now, and as soon as I find one, it's coming home with me.

Honest, Beans, I'm on the hunt now......


Y'all have a good weekend!

10 comments:

  1. Good. Now is the time to do it, before another predicted warm winter that is actually very very much colder happens.

    As to why our new stuff doesn't last, well, even American stuff is now made with minimal material and such. Old school pipes and faucets used to be overmade.

    Old school lead or cast iron can take a lot more abuse than new school plastic and chinesium-brassish.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, they take 5 cents worth of brass out to make it thinner, and it splits.
      Oh, well, I should have taken it off the faucet when I shut things down for Winter.
      I'm looking for an Ariens Deluxe24, but if I find a Honda.....

      Delete
    2. was the valve on the splitter closed? Did it trap water where it could freeze?

      This is likely what happened. If the valve is open, there is no warer inside to freeze and break the brass. The covers won't keep the outside faucet from freezing, they are to keep too much ehat being sucked out of the valve so that the actual valve (some distnace INSIDE you walls) won't freeze. Most outside faucets are at least 12" long, and valve lives inside you wall where it is warmer....

      Delete
  2. Replies
    1. I'm trying to get on things early this year.

      Delete
  3. I know that a garden hose "Y" made from plastic will not hold up to Philly's freezing temperatures.
    Nor will PVC piping.

    On the other hand, repairs are easy.


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've got a couple of those, but I wouldn't dare leave them out!

      Delete
    2. Leaving them outside was an oops.

      Delete
  4. The weather guessers are calling for snow and freezing temperatures out on the Plains early next week. We may miss it but I won't count on it.

    ReplyDelete

Keep it civil, please....

Gloomy, Gritty, Grey Day

 At 1700 local it's as described in the headline; 30*F, 88% RH, completely overcast, snowing like crazy (small flakes, but lots of them)...