Getting Our Doors & Windows Winter Ready

Knowing that you can lose a lot of heat through drafty doors and windows I was on a mission this fall to get ours ship shape in time for the cold weather ahead.  After examining all of our doors and windows I worked on them in the order of worst condition to best.

Our door that leads into the garage was by far the worst and quite drafty.  I had installed it over 15 years ago and let's just say that with age comes wisdom and experience.  I am much better at door installation now than I was then.

On a Saturday afternoon I removed the door completely, cleaned up all the debris that had accumulated in the past 15 years and reinstalled it.  Once it was back in place all level and plum.  I carefully shimmed it and screwed it into the frame.  Then I stuffed the fiberglas insulation back into all the gaps and used a low expansion foam to fill in the areas where insulation wouldn’t fit.  I also replaced a piece of the weather strip that was missing.  It opens and closes perfectly and is airtight.  Nice!

The cheap trim I used years ago broke when I removed it so I bought some new stuff I like much better.  That is a whole other project for later. 

Before

Daylight streams in along the edges

Our overhead garage door was the next one to tackle.  The weather stripping was missing completely and allowed leaves and dirt to blow in around the door every time we had a windstorm.  With so many other things on my list that were more pressing this was put on the back burner for a long time.  Now it is finally done and I am very happy.

Easily cuts with a drywall saw

I bought two lengths of chain four feet long and a package of S hooks to replace the nasty cable and it now works like a dream.  We also put up two new weather strip pieces on the outside of the door that have been missing as long as I've owned the house.

New weather stripping

All finished with new chain to replace the worn cable on the handle

The door is officially finished,  weather tight and ready for winter.

I used paintable window and door caulking and ran a bead along all of our windows and along the sills to seal them and make them much more energy efficient.  The caulk was $2.90 a tube on sale so it was a very affordable project.  I'm sure I'll get my money back in nothing flat just in savings on our heat bill.  It took me less than 30 minutes to get this job done.

Big improvement

Our back door needs to have the brick mold replaced but I plan to replace the entire door with one that has a window to allow in more light so I left it alone.  If I was planning to keep the same door I would have replaced the molding and caulked it too.

It feels so good to know we've got our home nicely buttoned up and ready for winter.

How Our Garden Did This Year

I am no gardener, by any means.  In fact I have always claimed to have a black thumb.  But this year I did pretty well I think. 

We didn't get a ton of stuff but we got enough to keep us pretty well through the summer and share with friends and our chickens.

We planted carrots and beets and they didn't do well at all but our tomatoes didn't do too badly.  Our peppers, radishes and lettuce did really well.  My youngest planted green onions but right after they came up the weather got super hot for about a week and they burnt up.

Our strawberries took right off and the squirrels completely massacred them.  Next year I will put mesh over them to try and keep them out of there. 

Our fruit trees were loaded with apples and pears and the squirrels stripped them bare by mid July.  We've never had that happen before.  Not sure what we'll do about that next summer.  Our squirrel population is out of control and they've been wreaking havoc all over the neighborhood.  They even pulled up flowers.  What the heck?

I was able to grow enough cucumbers to make pickles and add to salads.  I had enough jalapeños and bell peppers for three batches of salsa.  I also made a batch of pickled jalapeños.  We eat our tomatoes as we pick them.  They are so good.

Unfortunately I couldn't get squash, pumpkin or melons to grow.  The slugs got them before they even had a chance.  I'll have to do something different next year.

Our one lone squash plant

We did manage to do it for the most part organically with compost and organic pesticide.  I did use up a little bit of leftover water soluble fertilizer I had in the garage.  We'll amend the soil more and get it better over the winter and spring.

Did you plant a garden this summer?  What did really well for you?

Last Week's Thrifty Moves

After a busy project filled Saturday I was a lazy ol' bum Sunday morning.  I stayed in bed until 8:00 and didn't even get dressed until noon.  I did wash the breakfast dishes (my daughters made breakfast) and listed four new items in my Etsy shop, however.

Sunday afternoon I deep cleaned the coop adding the manure and bedding along with some water to our compost bin.  The girls seemed pretty happy with their freshly cleaned home and lots of fluffy bedding in their nests to lay me some more eggs in. J

I harvested a bunch of tomatoes (I shared some with the chickens), jalapeños and bell peppers from the garden.  I made my first batch of jalapeño jelly.

I sold the last two dozen of our surplus eggs.  One more dozen and the girls will have earned their first bag of feed.

I veered off course from our meal plan again in order to use up some things before they got old and freezer burned.  I had two partial packages of hamburger buns, a cup of tomato sauce and a package of ground beef in the freezer to use up so I decided to make sloppy joes.  We used up lots of leftover odds and ends in the refrigerator, freezer and pantry.

I cleared out the crisper drawer and made a simple salad with what was left.  Our homegrown tomatoes really made it wonderful.  There is just nothing like the flavor of your own garden tomatoes.

