We've finally bitten the bullet and started work updating the living room ceiling. At first blush, this seems like a straight-forward project:

1. Take down soffit "ceiling".
2. Install electrical for new light fixtures.
3. Install new ceiling.

However. Dr U has had his hand in that ceiling. Nothing is simple where Dr. U is concerned.

Dad and the captain started removing the hundreds (possibly thousands) of screws holding the soffit to the ceiling.

Panel by panel, the plastic came down, revealing much less mess than we were expecting. To be honest, I expected: squirrels' nests, dead mice, 10000 spiders, and years of filth.

Instead we found insulation.

In true Hodge Podge Lodge style, it's several different types of insulation (pink, Roxul, and Styrofoam?), but for the most part it's fairly clean, if a bit.... random.

We also found electrical wires. A rat's nest of electical. Good ol' Dr U has just enough electrical "expertise" to be dangerous.

Plenty of "U" connections between two wires, which are then wrapped in electrical tape (marettes are for sissies, according to Dr. U.)

We have always had 3 recessed pot lights in the living room ceiling, but they've never worked very well (very dim). This weekend, we discovered why.  Dr U wired them in series, so each fixture was getting a fraction of the available current. We suspect this also explains why he had 120V floodlight bulbs in the fixture; he was hoping to fix the dimness with a "brighter" bulb.

*facepalm*

He is really just so. so. scary.

We've come to the realization that we can't, in good conscience, re-use any of Dr. U's existing electrical work (note copious hidden junction boxes).

Before we can proceed with Step 2 mentioned above, we need to sort out the mess and clean it all up. We bought 50m of electrical wire and a bulk package of marettes from Lowes. Eat Dirt, Dr. U!

And until then, we live with a roof that looks like this.

Frankenmower

At the end of last summer, the old gas-powered lawn-mower at the cottage died. The motor was happy to carry on, but the body rusted out and the front half pretty well fell off.

OK, that's a slight exaggeration, but it did rust through, crack, and collapse. Like so.

Handy Dad managed to get his hands on a free mower that someone wanted GONE from their shed (yay! Free!) but it was... fickle.

They could get it started, but it would only run as long as the choke was open, and it tended to bog down in the long grass. We don't have much room for a prima-donna mower at the cottage, and let's face it, the grass there is ALWAYS long.

That's when the captain asked whether they should just swap the good motor from Rusty to replace the one on Mr. Fickle.

Commence operation "Frankemower!"

Surprisingly, Rusty's motor fit perfectly when they attached it to Mr Fickle. They swapped the handle with the controls at the same, fired it up, and it's like it's always been that way.

Huh.

If only all cottage repairs were this quick and effective.

Good jorb, guys!

The also salvaged the wheels from Rusty. The wee lad seems to think he's going to build a cottage go kart. Stay tuned for more adventures of operation Go Kart!

Green things

Time for a bit of a garden update. The seeds I planted two weeks ago are sprouting!

Though you can't really tell yet, these wee sprouts will become swiss chard plants. I have been blessed with spinach- and broccoli-loving children (yes, really!) so I hope they'll also like chard. It reminds me of summer. Mmmmm. With melted butter. mMMMMmmm.

I transplanted the cucumbers that we started indoors, too. A week later, they're not looking very pleased with the arrangement, but they still have green leaves, so there's hope for these plants, yet.

Here are some of the plants that I bought as seedlings. Two kinds of slicing tomatoes, some yellow cherry tomatoes, a bell pepper, and a whack of herbs (like a flock of geese, herbs come in a whack. I just decided that.)

I've got oregano, basil, sage, rosemary, thyme (no parsley, sorry garfunkel lovers) and chives. I debated planting garlic too, but we'll see how this goes; the garden's already pretty full.. The sage and the thyme came back after the winter, which is awesome. Two fewer plants to buy!

As of the time I took these shots, there were no signs of life from my carrot seeds or my onion seeds. The transplanted onions seemed to be surviving, but the row of seeds I planted in addition hadn't popped up yet.

I don't know if the chipmunks and other woodland critters are going to find the garden this year. We have auntie P's metal cage panels at the ready if we need to build a bit of a fence in a hurry. I might be completely deluded, but I'm hoping it won't be necessary.

I can't wait to eat fresh veg out of the garden! NOM!!

Off Clip-on insect repellant

I don't usually do product reviews here on the blog, but I bought (yet another) bug deterrant, and I wanted to fill you in on what I think about it.

Firstly, my bug issues are:

1. I am bug chocolate. I'm the person you want to go camping with because you'll never see a single mosquito as they'll all be too busy gnawing on me. In addition to being delicious, I also react strongly to mosquito VENOM (perhaps an exaggeration, but this is my blog, so tough) and I develop massive welts with every bite. I'm talking, they're 2-inches across and scratch-your-eyes-out itchy. Understandably, I avoid mosquitoes.
2. I don't like coating myself in DEET-laden Deep Woods Off at 9:00 at night so I can go sit by the fire, and then go straight to bed after with that layer of gross all over my skin.

Enter the "Off! Clip-on™". It's a belt-clip mini-fan thinger dinger that - when switched on - blows an invisible fog of mosquito repellant around you. The repellant is inserted cartridge-style inside the fan thinger dinger before you turn it on, and one cartridge is purported to last 11 hours.

So far I've used it for about 2 or 3 hours, and I don't have a single bug bite.

