Cold and warm

Friday night's forecast for Saturday morning sounded foreboding, but turned out to be not so bad.

 

The guys spent another cold day in the woods on Saturday and I spent a warm day in the kitchen. 

It was roll day.  Finger rolls.  An annual tradition dating back to the 50s.  (Maybe even longer!)

Poppyseed, nut,  apricot, and strawberry-rhubarb.  The strawberry-rhubarb was a new flavor this year.  I only tried a few.  I think the filling needed more rhubarb for tartness.

Next Saturday I want to bake several other cookie recipes for Christmas.  Nothing like I used to bake.  I miss the baking, not the dishes. 

Christmas Tree Rock

 

All I wanted was a nice photo of some of the new hard-to-break Christmas ornaments.  But nooooooo. 

I lined up the photo.  Lighting was good. Everything in focus.

 

I forgot to ask Walt Kowalski to play defense.  Cat defense that is. 

 

Just as I snapped the photo, some furry four-legged creature jumped onto the tree.  We won't mention names.



 

 

 

 

Try number 2 was a little better.  A few metal ornaments are all that I use on the tree in the last few years.  I have lots of nice ornaments I've collected.  I need to display them elsewhere that is cat-proof.  I'll work on that for next year.

 

 
You can see Walt Kowalski's icicle lights in the background.  They are cool.  Blue LED lights that appear to be dripping.  It was a good compromise.  He wanted a 30-foot inflatable Grinch for on the roof to wave at the mayor. 

Last night, Walt Kowalski was flipping through the channels as I was putting up some decorations. 

He passed up some good singing and some bad, bad acting when he called to me in the other room and said 'How about that show with John Quiñones?'  

Now, with several walls between us, I could only partially hear him and replied 'What about Don Quixote? I thought you were watching the Sound of Music, not The Man of LaMancha.'

These are normal conversations in the Cat Ranch.  It never fails that as he says something a train chugggs by, a loud truck accelerates up the hill, or I turn on a noisy appliance.  It does make it interesting to try to figure out the conversation. 

Instead, we just let Cocoa Fluffy walk on the ceiling.  Instead of the song "Gold On The Ceiling," we sing it as "they wanna get my fluffy on the ceiling."  The girls don't mind walking on the ceiling.  Fudge doesn't like it at all. 

Really, these are normal everyday occurances at the Cat Ranch.  You should see of the things that go on around the house.  Then again, if you did, you might all the authorities.

Waterworks

 

Do you remember the game Waterworks? 

 

We played this game I was a kid.  We had the game in the exact same box as below. It was from Parker Brothers in 1972.  The game was for 2 to 4 players, so we bought 2 games so 6 of us could play. 

 

We would play at Granny and Pap's house (now the Cat Ranch) on their smoked glass dining room table.  They loved playing cards.  So did Grammy and Dad. 

 

Liverpool, Waterworks, Uno, Rook, spades, Phase 10, hearts, Skip-bo, Rummy, pounce, pinochle, 500, Old Maid, spoons, Pit. Just to name a few. (I loved Pit.) Those are just a card games!

 

Some of those games were too old for me, and some were played because I was interested. 

 

Actually, we loved playing all kids of games, cards games, board games, puzzles.  Still do.  Even when the ladies were out of college we would have a game night on Friday nights.  I think we might have to start game days on Sundays when the mamas of the houses don't have to work. 

 

Anyway, the game Waterworks. 

 

 

 

The stock and discard piles were kept in a bathtub.  Every player got a faucet (actually a hose bib) and a spigot. 

 

Each player was dealt an assortment of cards.  The cards included copper pipes (unbreakable), lead pipes that were leaky or vulnerable to leaks by other players, end caps, elbows, Ts, and 45s. 
 

You could play a card on your own pipeline or sabotage an opponent with a leaky pipe card. 

Each player also had two small wrenches that could be used to "repair" a break in the pipe. 

The goal of the game was to meet the required amount of pipe cards (based on players) and have no leaks or open ends.  The cards shown above would not be a winning board because there are two open ends that need caps.

The internet tells me they re-released the game as Classic Waterworks. It was fun.  Easy to learn.  I know I have this game in storage with all of the other board games.  

Oh, and the reason this all comes up is because when I showed Grammy pictures of Walt Kowalski working on the plumbing in the basement she said "It looks like Waterworks!"

Pounding and Plumbing

I have looked at House #1 on the property map, satellite map from above, and street views, yet I had no idea House #1 was right next to Christmas Town.

Over Thanksgiving break, we worked at the house early in the mornings and afternoons, leaving before dark, so we could enjoy the evenings by the fire.  Last night was the first we've been at House #1 after dark. 
Wowzers. 

There are six inflatables and lots of blinking lights you can't see in this photo. 

It will be even prettier with snow tomorrow evening.  (That love of Christmas sneaks out again.)

Walt Kowalski is still working on the Waterworks in the basement.  (What's Waterworks?)  There was a hot water tank in the basement when we bought the house.  It's dented and looks a little rough around the edges.  Walt Kowalski has his doubts if it will work or not.

 

This is a during the plumbing process.  I forgot to get another photo last night.  Walt Kowalski now has hot AND cold pipes running to the tank. 

 

Holding his breath, he tested the tank.  The tank holds water!  When he flushed the tank, the water ran clean, too.  Now we need a little power to test the heating element.  Even if the tank only lasts a few more years, we'll take it. 

 

The area behind the hot water tank will eventually be painted.  The furnace is next on the list.  Until then, it's too cold to paint.  I need to call the gas company.  

