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So. The bathroom is mostly done.
The side of the cupboard (next to the bath tub) and the bottom, near the baseboard, still need to be done, but I can do that today (I think), although I may need to get another roller (we'll find out).
Unfortunately, the bathroom floor is now very, very sticky. Paul thinks its from a by-product of the spray paint we used on the counter-top. (We have to wait until about Wednesday afternoon before we can put the clear-coat on top of it and start using our sink again). I think we can fix the problem by washing the floor (and surrounding areas) with that TSP stuff.
He's worried that he's ruined the bathroom, but I think it will be okay. :-)
Unfortunately, (although not that unfortunately since we would have had to find out about it some time) we have discovered a problem with our down-stairs toilet.
Not unfortunate that we discovered it, just unfortunate that it's there.
The toilet (probably the seal at the bottom of the water tank (I'll have to check, though) leaks when you flush the thing.
Now, I have some clear caulking that might just do the trick, but I need to find out first what the problem actually is.
Anyone out here good (or even functional) when it comes to plumbing? Does this sound like it could, possibly, be the case? <:-) I'm currently poking around in John Seymour's "Guide to Self-Sufficiency" which my Mom gave to my Dad as a present that would "help us achieve our version of 'Great Expectations'" (to quote from the little inscription on the inside cover). I tell you, when I read that, I almost cried. :-) Anyway. I have this (potentially rather silly -- seeing as Hard Work is not my cup of tea, but *is* required for this kind of endeavor) idea of being something of a sub-urban farmer -- That is, having a really huge garden that includes fruit and nut trees, and a fair number of berry bushes, and an asperagus patch. There'd be sweet chestnuts, sugar maples, oaks, three kinds of apple (Mac, Empire, and maybe Royal Gala -- Possibly a Northern Spy as well...), hazelnut/filbert, Rowan, maybe a hawthorn, maybe a sweet walnut (although I've heard they are hard to establish in Ottawa), Weeping Willow, White willow, slipperery elm, lilac, crab apple, Honey Berry, plus lots of birch, some poplar and cedar and even a bit of Staghorn (edible) Sumac. I'd grow fiddlehead greens (and maybe some mushrooms) under the chestnuts (where there's very dense shade) and have raspberries and blackberries under the less shady trees (the birch and the sumac, probably not the maples, as I may want to drink their blood. ;-) There would be low-bush blue berries, and maybe a couple of currant bushes and a goose-berry (they make good jelly), I'd have sweet grapes growing over permanent arches along the walkways (also hardy climbers, clamatis, and maybe some morning glories). I'd need berries to distract the birds and squirels with, as well. A witch hazel bush could be helpful as well. There'd be a "tree-house" in the orchard for the kids -- That is, there'd be a little house built to about 10 feet off the ground, with a ladder and a good "balcony" with a sturdy rail. And it would be built on strong posts that were rooted into the ground, and then there would be birch or sumac or miniature-apple trees espeliered to the posts so they would have a play house in the trees. :-) I might make one for the grown-ups as well, but maybe not. ;-) There would be permanent flower beds, and there would be bee hives: One in the orchard, one in the "rose garden", and one in the "meadow garden", and they would be mostly left alone. (I would have to get over my fear of bees, or have a bee enthusiast come and deal with the harvesting in exchange for some of the take, if I wanted any honey out of them). There would be rotating beds of companion "neighbourhoods" with peas or beans in all of them. I would like to have a duck pond with wild rice and cat tails growing in it (and weeping willows growing at the edge of it). There might be a grey-water system attached to this... I'm not sure yet... There's a