Sunday mish mash

The weekend turned out to be much busier than I expected, but that's not a bad thing. I had expected to just veg most of the weekend but I came up with things to do, and I enjoyed being busy and active after all.

I decided to continue my recent trend of cleaning out closets since I've had such good success. First came the guest room closet a few weeks ago. That was so nice when it was done I was inspired to clean out the attic space that's an extension of the master bedroom closet. Surprisingly the master bedroom closet was in OK shape so after that came the office closet. It was a true mess; it hadn't ever been organized since we moved in so it was more than ready for a makeover. It took two full days but, while not a model of organization, it's much improved. Out came two full bags of garbage and a box-full of recycling, an older printer/fax machine, lots of outdated computer parts, and several unused containers for refilling the fish tank. In went a lot of organization and new laser printer that we got on sale the day after christmas. It's nice to be able to find things without stuff falling on me, and I just feel better when things are organized and neat.

in any event, the next task was to clean off a single shelf in the closet on the ground floor under the stairs. I installed the shelf when we first moved in to store hats and gloves on, but it became overcrowded in time. Sadly it was overcrowded with mostly hats and gloves; there wasn't a lot of other junk o n the shelf. We ended up getting rid of about half of what was on it so it's again organized and usable. Anthony ended up putting some things under the house for long-term storage so again the "cat closet" as we call it (because the cat box lives under the stairs in there) is usable.

After that, I decided to take advantage of the nice weather and do some work outside. Both yesterday and today were some of those perfect winter days we have in Seattle. It started off cold both days but there wasn't a cloud in the sky and it was incredibly clear. It's nice to have a break from the rain and clouds and see the mountains and enjoy some sunshine.

So anyway, the outside work... The snow in December damaged a lot of the plants out front and they needed tending to. We have two ferns that grew like crazy since we put them in ground and almost every frond was broken by the weight of the snow. We also had a "heavenly bamboo" plant that had grown a little too fast and was top heavy, and then got bent over by ice that needed help. I cut everything back to healthy plant material and cleaned it all up and it's looking OK. I think most, if not everything, will grow back in the spring. The only thing I'm worried about is a jasmine plant that was almost dead when I put it in the ground three years ago. It took off and had become huge and really attractive. Unfortunately all the leaves are brown on it, so hopefully it'll sprout anew.

Today we met a couple of friends for breakfast, friends that I realized we hadn't seen since Thanksgiving. Was a nice time with them. Anthony and I took a short nap while Jayson ran some errands with a friend. Anthony and I then headed to the gym and after that the market. I finally have a chance to sit at home and do nothing, but I just realized the time and that means that I need to start dinner. Ugh...

One task I want to get done tonight or tomorrow is to check airfares to visit my father and step-mother. They want me to come out for about a week (they're just outside of Houston) and I am really looking forward to it. I want to get that planned and on the calendar for early February hopefully.

I can't believe it's almost 19:00 on Sunday. The weekend flew by. I need to go back to work tomorrow to relax!

Back to the grindstone

I finally made it to work today, and with no problem. I'm surprised the side streets in town are still as messed up as they are, but the main roads seem to be clearing out nicely. Yes they are still a slushy mess but easily passable. It took me longer to get the snow and ice off the truck than it did to drive to work. I kind of enjoyed getting out farther from home and seeing the landscape. There is still a lot of snow around the area. Looking out my window at work I can see the south side of Queen Anne hill and every roof is still covered. Usually the roofs clear right away, but not this time. We ended up with a foot on the ground and drifts higher in some places. It seems as if it might stay around for a few more days, which means we'll have that ever-elusive white christmas.

And as it turns out, today is not only my first day in the office this week but my last. It's nice to work a 2 day week with one of those days being at home!

How to heat a high house

This will most likely be boring to anyone but me, but oh well! The layout of our house is somewhat unique and creates its own challenges. Our house is four levels and three stories high. All the "public" rooms are on the ground floor. One full flight up is a bedroom and bathroom. 1/4 of a flight up and across the hall is another room we use as an office (read: full of heat generating computers). 3/4 of a flight up from that is another larger bedroom and bathroom. One end of that room is a closet that is open to the room and at the back of that is a finished attic space that is open to the closet. Each room has electric wall heaters on individual thermostats. Yhere is a gas-fired "wood stove" in the living room on an electronic thermostat that stays at 68 when we're home and 63 overnight and during the day when we're gone.

The problem has not been generating heat. The problem has been how to distribute the heat evenly throughout the house. The gas stove in the living room is more than capable of heating the entire house. The problem is that the stairwell acts like a chimney and most of the heat goes right up to the top of the house, as it would be expected to do. So, we close the door to the top-floor bedroom to keep the heat out. The problem with that is with it being in the 20's outside, that room then quickly cools down into the 50's, which is way too cold. And, all that heat just pours into the office. If we leave all the doors open, the office gets even hotter than the bedroom. The heat seems to congregate at the top of that level and then add to the heat in the office from the computers. If we turn down the heat from the "wood" stove, the ground floor gets too cold to use and it seems silly to send heat upstairs to rooms we don't use that often.

