New York Renovator

Women love getting gifts. I know I do! Most women love getting jewelry, flowers, shoes, and clothing.But not me.

Most women love getting perfume, scarves, diamonds, candy, chocolates, and manicures.

Not me.

This is what I like.

Now that’s what I’m talking ’bout! Woo! LOL, Am I easy to shop for, or what?

As a young girl, I used to hang out with step-dad in his workshop. Loved it. He used to take me along to our favorite store: the hardware and tool store! I still love tool stores!

That Milwaukee Micro Driver 12V baby you see pictured above is a high-tech piece of equipment that would win the heart of any girl. This one, at least!

# 12V Li-ion power in a small package.
# 1/4 Inch quick change chuck with one-handed bit change feature.
# Built-in fuel gauge.
# Overmold on the side to prevent scratching finish work surfaces.
# LED light for illuminating dark work spots

It’s at my favorite online tool and equipment store, OhioPowerTool.com. Prices are out of this world– that drill, retailing at $250, is on sale for (get ready, girls!) $129!! It’s a steal! Check out more gorgeous power tools, generators, hydraulic equipment, hand tools, chucks, safety equipment, and loads more, at the website. Prices are incredible. They’ve been in business since 1983, so are well established and able to offer incredible discounts.

I love the place. Oh, and hubby does, too.

Here’s a Quick Tip I saw in one of my many home improvement magazines. If you have pets that shed all over the furniture, don’t vacuum it up and clog your machine! Get one of those dollar store paint rollers (with paint roller handle) for $1 or $2. Wrap duct tape (facing sticky-side up) around the roller. Roll the roller over the furniture cushions, etc. The duct tape will collect the hair. When you are done, just tuck the roller in a plastic bag to pull it from the roller handle, and toss it in the garbage! All clean!

I got my package from Johnny’s Selected Seeds yesterday! I am thrilled with the selection. I cannot wait until spring! Here’s the scoop on what I got:

Hybrid Yellow Onions (Olympic)
Hybrid Cantaloupe (Earliqueen)
Sugar Baby Red Watermelon
Magical Michael Basil
New England Pie Pumpkin
Hybrid Spinach (Tyee)
Hybrid Bi-color Corn (X-tra Tender Brand)
Sugar/Snow Peas (Atitlan)

All the varieties are frost hardy. I intend on buying my yellow squash and lettuce seeds at WalMart.

Oddly, the Adirondack Reds seed potatoes I ordered did not come. The package sheet says they were on backorder. How can this be since I just spoke to the lady at Johnny’s? She told me they were available (she double-checked, too) and they would be put on my order. :-p What a lousy deal. I wonder if they will come in time.

Don’t like it when your medicine cabinet mirror in your bathroom fogs up after a hot shower? I hate it. All that moisture is bad for the cabinet, too. The condensation dribbles down into the grooves and is a breeding ground for mildew.

One quick cure-all for bathroom fog is to spray a small amount of shaving cream onto the mirror, and buff it on. The light layer of shaving cream prevents moisture from clinging to the mirror.

If you didn’t hear about the big astronomical event that occurred tonight, you’re either Rip Van Winkle or out in the middle of nowhere on a royal caribbean cruise or something. It’s all over the news!

I love things like this. I’ve always been interested in astronomy. Tonight was a gorgeous lunar eclipse. People on the North American, European, and Middle Eastern continents were able to see it. Here in Upstate New York, the skies were (mostly) clear. That in of itself is a miracle, as we have been suffering weeks of cloudy skies in these parts.

For what it’s worth, I got my camera and braved the 10-degree chill. My photos are poor, but I’ll post them for sentimental reasons. Check the news, and there are sure to be better photos. It is so beautiful.

Here’s the first shot, through the trees in my property.

I wanted a better view, so I ventured out to the end of my property. When I was out watching it, I saw a shooting star, too! I was elated!

I also got to see and recognize the star Regulus for the first time. Look at the photo, below. There is a faint spot of light in the bottom left corner; that is Regulus. Beautiful.

I was never much of a video blogger, but I just don’t feel like blogging very much right now! And I have found some really funny videos lately. How can I be selfish and not share? Here’s another, touted as “The Best Cat Video.” It is probably true! I CANNOT believe the cat that managed to squeeze into… well, I won’t spill the beans. You watch the video and tell me what you think.

…buying a house.We haven’t hit spring yet (we have a long way to go yet, actually), but this is the time of year when everyone starts thinking about selling or buying their home. The year we bought our home (1997), there were several other people in the neighborhood who bought their homes that year, too. Some homes have been bought and sold many times over, while ten years later, we are still here.

I love to look over what’s the latest trend in the real estate market. It is definitely a buyer’s market right now. I haven’t seen local house prices so low in seven or eight years. I suppose some of it may have to do with the housing market crunch, but I suspect most of it is due to New York’s outlandishly high property taxes, and the threat of power lines strung over our heads. (You can read about our struggle here in Upstate NY against a big power company that has plans for our little towns and villages, here. Not for the weak of heart.)

Sometimes we have thoughts of selling the house. We’ve been asked by some people willing to buy it for the land. The house isn’t terribly valuable, and right now it’s a money pit. a buyer would mow down the house and build an apartment complex or something like it. We live in a prime location- very desirable- but we are still undecided. For now, we stay. And try to make this house livable in the meantime.

This cute comic by Johnny Hart made me laugh out loud the other day.

It’s how I sometimes feel about our own little abode here.

Actually, it really hasn’t been too bad. We don’t have lava (or Godzilla), but we have plenty of water! In the past, any amount of moderate to heavy rain or melting snow would cause our basement to flood. We’ve seen the water rise up to three feet! It’s very scary to watch the water rising so fat in one’s home.

But so far, our basement has only flooded three or four times this winter, and only a few inches. I guess flooding totals have become relative to me by now. I’m conditioned to be relieved with *only* a few inches. :-p

What a wacky winter we’d had this year. The temperatures ahave been bobbing up and down like a yo-yo. Juat the other day, temperatures were into the 40s, it rained, and all the snow melted. Today, the temperature dropped again, and a surprise winter storm hit again!

Predictions for areas north of me are 1 to 2 feet by tonight. Ouch.

We Upstaters are getting mighty tired of scraping the ice off our vehicles and paying our heating bills. we still have March, that wildcat of months where we usually suffer more temp swings and ice conditions. Right now, it’s risky even walking to your mailbox or to the car. The weekend rain has now frozen, and today’s snow has covered it. Walking on the ice with a layer of snow is not fun at all.

In other news, Johnny’s Seeds called me to tell me that the Adirondack Blue seed potatoes are all sold out, and they won’t have anything until next spring! I think everyone is eager for spring this year– a lot of the seed stores have their supplies dwindling. We are READY for green grass and sunshine again!

I have said before that I really like Tim, the guy from Ask the Builder. He’s simple, talks about simple things, and handles simple projects. I love watching his videos. I came across this latest one about his own kitchen remodel. It is drop-dead gorgeous. He says it *only* took him *three* months. :-p Excuse me while I cry. You can watch the video. Love those cabinets!

P.S. I don’t know if the video is working for you; I’m having problems with it now. The link to the video directly is here.