But read that first paragraph again. Did you catch it? Not the "hind-sight is 20/20" revelation. Before that.
....I worked on the house yesterday...... (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
As this blog shows, during the months of June and July I was completely lacking motivation to do any work on the house. Actually, that feels like an understatement. "Lacking motivation" sounds apathetic. The reality was during the months of June and July I loathed the idea of picking up a scraper, sand paper or paint brush. It was much nicer to come home after work, ignore the unfinished areas, the piles of tools and unpacked belongings and instead make real dinners for the family, fold (and put away!) laundry, read a chapter from Anne of Green Gables to the kids, and have an hour or so to myself each night.
But it's August now - and I've spent the last two Saturdays working on the house from sun-up to sun-down - and (I think I better whisper this)................I've been enjoying it again. :)
I snapped these pictures this morning. Last weekend I yanked all the weeds growing along the sidewalks in front of the house, but I left this morning glory that has grown up the old gate in front of the house:
Most of my attention last weekend and this has been focused on two windows on the back of the house. These are the last windows that needed to be scraped, repaired, primed and painted. At left is a picture of the window I worked on yesterday.This window presented a couple of challenges. First we apparently have a hive of bees living in the stone wall between these two windows and the main entrance is between the wood window frame and the stone wall just below the upper right corner of this window. I managed to plug the hole with caulk saver and some caulk, but that didn't stop the bees from milling about, trying to get back into their home. Amazingly I did not get stung, but Charles (who mowed the lawn yesterday) had plenty of opportunity to laugh at my antics, scampering up and down from the window repeatedly throughout the day as the buzzing around me waxed and waned.
Which brings me to the second challenge presented by this window - getting away from any overzealous bee was not as simple as taking a few steps down a ladder. That's because this window is located over the Bilco basement walk-out door. After a few tries at leaning precariously over the Bilco door I rigged some makeshift scaffolding, namely a board between two ladders. Below is a picture of yours truly at work scraping. The window to my right (by the Little Giant ladder) was the focus of my attention last week.
As I write this morning the window is primed and caulked and waiting for paint, which is what is in the plans for after church today.
By the time I finished the sun was setting, and I took the camera with me on a walk around the pasture. Here's one last picture for this post. It's a familiar shot of the house, this time in the glow of a setting sun:
Are those honeybees in your wall? If so, you really should contact a local beekeeper about that hive, something I wish you'd done before sealing up the entrance to a live beehive. The outside bees probably can't get in, but you've also sealed live bees, a queen, and honey inside your wall. And, the flowers and fruit trees in your area depend upon bees for pollination. This is probably coming across a bit harsher than I mean for it to, but I am passionate about honeybees and hate to see a hive destroyed.
ReplyDeleteThey are honeybees, Jayne. But in addition to the entrance I closed by the window there are two other entrances to the hive where mortar is missing between stones in the wall just to the right of the window.
ReplyDeleteHow could I go about finding a local beekeeper though? Because we are hoping to have the back of the house repointed eventually and at that time all entrances would be blocked. (Plus I imagine our masons would appreciate having the bees out before start working on the wall!)