So... What are YOU doing? - Part 8

[tango]

Just picked up some thin hose from the hardware store. I need to spray foam between a concrete block wall and a concrete block chimney. The chimney is long since decommissioned but I don't know if anything is using it for structural support so removing it may not be an option. In any event removing it is going to be a fairly hefty piece of work, given just how many concrete blocks went into it. So I guess I'm stuck working around it as best I can. Maybe I'll crawl into the back attic space and figure if anything is resting on it and give some thought to removing it but as far as right here and right now is concerned I need to spray some foam behind it to stop the draft coming from that space. The only hose I could find is very flexible so I'll need to tape it to an offcut of cable to keep it at least fairly rigid, so I can poke it into the space I need to fill with foam.

I'm probably going to have to take down a wall between two rooms so I can stud it properly and when that wall is down it might become an option to take at least the top part of the chimney out. Assuming it isn't offering structural support to anything it doesn't seem like a job that requires any great finesse, as long as falling pieces of concrete don't land too hard on anything I want to keep. If it comes to that I might just rent a demolition saw to cut right through it.

 

[Naiwen]

Yo sup there all man! How are you today? Today, just playing some games on my phone before turning myself in tonight.

 

[tango]

Clearing out the crud around the chimney I found another gap in the wall, and sprayed an entire can of foam into the space behind the chimney, into the cavity, and filled the remainder of another cavity between a joist and wall. And now it feels a lot less drafty in my work room.

 

[Naiwen]

Howdy sup there! How are ye all doing today? This morning, I've just had the most pleasant and refreshing walk, breathing exercises, meditation and yoga session outside in the cold. The afternoon, just playing some games on my Switch before tucking myself in bed tonight.

 

[Naiwen]

Happy Friday all! How are you? Today, just enjoying my usual TV show before rocking myself to sleep tonight.

 

[Naiwen]

Happy weekend all! How are you? Today, I've just had leftover pizza for lunch. Tonight, just enjoying my new Chinese TV called "Let's shake it" before lulling myself to sleep.

 

[Stravinsk]

Curious.... I'd have thought it would be quicker to repair the mower than learn to use a scythe but sometimes it's good to have an excuse to learn a new skill.

It was exactly that - the excuse I was looking for. I had been thinking about getting a scythe for a while now.

 

[Stravinsk]

I spent a good deal of the day playing poker and increasing my account by 25% (it was a good day).

I also spent some time de-pitting plums from my tree for freezing. First year I've done that. I plan to learn how to properly bottle non-acidic fruit as well for storage.

 

[tango]

I spent a good deal of the day playing poker and increasing my account by 25% (it was a good day).

I also spent some time de-pitting plums from my tree for freezing. First year I've done that. I plan to learn how to properly bottle non-acidic fruit as well for storage.

My wife and I have taken to buying fruit in bulk when it's in season (and when it's really cheap) and preserving it. The first year we try something we estimate low so we don't end up stuck with a mountain of produce we find ourselves not actually using, and then adjust as needed.

We just opened our last jar of black raspberries so we know to get more next year. We learned our lesson when we bought a honking great box of green beans because they were priced so low they were practically given away. Three years later we still have a stack of green beans in the freezer.

 

[Confessional Lutheran]

Ordered a " special print" book from cph.org entitled " Genes, Genesis and Evolution" that should take two to three weeks to get here and an English Standard Version Pew Bible. I like my Lutheran Study Bible very much, but the notes sort of triple my Bible reading time. Just the text and a footnote here and there should be enough. I'm enjoying a Saturday off for a little bit of a change and the weather is just cool enough to call for a heavy jacket. The sun's shining pretty cold in the Northern Virginia area.

 

[tango]

Just trying to get motivated to do some electrical work. I'm going to need to get into the crawl space at the back of my attic at least twice to do this job. It's a tropical 25 degrees so I don't want to be in there any longer than absolutely necessary. Thankfully I'm connecting something to what is already a temporary solution so I don't have to keep going between the attic and basement to turn circuits on and off.

This piece of work will give me a light in the room I'm working in. I'm hoping it won't be all that long before I can reframe the room, then add insulation and sound proofing, then think about getting drywall hung and the radiator repositioned and reconnected. The radiator will require the ceiling in the room below to come down, although much of that ceiling is already down as part of my draft hunting project.

