Monsters of Marsh Creek!

Get a load of this mule deer that was shot by a neighbor right across the street from our place. He said, "We only count the points on one side of the rack here in Idaho. Never heard of such a thing. In VA every good old boy is going to count every daggone hint of a point and add 'em all up.

Say AAHHH! Karren ought ot know better than to goof around while I have a camera out.

On the way back from Sun Valley I saw five herds of antelope. Here's one of them. Check out the rutting buck sniffing the evening air.

He's the one on the left. This place is full of wildlife. I just can't figure out what they eat around here. Or where they get water. I was talking to my neighbor and he was telling me that our property is situated right on the best part of Marsh Creek for duck hunting. I think he was giving me a hint.

This evening I set up my astro gear and shot some pictures of M33, Triangulum Galaxy. I think it will turn out well. The quatorial mount that has been giving me fits for the last two years is finally working well, and I am soooo glad.

It was so beautiful out tonight and the temps were perfect. Did I say there were NO MOSQUITOS? Eat your heart out VA!

The next update will more than likely be after I finally recover from staying out all night to photograph the sky. So stay tuned!

Chim-Chimminy

The chimney was installed on the roof yesterday. I just love cutting a gi-normous hole in a roof! This was possible because on Sunday Karren and I tore off all the shingles from the center section/front of the roof.

THe sheathing underneath was in pretty good shape for a house this old (1979), so we were happy not to have to cut any wood out. Except for the chimney hole of course. Here's a shot of Karren after the roof top chimney install. She can't get over that we did this ourselves. I don't have the heart to tell her that the homeowners probably will kill us on this if we ever have a fire! : (

So Monday I picked up the underlayment for the shingles, which had to be special ordered from Lowe's. Why does everything they order take so long to get to the store? I guess that's why Lowe's is known in the construction trades as "SLowe's." The under side of the chimney (inside) is framed in a black metal box to prevent contact with the combustibles and it serves as the chimney support in this cathedral ceiling application. Naturally these parts are sort of special as well. Lowe's sells ALMOST everything you need for this particular situation except a universal roof support, which I picked up in town after a day long search. Cal-Ranch stores had it, plus everything else you need for chimneys. Shoulda looked there first. There were several places that had the "additional"support but they wanted more than twice the price! It would be nice if Lowe's actually read the literature of the products they sell so they can stock the rest of the pieces that are REQUIRED for installation. Anyway, here's a look at the interior penetration:

It was a tight fit; I didn't want any air moving up past the box creating a draft. They drywall marks on the box just wiped off. Today I connected the rest of the stove pipe and the stove is ready for its initial burn. They are usually pretty stinky for 30 minutes or so, because of all the fresh metal having its surfaces heated and smoked up.

After fixing the stove in place I woke up Karren and we attacked the roof underlayment. We managed to get the stuff laid out square and completed the roof that was bare. It looks kind of cool. This stuff (Grace's Tri-flex synthetic) is very nice to work with and is really tough. It requires nails every four inches around the perimeter and every 24 in the field. Karren really liked it because they have little x's where you are supposed to nail. she likes that a lot! It sure does look better...

There is metal drip edge all the way around the roof. We noticed that the rake (angled edge to the right) had plywood edges that had weathered severely and I wanted to make sure that we never have to worry about that anymore. Here's the chimney after the storm collar was attached. Looks good!

We have to leave the lower part of the flashing loose because we'll slide shingles under it until half way past it, then they will ride over top of the flashing. This sheds the water correctly.

Stay tuned for the next installment: Critters that are in trouble or the Sky's the limit!

Sun Valley Chilled

Karren had a conference to attend in Sun Valley Resort, and she was able to get a king size bed in her room. Can you say, "Road Trip!" So we loaded up the Miata and we hit the road.

