December begins...

So quickly did October and November come and go, and now it's the first of December!  For the past six weeks, at least, our computer was infected with multiple virus and spyware programs, unfortunately, which is mostly why there were no updates.  Only now is it back in sound running condition, though still in need of extra storage.

How has it been?  Busy, hard, fun, enjoyable, fast...are a few words that come to mind.  I've been gradually transforming into an amateur handyman, recently, as the warm, dry days have drawn to a close, especially since we were deprived of them for the majority of the Fall season.  I was hard-pressed to winterize our house, mainly concerning brick repair, before it got too cold to mix & set mortar.  There were large cavities at various points around our basement that allowed mass amounts of cold air in last winter, and I was slightly intimidated at doing the work myself, so I put it off most of the summer.  However, seeing that it needed to be done, and not trusting contractors I didn't know, I set my mind to do it myself.  I did some brief internet research, then got the tools and mortar mix.  Following the instructions on the bag and using sensible judgment paid off, as the job went very well.  The majority of the work was done the first day, but the overall it spanned a period of 2 - 3 weekends, as I would inspect further and see additional holes needing to be filled in.  The final bit was done this past Saturday, with the filling in of a mouse hole in the laundry room off the side of our kitchen.  Can mice move bricks?  Doubtfully, but when bricks crumble & fall by neglect, mice will take the occasion to "enter through the open door."

  The entire family was sick over the Thanksgiving holiday break, but we didn't let it keep us from enjoying a satisfying meal.  I had just enough energy to patch a leak on our roof and get our icicle lights hung for Christmas, which required additional design changes.  Since I had to put two sets together, the length would wrap around the entire front of the house with 1-2 feet extra on the sides, which was nearly perfect since the gutter covered 1-2 feet around the front corners.  I won't go into utter detail, but I will mention that getting the lights in place this time required alternately reaching out from the third floor window, and reaching down from the rooftop with a fully extended pole.  What a blast!!!  


Cavity

Filling