Part of me, the very skeptical part, wonders if this isn't like the rock that wards of tigers ("Do you see any tigers around here? Then it's working!"). Maybe there were no mosquitoes out to bite me.

But if this is really working, I might actually get to enjoy some time at the fire this summer!

I would imagine it's less effective if there's a strong breeze because the "fog" will get blown away, but wind also takes care of clouds of mosquitoes, so that might not be much of an issue. I'm also a tiny bit uneasy about breathing in said "fog", but I would be using it so little, I can't imagine it would be any worse than inhaling the DEET spray as I hose myself down with it.

I'll continue to use it and let you know how it goes.

It cost me about $11+tax and I bought it at Lowes, but I'm sure you'd find it anywhere they sell Off! products. I haven't had to buy a refill cartridge yet, so I'm not sure how much they cost.

Thanks for reading!

One small step for man

If you've ever visited the Lodge (and I think very many of you have), you'll remember that the stairs leading up from the dock are best described as "woopsy".

No doubt Dr. U had a hand in their construction, as they were a lashed-together hodgepodge of mostly rotting 2x4s. They were unstable and downright dangerous. A stair should never rock under your feet.

I say they "were" because this weekend Captain and Handy Dad ripped those suckers out and built new steps out of spanky-new pressure treated lumber.

Step 1 Rip out manky steps.

Step 2 Swear at Dr U for using 4" nails that protruded beyond the thickness of the wood, so he bashed the nail-ends down creating a 90° angle in the nails that rendered them nearly impossible to remove. *shakes a cosmic fist a Dr. U.*

Step 3 Continue removing steps. Rotten wood accelerates this process.

Step 4 Measure and cut new wood.

Step 5 Install new steps.

Step 6 Swear a lot at the bottom step which is tied into rotten wood at the sides. Spend considerable time fortifying this "support".

Step 6 Add a railing to the lower steps with some leftover bits of wood.

Step 7 Drink tall glass of iced tea delivered by your very grateful wife/daughter and admire your handiwork.

p.s. It's the Captain's birthday. Be sure to wish him a happy happy!

HOLY CARP!

HOLY CARP THAT'S ONE BIG FISH!

The carp moved in to shore this past weekend to spawn. It made for a fascinating fish show right off the dock.

These fish are all about 2 ft long (no "fish tale" here.. they're really that big), and easily as big around as the Princess's leg. Probably bigger, actually. She has pretty skinny legs.







There were probably 20 of them cruising back and forth along the shoreline. Periodically a "carp fight!" would occur (that's what the kids called it, and I didn't have the heart to correct them), and the fish would thrash and splash in the shallows.

The captain even managed to pet one of them as it passed under our dock and the darned thing didn't even flinch!

If they had nasty fangs, you would never catch me back in the lake again. Fortunately they're scum-sucking bottom feeders and once spawning season is over, we likely won't see them again. Unless they appear as Bob did last year.

Here's what the wee FISHES book at the cottage had to say about carp.
(click the photo to view close up)

Flutter by

Ever since we removed that dense hawthorn bush directly in front of the cottage, our lilacs have been thriving. This past weekend they were in full bloom and the scent of them wafting onto the porch was heavenly.

It also attracted a fair number of bumblebees. Buzz buzz buzz.

And butterflies!

I lost count how many of them fluttered around the lilacs, but I managed to catch decent photos of a few of them.

This handsome guy is a Morning Cloak. He didn't sit still long enough to let me get any better pictures of him.

There were two question marks. It's not that I don't know what they're called. The name of the butterfly is actually "Question Mark". Way to be confusing, butterfly-naming people. Although I don't have the photo to prove it, there's a small, silver, question-mark-shaped mark on the underside of the hindwings. If you say so, butterly-naming people. You probably drew it on with a sharpie.

There were a few red admirals.

Dad says these are increasing in numbers, though I don't know if I remember seeing one before this year. I probably thought it was a monarch, if I did!

And then there was this guy. DARNED if I can't figure out what it is! Whatever he was, there were two of him, too. Not having a name for him is eating at me. I will now waste hours in a vain attempt to identify it. *

While I look, here's a freaky green bug that was in the garden. He's mesmerizing, no? Also, kinda creepy.

I sprayed him with a hose.

[later]
I still can't figure out what that butterfly is. DANGIT.

Lastly, the prettiest bug to visit was this Black Swallowtail. Isn't he gorgeous? (Why are all bugs "he"?)

He kept posing for me. "No, this is my good side.."

"Perhaps, if I stood.. Just so?"

"... and flapped my wings for you a little?"

It was a very good day for bug watching.

Now, if you'll excuse me, there's a bug up there and he needs a name.

* UPDATE:
Yah HA hahah! Nameless bug man is a Painted Lady.

Uhm.

Sorry ma'am.

UPDATE #2:
Here's the handy dandy website I've been using to help me figure out what these are:
http://www.discoverlife.org/20/q?guide=Butterflies

Happy bug hunting!

Dum dum bird

The bird house that is attached to the Junky Bunky is attracting new tenants!


I think it's a house wren, but I'm calling it a dum dum bird.

More than once this weekend, I saw it fly up to the perch with a lovely, nesty twig in its beak, only to watch it try to shove the twig through the hole sideways, giving up only when the twig fell to the ground.

Dum dum bird!

He's cute though. (She?) I hope he manages to get enough twigs in there to build a nest.