Scattered Thoughts . . .

I had previously written that the top section of one of our trees (a tall spruce tree) broke off during a little bit of wind we had a few nights ago.  The section of tree that fell on our neighbor's roof had rolled right off the roof.  All that was remaining on the roof was some boughs that were about the size needed for making wreaths so I though the roof was fine.   I should also mention that our neighbor's house is unoccupied at the moment.   The other day, the temperatures were up around 60 degrees so I went outside to pull those boughs off our neighbor's roof.  I grabbed the roof rake for pulling snow off the roof and attempted to pull down those boughs...  they weren't moving and the roof rake was getting caught up on something.  I immediately knew what the roof rake was hanging up on...  some of the branches on this section of tree must have punctured the roof.  Now I wasn't too happy and I knew I had some work to do ahead o...

W e have a tall spruce tree in our yard that hasn't been doing too well in recent years.  It was a beautiful tree up until about ten years ago when it developed some sort of disease.  Now, every time we have a bit of wind, branches fall off this tree.  Yesterday, I watched the top section of this tree break off in the wind and crash down with a big thud on our next door neighbor's roof! Most of the time, the falling branches have been no problem since we can always use firewood.  Plus, the boughs can be used for making wreaths for Christmas.  Yesterday, however, the top 12 feet of this tall spruce was blown off and it fell directly on our next door neighbor's roof! As you can see in this first photo, below, the top section of the tree is now missing.  Also worth noting is how much the tree has thinned in recent years.  There aren't many branches left on this tree! The top 12 feet of the tree fell right on our neighbor's house and then rolled off the ro...

W e're still waiting on the delivery of a few presents but most of the presents are wrapped and piled up around the Christmas tree now... There is still a lot to be done around the house before we can celebrate Christmas with the grandkids but things are slowly coming along.

S heila and I started our Christmas season last weekend by decorating the outside of the house.  The weather was ideal for spending time hanging lights and wreaths so we jumped on the outdoor Christmas decorating.  While we were out there, I also winterized the sailboat and pulled out the snow shovels and roof rakes.   This weekend, we finished our Christmas decorating by decorating indoors. We always try to get the outdoor decorating done in good weather...  ie, temperature in the 50-70 degree range...  and last weekend was quite nice in the 50s.  It was actually nice to spend some time outdoors for a change.  (I don't get outside much anymore due to my health and crappy Waterbury weather.)  I have absolutely no desire to be out there in the cold...  or when it is wet (most of the time)...  or damp...  or even too hot! We had pulled out all the decorations last weekend and we had intended to get the indoor decorations done too...

I t looks like we missed our surprisingly long window of unseasonably warm weather in the 70s everyday so we chose to decorate inside the house for Christmas today rather than the cold damp outdoors through this weekend.  Decorating outdoors was our plan but, honestly, I have no desire to be out there when the temperature gets down to around 40 degrees.    I was thinking that the unseasonably warm weather we've had for months would continue through Thanksgiving.  Why would I think the temperature would drop suddenly to early winter temperatures?   We've had weather consistently in the 70s for months so I was expecting the everyday highs to slowly and steadily drop to the 60s for a bit...  then the 50s...  then the 40s.  I thought I had all sorts of time before needing to decorate outside.  Instead, we went from the 70s everyday to the possibility of snow for the foreseeable future.  I think our outdoor Christmas decorating may be mi...

Sometimes, if you listen carefully, it seems as though nature sends us clues.   I had sketched some plans for a treehouse to be built next to the kids' playhouse.  I had sketched a ladder going from the deck in front of the playhouse up to the treehouse next to the playhouse.  I would store firewood and the snowblower underneath this treehouse.  It really seemed like a good plan but, honestly, I keep wondering whether it is a good idea or not.   I have so many other projects that need to get done around the house and the building season is short up here.  Adding a treehouse to that long list sometimes seemed a bit too much especially considering my health also limits how much I can get done.  Another reason I was questioning the wisdom of this project is because the grandkids have now moved from right down the road to about an hour away so their time here at Gee and Papa's house will probably be quite limited.  Because of these reasons, ...

Sheila and I managed to get to the Christmas decorating a bit early this year so our home has been decorated for Christmas, inside and out, for the past two weeks or so.  For a few months, I was thinking we wouldn't do any Christmas decorating at all this year because I had been feeling so lousy.  Mostly, among a few symptoms, I was in quite a bit of pain and I was overwhelmingly fatigued. I then had a few relatively good health days...  not to be confused with a healthy person's good days...   and the weather was cooperating for outdoor activities with some unseasonably sunny and warm days so we tackled the outdoor decorations.  The weather had jumped into the 70s on this particular weekend so we were outdoors. While we were on a roll with decorating the outside of the house for Christmas, we then moved inside and put up the tree and the rest of the indoor decorations.  I started putting up the tree and put the lights on the tree but Sheila finished decora...

It is finally beginning to feel like Christmas!  All the presents are wrapped and under the tree.  The house is decorated inside and out.  We'll soon begin our much anticipated Christmas celebrations at the house.   We had a little setback this morning.  When we got up this morning, both Sheila and I felt that the house seemed colder than usual.  Upon checking the thermostat, I noticed that it was indeed cold in the house compared to the thermostat's settings.  I had noticed some minor issues with the furnace a few days ago but didn't act upon it and now I was regretting putting off investigating further. The first thing I checked was the thermostat but that seemed to be working normally.  The next most likely culprit was a frosty/gelled fuel line coming into the house.  After finding a container to use for catching fuel, I bled the line from the tank...  we got about a pint of frosty, gelled fuel as I had suspected.  The w...