S.V. is 3-1/2 hours from McCammon. About two hours spent driving at highway speeds and the rest idling along at a snail's pace while completing the trip to "the land of the beautiful people." I guess the folks with that much money don't like to stress their lexus and beamers to much. Lots of old Mercedes clunking around with even older looking people behind the wheel. While Virginia had some areas of "old money," these folks are just old - with money.

The SunValley Lodge is a nice place and has a distinctly upscale look, very similar to the Colonial Williamsburg area. While the lodge, inn and its environs are not a particularly sizable piece of real estate they are situated in a manicured valley between the town of Ketchum and the mountain wilderness. There are lots of homes, mansions really, that are tucked away in the hills. I was informed that some very famous stars and VIP's have homes here. Whoop-te-do. Big Deal. Unless Abraham Lincoln walks in the room I'm not likely to be impressed. But that's just me.

Skiing is the big business of Sun Valley. Apparently the rest of the year there are conferences and other stuff they sell the place on, but it is the winter sport season that they depend on. There are slopes directly behind the lodge and there is a very nice skating rink nested immediately behind the building. In the photograph above, the conical peak in the background is the slope that the lodge actually operates, with at least two chair lifts. They are currently making snow since yesterday, as the temps at night are dropping into the twenties. This mountain looks like it would be perfect for the beginner to intermediate skier. However, there are other slopes available for the more advanced skiers. Check out this mountain below:

Photographed from about 4 miles away, this appears to be about two thousand feet of runs, which actually radiate down all sides of the mountain. I saw at least 4 lifts that leave several different locations, each of which must be driven to, and lots of parking available. Some of the lots are huge and some are free. No wonder this place has a great ski reputation. What I didn't take pictures of was the town of Ketchum. Still very upscale, it is a shopper's paradise of small boutiques and shops. Be prepared for the women in your party to want to stop and shop, and be prepared for the sticker shock of the grossly inflated tourist district prices. Ketchum is small but packs quite a lot into its footprint. Equally troubling to me is the price of fuel here. A full dollar or more than an hour south of here. Fill up on the way in!

Since I find no fascination in shops or skiing, I took a trip out the back end of Ketchum to explore.

There are real mountains in these parts! After a short chat with a ranger at the visitor center I proceded up the highway into the Sawtooth Range. I was very interested in how my body would respond to the elevation after having been here 7 weeks. Galena Pass was only 30 miles up the road and is listed as over 8000 feet, so that was my destination. After a few stops to search the mountain sides for goats I started up the slow incline. At the top I found this marker:

Feeling smug and secure with my new-found toleration altitude I thought I'd go over the top to the observation point a half mile down. MISTAKE! I felt the rapid heart beat begin about a minute after I left the summit, so I turned around and high tailed it back over the top and began a rapid descent to lower altitude. At about 500 feet below the top the symptoms disappeared so I stopped at another overlook and began documenting my slow trip back to Ketchum and Sun Valley.

Usually jet contrails make a disaster of nature scenics but this time it actually helps! Pay no attention to the seagull shaped blob in the sky - that's dust on my sensor and it remains throughout all of these pictures. Above? Looking into the forest road that ascends into Spring Valley.

It is strange to see highway signs that talk about "the old history of the west," when I'm used to seeing dates in VA that go all the way back to 1600's. But the gold rush and associated pioneer trails are still fascinating to explore. Here's a sign about the town of Galena that is (gone) just below the summit.

So today we leave to take a leisurely drive home. We'll probably go around the northern route through Arco and Craters of the Moon, which may draw us back in for a few moments. We never did get any decent pictures of the place when we attended the star party. When we get home it will be back to work on the house. First, firewood delivery, then a trip to Lowe's to pick up our roofing underlayment. So be sure to tune into the next segment of the blog:

Glad to Be Home or Swamped by the Frozen Plumbing...

Fix the Shower for Sanity

Well, it's been about a week since I last had an update to the blog and my sister is getting a little antsy for a new post. This week's episode is about water/bathing to be specific.

