"The Hammer's just so hype"

On the way out of my house:

    Me:     I need to hammer that in [pointing to the hinge pin in my front door].

    Visitor: I think I have a hammer in my car.
    Me:     Oh, I have one in my basement. I just need to remember to do it.
    Visitor: Of course you do... I bet your hammers have hammers.

Although it was a joke... it's not so far off.

However, my hammers don't have hammer pants!

Shhhhh, don't tell I own 2 prybars.

asBESTos news!

My house is old, which means there's a risk of scary stuff... like asbestos. Asbestos isn't a big deal if it's left undisturbed, but as you may have figured out by now, my whole house needed revamping. If there's asbestos in my house... it's going to be disturbed. The basement - in its wood paneling glory - eventually needs to be gutted and remodeled and is the prime location for potential asbestos hazards in my house. Even though I won't be fixing my basement until I finish most other projects, I have some smaller ones coming up that require removal of ceiling tiles in the basement. I decided to throw on goggles, a mask, and gloves to get samples of the ceiling tiles and vinyl flooring tiles to send to a lab to be tested. It just made sense to test both pieces at the same time. You can buy kits for sending your samples away, but I read reviews that they are a waste of money because most labs just need the samples in ziploc bags.

Ceiling tiles

Vinyl floor tiles

The lab needed each sample in a separate marked ziploc bag, a chain of custody form, and a check or credit card to pay for the samples. I shipped it in a regular padded envelope and waited.

A few days later I got notice that they had received my samples and would get results to me approximately 9am on March 4th. Well, at 9:39 this morning in California an email was sent to me with the following great news!

I'm relieved that I don't have to hire professionals to gut my basement. Demolition is the most fun part, right?

Wait, Tulips! It's not time yet! Take cover!

It's March and we've seen some 50 and 60 degree days recently. Practically springlike after our polar vortex winter. People shed their jackets. Trails were full of walkers, runners, and bicyclists. Dogs romped around at the dog park. Until today... the 3rd day in March... it feels like 4 degrees outside and we're being slammed with half a foot of snow. The tricky weather gave us a reality check that it is still winter. Jackets are back on (for those few people who choose to venture outside). Trails are empty. Dogs are snuggled indoors. We're protected from Storm Titan.

Unfortunately, my tulips were also tricked by temporarily increased temperatures and decided to peek through over the weekend. While they are more resilient when it comes to cold than I am (which I'll admit is pretty pitiful), they don't have the option of going inside and putting on fleece pants and slippers if the cold and snow do bother them. I helped them with the next best thing...

Tulips and some Columbine growing too

Mulch: The jacket for tulips (and other plants)

I took advantage of the balmy day yesterday to do some yard work before the 50 degree temperature plunge. After clearing away some dead brush, I did a quick Home Depot trip to pick up 2 large bags of mulch (plus some seed starting soil and the rest of the materials needed for a squash arch - just a preview of upcoming blog posts!). A few chunks of the mulch were frozen from being stored outside in the HD Garden Center, but enough of it was loose to cover the tulips and few other plants that also wish it were already spring. Let's hope that Ulysses, Vulcan, Wiley, Xenia, Yona, and Zepher don't make an appearance, but if they do my plants are protected... and will be sufficiently watered when the temperatures finally increase for good!