whole, beautiful, eco-friendly house with bamboo and flagstone flooring and the odd field stone wall, and lots of arches, that looks a bit like a cross between an Arts and Crafts Movement cottage and a Tudor Manor). It would have a roof-top garden over the garage (with a patio and a door to the master bedroom, and a lot of trailing plants to hang down over the sides), and really good solar panels on the roof, and probably about two windmills. I would like it to be on the grid, but not dependant on it. This would be excellent. I think the "attic" -- the room under the high, 45*angle roof -- would be very well finished, well insulated (of course), and very well ventilated, and could be used for making soap (which would be used around the house, given as gifts, and sold in local stores). It might also have a mead still and a cider press (and maybe something for making wine from the grapes, although I'm not sure about that yet), and maybe an oil press as well. The cold cellar would be under the diningroom (and also under part of the kitchen), and it would be cold the way my current basement is cold. This is where the chest-freezers (four medium-small, rather than two huge -- easier to bring in and out) would be, as well as the shelves for pickles and jams and jellies and preserves of all kinds. And winter veggies just sitting out (I need to learn about how to keep food separated so that it will keep well), and wine and cider, and what-ever else I've got down there. The kitchen would have an excellent electric stove (hopefully run off the house's own power -- just like the rest of the house), but it would also have a fully equipt "pioneer" wood stove, complete with oven and warming-oven, that could be used in the event of us running out of power, or needing an extra heat source. Hopefully that wouldn't happen, though. The living room would have a roaring fireplace, with an arch over it, and a really nice hearth, but I think that the fire itself would be glassed in so that we would get the heat, but wouldn't have the warmth from the rest of the house sucked up the chimney. The fireplace (and the wood stove) would be mostly ornamental as we'd have radient heat floors, heated by the excellent solar panels (I think how this stuff works is a bit like a radiator, but snaking under your floor boards, if I understand correctly). If we learned how to drive and got a vehicle, it would probably be a diesil van (seats four-six with lots of cargo space, automatic stearing, lots of windows) that we would run on bio-diesil. The van would need a small trailer that we could attach to it, in order to haul the still on long trips, but otherwise, this would work pretty well. I could make "mechanic's glycerine soap" from the glycerine that's left over from making the fuel. :-) And that is my day-dream. All this, of course, while teaching part-time, and raising a couple of kids. :-) But first, the toilet needs fixing, and we have to sort out the upstairs bathroom floor. :-) - Nam'ara, - Amazon. :-)
The side of the cupboard (next to the bath tub) and the bottom, near the baseboard, still need to be done, but I can do that today (I think), although I may need to get another roller (we'll find out).
Unfortunately, the bathroom floor is now very, very sticky. Paul thinks its from a by-product of the spray paint we used on the counter-top. (We have to wait until about Wednesday afternoon before we can put the clear-coat on top of it and start using our sink again). I think we can fix the problem by washing the floor (and surrounding areas) with that TSP stuff.
He's worried that he's ruined the bathroom, but I think it will be okay. :-)
Unfortunately, (although not that unfortunately since we would have had to find out about it some time) we have discovered a problem with our down-stairs toilet.
Not unfortunate that we discovered it, just unfortunate that it's there.
The toilet (probably the seal at the bottom of the water tank (I'll have to check, though) leaks when you flush the thing.
Now, I have some clear caulking that might just do the trick, but I need to find out first what the problem actually is.
