Closet Space

Remember this first attempt at making a little more closet space in the upstairs bedroom?

No? Here's that disaster....

Well, finally had another run at it. Using a little more on the "support" side of things. Also, did another round of "this should really go, pleats edition" to help reduce the weight. It was still up when I woke up the next day, so that was an instant improvement.

Dig done

The weatherhead now has nothing attached...

More of the modest dig, pt. 2

Also had to dig underneath the deck, which was a pain.

So I ran the tubes and lines through my perfect ditch myself, and then Randy from Dowty sorted out the "hot parts" at the ends and then I got it all covered and planted some grass, which actually took quite well...

Very nice to have the deck not have that line hanging there. Of course, the umbrella I bought...the stand I had for it doesn't fit.

Diggin' it

So, the big idea is that with the power line running between the house to power the garage being alittle in the way, and seemingly a lot threatening, to bury the thing. I've had this in mind for a couple of years and finally, with the purchase of a mega umbrella for the deck, decided to move forward on it. Since it's silly to pay an electrician to dig, it was voted that an english major might be best suited for the job.

Donna pointed out that "it looks too perfect" about the subsequently-dug ditch. Goes to show, you shouldn't underestimate what an english major, and his cultivator that actually works well to loosen the soil and then be dislodged, can do.

Some shots from the first segment of the project, including the patent-pending "Mole-Cam" view....

Window Dressing

Again...Picked a little bit better in terms of ones that "don't die instantly..."

Hopefully.

Green Piece Indy--

Turns out I'm not the only blog in town...

Meghan and Renee run Green Piece Indy, a twice-weekly blog eblast about things we can do to sore a little higher on the Green Index*.

So check it out and sign up, they have a ton of good ideas and information, as Indy has a "lot of improvement" possible in this category...

They also do videos, and even though this isn't the Broad Ripple Farmers Market...we'll still post it...

Publish Post

*I just made that up.

What's this 'gravity' you speak of?

Well, let's call it "Rain Barrel 2.0" Last year's deployment of of the RainCatcher 2000* was pretty successful. I barely used the water from the house to keep things growing in the back yard.

However, my extraction method was pretty poor. Namely, I'd unload water into a bucket, and then take the bucket to wherever I was watering. Paging caveman. So while it was a good way to re-use water, it also made me feel pretty stupid, suspicious that there might just be a better way somewhere out there.

Indeed, this year I am targeting two improvements-1) use this "gravity" situation to my advantage, raising the barrels and attaching much longer hoses to them so I can just water away without having to carry anything. 2) Last year, the mosquitoes were pretty bad, since it was kind of like I was hosting a party for them all summer long. But I've got "mosquito rings" in them this year, so we will see if that works....I can already testify that they seem to be better, but it's early yet...

In anycase, this is a much better set up and even though (see below) I do have the outside faucet up and running, this is a good way to put the rain water to good use...

Fairly slopping looking in this photo, I know...but lets just call it "for illustrative purposes...."

*actual name.

Farmers Market...

I'll admit; I didn't even actually end up buying anything.

But I was, not having been home for a weekend since early April, no less happy to be at the BR Farmers Market this weekend...

SOLD!

The Clearydome Clutter and Redundancy Reduction Plan continues apace, with the latest (quick) sale being this cafe set. Put it up for sale on craigslist at lunch, and before dinner it was sold and on the way to a new home.

This was a gift from mom, so hopefully she misses this post, although she'll at least appreciate that it is part of a bigger effort around here....

What, is that a problem or something?

The rain barrel project got a great upgrade this year as we added hoses to them so I could just water wherever I wanted to, having--pictures to follow--set them up on stacks of pavers to give the added edge of gravity.

So this year, instead of unloading the water into buckets and then carrying the buckets to the destination of watering, like a complete idiot, this year I've got the hose thing going on. The rain barrel program made it so I barely used my outside faucet last year, which was kind of cool.

So this year (and there is another story about this faucet**), when I turned the water to the outside faucet on, I could hear it splashing about outside. SO I turned it back off, and went to investigate...and found...that the entire thing came right out of the side of the house.

What, is that a problem or something? So in another chapter of Clearydome Irony, the very same year that I sealed up the area where the faucet came out of...is the same year that it (for the second year in a row...) froze up, but this time enough so that it broke the connection and the entire thing came free.

