Snow and Furniture

Topics this time: Winter returned with over 9 inches of snow on the ground. We put two pieces of recycled furniture to good use. Cooking supplies and old cameras were unpacked and arranged. There are several photos to document these activities!

The most recent snowfall took place this last Thursday, February 19th. The forecast was for 2 – 6 inches of snow; we “officially” received 9.1 inches of the white stuff.

I dedicated a great deal of time on Friday to clearing snow from sidewalks, alleyway, and mail boxes. Machines did some of the work but there was plenty of hand shoveling as well. My little 5hp Torro blower and the John Deere LX 176 were pretty much pushed to their limits when going through drifts or berms pushed up by the city snowplows.

These shots, taken this morning, shows portions of the cleared sidewalks and “cat paths” around the yard.

“Cat paths” is the term we use to describe the narrow paths we clear around the yard. These are for the outside cats and for us to use as well. In the photo above, note the corn cob feeder in the right-hand tree. The acorn feeder and heated water dish are in the left-hand tree, although the water dish is out of sight from this angle. All require access. In the background, a path goes around the trailer and out to the alley giving neighborhood cats access to the food and water Pam puts out for them. The food and water dishes are along the garage to the right of this photo.

There are additional cat paths around the western part of the yard. These include one from the front of the catio, around the dead oak, to the cat ramp and then on to the LP tank and a 2nd alley access point. (The ramp lets cats access the inside of the catio.) We certainly wouldn’t want kitties having to struggle through drifts to get to food and water! Many of these paths are hand-dug as they pass over a loose rock base.

The snowstorm is not the only news this time. In the last week or so we completed two long-term projects: additional storage for the kitchen, and a display cabinet for my collection of old cameras.

I have been checking Facebook Marketplace for a kitchen storage unit. Pam wanted to organize her baking supplies in a single spot that was readily accessible. I found an acceptable unit for sale in Waverly, which is about an hour from us.

There was a slight problem with one of the doors, as a locating dowel had broken off. I drilled it out and replaced it with a new one, not a big deal.

Tho organizing required the construction of another full shelf and a couple half-shelves to accommodate the items Pam wanted in this cabinet. I used some material I had left over from another project, my camera display case, which I will discuss shortly.

Pam says she is quite satisfied with this new arrangement; she was able to unpack things that had been stored in Ziplock bags and small boxes, such as cookie cutters. A few items had been removed from the far reaches of upper cabinets, hard for her to access (requiring a step stool to get to them).

A quick thank you to Becky who came to Waverly from Greene to help me pack the display case for transport back to Elma.

The other project had been in the works for a bit longer. I had been looking for a display case to house my collection of old cameras but the unit had to meet very specific size restrictions, as it would be placed in the upstairs bathroom. The reason for having the case in a bathroom location is it provides a ‘pony wall’ to hide the toilet from the hallway when the bathroom door is opened.

I found a used unit but it needed work. There was only one glass shelf and no back. The glass rattled in the doors and only one door had a closing clip. Hardware replacement parts were not hard to find, as these were pretty much stock hardware store items. The problem was obtaining tempered glass shelves.

Eventually, a set of three shelves the right length appeared on Facebook Marketplace. While not quite as wide as the original shelf, they would work OK. I had to drive to Dubuque to get them, a fair way to drive, but the price was right.

I had received quotes for new tempered glass replacements, most coming in at around $60.00 per shelf. The three on Facebook were listed for $10.00 for the set. Add in the cost of driving to get them, the glass shelving ended up costing me about $35.00, a savings of around $150.00.

This is the reconstructed lighted cabinet with my collection in it:

I will reorganize the collection at some point, putting age-appropriate cameras together, but for now it’s good just to have them out of their basement boxes. Eventually I will paint the back panel white and am looking at covering it with mirrored tiles in an attempt to lighten the interior.

None of the cameras are worth much, but a few, like my old Pentax MX, have some good memories associated with them. Another belonged to my father. There are more cameras to be added to this collection, including a few of Pam’s (one a Brownie box belonging to her mother), plus one using flash cubes (remember those?) with a flash cube extender (deluxe!).

That was our last couple weeks: working on display cabinets and moving snow. I also listed my old Mac Pro on eBay and am waiting to see if it sells.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Penny

Reorganizing kitchen shelves/pulling baking items together in some logical location has been on my mind since moving here (in 2019). Spacial limitations in the Heart House kitchen ruled out many storage options. It seems every upper kitchen shelf invented is wa-a-ay out of convenient access/reach for us folks in the 5’3″ (and shrinking) height range. Items stored at upper shelf height are best limited to “used-once-a-year” stuff, not monthly baking.

Interesting — I now consider acquisition of additional furniture items in a different way. How heavy are they? How bulky? Can two old people move them easily? Are the items something I want to be looking at until I die? These considerations provide a new overlay to purchases. (Is this morbid? practical? both?)

I’ve been watching the Winter Olympics the past two weeks, also with a new (geriatric) perspective. Some of these “sports” – half pipe snowboarding, bobsleds and luge, ski jumping with (or without) tricks – these are FUN? I can’t help but wonder if the young participants will have lots and lots of physical issues as they age. The Lindsey Vonn example comes to mind. (Morbid? practical? both?)

Rock on.