Randall's Blog

I just updated my web site with a page about the house at 24 Pleasant St, Epping NH. The link is here. There are lots of photos taken at parties, in the yard, etc. Enjoy!

Best of luck to Debbie with her law school finals that start tomorrow!

We had a very nice vegan Thanksgiving at Jennie & Dan's new home. Rebecca & Ali were there as were Chris & Shannon. Debbie & I came with my mom and Lowell. Andy stopped by as well. There was a great selection of wonderful food and we had a very nice time. We got to see one of Jennie & Dan's fancy "quilting machines" that's on display in their new living room. It's big! Check out their web site here for more information.

Lowell was up after his long vacation to New Zealand with Juliet to share in the Thanksgiving feast and attend the closing on the Epping house. On Sunday Lowell & I drove to New Hampshire to do some final things in Epping and get ready for the closing. We stopped at Susty's for dinner and hung out with Norma a bit as well.

Lowell & I spent the night in the big empty Epping house. This morning we loaded up the truck with the few things that were left and waited for the closing. Everything went smoothly and 24 Pleasant St. now has a new owner. We wish him good luck in his new place. I'll post a page of photos from the Epping residence shortly. On our drive home we were treated to a wonderful sky show as the crescent moon hung just to the left of Jupiter and Venus. These two planets won't be this close together in the sky again until 2013.

In other news the new attic stairs have become a favorite hangout for the kitty:

R

Two home improvement items:

Firstly, I replaced the stairs to the attic on Wednesday. The old stairs were a little steep and I have spent a bit of time preparing the new stairs. I used a thickness planer and router on ordinary dimensional lumber to create an attractive, sturdy (I hope) yet inexpensive staircase. This shot shows the old stairs removed and part of the new staircase in place. The "shadow" of the old stairs is just below the new stringer.

The assembly process:

Finished stairs:

There isn't a great difference in pitch but it allows Smudgey to get up to the attic all by herself - and they are easier for humans to climb as well.

Today Chris came by and helped me hoist the two solar hot water panels up to the frames that I finished recently. I used a couple of old ladders that were around the property to act as slides. We used a lot of straps and ropes to make sure that the panels didn't fall.

Halfway there:

"Hold it while I get a picture..."

The final result:

There were some glitches; like the way I slammed my head into one of the steel "L" brackets holding the frame as I climbed onto the roof... I thought I had scalped myself for a few seconds but it was only a scrape (that hurt like hell). Then, when we got the first panel up and in place the frame - that was custom made for these panels - turned out to be 1/4 inch too narrow. I had to take down 4 braces and use a drill to expand the holes so the panels would fit correctly. Actually, I took down three braces, the forth would not come down because of a nut that wouldn't come loose.

Oh well, they are secure now and I just need to do some plumbing work - a lot of plumbing work actually (more later).

Thanks again to Chris for all his help! Some times having a second person really makes all the difference!

R

The solar hot water panel frames are complete and ready for the panels to be magically lifted up to the roof. Oh, I guess that isn't too likely... Well, I'm going to need some kind of help getting them up.

When I worked in the Stewart lab at SUNYA in the 1990's there were a lot of bird lovers (and bird researchers) in the lab. In order to balance the energy in the universe I felt that it was my obligation to hate birds.. After I left, and moved East I no longer felt this way and became a bird-liker (bird-lover is still too strong a term). Anyway, I have taken a lot of bird photos in the last few years and I have just gone through my library and pulled out the best bird shots - enjoy!

Birds!

Work on the attic is winding down. This project was really a bit of an afterthought but when we realized how little living space (and places for bookshelves) we had...

I posted some photos earlier of the insulation process. The insulation was done on September 4th. Since then I have been spending a lot of time in the attic and it has been coming along pretty well. The carpet was installed on November 3rd which makes it look a lot more like living space.

I had to finish the new window that was put in before the insulation was done. Brian, the window contractor, suggested a larger window when I mentioned finishing the attic. It looks great AND will allow escape should there ever be the need.

I decided on a mix of drywall and thin wood paneling planks to finish the walls. This was for a couple of reasons. I really don't like drywall (and I'm not that good at working with it). Also, it was easier to bring the wood up into the attic than 4x8 sheets of drywall. Lastly, it gives a bit of continuity to the attic space as the attic in the Epping house had a similar kind of walls and ceiling.

One of the main parts of the new attic is the built in bookshelves. I reused some lumber from the "room divider" I made for the Epping house "big room." Space for books was a primary goal of this project. Behind the bookshelves is a storage area - also a big priority.

The other main area of the attic is the closet area. We wanted more clothing storage and I decided to put up some cedar planks. There was a lot of custom millwork done for this project.

This is how it looked before any work was done:

Just a few more pieces of trim to go and I'll be DONE!