 

[tango]

I got my light wired up and working. Sadly the replacement lamp holder I bought seems to be faulty. It has a pull cord on it but however many times I pull the cord the light stays on. Maybe it will have to go back, but at least it's an easy enough job to replace it. It's just a hassle working over my head in a small space. The main thing is that I now have a light in my primary work room, so I don't have to stop work when the light fades.

 

[Naiwen]

Yo sup there all man! How are you today? Today, I've just had leftover pizza with lemon iced tea for lunch again. Tonight, just relaxing online before hitting the pillow.

 

[Lamb]

I'm watching Home Improvement shows on tv.

 

[Naiwen]

Howdy morning all! How are you? Today, I've just had my usual weekly 3 hours therapy session by phone and online. Tonight, just resting in bed before hitting the pillow.

 

[Stravinsk]

My wife and I have taken to buying fruit in bulk when it's in season (and when it's really cheap) and preserving it. The first year we try something we estimate low so we don't end up stuck with a mountain of produce we find ourselves not actually using, and then adjust as needed.

We just opened our last jar of black raspberries so we know to get more next year. We learned our lesson when we bought a honking great box of green beans because they were priced so low they were practically given away. Three years later we still have a stack of green beans in the freezer.

I'm new to preserving (in jars) non acidic fruit. Done it with tomatoes, but not non-acidic fruit. What do you use? A sugar syrup solution? If so, what percent? Do you heat or boil the fruit as well? Do you seal the jars in a special way?

I'm looking to keep the maximum amount of Vitamins in the fruit while also avoiding the danger of Clostridium Botulinum

​

Of course I'll be researching myself but it might be helpful to see what someone who already does it might say.

 

[tango]

I'm new to preserving (in jars) non acidic fruit. Done it with tomatoes, but not non-acidic fruit. What do you use? A sugar syrup solution? If so, what percent? Do you heat or boil the fruit as well? Do you seal the jars in a special way?

I'm looking to keep the maximum amount of Vitamins in the fruit while also avoiding the danger of Clostridium Botulinum

​

Of course I'll be researching myself but it might be helpful to see what someone who already does it might say.

For raspberries what we've done is add a small amount of sugar and a couple of teaspoons of corn starch to thicken it up slightly. We don't want it sickly sweet, hence not too much sugar. If I recall we reckon two quarts of raspberries boil down to one pint of raspberry syrup and we add (I think) half a cup of sugar for a little sweetness.

We heat the fruit and then use Ball jars with lids that seal themselves. If you hot fill the jars and put the lids on tightly you can tell when they are sealed because the lids pop down - they're much like the jars you buy in stores that say not to use them if the lid pops when you press it.

It's always tempting to press the little buttons on the lids but you have to resist the temptation - if they don't pop down by themselves you can't tell whether the jar is properly sealed.

 

[Lamb]

@Stravinsk I've never done any canning of preserves. The Amish do it all the time and the results are excellent but I have no idea how they do it. It's just easier to go down to their little stands and purchase what I need They even started putting a label with ingredients on their jars. Pretty cool.

Doing laundry and eating breakfast right now.

 

[tango]

A lot of fruit will freeze well.

Strawberries freeze but tend to be a bit soggy when defrosted. That said they'll be a bit soggy if you boil them down to a sauce too. Raspberries freeze well, as do blueberries. The reason we explored preserving in jars is partly because there's only so much space in the freezer and partly because I don't want to be in a place where a power outage can result in total loss of a year's stock of fruit.

 

[tango]

I need to talk to the company that provided my windows. The guy who fitted them did a really shoddy job, as I may have mentioned once or twice before. The most recent one I've exposed is a huge gap underneath one of my windows. Since the company that made them clearly have a very low opinion of him I'm hoping they can tell me what I need to do to fit this window properly. The main outstanding question is whether he put sealant around it before fitting it into the frame. The other windows I've checked so far have been sealed - it's probably the only corner he didn't cut when fitting them - but the drafts that were coming in around these windows are such I'm not sure he did seal these ones. If he didn't I'll just pack fiberglass into every nook and cranny until it gets warmer, I don't really want to be removing the entire window when it's below freezing outside.