What a glorious feeling (part 3)
On that note, I shut the door and trudged around to the front of the store.
Because it was so late—nearly noon—the morning crowd of old men had cleared out. The only one there was the shopkeeper and a lone man back at the “deli” (I use the word very loosely) getting a sandwich.
“Whatchew doin’, boy?” the shopkeeper asked with a grin. I try to stop by the store pretty regularly for little things, just to be seen and considered part of the community. Best I can tell, I’m being accepted.
Probably for comic relief.
“Trying to fix a bathroom problem,” I said. “You know anybody around here who’s good with plumbing and wants to make a little extra money?”
“I b’lieve Alvin does some plumbing work. Mostly electrical, but I think he does some plumbing.”
He turned to the back of the store and cawed Alvin’s name.
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“Man up here needs to see you,” he said, after Alvin responded.
We made small talk while Alvin finished getting his sandwich and shuffled down over to the cooler for a drink. How much we have left to do on the house, when we’re planning to move, things like that. The shopkeeper’s wife was very interested in how our floors had turned out. Alvin joined us and set his wax paper wrapped sandwich and a container of milk on the counter.
I introduced myself and explained the situation with the bathtub. The old men seemed to get a kick out of my descriptions of water spraying everywhere and my race to get under the house to shut the water off.
“It always takes me once to learn my lesson,” I said. “But once is all it takes.”
Alvin allowed that he mostly did electrical, but had also done plumbing from time to time when needed. He thought he could fix something simple like a faucet that wouldn’t shut off.
“Give me a little while to eat, and I’ll mosey on up and take a look at ‘er,” he said.
About fifteen minutes later he pulled into the driveway. It took him all of about five minutes to fix the problem. When the valve had blown out, one of the things that blew with it was a tiny spring that was laying in the dirty water in the tub. I never saw it.
“I didn’t know there was supposed to be a spring in there,” I said.
“You weren’t supposed to know that,” he said, which made me feel a little better about being such an idiot.
The faucet worked perfectly when the spring was in place. He gave me a lesson on the basics of bathtubs and faucets, and recommended we keep the faucet that was there because it (Delta) was much better than the one (Moen) we’d bought at Lowe’s. He told me several places we could find replacement knobs, and which had the best selection.
When he was done with the faucet and plumbing lesson, he wanted the fifty cent tour of the house. Over the years, he’d done lots of work on the house, mostly for the Nelsons. Miss Pearl, specifically. He’d been under the house plenty of times, and all through the downstairs, but never upstairs. He seemed to enjoy seeing the house, and told me that when he was a boy old man Nelson (who was very short in stature) used to sit out on the front porch all day long and watch people go by.
The stories alone were worth the forty dollars he charged.
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As it turned out, I needed to go find Alvin the next day, too, because some of our electrical outlets weren’t working. I won’t point fingers here, but I’d like to say that changing the outlets isn’t one of my duties in the Smallville house. I apologized profusely when I found Alvin, but he came down and made them work again. There were loose wires in the back of a couple, which was throwing off the whole circuit.
Another day, another forty dollars. And again, worth every penny.
Then, on Friday, I realized that the upstairs thermostat didn’t appear to be getting any power, so I went Alvin-hunting Saturday morning. A man at the grocery store directed me to Alvin’s house, where he’d seen Alvin’s truck parked when he drove by just a few minutes earlier. I felt like the world’s biggest pest went I rang the doorbell. Alvin assured me I wasn’t being a bother, but that he didn’t know much about air conditioners.
“Do you know anybody around here who does?”
“Sure do. Boy named Rodney Schrimsher over on Ingalls Road works on mine. Does a right good job.”
Back at the house, I looked Rodney up in the phone book and called him. He was willing to come over Sunday morning to look at it and see what he could find. What he found was a life saver: the 50 amp wire to the unit had come loose in the breaker box, and each time we flipped the power off and on for Robyn to work on the outlets and switches it was arcing. Slowly but surely, the plastic around the wire was charring. Finally, the breaker flipped, and that’s why there was no power getting to the thermostat and air conditioning unit.
In my defense, breakers were the first thing I checked. When this one flipped, it didn’t even go halfway so it still looked like it was in the ‘ON’ position. Rodney reconnected the 50 amp wire, and tightened all the other loose wires. He told me that if we’d flipped the breaker back without fixing the wire it would’ve kept charring until something caught on fire.
Cost of preventing a burned down house: $30.
