New York Renovator

I have a great frugal hack for you thrifties out there!

I don’t need to tell you that batteries are outrageously expensive. I just came across a great deal on batteries for my digital camera. It’s at eBatts.com. (This is not an advertisement for them! Although I’d love it if they gave me free batteries or something for recommending them, lol). I got two NiMh batteries for $5 using couponchief promo codes. The batteries were already 65% off, and the promo code made it even better! There’s also free shipping, which accounts for the great savings and has won my heart. I haven’t seen lower prices anywhere– not even at eBay (the prices are usually good at eBay, but then the shipping can be 2x or 3x the price of the item! ridiculous!)

If you’re sick of replacing those Dollar Store batteries every 20 minutes or so, take a look at the battery prices at eBatts. Share your success stories, too!

I was surfing my web stats today. I do it from time to time. It is interesting to see what keywords people search for that bring them to this blog. Some are predictable “crazy woman electrical” or “help me fix New York State remuddling,” and others are downright humorous, like “mrs mecomber electrocuted” and “this old house women.” I found out that someone from DIY Life was linking to my blog, and being the curious person that I am, I checked it out.

This is amazing! They like me! And, I think I have discovered a cool new home improvement website to visit! The articles are very entertaining! This is what writer Diane Rixon had to say:

Yearning to renovate? Yearning to break free of a cumbersome renovation project? You need inspiration, my friend! In ye olden days, people in need of such inspiration turned to sources like books, radio or TV. Today, bloggers have been added to that list. One renovation-related blog that caught my eye recently is New York Renovator.

I am very humbled that other people are inspired by my blog! And this site looks like a real gem. There’s a great article on Planting Trees and Shrubs and another with some Fix-It Advice. And I absolutely love the article about a thrifted task chair getting a new covering.

Sometimes it really pays to browse the stats. I love finding new blogs, and I love it that they love me!

Before you undertake remodeling anything in your home, do some research. Determine if your home is balloon-frame, stick-frame, or post-and-beam, for example. Don’t just start tearing your house apart and sawing through joists and studs; you may wind up sacrificing the structural integrity of your home.

Also, never tear down an interior wall without making sure it is not a load-bearing wall. Most load-bearing walls run perpendicular to the floor joists– but not all of them do! Do some investigating! If you are at all unsure, get a contractor or carpenter to take a look at the wall and determine if it is load-bearing or not. You don’t ever want to leave a floor unsupported. This coiuld not only imperil the home and your family, but it may null any insurance claim you’d make.

My last Quick Tip dealt with the idea of irrigating your garden on the cheap if you have a sump pump in your basement. I happen to have two, so my gardens get plenty of water (as does my basement, sigh). But what if you are one of those fortunate home owners who has a dry basement? What are you to do, besides spending your money on municipal water, or using up your precious well-water resources?

Get a rainbarrel! If you have gutters and downspouts, have rainbarrels at the downspout areas to collect the water from your roof when it rains. Some fancy rainbarrels have spigots at the bottom, where you can turn the knob and activate the flowing water.

If you don’t have gutters and downspouts, you can place the rainbarrels in strategic areas around the corners of your home (assuming your house has corners). The water will drop from the roof into the barrel. It’s a little messier, but it does work.

You can attach a punctured garden hose to the spigot. The water will flow through the garden hose and slowly drizzle out.

Photo courtesy of City of Austin.

I’m in a gardening mood these days (too bad it’s winter). Last summer we set up a terrific irrigation system that did wonders during our unusually dry summer. It cost us nothing— no cost for even the water. However, there are a few limitations for some folks. One is, you need to have a sump pump in your basement. Two, you need that sump well to fill enough to make the sump pump operate. If you have a dry basement, this tip will not work for you. But the good news is that I will have another tip for cheap irrigation coming soon.

We have a sump pump (two, actually– we’ve got a lot of water here) and we run a couple of pipes out to the catch basin by the street. In the summer, we use black flexible pipe (it’s corrugated and very thin), and we divert the pipe to the vegetable garden in the backyard. Of course, if we just dumped all that water, our garden would soon be flooded. However, my husband drilled holes into the corrugated black pipe. So when the pump goes on, the water squirts out of these holes and is dispersed into the garden beds– kind of like a sprinkler effect. we do not have to spend any money on our municipal water supply to water our garden.