Anyone out here good (or even functional) when it comes to plumbing? Does this sound like it could, possibly, be the case? <:-) I'm currently poking around in John Seymour's "Guide to Self-Sufficiency" which my Mom gave to my Dad as a present that would "help us achieve our version of 'Great Expectations'" (to quote from the little inscription on the inside cover). I tell you, when I read that, I almost cried. :-) Anyway. I have this (potentially rather silly -- seeing as Hard Work is not my cup of tea, but *is* required for this kind of endeavor) idea of being something of a sub-urban farmer -- That is, having a really huge garden that includes fruit and nut trees, and a fair number of berry bushes, and an asperagus patch. There'd be sweet chestnuts, sugar maples, oaks, three kinds of apple (Mac, Empire, and maybe Royal Gala -- Possibly a Northern Spy as well...), hazelnut/filbert, Rowan, maybe a hawthorn, maybe a sweet walnut (although I've heard they are hard to establish in Ottawa), Weeping Willow, White willow, slipperery elm, lilac, crab apple, Honey Berry, plus lots of birch, some poplar and cedar and even a bit of Staghorn (edible) Sumac. I'd grow fiddlehead greens (and maybe some mushrooms) under the chestnuts (where there's very dense shade) and have raspberries and blackberries under the less shady trees (the birch and the sumac, probably not the maples, as I may want to drink their blood. ;-) There would be low-bush blue berries, and maybe a couple of currant bushes and a goose-berry (they make good jelly), I'd have sweet grapes growing over permanent arches along the walkways (also hardy climbers, clamatis, and maybe some morning glories). I'd need berries to distract the birds and squirels with, as well. A witch hazel bush could be helpful as well. There'd be a "tree-house" in the orchard for the kids -- That is, there'd be a little house built to about 10 feet off the ground, with a ladder and a good "balcony" with a sturdy rail. And it would be built on strong posts that were rooted into the ground, and then there would be birch or sumac or miniature-apple trees espeliered to the posts so they would have a play house in the trees. :-) I might make one for the grown-ups as well, but maybe not. ;-) There would be permanent flower beds, and there would be bee hives: One in the orchard, one in the "rose garden", and one in the "meadow garden", and they would be mostly left alone. (I would have to get over my fear of bees, or have a bee enthusiast come and deal with the harvesting in exchange for some of the take, if I wanted any honey out of them). There would be rotating beds of companion "neighbourhoods" with peas or beans in all of them. I would like to have a duck pond with wild rice and cat tails growing in it (and weeping willows growing at the edge of it). There might be a grey-water system attached to this... I'm not sure yet... There's a whole, beautiful, eco-friendly house with bamboo and flagstone flooring and the odd field stone wall, and lots of arches, that looks a bit like a cross between an Arts and Crafts Movement cottage and a Tudor Manor). It would have a roof-top garden over the garage (with a patio and a door to the master bedroom, and a lot of trailing plants to hang down over the sides), and really good solar panels on the roof, and probably about two windmills. I would like it to be on the grid, but not dependant on it. This would be excellent. I think the "attic" -- the room under the high, 45*angle roof -- would be very well finished, well insulated (of course), and very well ventilated, and could be used for making soap (which would be used around the house, given as gifts, and sold in local stores). It might also have a mead still and a cider press (and maybe something for making wine from the grapes, although I'm not sure about that yet), and maybe an oil press as well. The cold cellar would be under the diningroom (and also under part of the kitchen), and it would be cold the way my current basement is cold. This is where the chest-freezers (four medium-small, rather than two huge -- easier to bring in and out) would be, as well as the shelves for pickles and jams and jellies and preserves of all kinds. And winter veggies just sitting out (I need to learn about how to keep food separated so that it will keep well), and wine and cider, and what-ever else I've got down there. The kitchen would have an excellent electric stove (hopefully run off the house's own power -- just like the rest of the house), but it would also have a fully equipt "pioneer" wood stove, complete with oven and warming-oven, that could be used in the event of us running out of power, or needing an extra heat source. Hopefully that wouldn't happen, though. The living room would have a roaring fireplace, with an arch over it, and a really nice hearth, but I think that the fire itself would be glassed in so that we would get the heat, but wouldn't have the warmth from the rest of the house sucked up the chimney. The fireplace (and the wood stove) would be mostly ornamental as we'd have radient heat floors, heated by the excellent solar panels (I think how this stuff works is a bit like a radiator, but snaking under your floor boards, if I understand correctly). If we learned how to drive and got a vehicle, it would probably be a diesil van (seats four-six with lots of cargo space, automatic stearing, lots of windows) that we would run on bio-diesil. The van would need a small trailer that we could attach to it, in order to haul the still on long trips, but otherwise, this would work pretty well. I could make "mechanic's glycerine soap" from the glycerine that's left over from making the fuel. :-) And that is my day-dream. All this, of course, while teaching part-time, and raising a couple of kids. :-) But first, the toilet needs fixing, and we have to sort out the upstairs bathroom floor. :-) - Nam'ara, - Amazon. :-)
