It's not the actual 75th anniversary of the start of the New House Blog, but it is the 75th Episode, so the title is not completely inappropriate. In this Episode we once again visit the Parents' House, we install some more pavers, and we discover a few ancient artifacts. There will also be a Feline Interlude.
Kitchen Faucet Replacement
We at the New House Blog received a call (or maybe it was a text) asking for help with the kitchen faucet at the Parents' House. Said text (or was it a phone call after all?) came from my parents, and they mentioned that their kitchen faucet had been leaking for a while and they asked for our help in repairing it. We were happy to help out, and as we happened to have a spare brand-new-in-the-box kitchen sink faucet lying around (doesn't everyone?) we figured it would be quicker and more effective to just replace the entire faucet and not worry about repairing the old one. Becky was not available for this job, so I headed over to the Parents' House with my tools and know-how. This repair was pretty straightforward, requiring only a quick trip to Home Depot for a new cold water inlet hose and inlet valve.
This first photo is, of course, the old kitchen faucet in all its leaky glory.
It was leaking from multiple parts. It's a Delta, and I would have expected it to last longer than 17 years.
The Parents House came with the funky inlet valve you see on the right - it and the hose are a single unit. You may remember seeing such a valve in
this Episode, and as I did when we replaced the dishwasher in the Parents' House I replaced it with a Sharkbite brand PVC-to-threaded connector. To this new connector was connected a new threaded inlet hose.
This is what the undersink hoses look like after the faucet installation was complete. Note the handy battery-powered work lights.
This is the new faucet in its leak-free glory. It is an upgrade from the old, leaky faucet, and not just because it doesn't leak. This new faucet has one of those nifty pull-out spray nozzles that are all the rage today. It's a Glacier Bay Brand, and you should be able to find one at your local Home Depot.
Feline Interlude
Now it is time for a Feline Interlude.
Satchmo is chilling out in the back yard during one if his too-infrequent (to his mind) visits outside.
And Edgar is chilling out in in the reefer.
Edgar again - this time in the freezer.
More Pavers
We laid down some more pavers recently, but not for the purpose of creating more walkways. These pavers were partially buried in the ground, to act as a border and retaining wall - similar to what we did in
this Episode. These new pavers were installed at the edge of our front yard by the sidewalk. We were not completely happy with the way dirt, debris, and plants seemed to spill out onto our sidewalk, and we wanted to clean up the area and prevent dirt and weeds from cluttering it up again. But we didn't want a huge retaining wall, and we didn't want to pay someone to grade our front yard, so we came up with our own solution - a low row of pavers to hold dirt in and keep the sidewalk clear.
This is the start of the project - digging in the dirt. Notice how the plants and weeds all spill over onto the sidewalk.
The first pavers are laid.
At the end of the run, on the border of our neighbor's yard, we encountered this buried concrete obstacle. It appears to be some sort of post foundation - more on this artifact later.
This is what our beautiful new brick border looks like after completion.
This is the same brick work as seen from the other end. Note the lack of dirt and plant material spilling onto the sidewalk.
There was one casualty on this job - a favourite hand spade of mine broke.
Back Yard Archaeology Update
All of the following artifacts were uncovered in the front yard while excavating for the laying of pavers, but we at the New House Blog have been including all pre-Bishopian artifacts under the umbrella of Back Yard Archaeology. The first two artifacts can be seen together in the photo below.
We see a lenght of PVC pipe - possibly part of an ancient sprinkler systerm - and a tube of some kind of chemical. It might not be clear in the photo, so I will tell you what is written on the tube. The first line reads, " Royal Creations Inc." The second line reads, "THE INNOVATORS IN READY TO ASSEMBLE FURNITURE." (Yes, it is in all-caps on the tube.) At this time we do not have any further information on who or what Royal Creations Inc. is or was. Our best guess is that it is/was a furniture manufacturing company of some sort. Why this tube was buried in our front yard is another mystery in the ongoing research into the pre-Bishopian culture.
Artifact number three was mentioned above. It appears to be a post foundation of some sort, but the hole in the center is not a true square. We don't know what this concrete post foundation was intended to hold, and it's the only one we have found in the front yard so far. Due to its depth and construction type this may be an artifact from the Old Ones, those who pre-date the pre-Bishopians. If so, this would be the third Old Ones artifact found to date. All three of the Old Ones artifacts have been one-offs - that is, each has been found alone and not in the company of any other post foundations. It's almost as if they were placed at random to hold up random posts. Where will we find the next one? How many more are out there to be discovered?
This one was a battle to unearth. It was deep, stubborn, and I didn't want to dig into the neighbor's yard to unearth it. I use Sledge to loosen it up and break it up a bit, and what you see in this photo is the artifact reassembled.
The artifact from another angle. It might not be clear in this photo, but the hole in the center is not actually square.
This is the artifact in pieces.
Concluding Flower
And now for the concluding flower.
One of our baby toes was in bloom recently. We didn't even know they had the ability to bloom, but there it is. The other baby toes has not bloomed yet.
Happy 75th Episode, everyone!
bIsh
