Month: October 2009

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Un-SEAM-ly

I frequently check Miranda’s far flung corners to make sure there are no leaks. The other night, I got the impression that the dampness in one corner of the sleeping loft was from water infiltration, not regular condensation. I did an exterior check of my seams and found that they all seemed water tight… except the corner where I’d noticed wetness inside. Crap.

Some research and advice asking revealed that while plain old silicon caulking isn’t ideal for filling in seams, as it doesn’t last, it’s fine in a pinch. I had a tube of bathroom and kitchen caulking to use up. Being unemployed and on a tight budget, as well as facing a few months of wet weather with no certainty that I’d have time to find the right product, I decided to go with silicon for now.

First step was removing the old putty-type caulking with a fine blade. It was all dry long the seam except the corner, where the putty came up sopping wet. I don’t even want to think about how much water damage might be hiding behind that wall and can only hope that I caught the problem in time to prevent mould. 🙁 I then used a scrubby pad soaked in rubbing alcohol to clean the seam so that the silicon could adhere well. Finally, I laid a wide bead, which I smoothed out with a damp finger, making sure that the silicon went as deeply into the seam as possible.

Now, I just have to hope the weather stays dry for another 24 hours to give the silicon time to cure.

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And… They’re Off!

This morning, I got up early to help Norma and Croft finish loading up the motorhome.

It is here that I have to comment on how horrible RV manufacturers are to give modern RVs so much storage space and just about no carrying capacity. I once had Croft crunch the numbers and their rig was seriously overweight. Their rig is sagging so much the belly scrapes the pavement! Okay, I’m being facetious, but, really, all that storage space is misleading! I know that Miranda’s previous owners didn’t give a second thought to carrying capacity, which gives me the willies.

Norma added onto my list of things to do this winter and gave me an incredibly onerous task: emptying out the freezer, fridge and pantry. 😉 I managed to squeeze the cold goods into my fridge and freezer, but I now need to rearrange the pantry to get rid of the mountain of stuff in my entry way. I won’t have to go grocery shopping for a couple of months! 😀

They set off in glorious, pattern-breaking, weather at 10 o’clock, bang on time. Tonight, they will be going all the way to Victoria, at the other end of the Island, and sleeping at the ferry terminal.

We got along so well that I actually feel a tad bereft right now, all alone in a strange town. *snickers*

Looks like the weather will be holding (yay!) so I’m off to tackle a fairly major exterior job on Miranda and then I’ll be free to start working on the inside!

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Threading the Needle

The pattern holding, I awoke to a bright blue sky and warm temperatures today. Fortified by a pancake breakfast, courtesy of Croft, I set to work tackling the two biggest items on my to-do list: replacing some rocks in a retaining wall and then doing a bit of painting. Neither task was particularly onerous and I was done in about two hours.

A task Croft had to do that he didn’t mention in his latest post was to move the car they don’t take to Mexico into an out of the way spot. I couldn’t watch as he did this, even though I knew that the worst case scenario was that he would owe me a new paint job. 🙂

tight fit!!!

tight fit!!!

They should be leaving tomorrow and then I’ll be able to start my own projects. I’ve got some pretty grand ideas, but they all hinge on a tiny, not-so-insignificant detail: finding a job. 🙂

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The Pattern Continues

I’ve been in Campbell River for a week now and sunny days have consistently been followed by rainy ones. It’s almost uncanny!

Yesterday, I removed the caulking around the window I’ll be repainting and applied new. After that hard work, I went with Croft and Norma to their friends’ house for dinner. The daughter of the friend was there with her two week old baby, whom I got to hold for the better part of an hour. There’s nothing like the scent of a baby! There’s also nothing like being able to hand said baby back to the parents when it gets fussy. 🙂

I was hoping to paint the window today, but the stormy weather isn’t letting up. Other than meeting the other housesitter, who will actually be living in the house, and helping load Croft and Norma’s motorhome, it’s been a quiet, uneventful day.

And now for some random photographs:

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Wet Enough to Drown

It’s raining again. I think I’ll need to get used to this. 🙂

Yesterday, I dug a big hole and moved a bamboo tree from a planter to said hole. I have to say that working with bamboo felt rather… exotic. I remember seeing bamboo for the first time in the ‘wild’ when I was in San Francisco.

All this rain isn’t helping much with drying the caulking on the outdoor planters we tried to fix the other day, nor is it conducive to doing the paint job I promised would be completed by the time Croft and Norma get back from Mexico. All in good time!

Even with the weather having been the way it is, most of the outside jobs are done. Yesterday, I moved the last of the dirt from the trunk of Croft’s car to the garden planters and helped Norma spread it around. I have to say that bags of dirt get lighter the more you handle them. 🙂

Today, I’m just hanging out and catching up on my online stuff. I was going to go job hunting, but the universe decided that today is not a good day for doing so. I spent two hours troubleshooting my printer only to run out of both toner and paper before dropping (and breaking) my stapler!!!