Friday, December 4th, 2009
For information on Hunt Christmas Tree Farm, please click here.
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Here we go, Christmas tree 2009.
Thursday was the day. We didn’t know if the weather was going to cooperate any more than it has and there is nothing worse than trying to find and cut down a Christmas tree in the snow. Actually, I have never done that and now that I think about it, it might be fun. Either way, I truly enjoy walking around Christmas tree farms hunting for the “one.”
As usual, I didn’t have much of a choice. When she gets going, she gets going. It’s like I walk around talking to myself. Have you ever seen “Napoleon Dynamite?” Do you know who Deb is? That’s who she is like. She walks around with her hand on her chin, completely focused. She usually gets the third or fourth tree she wants. I have to snap her back to reality regarding dimensions. “No dear, I am not pulling that thing back to the car. No dear, I am not dragging that through the front door. No dear, the bottom won’t even fit in the stand.”
This year, we visited Hunt Christmas Tree Farm in Coventry, CT to cut down our 2009 Christmas tree. We were pretty much the only ones on the lot. We planned it that way because I didn’t want to be bothered by anyone. I like peace and quiet when I have to make important decisions.
I decided to bring my trailer instead of lugging the tree back to the house on the roof of my car. Last year, a big burly type of a fellow decided to give a hand throwing the tree on the car roof. He stepped on my running boards and nearly collapsed them. Then, he almost shattered the sunroof with his toss. I am grateful that nothing broke, but I still have nightmares of vacuuming up little pieces of tempered glass from the interior. The trailer worked out perfectly.
The tree farm is pretty large. There were plenty of trees to choose from and the really neat thing is that there is a dirt road around the entire thing. This means that you get to drive around and park where ever you feel like your tree might be. There was even a dude who drove around to help out people who were ready to make the cut. He gave you the “good” saw and then brought the tree back and wrapped it up. The trees cost $35 each and that includes the wrapping and a tree bag for when you are all finished. The tree bag goes underneath the stand and when it’s time for the tree to be removed from the house, you just slide the bag right up and around the entire thing. Of course, we have woods outside, so you won’t find me trying to put anything out near the road. I’ll clip it up into small pieces.
The rumor on the street is that you want to see some pictures. Okay, they are below, but let me tell you something amusing. When I was trimming the bottom branches to get a better fit into the tree stand, I cut one that mattered. I know this has probably happened to a lot of you, but there was nothing I could do about it. I only took off three little twigs. One of them was not as little as the other two. Oh well…what’s a tree without some character? We actually just stuffed that branch into the stand and made the best of it. Gee, that reminds me of the good ol’ days.
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Hunt Christmas Tree Farm in Coventry, CT
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Our 2009 Christmas tree
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Me cutting down the Christmas tree
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The Christmas stump
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The Christmas tree in the trailer
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2009 Christmas tree all decorated
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The decorated fireplace mantel
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My lady’s hand made Christmas orament
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We even picked up a few pine cones from our walk today
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Thursday, January 29th, 2009
If there is one thing that I have noticed during this winter, it’s that the bathroom is really cold in the morning. I keep the door closed because I want to concentrate the heat, so that might be the reason. Either way, the whole thing got me thinking.
Can bathroom exhaust vents cause your house to lose heat? I am thinking yes. I did a Google search on this and came across a good article on “Ask The Builder” entitled, “Bathroom Exhaust Fan Leaks Cold Air.” It pretty much covered what I was thinking.
Basically, a bathroom exhaust fan is simply a fan attached to a hose that leads outside. The fan pushes the moist air you create from taking a shower outside, so you don’t rot everything in your bathroom. Some of the fancy fans have lights in them and I am told that the fans vary in quality. I guess they are supposed to have flaps in them too. The flaps stop the cold outside air from leaking directly into your bathroom and house.
I just walked into the bathroom to see if any cold air was leaking through the fan. I put my hand up to the vent and didn’t feel any cold air. Since that felt okay, I pulled down the attic door and went upstairs to see what that looked like. I saw both bathroom vent hoses leading outside. Nothing seemed too out of place.
Now that I am downstairs, I am thinking that I didn’t really do much to see if there was a problem. I mean, I still have to take the vent cover off to see if the vent flap is closing nice and snug. If not, I have to fix that. Then, I would like to cover the exposed vent hoses with insulation. An exposed vent hose in a cold attic can cause the air in the hose to get cold. That air can enter the house if the vent flap isn’t working correctly. Do you see where I am heading with this? I guess it doesn’t help that the boiler is kicking on and off all night, creating a vacuum in the house. Cold air is probably being pulled in through those vents.
I might need to do some more exploration to see if there is some sort of a “makeup air intake port” anywhere around. If not, I probably need to put one in.
Now, I admit, I am no expert at this. Any advice would be appreciated.
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Tuesday, January 27th, 2009
Okay, so listen to this. I received my Home Depot gift cards yesterday. I got a pretty decent amount’s worth. So basically, they have been burning a hole in my pocket ever since. So what did I do about it? Well, I ran over to Home Depot and picked up that RIGID 4 gallon wet/dry vac I was talking about. It’s going to be a big help during those “cleaning out the pellet stove” times.
RIGID 4 gallon wet/dry vac
Actually, I just cleaned out the pellet stove a few minutes ago. As I mentioned in a previous post, I was worried about ruining our regular house vacuum by sucking up ashes from the pellet stove. I mean, it’s not like there is a huge amount of them. I do empty the ash pan first, but there are still some remaining ashes hanging around. Those need to be vacuumed. I tried using the dust pan and brush, but that doesn’t have the best results on the floor tile grout. The ash kind of gets smeared in there.
The reason I got the 4 gallon wet/dry vac is because is was the smallest size RIGID makes. The reason I got RIGID, is because I like the brand. I have had decent luck with their other products. Also, this vac has wheels on it, so I can roll it around when I am vacuuming out the car and stuff like that.
The only thing I am worried about is the ash clumping up in the filter. After I used the vacuum a few minutes ago, I did notice the filter got a bit dirty. I banged it against the side of the vacuum and the dirt pretty much fell off the filter. I figure this is bound to happen with any type of vacuum I use, so I might as well use a wet/dry vac. Also, once the filter has been banged around for its last time, I can always pick up a replacement.
Now that I used up a little less than half of my gift cards, I think I am going to hold on to them until Home Depot starts selling trees and shrubs again. Then, I can head over there and go on a shopping spree.
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