Winter Herb Garden

Planted four types of herbs for the winter garden. Under the awning with full sun in the backyard. Squirrel proofed with chicken wire surrounding the plants. Pictures and types of herbs to be posted.

Juniper Cleanup

Cleanup began last weekend and spending 1-2 hours a day removing all of the dead branches. Can't identify the species of juniper that's in the front yard. Picture to be posted soon.

Complete with Fresh Paint

25 Years Ago Today

1983 Crystal Springs Center Meet - October 20 - James Green (Gunderson) 15:22 winner, with Richard Clark (Mountain View) 15:54 in second, as Carlmont (Belmont) 64-78 over Menlo-Atherton for the team win. Shannon Clark (Mountain View) 17:56 Girls win over Sabrina Han (Westmoor, Daly City) 18:16. Mountain View 67-87 over Palo Alto for the Girls win. Shannon and Richard were children of recently deceased Stanford and Saratoga HS Coach Marshall Clark.
http://www.dyestatcal.com/news/xc2003/10-October%202003/16WeekHist.htm

Patched Ready for Paint

Used stucco, pre-mix stucco patch, concrete and caulk to fill in the cracks/gaps on the house. Letting the all of the different products set until Monday for painting.

Neverending Project

Decided to use premix stucco to save time filling in the cracks on the wall. Going on day three of this quick fix on Saturday. Going to pick-up stucco and get the job done on Saturday.

Winter Turf Builder Thursday

Spread winter Turf Builder on front and back lawns.

Squared Kitchen Door

Added pressure treated 10' - 2x6 under sliding glass door frame for support. Removed doors and plumbed the frame. Will fill in stucco, caulk, prime and paint wall to close all the gaps.

Fixing Kitchen Sliding Door

Broke out the stucco under the kitchen sliding door.

Wall Sealed

Foam added to wall in bedroom.

Patio Post Replaced

Removed patio post, painted, post attached to truss, post attached to floor bar and concrete added to support post.

AC Framed for Winter

Framed in, primed, caulked and painted.

1970 San Jose Speedway

New Kitchen Dinning Room Floor

Still need to stain the baseboard.

Nearly Complete

Skim coated the plywood layment for a smooth finish.

Underlayment Down

Used staple gun to attach underlayment in both kitchen and dining room. More pictures soon.

Sub-Floor Prep

Staples either removed or hammered down to prep for underlayment. Added screws to pull down sub-floor to joists and eliminate any noisy spots.

Underlayment - Tile Pulled

Underlayment, tile, staples, etc., pulled.

Refrigerator Leak

The water dispenser in the refrigerator sprung a leak. Not clear how long it was leaking but it spread from the kitchen to the dinning room. Dried out the room over the next 72 hours with industrial dehumidifier and turbo drying fans. No mold found.

Stacked Oak

Seasoning oak...

Los Altos Oak

Two truck loads of Los Altos Oak. Picked up from a hillside in 100 degree weather!

Spa Heater Cap

Before and after shot of the spa heater cap.

Spa Heater Cleanup

Before and after shots.

Spa Inlet Pipes Repaired

Pictures soon.

Oak and Pine Firewood Rack

Assuming this one of the last racks of firewood for the coming season. Or maybe not...

Ash Firewood

Received a truck bed of the Santa Teresa Ash firewood.

Spa Inlet Pipe Leaking

The connection from the spa pipe inlet to the pump motor came apart. Plus the screw in fitting leading from the pump motor to the filter is leaking. Assuming these leaks are causing the excessive pressure in the system.

Level Sliding Door

Sliding door was coming out of the rail. Leveled the door and added a frame. Three day project. Next up is adding a step with rail.

Almaden Oak & Pine Split

Also a garbage can full of split oak and stack of pine not pictured.

Spa Skimmer Gasket

Received replacement front and back skimmer gaskets after a few weeks. During the installation the gasket would not align with the spa opening. The holes on the spa gasket plastic cover and the spa were off by over an 1/8 of an inch. The troubleshooting begins...

Emptied the spa of all the water to lighten the load. Next took off the boards of the deck surrounding the spa to see if the spa skimmer could be adjusted to align with the spa. Reached arm down under the spa skimmer and it would not budge. Noticed that the squirrels living underneath the spa had moved many wheel barrels of dirt underneath the deck for their den. Dirt worked its way down underneath the skimmer and pipe outlet underneath the spa causing the lack of alignment. Also all of the pipe taking water to and from the pump were covered in over a foot of dirt up to the deck.

Removed all of the dirt and was able to align the gasket with the skimmer. Fit both front and back gaskets and tightened the skimmer gasket to the spa. Sealed the plastic gasket cover gaps to the spa with waterproof windshield caulking. So far it appears to be holding.

Rattle Can Wiper Arms

Stripped off the old paint, sprayed gloss black and installed new blades. Nicked the passenger side arm so will need to paint again.

Turf Builder Friday

Used a different spreader.

Take a Nap

Ash Rounds - Santa Teresa

Picked-up a couple of loads of ash off Santa Teresa Blvd. Is this the mystery wood we picked up here...

Deck Power Wash

Used pressure washer to clean the deck, concrete and spa filter. Pictures later.

Over

Spa Skimmer Leak

The spa was losing 2-3 inches of water each day to the bottom of the skimmer plate. After investigation noticed the second gasket between the skimmer and spa was leaking. The leak was in the lower right hand corner at the screw. Removed both gaskets and ordered new ones to install next week. Found out the bottom of the spa does take water into the pump and can operate the spa daily. Cleaned the main filter that appears to be covered in green/black mold with high pressure hose. Going to use the pressure washer to clean up the filter more and added pool shock to kill any mold that may still be in the lines. The spa is much cleaner and chlorine is reading high.

Old Air Conditioner is Gone

18 responses from craigslist in 48 hours. Posted on July 1st and picked-up on July 3rd.

California Fires

Northern California Wildfires Map

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This live maps courtesy of CBS5

Chevy Malibu LS Rear Wheel Cylinder Re-build

The 2002 Chevy Malibu LS was making a terrible grinding noise on the driver's side rear break for a number of weeks. Figured is was the rear brake shoes but after removing the rear wheel saw fluid was on the break shoes. Resulted in a second trip to the Autozone for a wheel cylinder rebuild kit and had the brakes working noise free again. Inspected all four tires and brakes/shoes on the other three wheels looked good. Bleed the brakes, added air to all four tires, and power washed the motor to sparkly clean and the job was complete. Mileage 61,642.

Wasp Trap Update

Starting to fill-up.

New Airconditioner

Dad's going to keep cool. New vs. old air conditioners.

Spa Full

After 3-5 years the spa is finally filled up. Great little pool when the temperature was 107 degrees today.

Deer Block for Squirrels

The 6-7 baby squirrels are growing up fast and mowing the lawn (front & back). Got the deer block to try a stop them from eating all the plants in the yard.