 

In the meantime, with a little assistance from Walt Kowalski we successfully removed the tub.   He pounded and pounded and pounded and pounded with increasing hammer sizes and strength.  The darned tub wouldn't budge.  There were no screws or nails holding it.  There was nothing we could SEE that was holding the tub.  Obviously it was a magic tub. 

 

Enough of this dillydalling around.  Get the sawzall. 

 

As it turns out, it was a fiberglass tub with a mechanism that locked the tub to a track screwed to the floor.  We didn't own a big enough hammer to break the tub. There was no way we could have removed the tub in one piece. Excellent system, but you would never be able to remodel and reuse the tub. 

 

 

The mama of House #1 and I also removed the layers of floor in the laundry room.  (The room with the fan in this photo.)

 

 

The laundry room was easy.  A few small nails, a little prying and POP! up came the floor.  She even tackled the hall and front entrance floors. 

 

The kitchen is not so easy. 

 

In total, we have counted two layers of vinyl flooring, a 1/2 inch piece of plywood, another layer of flooring with a tar paper backing, and finally several sheets of newspaper dating back to 1955. 

 

The amount of floor isn't the problem.  It's the nails.  They nailed the plywood, which is now the middle layer, with twist nails in 1-inch increments around all of the edges and in 5-inch increments across the entire boards.   

 

They used at least 200 nails on each piece of plywood.  *sigh* They must have had concerns that the floor might accidentally float up to the ceiling.

 

With a flat, long-handled coal shovel, a pry bar and a crowbar, the three of us were able to remove a single 3foot by 3foot section of plywood from the kitchen floor.  We are going to need the digging bar we use to remove rocks from the garden. 

 

Digging in the kitchen.  That will be Sunday's adventure.

Soupa!

 

The boys spent the day in the woods.  I spent the day making soup.  And brownies.  It's a soup time of the year. 

 

 

Turkey noodle soup.  It will also make an excellent pot pie next weekend. (Thank you to the mama of House #1 for the idea.) 

 

 

This contain a layer of brownie, a layer of peanut butter, a layer of chocolate, and crushed pretzels on top.  I love the sweet and salty combo.  I need more peanut butter in the next batch.

 

Cats and Carols

I love Christmas.  I love Christmas music and twinkling lights.  I love the first snowflakes and the heavy wet snows. I love wrapping paper and baking cookies.  I love the joy of the entire season. 

The first year Walt Kowalski and I were together he sat, smiled, and watched in amusement as I decorated the tree.  Christmas music was on in the background and I had a glass of wine as I put up the tree and turned on the lights.  Oohing and ahhing over each ornament that were pretty but weren't going to make it to the tree. Curling the ribbon on each bow. Adding the angel to the top.

I told him that when you meet someone in July you don't think to mention that you love Christmas come November and December. 

I switched the radio station at House #1 to one of the Christmas stations.  Walt Kowalski just rolled eyes at me.  Yesterday, Walt Kowalski was working in the basement and I was on the second floor.  Christmas music was playing on the first floor and Walt Kowalski yelled up to me through the hole were the chimney used to be 'This song has a great saxophone part.'

:) He is enjoying the Christmas music.  He even throws in his own versions of songs every now and then.  Here was last night's version:

Here comes Fluffy claws
Here comes Fluffy claws
Right down Cat Ranch Lane


Oreo loves the tree.  Fudge was the first to sniff it when we brought it in the house.  She was the first in the tree when it was standing. She would have sat there all evening.
 

 

 

 
Darn it, she's just too dang cute. 

Cocoa Fluffy didn't want to miss out on the action, but she didn't like the feel of the tree between her paws. 

Thanks and Giving and Plumbing

What a busy few days, but a productive few days.

 

Good food.  Good family.  Good work.

Here is Walt Kowalski carving the nice, fat bird on Thanksgiving Thursday.

 

 

Maybe I jinxed myself joking about cooking disasters. Maybe cats shouldn't be trusted to guard the pie. 

Here is why you always make two pies.  (Dear family, nobody at dinner ate this pie. Honest.)

I had a piece of plastic wrap on top of the pie, so he didn't walk IN the pie with his cat paws. Just put lots whipped cream in that spot.   

We had our usual daily visitor.  This squirrel just sat by the back door for 15 minutes.  I think he knew what he was doing and who was watching and waiting. 

Plumbing at House #1 has been the top priority on the to-do list this weekend.  Now that the main water line has been repaired, the water was turned back on.  Walt Kowalski worked all weekend planning and piping.  He's got lines from the basement running up to the kitchen, laundry room, upstairs bathroom, and the toilet in the basement.  No more bucketing water to flush.  Flush.

 

I got a lesson in toilet repair.  Probably not something I'll have to do often, but I'm glad I know how to do it. 

 

Hooking up the hot water is next.  Then the furnace.  Keep fingers crossed that the old hot water tank works. 

 

While Walt Kowalski was working in the basement, I was working on more demo the second floor. 

 

This is the old bathroom. 

 

Before

 
I removed four layers of tile floor and plywood before I got to the floor boards.  The floorboards were replaced many years ago, but they are still in good condition. 

After

 

The tub still needs to come out and we'll need many new floor boards to cover those holes.

 

Things I learned this weekend:

1. Timing is important to make a toilet flush.
2. When working on plumbing, cold water will always run down your sleeve to your elbow.  Maybe even your armpit.
3. Never trust a cat to guard your pie.