Dan's Ramblings

Dan here ~

Monday evening. I hope you all survived the foul weather of the last 24 hours. Warm weather and rain meant that most of the snow is gone along with much of the ice on the pond. I had measured about 2”-2 1/2” of ice out about 10 feet offshore. At the time I could hear the ice complaining and cracks arriving all around me. I was kinda glad I was only in about a foot of water. I didn’t break through. 

I put a thermometer under the faucet in the kitchen the other day, 45 degrees. Remember we get our water from the pond. Luckily the intake is near the bottom, well away from the leaves. Speaking of leaves, there are quite a few along the edge that would be nice to remove but it seems doubtful that it will happen before winter.

I had a little fun on Friday. I thought I could hear something in the bathroom. A slight hiss. Carol then stated that she had heard the pump come on three times during the night. After she headed to an appointment, I decided that taking the front cover of the water heater cabinet was in order. I proceeded to dismantle the closet and sure enough, everything is wet and upon closer inspection I discover that the water heater had sprung a leak. 

I proceed to call Home Depot to determine the procedure for warranty replacement. I had replaced it in May of 2021. They tell me I need to call the factory and get a replacement number. After talking to the woman for almost 45 minutes I convince her that no, I don’t need to put down the phone and go check after each of her suggestions of what the problem could be other than tank failure. I finally convinced her that I had been repairing and replacing water heaters for close to 50 years and know the difference between a leaking pipe above the heater and the heater itself.

Eventually I received the necessary number and went to Home Depot to get a replacement. I won’t even go into the ineptitude happening there. I eventually got the new heater home and installed it and wired it up and it works great. Hopefully that this is not a project for every 2- 1/2 years. At least I still remember how.

The birds have found the feeders and seem to be back to their usual antics. Blue Jays, Juncos, Tufted Titmice, Chickadees, Nuthatches, several different type of Woodpeckers, Eastern Bluebirds and vast mobs of Finches. I bought some new food, I had been holding off to see if the birds were going to show up. Well they are here in force. 

Carol was looking out the window the other day (remember I’m old, the other day is anywhere from yesterday to a week ago) and let loose an expletive as she pointed east up the beach. I look and see about 30 turkeys walking towards us on the beach. I thought, nope, not putting up with them, so I started to take potshots at them with the pellet gun. I was in hopes the noise would scare them away. It took repeated tries before they headed back from where they came. I found some shells for the 20 gauge for next time, bigger bang. Pellet gun noise works well for the ducks when they are on the swim float in the summer though. Don’t think the turkeys are afraid of much.

I finished Quilt #42 for 2023 quilt last night. It was early enough that #43 is well on the way. On #42 I decided that I wanted to use up the rest of the yellow/gold 5” Corner Beam blocks.

These were left over from an earlier quilt. I coupled them with some other orphan blocks and made new ones as necessary. I thought it would be fun to use a directional fabric as the frame around and between my smaller blocks. 

Was a little of a challenge to keep it always in the same direction. I don’t think I screwed up anywhere. My sashing for this quilt ended up being 5" x 12-1/2”.  I decided to piece something in the center 4” x 10” section and frame from there to get to the needed size. 

When I drafted the sashing strip block I had in my mind that I would be using the 4-patch units I had in abundance in my “someday” pile. Only problem was when they were made I was just making 4-patches, no set light/dark layout. I laid out a few for this quilt, and needless to say, I did not like them. So proceeded to make all new 4 patch units. I was pleased with the effect these gave me. 

2023-42

 

There is a little whimsy thrown into the Diamond Rects units. I found a couple of boots and some frogs I could not help but fussy cut for the diamond centers. I was very pleased with the results.

The blocks are well on the way for #43 but have not arrived at an acceptable sashing strip yet. I’m sure when the time comes something will happen. 

Enjoy your week, I have no idea why the weather will bring us this week, I guess I’ll take it day by day. It’s sew season anyway. Be safe.