The youngest and I did maintenance on a couple of our box fans.

It rained enough last week that I did not need to water the lawn or the garden. It was also cool enough we did not need to use the A/C units.

I used caulk I bought on sale at Home Depot to caulk all of our windows.

After I got off work on Friday we headed off to the Habitat For Humanity Thrift Store and found a few things to use on projects around the house.  Insulation for the ceiling in the chicken coop for $4, a porcelain light fixture for the chicken coop for $1 and a vent to replace the one missing on the side of our house for $3.  The best thing I found was a Kohler china sink in fabulous condition for our upstairs bathroom for $15.  Ours is chipped and rusted through so it is in desperate need of replacement.

Saturday morning the oldest and I insulated our overhead garage door which is something I've want to do for years.  I bought eight foam panels at Home Depot Friday night for $3.68 each.  They sell a kit for $80 but our door is slightly larger than the one the kit is made for so that was a no go.  Plus it is expensive.  We cut the panels ourselves and fit them inside the panels of the garage door.  Then we filled in the seams with the leftover can of blow foam we used on our entry door the week before.

We went to a free classic car show and out to lunch.  My youngest earned a gift certificate for a free lunch so I only had to pay for lunch for myself and my oldest.  The restaurant was having a special so our lunches were only $5.99 each.

While working on the overhead garage door I had cut my finger again on the broken cable that opens the door.  I had looked for a replacement at Home Depot Friday but they didn't have one.  On the way home from the car show I stopped in and bought two lengths of chain four feet long and a package of S hooks.  When we got home the youngest and I replace the nasty cable and it works like a dream.  I am so happy about this!

I'll be posting more about our garage door upgrade this week.

How thrifty were you last week?

A Typical Day At Our Urban Homestead

Simple chores enhance our life.  They are a basic part of our everyday routine.

Chickens to feed and love.  

Eggs to collect.   So pretty.

A coop to clean and keep tidy.

Kitties napping in the strangest places.

Raised garden beds.

Our compost bin.

Bread to bake. 

Projects awaiting completion.

Meals to prepare.

Kitties insisting on affection even when you're blogging.

Simple pleasures and simple joys.

KIS - Invest In Experiences

Experiences create memories.  As time goes on we remember the things we do far more than the things we have owned.

Quite often we remember what we did and what we ate during the holidays before we remember the gifts we were given.

Vacations and camping trips are special times that imbed themselves into our hearts and we remember them fondly.  Special one on one time with Grandma.  A fun day spent with Mom.  Fishing with Dad or a favorite uncle.  Sharing a laugh with a good friend.

Most of our experiences cost very little, if any, money.  Create memories and giving our time to those we love and cherish is immeasurable.  There is no material object on earth that can compete with that.

Apple Cinnamon Mini Muffins

I have been on a mini muffin kick lately, because let's face it, they're cute.  Not to mention absolutely delicious.  So, since I'm on this kick, I thought I'd share another recipe with you.

Apple Cinnamon Muffins

1 1/2 cups unsweetened applesauce

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup milk

1 egg

1 cups all purpose flour

1 cups whole wheat flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 400°.  In a large mixing bowl stir oil, sugar, vanilla, milk and egg into applesauce with a whisk until fully combined and smooth.  In a separate bowl mix flours, cinnamon, salt and baking powder together.  Slowly stir dry mixture into wet.  Do not over mix.

Lightly spray muffin pans with pan spray.  Fill each muffin cup 1/2 full and bake for approximately 15 to 18 min (or 10 minutes for mini muffins).

Makes approximately 2 dozen muffins or 4 dozen mini muffins.

Soft, fluffy, lightly sweet, cinnamonny goodness.  Another great muffin to make for brunch or breakfast.  They freeze great too.

Bathroom Mirror Updated - For Free!

After sprucing up and decorating our upstairs bathroom the old mirror stood out a bit more than what I liked.  The oak frame was stylish at the time I moved in, however I'd grown tired of it.  A little too dark for the light and airy décor the bathroom now has.

Mirrors are incredibly expensive and fortunately this one is in excellent condition.  It made sense to keep it and give it a facelift.  The best thing was it didn't cost me a dime.

Once again the metallic spray paint I bought to update a flower pot and then ended up spraying another flower pot, updating my kitchen light fixtures and a wooden basket made another appearance.

I started out by cleaning the frame and masking off the mirror itself.  Then I gave the frame a light scuff with a piece of sandpaper.  Lucky for me the original finish was long gone so it made sanding super easy.

I had laid out my trusty and well used dollar store shower curtain.  After a few light coats of paint the old oak frame was pretty well covered.  I let it dry thoroughly for about an hour.  Once dry, I removed the paper and gave the mirror a good cleaning.

Now hung back in place I think it looks fabulous!