Before Rodney left, I asked him if he knew anyone who’d be willing to install a couple of toilets and vanities for a reasonable price. I won’t lie: I’m ready to be done, tired of working on the bathrooms, and ready to pay someone else to do it. We already hired someone to do the tile for the showers, why not have someone else do the sinks and toilets? My experience putting the first toilet in was a nightmare (turns out the problem was a urethane reinforcement in the wax ring, and it took me about 4 hours—plus having my dad come out—to put it in), and I wasted two hours yesterday trying to put a pedestal sink in the half bath with no luck (though I think I figured the problem out last night while I was in bed).
So yeah, getting tired of the bathrooms, and ready to be done.
Rodney’s father-in-law works as a handyman, and does good work for a fair price, according to Rodney. I reckon I might be giving him a call here in the next few days. It seems that in a small town, someone always knows someone who can do most anything you need done.
And that’s pretty cool.
The high point of the weekend was the 90 minutes I spent breaking ground for our garden. I tilled it twice, once longways and once crossways. Let me just say that the tiller on the tractor kicks ass. Below are a couple of pictures of the finished product. What’s amazing to me is that this was sod when I started, and the tiller just chewed right through it without a hitch.
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It’s about 75 feet by 100 feet. I have big plans for this space.
The original plan was to have a small garden, maybe 20×40, with good southern staples: corn, okra, tomatoes, green beans, and some melons. Then I called my wife to ask her if she had anything to add to the seed list.
Our list has changed somewhat.
Now, we’re growing (or perhaps I should say trying to grow) :
Regular tomatoes, cherry tomatoes (2 kinds), cabbage, romaine, spinach, cukes, watermelons, cantaloupes, okra, blackeyed peas, pole green beans, sweet corn, popcorn, sunflowers, brussels sprouts, green peppers, jalapenos, sugar snap peas, yellow squash, white squash, and collards.
All those seeds (enough for this year and next, if not longer) were less than $50. That’s pretty awesome.
I suspect I’ll be a busy boy soon.
This will be sooo fun to see the pictures during the spring of this massive garden taking shape! Good for you guys!
DIY is great to a point and then you say “Just get it done already!” and hire it out. That’s ok! Why would you feel like an idiot?? They can’t go to your office and do your j-o-b can they??!!! Cut yourself some slack- you have done a tremendous job there. >
Growing a garden is so much fun! You can make your own salsa and can it! My hubby and I are helping my sister remodel her house. We totally gutted it and it has been taking forever! So,I know how you feel. The simplest little things like mudding the drywall was driving ME up the wall. You mentioned that you found after hard work an easier way of installing crown molding, can you share? Because, my sister wants that installed in her house. Thanks Fred!
Jennifer,
The easiest way to do crown molding is to make your cuts at 45 degree angles on the miter saw. To do that properly, you have to stand the molding in the saw like it’s going to be on the wall, as shown here:
http://www.dewalt.com/us/articles/article.asp?Site=woodworking&ID=2
For me, there ended up being a couple of problems doing it that way. First, my miter saw is only 10 inches and my molding is 5 1/8, so the saw wouldn’t cut all the way through the molding at 45 degrees. Second, the walls in our house are out of true because of the age of the home, so the pieces I *did* get cut ended up not fitting right.
What helped me the most was cutting a little fitter piece that I coped at both ends to fit in a corner. That way, I could make sure I was putting the “butt” pieces on correctly instead of at the wrong angle like I did in the first two rooms upstairs (which I’ll be redoing soon).
Take my advice, don’t try to grow brussel sprouts. I tried once and it was a lesson in futility!
Changing the outlets might not be your job, but YOU are the one who taught me to switch them out, so I think the fault lies squarely on your shoulders, fucker.
You probably know this but just incase you don’t I thought I would mention that you don’t grow jalapenos in your garden with the other veggies. Unless you want everything to be as hot as the jalapenos. I grew up with a garden. A fairly large one and my daddy grew just about everything. Which means I had to work in the garden from the time I could walk. My daddy always put the jalapenos on the other side of the house. I learned all kinds of tips on gardening since I usually spent my weekends working in it. And not by choice.
HA! Robyn you crack me so consistently up!
Plant some zucchini squash and you’ll be giving it away by the ton! LOL Really, just a few plants and you’re in business; and it DOES have many various recipe choices. I even froze some of mine to use in soups/bread as fillers.
Get some black seeded simpson lettuce (for very, very early cool spring) and you’ll have the best salad you can imagine. I still plant it in containers for my salads during spring/summer/fall. It’s delicate though, doesn’t like full or hot sun…so treat it gently.
Another thing you need to do is get your soil tested. We used to take ours to the farm supply store but that was a long time ago. Someone around there will tell you where to get it tested. Your tomatoes and squash need just the right PH levels. This is important especially since this is a new garden. We would get it tested then add what Nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, lime or magnesium. Whatever they told him it was off. Then we would add that and till it up. We only did that every 3 years or so. Around some of his gardens he would line them with cinder blocks and plant marigolds in the holes. Bugs don’t like marigolds and would keep most of the bugs out of the garden. In the fall we would rake all our leaves into the garden and till them up to mulch.
