Today the electric fireplace arrived, so there is at least a little bit more heating capacity.
Don’t expect miracles from it, it’s still only a 1500W heater, but it looks warmer;
Together with Mr. Cool in turbo mode, and the Honeywell heater, it should be bearable.
Back in Amsterdam, I’m about five minutes away from the Amsterdam forest, which is a sizeable park with an abundance of biking and hiking trails,
perfectly suited for running. In Texas, there are trails, but they’re not so easy to find. Today I did find one, after some searching.
It beats running on the shoulder of highways, as there is always cars passing by at great speed, greatly reducing the fun of running.
This trail I actually ran in the other direction a few years back, starting at the Blue Hole in Wimberley, a natural springs, popular in summer time.
The trail itself is clearly marked and some sections are concrete slabs. The only downside is that the trail is too short for a marathon runner like me. 4 miles simply is too short.
But it took a few miles before I found it, and it’s not a loop, so I ended up running 10 miles, which is ok for a weekend run. Circumstances were nice; blue skies, 70 (21C) so I ran in shorts and a short sleeved shirt, something I can never do in Amsterdam early December.
I went there taking the backroad, which brings you across the river;
It’s usually passable, although it’s a tad slippery, so I did get a little adrenaline shot as the truck almost decided to go straight here instead of following the left turn.
2 years back, this river was up 20 ft higher, and not even a tank could have crossed it then.
Another cold front will hit the Texas Hill Country soon, so temperatures that were up to 72 (22C) for the last days,
will drop to 37 (3C) tomorrow night. But this time I’m prepared:
Shiner had a Texas Cold Front six pack on sale: three different beers for a cold front;
Shiner Frost, Morello Dark Cherry and Candied Pecan Porter.
Nothing can go wrong now. Especially If I also get the electrical fireplace delivered on Tuesday.
True U2 fans like myself will recognise the above post title. For those that don’t:
U2 – Ultra Violet (Light My Way) – YouTube
Since days are shorter here too now (it’s dark by 6 and sunrise around 7) I decided to put the lights I got in April to light up the driveway:
Hopefully I won’t flatten them with my truck pulling out 🙂
Other than that it was an electric day: added 3 power outlets and now have a lamp above the door outside,
which I don’t have on yet, as I’m a smart lightbulb short (Some would argue that I have always been a few lightbulbs short,
but that’s an entirely different story).
Today I installed the rain shower in the downstairs bathroom, right next to the tub.
The picture below shows the pex lines coming in, the valve and the top connection where the shower is connected.
Like most good ideas, it was a good idea in theory; making the tiled floor run down t0 a drain point,
so that a rain shower could be mounted to the wall next to the tub.
So I used normal hardy backer board for the largest part, and 1/4″ thinner hardy backer board for the drain area,
and used an aluminium ruler to make the slope from the thick hardy backer board to the thinner board using thinset
thus creating a slope down. So far, so good. In theory. In practise, the entire floor slopes down the wrong direction,
and the only level part is the part that was supposed to be sloped down.
So the problem I now have to solve is that the water runs down from tile row three,
all the way to the other side of the bathroom.
What I’m thinking to try first is put a barrier line of transparent silicon kit to form an invisible shower pan.
It will only need to be like a quarter inch tall, and if I put it in the grout, you would not see it.
If that doesn’t work I will have to create a shower pan using a small strip of tile.
But that would not look as nice and might be something you bump into with your toes.
So I will try the silicon kit tomorrow, after the floor has dried.
Sometimes you just want to do something else than stain or chink or code. So I picked a fun project.
Nothing more Wild West than saloon doors, right?
with two sets of double hinges and again some left over cedar wood,
I came up with these:
The shape is inspired by the bar, and created with a dinner plate as a template for the curves.
I still have to tweak them a little, as the sides hit each other in the center, but they do function; you simply push in the direction you want to go and they swing back to the closed position afterwards. Also, they need to be stained and sanded really smooth, to make it easy to “walk through” the doors,
without the wood catching your clothing.
Now someone can walk from the bedroom to the bathroom butt naked and all private parts would be well covered by the doors.