So, the decision was made to re-locate the faucet so that it was in a fully frost-free environment. Hopefully, this will mean that in the future,

***I won't get a phone call some 10 minutes into the start of the Daytona 24 from my neighbor saying, "there is ice coming out of the side of your house..."

Hopefully.

Rudy Red

As part of our horticulture getting to know you tour, 2009...just a quick intro to Rudy the Red, an oriental Maple in the back yard. Planted in October, 2008 and still with us today.

Rudy was recently deemed enough of a ClearyDome fixture to actually have its tag removed (what are the genders for trees, BTW?), something that has not yet been accomplished for some of the other trees that management has planted(although, leaving the tag on them DOES at least make it that much easier to remember what kind they are...).

Two last ones

Two last shots-one of the reflection as he left, and the other just a bumper shot of the collected affectations.

Gone, Rusty Gone...

Here, in case the concept was not clear enough, is where Rusty WAS. Before being sold. Abstract?

Jibby Says HI

Got an email today while I'm in Connecticut, and the rest of the world is in Indy for the 500...Jibby stopped by to click this pick of his bike in front of the dome. There are slated to be at least four people staying at the Dome this weekend...please enjoy your stay!

Sincerely, Management...

Local Action

Just a link to a site that has listings of the many things that I don't get to do or see while away...

But still cool that they are happening...

To borrow a phrase from another Indianapolis'er, So it goes...

Read about them here...

Update on Project: RustySell

Update is as follows:
Rusty has been sold.
Photos to follow.
Ends.

Cool

OMFG a cool bathroom

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/04/23/garden/20090423-sanfran-slideshow_3.html

What exactly is that table?

Turns out, the 'sort the mail and stack the old papers table' in the main entry room is actually also a "pool table," also known in some parts as a billiards something or other.

Of all the advice anyone's given me about how to keep things in good shape, there is probably none that I've taken more seriously than the pool guys, who said "keep this thing covered whenever you are not using it."

So, it's been tightly under cover for months at a time, but I recently cleared it off and shot around, now that the drum set isn't quite as in the way...

Reset the Drum-Set

Moved the old neighbor-relations machine over to a spot that's a lot easier to get to than before, when it was wedged into the corner behind the pool table.

Alas, after more testing, discovered that the location of the set sadly doesn't change the fact that I barely know how to use the thing. All my previous band mates are now nodding in agreement.

Could this be the most amazing Clearydome development yet???

It would seem that some kind of choir should be playing as this photo is revealed. This astounding display of fastidious OC tidy-ing is, hard to believe, the "Junk Drawer" in the kitchen. Yes, amazing.

Only took three days.

Another round of IKEA loot

(See other note about how the pool table gets used sometimes)

Post-easter run to Ikea for the upstairs couch, Worlds Biggest Patio Umbrella and Mixing Bowls, and some shelving for the kitchen...

Peddling the Bike

Fat Tire is now available in Indy, and the timing was just right as longtime and erstwhile Fat Tire enthusiast Kelby was in town the very same day it was deployed in the Indy market.

Cheers!

You know, I thought I heard something crashing last night...

"Disaster in the Dome"

Well, not quite, particularly when you hear about Tennessee and Italy, but it was a bit of a setback to discover this morning what all that clatter was about in the middle of the night.

Looks like I'm going to need to add another bracket or two, not to mention maybe THIS is the motivation I needed to get more of these un-used clothes off the rack and over to Good will...

Not going to really be able to tackle this until I get back, alas...

"Other Closet"

So the goal here is to make a closet out of the un-used space by the entrance to the upstairs bedroom. By putting everything here, I was able to clear out the hanging storage in the doormer room and hopefully, by having everything out like this, I'll be motivated to clear a bunch of old stuff out.

I had to buy a special saw blade to cut the ("Real Organized") chrome rod down five inches so it would fit in there, which it did just perfectly in spite of my lack of measuring prowess. It was kind of fun, tons of sparks and all that, although it did smell awful for some reason. Used dry wall anchors for the four brackets I mounted to hold the rod.

Also, the plan is to hang a wire and then some kind of sort of sheer liner to make it a little more out of sight...until I get the big closet built...