New House Blog: Episode CII - A Tale Of Two Sinks

Spring is here.  And with spring comes the end of accursed shamrock season and the beginning of waspy season (more on that later).  Lawns have received their first mows of the year, bushes and succulents have been trimmed, and the weather is turning warmer.  Normally spring would also bring with it new planting at our California House, but with our upcoming move it doesn't seem to make sense to plant new plants that we will not be able to fully enjoy, so we will probably not be planting anything here this spring.

The Tale Of Sink #1

Sink #1 resides at the Parents' House.  The sink itself was fine, but after more than 5 1/2 years of use the old reliable Insinkerator Badger 100 disposal beneath the kitchen sink (installed by me in this Episode) decided to get jammed up and stop working.  After several attempts had been made to get the thing going again (unsuccessfully), I was called in to replace the old reliable with a new reliable - an Insinkerator Badger 5xp.  This was an increase from 1/3HP to 3/4HP.  Let the disposing begin!

The old reliable, no longer wanting to function as intended.

Here you see it uninstalled, and reposing in the sink after 5 1/2 long, hard years of work.

The new reliable.  Note that Insinkerators can now be purchased with a power cord pre-installed.

All of the under-sink fittings look like they should line up nicely.

Yes indeedy - all of the existing fittings lined up perfectly.  I did not have to adjust a thing.  So far there are no leaks.













The Carpet Flange

You may recall that in this Episode we had to install a carpet flange (no, I don't know if that is the actual term, but it seems appropriate) because of some cat claw damage.  Recently we had to install another carpet flange, but not as a direct result of cat claw damage.  The border between the top stair and the master bedroom suite had become quite frayed and degraded from years of being walked on, so we installed a carpet flange to protect said border.

Satcmo is checking out the new flange before final installation.  I don't recall if he offered to help out.

Edgar is checking out the fully-installed carpet flange.  Ultimately, he approved of the quality of workmanship.









Spring Planting

Spring planting?  How can there be spring planting if we're not planting anything this spring?  Fair question.  The answer is that we did plant something this year, but not in the spring.  Last year, among other packets of seeds, we found mustard greens seeds.  The package said that they would be good winter ground cover, and they could also help to replenish the nutrients in the soil.  This sounded good to us, so we got us some mustard greens seeds.  Sometime in late winter we cleared out the weeds in the food garden and we planted the seeds.

This is our food garden after de-weeding and seeding.  Note that we left the strawberry patch intact, and also the flowers we planted in the hope of attracting bees.

Several weeks later this is what the new growth looked like.  They're still pretty small, but the mustard greens are definitely growing.  Some new weeds are growing, too.





The Tale Of Sink #2

As with Sink #1, the sink itself was fine, but something connected to it was not.  The something, in this case, was the faucet.  Over the past almost 7 years we have noticed a gradual decline in water pressure coming from the kitchen sink faucet, and everything leading to the sink seemed to be fine.  Water pipes were providing plenty of pressure, and hot and cold hoses were still providing plenty of pressure, so the culprit seemed to be the faucet itself.  Time for a new kitchen faucet.

We like the faucet, but not the low water pressure coming from it.

The old under-sink setup.

A close-up shot of the old-school shutoff valves.  This project provided a good opportunity to upgrade to the modern 1/4 turn style.

Where do all of those hoses go?  What do they all do?

The sink has been cleaned up, and it is ready to receive its new faucet.

All of the new connections are connected.  We also took this opportunity to replace the tubing leading into the eSpring water purifier.  The old tubing had some rust-induced discoloration.

The new faucet seems to have more water pressure than the old faucet.


















Spring Waspys

Remember the waspys mentioned in the introduction?  A few weeks ago Becky noticed some waspys (also known as wasps) flying around the eaves of the house, directly over our-2nd story balcony.  Upon further investigation she noticed a couple of waspy nests beginning to take form there.  As she spends time on the balcony reading (in sunny weather), this was seen as an undesirable development.  It also signaled the start of spring waspy season.  We killed those particular wasps, and their nests, and set out some fresh waspy traps.

Last year's waspy trap was pulled up and disposed of, and a freshly-baited trap was installed.

We also placed a fresh trap in the front yard, and both traps have attracted some customers.  Our third trap, in the pear tree, should be in-place soon.
















Spring Cleaning

A while back I inadvertently left Willy out in the front yard.  After a few months and a bit of rain I rediscovered Willy, slightly rustier than when last used, and in need of some cleaning.

There's a bit of rust, but it's not too bad.  It was about the same on the other side, and on the metal part of the handle.

Willy cleaned up pretty well, and the cutting edge received a fresh sharpening. 












Spring Weather

The photos below were taken at my workplace less than a week apart in March.  They were taken before the equinox, so technically they're still winter pictures, but they provide an interesting contrast and example of the fluctuiating weather in March.

An elusive and rare ground rainbow.  This photo was taken on March 6, through a window (which is why you see some reflection on the left side).  It was quite beautiful to behold.

These next to photos were taken on March 11, after a particularly rainy and chilly night.  This is the same neighborhood pictured above, from a different angle.  All of that white is not actually snow - it is either hail or sleet.

This is a soccer field at my workplace.  In all of my years living in the Bay Area, I have never seen anything like this before.  It was quite beautiful (and chilly).







Why does he keep calling them waspys?
    bIsh