A Sure Sign of Winter Coming

When I finally bring the geraniums in means there is no turning back. I won't leave them with their flowers but they just looked so nice.

I've been successfully over wintering these particular geraniums for several years now. I rescued the two pink ones from my neighbor Irma's front steps after she died. She is the one who told me about keeping them over the winter. The people who bought her house have still to this day never removed the dead marigolds that the realtor planted. It has been 10 years maybe!

Fall Photos

Sunroom view.

My art photo.

Multiple colors in one tree.

Pumpkins, gourds and mums.

Door Knobs and Mechanisms

Apparently brass door mechanisms last a bit over 100 years. Several months ago the door mechanism to my bedroom closet exploded. There were several pieces inside and out that fell apart.

And just a couple of weeks ago the inside front door made a snapping sound and would only work being turned one way. I took the mechanism apart to find the latch in two pieces (see photo).

I found the same mechanism at the ReUse Store in south east Minneapolis. The inside was a bit rusty so I decided to use the part that I needed to replace in the house's door mechanism. I put it all back together and it works great.











Having installed a new deadbolt on the garage door and the backdoor and matching the keys, I wanted the front door to join in the fun so bought a new deadbolt with a changeable key system. I figured it would not be a simple swap with the existing deadbolt....and it wasn't.

The opening on the inside of the door was not quite big enough so I had to enlarge that. And the new bolt was longer and operated differently than the existing bolt so I had to bore out the opening for more room.

All the tools it took for the door mechanism, deadbolt and door latch.

While I was at it, I decided I really wanted the front door to latch. I cannot remember when or if it ever did. This was so much more work than it should have been. I don't understand how the latch could be so far off from the catch but it was almost 1/2 inch difference.

It took a crazy number of tools to get all three projects done. A short list: screw driver(s), WD40, rubber gloves, paper towels, drill, 1/2 drill bit, vacuum, utility knife, tape, scissors, head lamp, stapler, chisel.

Door Number 4

The fourth home improvement project involving a door. This one is my backdoor from kitchen to the back yard.

This is another project that has been long in the making. I bought the replacement door many years ago. I wanted a panel door that matched the style of the house and a larger window to let more natural light in the kitchen.

The photo to the left is the final stained and polyurethaned door from the kitchen side.

The staining came out kind of blotchy and removing all the old layers of paint kind of beat up the door. But overall I am very happy with the end results.

Here is the previous door with the hardware removed. This door would not have been original to the house.

The replacement door with some of the layers of paint removed. The door was painted on both sides. Also it was hinged to open in a different direction than needed.

I succeeded in switching the hinges and the door knob mechanism.

You can see a hint of all the paint layers. There was a pink, a green, a white and a beige paint. I used the heat gun technique to remove most of the paint.

Annual Apple Fest

The weather wasn't great but the rain held off for the most part. Moved into the garage to keep people and food dry. I am thankful for good friends and neighbors. Credit to Kelly for the photos but more importantly being such a great friend helping me out.

Moved into the garage

Uno wanted to see what was going on

Didn't let the weather dampen the fun

Neighbors

Serious conversation

Goofy conversation

Friends

Super friend, Kelly.

Being goofy post-fest

Simple apple pie

Mom memorial

Some very dear friends donated to the Minneapolis Parks for a memorial tree for my mom. The tree was planted last week and today I met the memorials coordinator to place the plaque.

It is a Kentucky Coffee tree situated near a bench at Lake Calhoun with a view of downtown Minneapolis.

The tree with medallion, bench and Lake Calhoun

Refreshing the floors

What you are seeing in the photo is the dining room floor where the left side has been treated with lemon oil and the right side has not.

My hardwood floors are not finished with polyurethane. I used to clean and wax the floors with Bruce's Floor Cleaner and Wax at least once a year. That was a long time ago.

The floors were getting desperately dirty so I mopped with one of the those wet clean mopping systems. I know you aren't supposed to use wet mops on wood floors but those disposable system mop heads have very little liquid so work well to get the dirt without saturating the wood. It picked up the dirt but left the floors dried and with various stains and rings.

I used a dry floor sweeping mop to apply a lemon oil product to the hardwood. The lemon oil takes care of many of the rings and some of the stains.

The floor definitely looks darker but also looks more consistent and refreshed. Apparently the lemon oil will only refresh the floors for a few days. We'll see.

Update: It has been a couple of weeks and the floors still look great.