When we moved in the house was in a state of slow decline. No maintenance done since the dawn of time. And when the moving clan needed to take a shower the only real option was to jump into the shower upstairs (shudder). You know what it's like to bathe in a really clumsy, leaky and corroded shower? Not fun. Each time I showered I couldn't help notice that the drywall was delaminating, the paint bubbling and peeling, and the water was finding its way past the tub into the cracks and crevices down into the walls and Lord knows where else.

Step 1: Cover the peeling and bubbling paint/holes in the shower sidewall with a plywood board. Paint and caulk around it to prevent further deterioration. Done.

Step 2: Caulk all the cracks and crevices so that water remains trapped in the tub and shower area until it dries. And around these parts it dries in about five minutes! Done.

Step 3: Remove the nasty old hand-held shower wand that won't stay on the sliding rail that is located right in the middle of the wall so that no matter what you do you knock into it constantly. Did I say it was kind of yucky? Done:

Step 4: Clean the entire shower and tub. Make the faucet really shine. Descale the thing. Shine up the curtain rod. Done.

Step 5: Paint the sheetrock with a high quality Ben Moore Semi-gloss white so that it won't let water past. Done.

Step 6: Install a shower head that works and puts the water where you want it. Done. Shower is now light years ahead of where we were.

Notice how the shower is located such that the window is intruding into the space. This is the reason why this room is going to need a total makeover. But it is not this day!

We brought a shower head from home with us that we had bought and used before. Once in love with a shower head its's a hard habit to break. I also mounted it in the fashion that it was intended to be used: Straight overhead. It is a rain maker. I removed the water saver plug from the head for even more of a deluge. Hey, we got water rights here in Idaho! (another story there)

I used some brass GatorBite tm fittings to route the water up and over to the ceiling. These fittings allow removal and reuse later when we decide to sink more money into the pit. You know, buy a house , then tie a cinder block around your bank account and throw it into the hole. Wave good bye...

See that shower head? YOU NEED ONE! And mount it overhead. It ROCKS! I now come out of the shower only after the hot water is depleted. And the flow of water makes it seem like Niagara. It's also about 6 inches ABOVE my head. No more taking a shower on bended knee. I hate having to bend over in order to get my head wet. Water goes in my ears and other wrong places. Now I am in shower nirvana. Might be a while before the bathroom gets renovated...

Next installment? The workshop gets a boost - Or how can we get this crap we bought that weighs five hundred pounds off the truck - or Hey! There goes that guy that still has that planer in the back of his truck. Until then, as they say where I'm from, "See ya, don't cha know."

Painting is Almost Finished

Today was a beautiful day in Southeast Idaho. Well, almost everyday is a beautiful day here! What makes it really nice is to pull into our driveway and find a new looking house, all due to the absolutely stunning paint job we put on it. So to celebrate Karren and I sat out on the front porch and imagined how many mosquitos would have bitten us within the hour that we were exposed (if we were still in Virginia). It's odd, but we are more at risk of being bitten by stinkbugs or stung by wasps than bitten by mosquitos here. It is actually possible to sit outside and enjoy the evening - remarkable. So, here's a picture of Ma 'n Pa out on the porch. Sorry for the poor light but it was after sunset.

If you are really observant you will notice something in the picture that has been missing in most all the others in this blog. Clouds! Yeah, we almost had a few rain drops fall on us tonight but it was not to be. Soon after this was taken the sky cleared and the stars began to shine.

What you can't see is that we installed a new front porch light and flood light on the side of the garage entrance. Of course the red door is plainly evident. Some interior modifications were also performed, including painting the kitchen door and installing the large rain maker showerhead directly overhead in the upstairs bath. I love it when I can get under the shower head without bending over.

Well, we are still planning the next phase of construction/renovation so stay tuned. It will probably be either the roof or the floor in the bedrooms upstairs. We gotta get out of sleeping in the basement soon! By the way, the negative ion generator is turning the moldy smell in the basement bathroom into a distant memory. I should have ordered that when we first arrived. I am super excited about how well it is working.

