Our Olde House: August 2024
I was feeling pretty good riding around the backyard on my mower, cutting the sod and thinking that mowing once per week was not that bad. I thought I was being careful when I mowed over the sprinkler hoses snaking around the yard, but the mower blade managed to snag a hose which instantly stalled the motor; another Mister Smartypants award for me.
Fortunately, Miss Sherry knows a guy who fixes mowers so we called him to come and get it. While the mower was having the hose removed from the motor, it seemed like a good time to also have its oil changed, get all new filters, sharpen the blades and get a new battery. The mower came back better than new, and I promised myself not to have the blades moving whenever the hoses are driven over. I was able to repair the severed hose after a trip to the hardware store; it is a few feet shorter than before, but it will do for now.
I saw something moving under the house, but it was visible to the camera too briefly to identify. I assumed it was a rat since it seemed to be about that size. I set up my rat traps and looked at the camera the next morning. I got a better look at it and realized it was a small possum; too big to fit in the rat trap and not at all interested in the sunflower seeds rat bait. I found my small live trap and put it under the house baited with cat food; the little guy was caught and removed the next day. Apparently one more hole under the house; it’s too hot to look for it today, or tomorrow, or before Christmas.
We have had one kitchen drawer that opens itself when it is loaded with cat food. After scaring the bejesus out of me a couple of times by opening itself when I was looking, I decided to fix it. My first thought was to make a magnetic drawer catch; I like magnets because they do not wear out. I ordered some very small and very strong magnets that came with glue on one side. Unfortunately, the magnets were much stronger than the glue so after about three uses the magnet was no longer glued to the drawer. I spent a month testing different glues that were supposed to stick to the wood drawer and the metal magnet, without any success. I was wondering if anyone makes decent glue anymore, and I finally did find a type of super glue that sticks to both surfaces, so that now the drawer is well behaved and stays closed.
This year 2024 marks the 100th year anniversary of when the first Landrum purchased this house. Miss Sherry ordered a historical marker to commemorate this occasion, but the marker will not be delivered for several more months. The house currently is occupied by the third generation of Landrum owners.
In thinking about this house one hundred years ago, besides the two major additions, this house has been wired for electricity twice, had indoor plumbing installed with water and sewer connections, and had natural gas and ducting added for heat. It is hard for me to imagine not having these conveniences/necessities, but people of yore were definitely tougher and knew how to make things work with what they had; no reports of whining back then.
The recent past has brought in air conditioning which makes me wonder how anyone lived here before it without whining about the heat. We also have cable TV and broadband internet now, but a plausible argument can be made that these are not actually improvements. Miss Sherry just had our TV/Telephone/Internet package upgraded to fibre. We had discussed having this upgrade occasionally the past few years, but decided it was not worth it since our service was fine. Miss Sherry changed her mind and decided to get the fibre upgrade a week after the cable company sent a letter saying ‘upgrade to fibre or we will cancel your service’; I was hoping for at least a ‘Bless your heart’ at the close of their threat, but no.
We finally solved a long-running mystery at our front door. When people approach our front door the various sensors and motion detectors alert us to their presence, so we walk to the front door and answer it. For the past couple of years, the mystery has been ‘why does no one ring the doorbell’ when they get to the front door. One day a while ago I pressed the doorbell button as a joke upon entering the front door, but the doorbell did not ring. I pressed it again, and again no sound. I managed to get the doorbell to ring if I pressed the button just right.
After fiddling with the button and bell, I discovered that the bell worked if I shorted the doorbell wires; mystery solved. Miss Sherry bought a new doorbell button and I replaced the old one that was no longer working. Of course the old wires did not reach the terminals on the new button so I had to cut a new channel in the wall so I could attach the wires. This in turn required some touch up paint around the new button, after patching the holes and finding the correct paint. Not simple, but not terrible either. I will take that any day.
