The Leaf Scoop is a Wonderful Composting Tool

The willow tree spread it’s small, knife blade-shaped leaves all over the backyard and driveway.  These will make a wonderful nutrient in compost.  The thing I love about compost is that it is free and perfect soil.

Willow trees grow throughout Carson Valley, Nevada.  I previously wrote about how the green leaves and stems make rooting compound.  But now these leaves make the house look haunted.

Today I used the yellow Gardex Leaf Scoops.  Though I like to buy used or find things free, I paid full price for these and they are so worth it.  At the very least, they halved my time moving piles of leaves to the compost pile.   I would recommend these to anyone who has a deciduous tree.

Though I bought the yellow ones, there are at least two other manufacturers who make the same thing for about the same price.  The yellow ones are the only ones I have felt in my hands but they seem pretty sturdy and will probably last a few years if I don’t leave them out in the sun.

Happy composting!

Preparing for Easter (Resurrection Commemoration Day)

My sister and I scrubbed and scrubbed the kitchen yesterday.  It's hard to believe how dirty a kitchen can get.  It's probably not as dirty as it could have been.  I will not have time to repaint the cabinets before I move in and definitely not by tomorrow.

Unfortunately, I was the one to find the mouse poop.  Just disgusting.  I had to carefully wipe that out over fears of Hanta virus, rather than shop vac it out and disburse the poop via air particulates.  There was also a plumbing leak in times past that resulted in black mold underneath the sink.

Black mold can be toxic, can be, but I do not have time to get squeamish about it.  I just washed it down with bleach.  Actually, I've been spraying it with bleach ever since it became mine.  I do have pictures of the moldy cabinet, but I do not want to make anyone vomit on their keyboards.  So, I'll withhold those from your viewing.

Today I will be painting this product from Zinsser over it.  I am told that this is the absolute best product for covering smell and sealing out bad things, better than Kilz, because it is shellac based.  Water based and latex sealers cannot do what shellac does.  The B-I-N will also go over the urine areas of the plywood subfloor after it is sanded down.

Zinnser B-I-N Shellac Base Primer & Sealer Stain Killer

Happy Easter to all.  Enjoy the gift of Christ, the only one whose blood can cover and blot out our sins totally.

April Fool's Day, Wherein I Learned How to Use a Shop Vac

April 1 was offload-the-junque-off-the-uhaul-truck day. I was blessed to have friends and family to help me unload all my schtuff from Sacramento into the new house's garage. So we got some pix of that.

Wonderful sister who made deer meat chili for the workers' lunch

I drove the truck all the way from Sacramento on Friday night.  That was a lot of fun.  Actually, the trucks aren't that bad to drive.

Mom and Me

Wonderful brother in law

Oh yes, did I mention "shop vac"?  This is me getting tacks, nails and debris off the floor with ye olde Shop Vac.  These things are pretty cool.  You can scoop up just about anything.

Face Mask Couture

The carpet padding that had fused with the plywood and staples due to dog urine was pretty challenging to remove.  Treated the urine areas with Fabuloso and water.  I'm not really sure that's going to cut it.  Bought some Kilz today and might try that tomorrow and see if it blocks out the smell.

First Day at MY House

I attacked the house today, the first day.  With the help of family and a friend, some new locks got installed, the garage swept, all of the filthy carpet removed onto the side patio and some tack strips removed.

Pulling the carpet up and seeing, literally, sandy dirt piled underneath it in certain high traffic areas, made me never want to have carpet again.  It collects so much dirt.

And the dog urine -- the amount -- was just overwhelming.  The prior dog had urinated in about 3 or 4 different locations in the house, over and over.  You could just tell by how stained the plywood subfloor was.  This leads me to why carpet removal was task number two, with changing of locks being number one.  The stench.  It's more like a stink than a stench.  I knew there was animal smell in the house eminating from the carpet, but I had no idea how much until I saw the stains in the plywood.

I will decide whether to Killz the plywood subfloor or replace some of the plywood pieces.

Note to self:  Order a dumpster from the waste removal company for the carpet and tack strips.

We also got the whole garage floor laid out with pallets, so that all of the stuff that will be stored in there for awhile will not get moisture damage from sitting on the garage slab.