Friday Comic: Animals in the Attic

For the last few months I have been hearing noises when I am upstairs.  Its a clicking or a tiny knocking.  I imagine little animals in my attic.  Doing little animal things, planting trees, chewing holes, leaving messes in my insulation.

When I would hear the noise and I was home alone some time I would knock on the walls to try to scare the animal and my my attic a less ideal place to live.

I would check the outside dormer to see if I could see tracks.

I had hoped that when Dad was visiting he would hear it and say something, hopefully something encouraging, like it won't be difficult to get rid of the animal in that has taken up residence in the attic...

Dad never brought it up.

I was talking to Andrew last weekend when the noise happened, it sounded close, I broke mid-sentence to exclaim "did you hear that? I think there is something in the attic!"

He replied, "I am pretty sure that is my computer's hard drive."

Upon further investigation (unplugging the computer) the squirrel has appeared to left the attic, so Andrew is probably correct.

Storage Solution: Baskets

I would like to be a neat person, with clear counter tops, no clothes on my bedroom floor, no papers piled on my dining room table and the coffee table and the sofa right by the front door that is close to the mail box.  As a not natural organized person I know that I need to make small steps that just keep me moving in the right direction or I will get overwhelmed and go back to my dusty cluttered ways.

Recently, I have tried to make a resolution to clean, organize or 'deal with' one thing a day, at home or in the office, even the car could count.  When Rachel was in town I took her shopping and we got baskets for the house.  In the kitchen I wanted to use them for storing my canning supplies.  The glass jars pretty much filled up both baskets.  

Yesterday the item that I was 'dealing with' was some jars that a co-worker gave me, they are on the right side of the basket.  They had sat under my desk for months, I really liked the jars, they have tomatoes on the side and will work with home canning tops but there they sat, under my desk, says last summer.  Until yesterday, when they found there home:

If I was keeping track of points I should totally get one for that!

Then the baskets go up on the shelves:

Now I don't have the middle shelf figured out/purchased the containers for it, so I am trying a few things.  But I am all pretty happy that I haven't filled them with unsightly junk yet.

Rachel and I also got baskets for underneath the vanities.  The half bath really needed it to hold some hand towels, the cleaning supplies also fit.

The upstairs got one too, but I forgot to get a picture.  It is also not as important as I have a decent amount of storage up there.

A Cherry Tree and Two Grapes Vines

Today I ordered 1 cherry tree and 2 different grape vines that are going to be delivered between April 15th and May 30th.  This reinforces the work I have to get done in the yard early this spring but I am very excited.  It is a tart cherry tree more for preserves and pies, and the grapes are 2 varieties that can be used as table grapes, for wine, jelly and preserves.  I'm hoping that my brother-in-law Nik might want to make some wine with the grapes.

I used Arbor Day to help me figure out what would grow in my region:
http://www.arborday.org/

Panels

I am not very good at the whole before picture thing.  Here is the window by the sink.  The goal was to cover the side of the exposed cabinets. So the one on the right is done, the one of the left still needs the panel.  The panels are from IKEA to match the cabinets, they come with the screws.

The IKEA cabinets come with bare sides. Before Dad, Rachel and I went to breakfast I made us do this project.  

It needed multiple people.  One to hold the panel up, one to put the screws in, and one to take mediocre pictures. 

My pictures have been turning out very grainy. I hear that this is a photography technique to get texture to show up better.  That is not my intention, just the issue with taking phone pictures.

Both sides are covered. I have been considering adding hooks so that a pan could hang from each side but I haven't decided or found what type of hooks they should be.

Lower Cabinet Door

This is the way that the corner cabinet has looked for months.  At first the door was mounted on the right side but then the rotating shelves went in and the door hinges prevented the shelves from functioning. 

I had tried each type of screw that IKEA has set but none of them allowed the door to be fastened to the tapped metal center bracket.   But with Rachel in town she wanted to try to get the door back on.  So dad grabbed all of the sheet metal and machine screws that were down stair (and of the approximate size) and while Rachel packed we tried each of them.

And we found one.  These fasteners were in the basement the entire time.  In fact Dad is pretty sure that he purchased them before Rachel or I.

The knob was on the wrong side, right? because the door had been mounted on the other side we I attached the knobs. Yep, it looks pretty funny. 

So then I had to find the template for the knob, to make sure that I got the hole drilled in the correct location.  I knew that I saved it, and after a little searching I found it.

And now it looks like it has always been there.

Drying Rack above the Laundry Tub

Since the new plumbing got put in the laundry room I have been storing dirty towels and rags on the copper pipes. Here is a picture before the new plumbing:

Here is it after with all of the rags, and some on the tub:

On my last trip to IKEA I purchased a metal rack for the wall.  Rachel was in town so Dad gave her a lesson on how to put screws into concrete and brick.  I ran back and forth getting tools.

Then I put the rags in the wash, but not before a picture of one on the rack.

Undershelf Lighting

Once the shelves were in, the under cabinet lighting could go in.  The rest had already been installed so the last section went very quickly.

As you can see, it takes a variety of tools.

the LED tape lights are really great.  They are easy to install and are very bright.  These are actually the warm white....

Open Shelves Go up in the Kitchen

After lots of prep work the day finally came where Dad and I could put the shelves up.  Here is a view of the wall before hand that is above the buffet.  

We modified the brackets, the slot had to be increased to accept the #12 screws and then we realized that the screws holding the metal brackets on the wood brackets were tiny, so we put larger ones on.

We mounted the lowest brackets first and place the shelf board on to see if it had turned out level.  It was good so we measured up on one side and then used the level to place the line on the other side.  Because I wanted the shelves to be functional, the bolts had to go into studs.

The second and third sets of brackets went in easier.

I used basic black screws to attach the boards to the brackets.

And the microwave made its way on the the shelf after some finagling.