It’s cold outside, the snow and air are dry and irritating, and we’re set for some boring ole Lake Effect snow this weekend. Yawn. The Winter Doldrums have set in early this year.

I was going over my photos at Flickr and the garden shots caught my eye. Oooo, I am missing summer so much right now!

Don’t those flowers make you feel warmer? They do for me!

It’s not This Old House. Surprised? I used to love This Old House–and I still get their magazines. Their television show had its start in Boston, Massachusetts, in the 1980′s, and as a kid I watched it every Saturday on WGHB (a Public Broadcasting Station). I loved Norm Abrams and thought Bob Vila was tolerable but a bit arrogant. Vila left the show over some dispute. I can’t say I missed Bob Vila much, but the show took a definite turn after his departure. I haven’t liked the show as much since then.

This Old House used to be about the average Joe Homeowner trying to fix up his old home in typical Yankee fashion (efficient, economical, and “making do”). This Old House has really deviated from their initial vision. The show and magazine are more about getting the latest, fanciest, and most expensive stuff for your home. No, thanks. It is true that homeowners and do-it-yourselfers are more experienced and wiser, but not all are richer or desire to be so ostentatious with their homes. Sorry, TOH Team, you aren’t the Yankee workshopmen that you used to be.

So I’ve left TOH for simpler advice. I do still like TOH, but I do not turn to it for real, frugal, practical advice. Instead, I’ve found Ask the Builder! This guy has advice coming out of his ears, a great forum for us to ask and answer questions, and he has a huge cache of videos. The simple kind of videos with lots of talking and explaining in them!

His website is simple for simple folks. He even has a glossary and an “Ask Tim” section. I really like this guy. I don’t know if he will one day topple Boston’s king of the home improvement media, but he’s won my heart. When a person is wanting to learn about home improvement and how to do something, zillions of flash ads, power tool tips, and elaborate plumbing techniques are confusing. TOH has gotten too big for its britches, I guess– it’s now is more about the latest, greatest “up and coming” home wares. Ask the Builder is about fixing the home, and telling you in simple terms with lots of pictures. Good job, Tim!

I happened across a very funny and entertaining blog post Who Wants a Google Fridge? Of course, being the sassy person that I am, I had to comment.

For fun’s sake, who would want a Google fridge? Not me! I have enough problems with the appliances I do have! Last thing I’d want is one plastered with AdSense magnets and dictating to me how I don’t keep the government’s Food Guide Pyramid.

The gardening and seed catalog magazines are starting to roll in! I have been busy with my free-lance writing projects, so I’ve only had a little precious time to flip through the new catalogs. I am very excited about gardening this year. My gardens have reached the “adolescent” age now, when they really start to grow and mature, and produce better flowers and fruits. The first few years were hard labor- busting the sod, cultivating the soil, battling the weeds, and shaping the beds. This will be the first year that I don’t have to labor as intensively. I can just plant, weed, and watch it grow. I’ve also set up a neat irrigation system that costs me nothing! (More on this in an up-and-coming Quick Tip).

I’ve been looking over my old garden photos. Ahhhh, so lovely.

I am looking forward to spring!

February is the best time to start planning for Upstate gardens. By then, all the catalogs are available showcasing the latest plants and hybrids. February is just long enough to mull over the choices and make the decisions. This year I am going to try some new things (grapes, raddicchio), eliminate last year’s losers (too many zucchini and tomatoes), and plant more of the stuff I didn’t do enough last year (pumpkin, spinach). By March, I should have my beds all plotted out and order my seeds and plants. I can’t wait!

On my other blog, New York Traveler.net, I wrote a brief post about the new laws coming out against incandescent bulbs. Poor Thomas Edison. Next thing you know, his face will be on the bulls eyes for target practice.

You’ll have to read the article here, as it is more in depth; but suffice it to say that this outright banning of incandescent and embracing of CFL bulbs is going to cause trouble down the road. CFLs have enough mercury content to classify them as toxic waste. What are we going to do with all those bulbs when they expire?

With used garden tools help is often not required since they are not as stiff as brand new garden tools. It is even better if one learns from a pro first. It does not matter if it is working around lawn tractors or regular pruning. One can get gardening tools information from them as well. People who have long been in business of garden tools trade can also help in buying the right kind of tools. Where husqvarna may appear to be quite heavy looking like fiskars, it is seldom required in regular home gardening.