So, how to keep from freezing in some parts of the house and burning up in others? We could use the electric heaters in rooms that are closed off but those are expensive to run. Going to bed in a 50 degree room is not a fun thing, believe me! The solution that seems to work the best is, believe it or not, a curtain. We used a tension rod to hang a set of curtains (simple attractive ones) across the hallway at the bottom of the flight that leads to the office. We have the option of keeping the curtains fully closed, opened in the middle slightly to allow some heat up, or opened all the way to all lots of heat upstairs. So far it's worked pretty well. When we have the curtains closed all the way the heat seems to be pushed back to the living room ceiling (which is open to the stairwell, and it heads back down the living room.

So that's our high-tech solution to keep the house temperature regulated without spending lots of money heating individual rooms we're not using. I'm surprised that a simple curtain could be so effective at keeping the temperature regulated within our tall narrow house, but as long as it works I'm happy!

More snow pics

After breakfast today I took a little walk with the dog to enjoy the snow some more. It was hard going since there's a layer of ice on top of the snow that is itself several inches deep. The dog was having a difficult time, and so was I, so we headed back to get warm. On top of that it's snowing again.

Happy Solstice

So, after today the days begin to get longer. Having all this snow on the ground is a great way to officially welcome winter...it certainly feels like it right now! When I first moved here over 10 years ago the short winter days seemed interminable. The short days seemed to go on and on and I thought we'd never have more light. Now winter seems to come and go very quickly. Just when I get used to it getting light late and dark early, it begins to change. Either I've simply adjusted or I'm getting older and time is just moving more quickly (or both).

I hope everyone enjoys the shortest day of the year and is happy to welcome winter!

More snow!

It's highly unusual, at least since I've lived here, to have it snow in Seattle while snow from the last storm is still on the ground. The flakes started very lightly this afternoon around 3:30 and it's been snowing ever since. Luckily Anthony and I were just walking back to the truck to finish our errands when we noticed it starting. We were home 5 minutes later, and the roads were already starting to get a new layer on them. I took the dog out later after dark and we romped in the empty field that's just around the corner from home. Supposedly we'll get 1 to 3 inches tonight, but as of now there's already 2 inches (or more) here at home, and it's supposed to snow all night.

I have to say, I'm really loving this weather! It definitely feels like winter, as opposed to just the greys skies and rain we usually have. I took a quick walk around the block to try to get pics but they didn't turn out so I'm not showing them anyone. But, it's really beautiful outside. The city is almost always loud, but right now there are no cars on any of the roads and it's just silent outside. It's also so bright I could read a book from the light reflected from the snow. I'm anxious to see what's on the ground tomorrow morning. I intend to be out playing in it!

I guess I sound like I'm gushing, but this type of weather (which is common in many other parts) is a rare treat here.

Scenes from a snowy south Seattle

Forgive the alliteration in the title, but it's after 8:00 PM and my brain shuts down around 7:30. It snowed all day here, and it was great. Usually the snow turns to rain part way through the day here, but today it stayed snow all day long. I worked at home and enjoyed watching the snow out the window throughout the day, and each time a new round would start it was really exciting. The weather forecast called for 1 to 3 inches, and by 4:00 this afternoon there was easily 6 to 8 inches in our neighborhood. I got out a couple of times with the dog and he loved romping in the snow. I have to say that I enjoyed it too and took several pictures on both outings.

It's odd snow...odd in that the temperature isn't really that cold (around 30). Water in our pots our front isn't even frozen; it's all just slushy. But, the snow is very dry and powdery, which would seem like it was colder outside. Underneath the snow is a layer of slush that's easily compacted into ice. Anthony and I made a run to the grocery store in my truck and even in 4x4 "low" there wasn't great traction. The 4x4 did help get moving but I used the engine to slow down about 95% of the time. It was OK to drive, except trying to put into the alley behind our house. I lost traction on the turn and almost got stuck halfway in the street. Due to my deft maneuvering and superior vehicular control abilities, I got the truck out and went around the block to get into the alley. I won't be taking either vehicle out of its parking space until the roads are melted.

All the slush under the snow will become solid ice overnight, and that's not going to pretty tomorrow. I'm already planning to work from home again since I'm not about to get out and play bumper cars just to get to work. I am hoping the snow hangs around for at least a couple of days. It's nice to look at, nice to be out in, and also a nice change of scenery around here.

One other interesting thing today was the hummingbird that came to visit. We have a plant called a Mahonia planted in front of our stairwell window. It blooms in the winter with a spray of tiny bright yellow flowers. We were told by the nursery that the flowers attract a species of hummingbirds native to Washington. As I was walking down the stairs mid-morning I looked out and there was a hummingbird having a feast on the flowers. He was much more rotund than other species I've seen but was still bright green with a vivid red spot on his chest. He was dining for several minutes and even took a break and sat down on the leaves a couple of times. Sadly he was gone before I could get the camera but it was a real treat to see something like that in the middle of winter.

And for your viewing pleasure, pictures from the day.