Angela Law

animal lover, gardener, knitter, and gourmet cook
 
do-it-yourself

the little things

Back when we were going to sell the house and move the the country, we had our “to do” list for the house down to about a half dozen things that we felt were required in order to sell the house. Once it was determined that was not going to happen and I was staying here, I started taking a closer look around. I now have over three dozen items on the list. I’m not capable of doing all of these things, but I’m on the hook for about half of them. And, I’m happy to report I did one of them today.

One of our crank windows was broken (the hinge part was off the track). After a little research, I found that you could get replacement hinges, so I did just that. Jake was supposed to help me with it because the screws on the bottom track were rusted and were going to be a bit of a challenge to get out. He wasn’t home this afternoon, but I decided to get my head around the project and figure out what needed to be done. I had to open the window in order to do that and somehow the window got stuck. While getting it unstuck, I snapped the top track off and the window was dangling by the piece of metal attached to the crank. I needed a screwdriver in order to unhook it, so I had to balance the window in the opening in order to grab one. Luckily, it did not fall out while I was gone.

I detached the window and decided to watch a video on how to replace the hinge and tracks. It looked pretty easy, so I started to work on it and figured if I got stuck Jake could help me when he got home. The only challenge, then, was the rusty screws. I had some sort of drill bit that allowed me to extract two of them and then I took the Dremel to the other two and got those out, too. I installed the new tracks and hinges and then popped the window back in and hooked it to the crank. It was surprisingly satisfying. And, now the window works. It has been broken for years, so this was a nice win.

One of the other things on my list is to recaulk all of the windows. I figured what better time than the present since I was already working on the window. I scraped the old stuff off the window I fixed and also did the picture window since it was right next to it. I had to take a break to make supper, but I was able to caulk both of the windows after eating. There are a bunch more windows to do, of course, but at least the project is underway now. I have been putting it off all summer and now I’m running out of time!

me

alarmed

With the exception of a few times where I had to be somewhere important, I have stopped using my alarm clock since the pandemic started. On one hand, this sounds great, but I’m not actually sleeping in–when I don’t wake up on my own, the dogs are sure to get me up. But, it’s still pretty nice.

trips

ridgway, pa

We vacation in the weirdest places. This year, Jake and I spent the week at a cabin in Elk County. The cabin was surrounded by the Allegheny National Forest and was right across the road from the Clarion River. It was a great way to social distance while on vacation–we didn’t see another soul. Of course, we didn’t venture far from the cabin, other than to go for walks in the woods or along the river. We did see a couple of  deer one day and I saw a turkey another. The cabin was beautiful and we were content to just hang out and do nothing. If I went there again in normal times, I’d plan a few outings, but it was nice staying in, too.

In true 2020 fashion, Jake ended up getting sick with a stomach bug early in the week. And if that doesn’t sum up the year (a stomach bug while on vacation), I don’t know what does. Luckily for him, it was a 24 hour thing and he was feeling better by the next day. And, luckily for me, I didn’t catch whatever it was.

We liked the place so much, we’re thinking about returning next year. We’ll see what happens, but I’d definitely be up for that. I liked the place so much that I want to live in a log cabin now. This was Ralphie’s first vacation and I think he liked it. That dog is so easy to take care of. Whenever he starts getting rowdy, I just take him for a 15 minute walk and then he sleeps for a couple of hours. I don’t know how I lucked out with that. I boarded Buster because he does not travel well. He probably enjoyed the break from the puppy.

 

out and about, pandemic

canceled

Jake and I had tickets to two entertainment-type events this year. The first one, Brit Floyd, was supposed to happen in March, then it got rescheduled to August, and then it got rescheduled to August 2021. I ended up requesting a refund for the tickets because the new show is scheduled during the week and I don’t know what Jake’s class schedule will be at that point. Hopefully we’ll still be able to go, but that’s so far down the road, I can’t even think about it.

The second event was to see the comedian Jim Gaffigan. That was supposed to be held in August, but I just got word that it’s being moved to August 2021. It’s on the weekend, so I’m going to hang on to those tickets. Surprisingly, he’s still on tour right now, but he’s doing “drive in” type of events. I guess they couldn’t support that at the Kovalchick Complex, but it would have been fun to go to something like that (well, given the circumstances, it would be fun to do anything entertainment-related at this point).

All I can say is that 2021 better be a good year.

gardening & landscaping

hot, hot, hot

It has been very hot outside. This hasn’t stopped me from doing things in the yard in the evening because stuff needs to be done. I finally finished mulching and weeding the pond hillside, for one. And I did remove some more ivy from the shed area. I had to get the stuff off the trellis because I bought another vining plant (a Black-eyed Susan vine) that I wanted to plant there. It’s so late in the season that it probably won’t do well this year, but what can you do? It’s an annual so I’ll have to make sure I get it in earlier next year.

Since it is almost mid-summer, the garlic and onions were ready to harvest this week. I picked all of the garlic and about half of the onions. I expect to get the rest of those tonight. Unlike past years, my tomatoes actually look good this year. I hope to get a decent harvest and can some of them. If I would have known the summer was going to be so dry, I would have planted more!