Update to the post below:
The bed has been made, stained and made, as you can see below:
So tonight I’ll be sleeping upstairs, just to try it out. It’s not cold anymore, so I won’t need Mr. Cool to keep me warm anyway.
——
I’ve been making my bed for many years now. But never like today. Today I actually made a bed. That is, a bed frame.
Remember when I stated there was a lot of Cedar wood left that Neil had provided as “siding”? Well, after creating a table,
the stairway and deck railing, there was still enough left for an actual cedar bed frame:
It’s a double bed (53 inch wide) and that’s about all that fits in this upstairs bedroom.
I went for a rough and solid look, with 7″ x 2″ legs but with well rounded edges,
as nobody likes to kick their shins against a sharp bed edge.
To make the frame strong, I chiseled holes for the long vertical boards into the legs,
and then glued and pocket holed the boards in place, so it’s pretty solid.
The height of the headboard was determined by the two longest beams I still had.
They are actually left over Jambs (the vertical beams that support the logs were windows were cut out).
The width of the bed leaves just enough space to walk on each side, and to put a night stand in.
I just might have enough cedar left to add those too.
I do still have to sand and stain it, but I kinda like how it looks already and this one did not dent my budget much;
all it took was a pocket hole jig (to join the legs to the vertical boards) and some wood glue. In total $30.
It’s nice to be able to make stuff yourself. Very fulfilling. Can’t wait to sleep on it. But I will have to,
as the glue is still drying.
I know, I know; I should not be complaining. But for the second time a cold front has hit this neck of the woods,
and although I’m fine at night under the covers or when working physically during the day , I’m not so comfy when I have to code and the toughest bar I work on is the space bar.
So, if there is indeed nothing between Texas and the North Pole but a barbed wired fence, and these fronts keep coming,
I’m going to have to get more heating comfort in. So today, (Cyber Monday) I ordered this electrical fireplace:
This was the only one listed as being able to heat up to 600 square ft, and although the great room here is not much more than 400 sq ft,
it is as high as a church and the roof is not yet insulated, and even has a few gaps right into the great outdoors.
This does not mean I will not get a real wood stove anymore, but a real wood stove requires a real pipe up and through the roof,
and it’s simply not in my budget right now.
I’m looking forward to Thursday, when day temperatures will be around 75F (24C) again. Until then I will just retire to the bedroom early,
as that room is comfortably warm after Mr. Cool’s heat pump has been on for 30 minutes.
Hopefully Home depot’s courier can find me; today USPS claimed to have been unable to fit a box with 3 fairly large items into my mailbox,
as they claimed it was full… Even if it would be empty and double the normal size, the box would not have fitted. I never liked USPS much,
now I remember why. WalMart had no problem delivering my fire pit (which is also great for outdoor heat, but it’s hard to cook and manage a fire pit simultaneously I found out)
Hopefully Home Depot uses the same courier or at least not USPS.
It was time for some scaffolding climbing again today; the gable end on the west side is the only wall not accessible without one.
The drywall is now in, putting an accent on the rafters.
You might notice some gadgets up on the rafter; that’s the LTE router:
That particular spot gives the best internet connection. (Karel found this spot)
The round thing is the Ikea gateway; it talks to homekit and controls all lights.
Apart from the upstairs bathroom and the upper east gable end, now all walls have drywall on them.
As the roof isn’t yet insulated or covered by boards, the white styrofoam keeps the worst draft out.
Today it was nice weather: 70’s (24 C) with sun. Finally the entire house warmed up again.
But in a few days the next cold front will arrive, so it will be sweater wearing time soon.
Today the last 3 big drawers were added to the bar, and the fronts were stained.
So in total, there are now 9 drawers and 1 waste-bin.
That should be enough storage space to not miss hanging cabinets.
The only thing now missing is the backsplash; the edge at the back of the countertop.
I’m still in doubt if I should also make that stained birch,
or maybe put in an accent like a strip of tiles? Opinions are welcome.
In any case, I will add 2 power outlets, handy for kitchen devices, charging on the bar, etc.
The wires can run behind the backsplash.