All the Small Things

The coming of fall has meant a lot less big projects around the property. But it has meant a bunch of smaller projects and the pushing of some projects all the way over the finish line. It may not make a huge difference in the look of things, but it can make a huge difference in how things work. I hope this sampling helps provide motivation for smaller projects around your place or at least makes you feel less guilty about only doing what seems like small stuff.

I replaced all the electric outlets in the master bedroom. These were so bad that most of them wouldn’t hold a plug. Just make sure you have the power off first. Completing this mean the plugs stay in when we open the door…or breath.

I got the cars in the garage! That meant a lot of opening boxes, sorting boxes and trips to the shop with boxes, where the overflow is located. Completing this makes mornings sooo much better.

I finished switching over the pump house ceiling batt insulation over to rigid foam. Not only does it make for a space with better lighting, it will help repel the stupid rodents, and actually keep the pump paraphernalia from freezing. I also then went in a vacuumed up all the extra dirt, droppings, and foam nodules. It is dare I say, clean. Ready for me to replace the UV light and filters.

I setup my grow lights for lettuce. I’m trying to grow lettuce throughout the winter so and my first attempts were very leggy. Being in NW Washington state means that there will be even less light that produced those first seedlings, so grow light it is. So completing this furthers that goal.

I saw the NW corner of my property for the first time. I now only have one more corner left to see. That might seem a weird project, but the NW and SW corners of our 5 acre property are pretty much wild. It was part of why we like the property, but the downside is that typically only the deer see those two corners. It was only raining a bit and the inches of rain hadn’t started so I was able to pick my way back through water, brambles, and fallen trees to stand as it turns out by the stake that is the corner. Brought back memories of childhood thrashing about the “woods” that was near our house when I was a kid. So it was pretty fun side quest. And no nettle stings. Bonus! Completing this was mostly for fun.

Planning for the bathroom update. I’ve done lots of remodeling and building, but never have I done the permits myself. If you know me, I don’t like going to the government but since I’m going to want to sell this house eventually, I would like it to be legal. I’m also curious to go through the process because you never know, maybe I want to do real estate in the future and knowing how to jump through the hoops would be a necessary evil. That one is going to turn into a big project, but I’m just starting it.

Lastly, to finish up this post, I started laying down rhythm parts for a couple more songs. It was just a few bars, but completing this gets the creativity flowing.

Bonus tip for property living: Don’t store seed in the shed even in plastic bags. Unknown to me rodents apparently LOVE seed…