Two Weeks and a New Year

It has been a full month of activities both in Payson and in the Valley.  After Mike returned to Chandler on the 7th, Laurie came down to the Valley that following weekend as part of her normal monthly trip and to attend a couple of family events.  Just days before her return to Payson on the 15th, it snowed.  Our neighbors were kind enough to send us pictures of our yard and house.  When Laurie made it back up north with Mike's mom, for her monthly visit, the snow was mostly gone from the front yard but still present in the back.  Zena had fun playing in what was still on the ground.  Laurie also found that the 10x20 canopy we got from Harbor Freight to use as a temporary garage did not survive the snow.  Not because the snow was too heavy (as there was not that much) but because the canopy had big blocks of ice on it.  The car got scratched up a little from the poles when they collapsed, but nothing that cannot be buffed out.  Because she was worried about the weight of the ice resting on the convertible top, Laurie removed the snow/ice off the canopy, but was unable to push the canopy off the car. Mike told her not to worry about it until he arrived for the weekend, but Laurie's sister and brother-in-law happened to stop by during the week and helped her move it.  That makes us zero for two on the temporary shed/garage parking solution.

First good snowfall while we were away

Zena in the snow for the first time this year

Canopy down - Part I

Canopy down - Part II

And Part III

The Saturday before Christmas, Mike had a party to attend in the Valley and then he was going to drive to Payson on Sunday for the two holiday weeks.  He only had two days of work he had to do during those two weeks and got permission from his boss to work remotely.  The plans changed slightly when Mike's mom started having back pains and Laurie had to bring her back to the Valley late Saturday.  So we were able to drive up together on Sunday.

During our two weeks in Payson, we accomplished a few tasks, nothing major.  However, we did decide on an installation method for the whole house water filter system.  We settled on the pex crimp style of connections as it was the cheaper solution and we could get all of the parts at Home Depot, but we still needed the crimp tool and did not want to pay $120 for it.  We found a a crimp tool that does 3/8", 1/2", 3/4" and 1" connections for about $60 online and it included 20 crimp rings.  We made the purchase in hopes we would receive the tool in time to complete the filter install during the holiday break.  Just before Christmas, the tool arrived but had the wrong size crimp rings from what we ordered (asked for 1" and got 1/2").  We contacted the seller and he said he would ship out the correct parts.  Due to the holidays, those did not arrive until after New Year's Day, too late to start the project. So the filter install is on hold until the next time we are at the house.

Another project we were able to complete was the pantry shelving.  We previously added a support to one set of shelves due to them bowing when Laurie stocked the pantry.  This time we added a support to the set of shelves on the short wall.  To make the task easier, we removed all the items from the shelves, esp. since these shelves had appliances and other heavier items.  This allowed us to remove the shelves for easier access to the support system and we could also attach the brackets to the removed shelves.  Once the extra vertical support was in place, all the shelves were returned along with all the items that were on them.  The last couple of additions Laurie requested for the pantry included a hanger support for brooms and mops and a shelf unit for the inside of the pantry door.  This is a set of lipped shelves almost the full height of the door.  Both were available at Home Depot and were easy to install with some wall anchors and a bit of leveling.  Now Laurie can alleviate some clutter from the laundry room and have even more storage in the pantry.

The middle support in place and shelves restored

The pantry put back together

Our full door length shelving unit - lots of pantry storage

Good way to store 7-8 handled items

To better organize our water heater closet, Laurie wanted to add similar shelves to the inside of its door.  Due to some built-in shelving in that closet, we had to settle for some smaller wire shelves for the door and they had to be placed quite a bit off-center.  We moved the dog leash holder that was on the door to the wall inside the closet and up went the new shelves. Now we have more ways to store items in this small closet.

Laurie still wanted this hanger, so placed it on  the wall inside

Wire shelves for the water heater closet door

Laurie has been looking for a small table to use on the entry wall next to the den double doors.  It had to be small enough to not only fit the wall space, but also not stick out too far into the walkway and it needed to have closed storage space (we are all about extra storage space).  She found such a cabinet through Kohls and had it shipped to the house.  The bonus to using Kohls is she always has coupons for them, plus they have a very generous return policy and you can take items back to the store if you decide, for any reason, that you don't want them.  Mike put the table together and, when we placed it on the wall, we felt it was too deep for that area.  So we decided to swap the new cabinet with a smaller cabinet we brought from Gilbert.  This layout worked much better.

A little too deep for where it was supposed to go, but fits good here

This table fit better on the den wall

While Laurie was looking at the Kohls' site for the entry table, she found a cabinet that she liked better than the one we currently have in our master bath.  Her searching was motivated by a purchase our niece/nephew had just made for their bathroom.  The item she bought was one that stands on its own over the toilet.  After Mike got the unit together, Laurie decided she did not completely care for the way it fit in the bathroom with the legs.  Mike found he could remove the legs and attach the unit to the wall just like the current cabinet - she was happy with that plan.  Mike used the existing wall anchors for the top of the unit and added more support with one more screw through the lower part of the cabinet that went directly into a stud.  With the left over pieces from the legs, Mike was able to make a couple more shelves for Laurie to use in the cabinet - again, more storage is always better.

New and improved cabinet for the master bathroom. The middle shelf used to be a leg.

One other storage issue we have had is for the pellets we keep in the house for our stove.  Our hopper will store a full bag, but it is nice to have a backup bag available in the house in case it is not convenient to get one from the shed when needed.  Mike had the idea of getting a dog food container like we have for Zena's food storage (seals well to keep bugs out), but once we got it, Laurie did not like having it out in the room because it is plastic and white and oddly shaped so it could not be covered.  So we have been searching for other possibilities.  She found that one of our ottomans which we've been using to store blankets was big enough for the extra bag.  While having dinner with one of our neighbors over the holidays, we found they have the same pellet stove we have and they were using a black metal coal hod (AKA ash bucket) to store pellets next to the stove.  We did some research and found a hod that would hold about 1/2 of a 40lb. bag.  This will help Laurie so that she doesn't have to lift the 40lb bag over the stove as she can now pour 1/2 the bag into the hod and store the other half in the basket.  The hod looks nice on the hearth next to the stove and is easy to lift and pour from when we need more pellets.  A very good solution and we are thinking of maybe getting a 2nd hod so Laurie can have the ottoman back for her blankets.

Our stove with a coal hod to store half our pellet bag

The rest of our two weeks was quiet and relaxing.  We did not get any snow apart from a little flurry on Christmas that did not stick and by the end of the two weeks, the previous snow was all gone.  We were supposed to have a Christmas dinner at our home the Saturday after Christmas, but the location was changed to Laurie's dad's house in Mesa so we made a round trip to the Valley that day.  We met more neighbors at an annual New Year's Eve party down the street and then left there for another party with our friends Bob and Denise.  They had quite a few people over along with some friends Denise is in a band with and they were playing tunes for the party.  Mike started to feel sick and we ended up leaving the party before midnight, but we were still able to stay awake until the New Year. We took down all our Christmas decorations the day before leaving for the Valley and the house was back to normal.  We had more family events happening in the Valley, so Laurie drove back with Mike.  It was a great couple of weeks being together in the house and really feels more like home.  Cannot wait until we can do that all the time.

Stats: 3 Home Depot trips; 5 Walmart trips
Remodeling expense 12/8/15-1/03/16: $143
Remodeling expense to date: $52,629