See you in the next installment of the Streagle Chronicles!

May I Cut-In?

Yes, the era of the paintbrush is almost over. Today marked the end of cutting-in the finish coat of exterior house paint. The finish color is quite a bit darker than the primer. The primer was tinted a suitably brown color to help hide any thin spots but I wanted it light enough so that I could tell what was primer and what wasn't. Here's a shot of the place with Karren in front (she said it needed human interest).

Keep in mind that half of this house is in the ground. I tried my best to keep the paint off the concrete so I have cut in the lower border of the siding as well. We've still got to get the remaining juniper bush cuttings hauled off to the pasture, but it is such hateful stuff that neither one of us wants to do it.

Check out the snow guard on the basement window. This prevents snow from piling up and blocking the ventilation from the window. We are sleeping in that bedroom at the moment. Having only one low window on this side is a good strategy to keep the heat inside. This is the western exposure and this is where the weather and wind seems to come from. Perhaps the junipers were planted with this in mind, but I'd rather have them gone. The bug population inside has been GREATLY diminished since they were removed.

The progress is slow, but several of the repairmen that have visited have remarked how much better the place looks. Speaking of repairs, our new Samsung refrigerator had a leak out of the icemaker in the door so it has been under repair since early August. The repairman tried new parts but eventually found that there was a crimped wire in the sidewall that is inaccessible, causing the problem. Lowe's called today and said that the manufacturer is sending a newer model (the one we bought was a closeout special at about $800 off!) with the same features out for delivery to us on Saturday. Wow! The salesman said the new one has even more advanced features. Well, as long as it WORKS I'll be happy. You go Samsung!

Another look at the front door with the new home owner proudly standing on the porch. We have a long way to go before this house is fixed the way we want, but we are making headway. Next task? Spray the finish coat. We'll probably do that on Saturday.

Tomorrow I am going to begin tearing out the basement shower and mildew factory. We have an Ionizer being delivered on Friday and I want it to have access to all the bad ju-ju bugs it can handle. Besides, tonight it is scheduled to drop to 27 degrees here, and the paint won't like being sprayed that cold. So the plan is to do some demo and fact finding. I think I'm going to enjoy the demo but I'm going to need to wear a respirator to keep from ingesting the gook. See you in the next installment of "This Old Idaho Refugee Home!"

Primed and Ready!

Today is Saturday and Karren is home! YAAY! She was a big help today and we really did some good work around the homestead. First, it was off to the landfill to deposit all the old galvanized guttering we had ripped off the house last week. Throw in a few (3) satellite dishes and one NASTY swamp cooler for good measure. Bill (the guy that runs the dump) didn't even charge us for throwing out the old coax wire. Out with the old and in with the new!

Once we satisfied our lunch cravings with a couple of corn dogs and hot wings from the Flyin' J truck stop we headed home for our next task. Prime the house. Armed with our new Graco paint sprayer we set to spraying paint wherever it would stick. Four hours later we were finished and almost out of primer paint.

The sight of a monochromatic house color almost makes one weep! We saved enough paint to coat the side walls of the center sections (above the roof) but we'll not do those until we move to the roofing operation. I'm still not sure how much of the roof flashing is in good shape and we may have some siding to remove/replace up there. No reason to waste paint there.

We also left the chimney out of the equation because it is slated for demo as well. Gee, the place is beginning to look like I could live there...

There was enough paint left to give the well house a quick coating too. That's it to the right of the blue trash can. It needs new shingles next.

After cleaning up I cooked a steak on the grill and we ate dinner. The quality of beef out here is outstanding. Sitting out in the front yard (sans mosquitos) afterward was sublime.

Perhaps we'll get the finish coat cut-in tomorrow? Maybe we'll just take the day off. Sure is tempting to play hooky. See you all in the next installment of this old Idaho Shack.