Oh- that tilled land makes me swoon! So much potential. I can’t wait to hear about what you grow there and see all the photos!
Thanks for the tips on the modling Fred! I am sure to pass them on to the hubby!
That’s a huge garden Fred! You’ll have more veggies than you know what to do with! Do you have a sprinkler or two available to keep it watered? Since it takes longer for it to ripen, corn can be a little tricky to grow due to the bugs that love to eat it as well.
I AM SO JEALOUS!!!! My dream is to have a small place in the country where I can have a huge garden and some poultry. With such a big garden though I think you’d need more than a couple of sprinklers, you’ll probably want to put in a good irrigation system that way your plants will be watered properly at the roots where it is needed, no water wasted!
So…between the chickens and the garden, are y’all trying to become self-sustaining? Would you consider raising rabbits? Do potatoes grow well in your area?
In all seriousness- it’s a great thing to do if you have the time- is it any less expensive than going to the grocery store? (I know the veggies will, but in terms of chicken feed, etc.)
If I start hearing tales of milking cows and a few head of beef cattle, I’m going to start worrying.
Great job on the house, by the way!
One other mention- does the walkin’ dude ever frequent the country store? I ask because I don’t want to think about what might happen if he starts hearing that you hired out help without going to him first…
Kate, not so much self-sustaining as taking advantage of the land to lower our food bills a bit. I’ve mentioned rabbits more than once but Robyn’s opposed, even though I tell her she can touch them with the fangers.
The chickens will get about 1/3 of their food from grass and bugs, and should produce more than enough eggs for us. Plus, they’ll eat most of the veggies we don’t, which should save even more on their costs.
A couple of the biggest reasons for the chickens are also (a) because they’re cool, and (b) it makes us feel good to know we’re getting our eggs (and possibly dinner) from chickens that aren’t cramped in cages their whole lives. That they’re, well, happy, for lack of a better word.
And the walkin’ dude can lick sweat off my balls for all I care.
Ewww…Fred, too graphic! I love your garden space, don’t forget to put some flowers in there too that can be picked and put in vases throughout the summer. Looking forward to seeing what you think about veggie gardening. Robyn…way to keep him in line!!!
I covet your tiller. ::::sigh:::
We circle our garden with marigolds (the old fashioned, really smelly ones)and plant a few rows in between to help repel the bad bugs and attract the good bugs. I don’t know how scientific it is, but hey, the locals swear by it and the garden looks pretty.
I’m a city girl transplant - here’s what we learned our first year planting a garden.
It will always be more work than you expected it to be.
Put boards or heavy mulch between the rows to give yourself a non muddy pathway..or invest in a really good pair of muck boots.
It will always be more work than you expected it to be.
Bunnies and Deer truly appreciate the fact that you’ve grown them their very own buffet.
It will always be more work than you expected it to be.
Your produce will taste better than any you’ve tasted before, there’s nothing better than munching on a tomato still warm from the sun while watching the sunset.
and it will always be more work than you expected it to be.
Good luck to you guys, I’ve throughly enjoyed following along with your progress.
and one day I’ll learn to proof my comments
Glad to hear you are finding people to help you out with the odd jobs….but please be forewarned that this kind of labor may cost you more in the long run: I have hired a few guys that came recommended to me, that were ‘deals’ because they had experience (but no licenses to back them up). You guessed it: some of the jobs turned out bad down the road. A couple had to be totally redone. And I had no recourse because I was dealing w/unlicensed people. So please, be careful. I’d hate to hear that you went through the hell that I did (and the extra $$$$).
Oh, and sorry about giving you advice, Fred. I just remembered you don’t care for that. Ahhhh, I meant well.
I LOVE your stories and the accompanying pics btw. I cannot wait until you and Robyn can move in….you will be so happy there, especially w/the knowlege that you made that house a home through a lot of hard work!
Being a former suburbanite turned country girl, we too had a huge garden our first year living out in the country. My god it was alot of work and it killed me to watch things rot on the vine because neither one of us had the time to tend to the garden everyday like we should have. We scaled back the next year to a few tomato and pepper plants. I hope you do better than we did!
However I will tell you that you are going to absolutely love being in the country. I never thought have 5 acres of space all to ourselves could be as nice as it is. I wish we had 50!
Sunds like you’ve got some awesome neighbors down there in Smallville. And hey, when someone does good work for a reasonable price, why not use them?
And I’m drooling in envy at your garden plans.
lol
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