Sunday

 

The beautification committee has been working hard on the entrance monuments to the neighborhood.

Coffee station and other interior house pictures . . .

Today's project was to remove all of the exterior hooks, wires, and ropes that the previous owner installed all around the house, for reasons unknown. I removed, caulked, and painted the holes for 11 hooks, removed 2 wires, and one rope. We've been gradually removing them from the inside of the house. Hundreds of hooks, wires, twist ties, rubber bands, string, in every conceivable location.

This one is history. I got inspired to do this because I had a freshly opened tube of caulk for the exterior outlet repair. The caulk tubes always dry up if you don't use them, so I set about to use it up.

An inexplicable rope tied around the hose bib. There's also one tied around the bottom of the garage door.

Why? Why?

A hook on the wall with a dangling wire attached . . .

. . . all gone.

Double horizontal eyelets . . .

. . . for what purpose? Gone.

Two more vertical eyelets . . .

. . . gone!

Two more offset hooks on a nearby wall . . .

. . . deeply embedded . . .

All gone!

A wire inexplicably tied around a gutter downspout. Why?

Three flag pole holders

You can see them from the street. 

Gone! 

A bucket of crap, removed from the exterior. 

And a lot of tools to get the job done.

Over the years, I've removed more of the same from the garage, plus a trellis that was anchored to the house.

I let the caulk dry and then I spray painted flat, white paint on the caulk to seal it and keep it from mildewing or molding. Apparently, our house color is "ceiling white" because my first can was leftover ceiling paint and it blended.

Saturday

 

Our porch light burned out overnight, so I started my day replacing it with our light bulb changing tool.

Then I headed north on the Pinellas Trail for a bike ride to Tarpon Springs while John went jogging.

It was about 7:45 when we left, 78 degrees, mostly sunny.

Tarpon Springs has the prettiest section of the trail.

Trailside restaurants, blooming flowers and lots of shade.

Tarpon has installed new pickle ball courts alongside the trail. 

A nice bridge over a creek

I stopped at the water reclamation facility mid-way between Palm Harbor and Tarpon Springs on the way home for chilled and filtered water. 

The last time I came through here, it was closed for renovation.

20.47 miles, 1 hour and 35 minutes

I spotted a blown sprinkler head when the sprinklers went off this morning. It's an easy one because it's above ground. But it still involves a trip to Ace Hardware. I've been accumulating a list of Ace items. 

After lunch, we took Toby to Ace Hardware for a doggie treat and to pick up some supplies.

Exterior outlet before caulk

After caulk

Our backdoor has built-in mini blinds between the two glass panes. It's a nice feature, but the levers that control the pitch and lift have yellowed. 

I taped them up to spray paint.

Much better

Whole wheat burritos, beans, and rice for dinner.

Friday

 

An easy project for today: install the wall door stop.

Done

Easy

Thursday

 

Today's project was to clean the outside windows, by hand this time. I hosed them off a few days ago just to get the top layer of dirt off.

This time I used a razor blade scraper to get paint and other debris off the glass before I cleaned with vinegar windex, paper towels, and a microfiber cloth to remove streaks and lint.

The razor gave the edges a nice crisp line.

It also removed organic matter that had hardened onto the glass.

This window above the tub has one screen over the whole window instead of just the upper or lower half. With John's help, I was able to remove it and clean construction debris. The construction crew used this window to run a hose through to the outside when they were mixing concrete to fill in the trench for the new drains.

There were mortar specks and smears all over the window.

The last item on our third renovation was the replacement of this outdoor outlet. The electricians brought replacements twice, but they didn't fit. They were supposed to come out this week to finish the job. Until their work is done, the final invoice can't be sent or the project closed out.

So, I went online last night and found the correct part. It arrived just after lunch.

I installed it in a couple of minutes. If I had known it was going to be that easy, I would have done it myself from the start. I'll get some silicone and apply some around the edges just to be sure. It comes with a foam gasket that seals the cover to the stucco.

After lunch, John rode his bike to Publix to get some more glass cleaner with vinegar. I got back to my exterior window cleaning after I replaced the outlet cover.

The sunroom took awhile. I cleaned the top, then raised the screen and cleaned the bottom.

I removed some paint from the edge of the glass in the door, creating sharp edges. It looks like a brand new door.

Here's an example of the rough edges. This one is on the exterior door from the second bath.

Here's how it looks after I scraped the paint off.

Last two windows.

John took Toby to Stirling Park and picked up a Bambino's pizza for dinner. I finished up our project and did some pruning while he was out.

We're all tuckered out.

While John jogged this morning, I rode my bike 12 miles to Alt. 19 in Clearwater and then back to Curlew on the Pinellas Trail and then back home. I averaged 12.52 miles per hour for one hour of riding.