I usually run into a late-winter problem with the bins of kindling I keep on my front porch. Since it's protected under the roof, and because it's full of twigs & branches, the birds see a big 'ol "For Rent" sign on it. Every spring when I remove the firewood & accessories from my from porch, I end up leaving those bins behind because there's a nest/nests in it, and I don't want to disturb things. This year I caught it in time. A few days ago I heard a bird chirping its head off. It was perched on the edge of the bin screaming for its mate that there was a vacancy. I looked and no nesting materials were yet present, so I put the lids on the bins. Now when winter's over, I can get everything off of my porch...and I won't have that incessant chirping by my front door. Tell me again why birds are endearing and rodents are repulsive? At least the rodents keep their mouths shut.
You are a kind person to leave those bins. One reason I tore out the hedge in January instead of waiting was to keep the big birds (cardinals, thrashers, robins, bluejays) from nesting there. Too much fighting going on last year. It made me nervous. Plus the hedge grows too fast. I can't keep up with trimming it. The Christmas cold spell froze some of the top branches, and I want a fence instead anyway. Let me count the ways. How about...squirrels and ground squirrels are chewing the framing of the screened porch up front. I think they do that like beavers do, in order to keep their teeth from getting too long.
When I was in early elementary school in Indiana, my mother would toss food on the snow for the birds. As I was walking out the back door to walk to school one day, I saw all the tiny feet prints, and scooped them up on a cookie sheet to take in for Show 'n Tell. I get angry when the nests get in the way of my projects, but I don't have the right to destroy them.
It was Indiana temps. They made it fine. I’m not sure I impressed anyone. edit to add: You may have been wondering if I dropped them. Nope. But you could see the school from our back door, so it wasn't that long of a trip.
Fake oval-shaped holes in cheese? I bought some Swiss cheese that had the cutouts still in the package. In the past decade or so, the holes in Swiss cheese have been disappearing. As far back as 1917, scientists concluded that the holes were formed by bacteria that produced carbon dioxide, but they didn't know how the bacteria got there in the first place. Now they have determined that the holes have historically been made by teensy bits of hay dust that find their way into cheeses during the cheese-making process. As the old open-bucket-in-a-barn methods of milking have been phased out, replaced by closed modern machine milking systems, those foreign particles are less present. LINK They now know how to force more uniform holes in the cheese, if they want to. But this doesn't explain the oval-shaped cutouts. So many puzzles.
No. Only the temps. I forgot how cold it gets. When it hurts to breathe. I must have gone to school before Show & Tell was invented. The closest I can remember involved Ohio sales tax stamps in 3rd grade. No matter how obscure or trivial an old memory is, it seems like there is someone else who has thought about the same thing and has a write up about it on the internet. Isn't it wonderful? Sometimes. (They sell these on eBay ) You got these little bits of paper every time you bought something worth more than 67 cents. But why? Ohio first imposed a sales tax (3%) in 1935, but many merchants wouldn't charge the tax. So the state required them to buy, and stock, these tax stamps up front, before sales. That still didn't work if customers didn't demand the stamps. So the state encouraged customers to ask for the stamps by introducing a buyback program. Schools could collect the used stamps and turn them in, in exchange for 3% of the face value. .. LINK In the summer of 1953 we bought a new car. I suppose it was $3000? We would get $90 worth of sales tax stamps. I was queen for the day when I turned in my stamps. The stamps were discontinued in 1962. It seems revenue stamps date back to the 16th century.
I never saw tax stamps in Indiana or in Virginia. When I was in 6th grade in Virginia (final year of Elementary School) I was school Treasurer. Once a week I would set up a table and sell Savings Stamps. These were savings bonds sold in 10¢ increments (close to $1 in today's value.) I saw that something similar was sold to support WW2 spending.
The post with the bluebird house is about 8 feet tall. It's getting wobbly at the base. Probably rotting below ground. Hollow from the top down to the middle of the birdhouse. It is very old. I hate leaning a ladder against it. It might just come tumbling down. Some little bird is going in and out of a crack at the arrow and under the bucket. Not often. The binoculars are never handy when it shows up. Probably a nuthatch. The bluebirds do not like it. I don't feel inclined to get out the extension ladder and cover the crack. I believe nest building started around the first week of March last year. I have a couple more weeks to think about it. The birdhouse still has some of the styrofoam sun shields from last summer. The birds seem to like it, so I'm not messing with it, except to change ventilation from cold to hot weather.
There are known knowns, known unknowns, and unknown unknowns I really like the original quote, but Rumsfeld left out "unknown knowns" — known ways of doing things, unknown to those who lack experience. Finally settled on the measurements for this new front door. It's embarrassing how much time I've spent. Even after drilling holes there are still unknowables. I wish I had one of those little cameras the doctors stick into every opening of your body. Had to start over many times because of problems I didn't think of. Then finally a triple-check. Start at the top and measure down; at the bottom and measure up; at the middle and measure out. They finally all matched (close enough). Tore off the old threshold. Couldn't ask for much better conditions underneath. The threshold must be level. It's about 1/2" off. That was also taken into account in the measurements. Emailed everything to the salesman Thursday night. He replied "I will discuss this with Tyler (the owner) and get back to you." I am hoping for no mistakes. . Do NOT want to hear an "I told you so," especially from Tyler.
I have one of those endoscopes/borescopes I bought on Amazon. I chose one that works with my small tablet via WiFi and an App. I wish I had bought one that talks to my laptop via USB, because of the larger screen...but I went with portability. It works OK. I used it for plumbing issues, but when you stick it down the drain, water droplets on the lens obscure the view, making it of minimal value for that application. I also bought accessory tips for it: The mirrors let you see different angles, the hook lets you snag stuff, and the magnet end has its obvious application.
My goodness! You have a lot of gadgets. What a fun toy. I could use that to check my downspouts. I didn't know normal people could buy such things. But come to think of it Mike Holmes, the homeowner rescue guy, used one once. I think I've come up with a workaround. More later.
I have also heard of them being used to check out the inside of an engine cylinder if they are small enough to fit though the spark plug or glow plug hole.
I have one I use for checking the insides of stringed instruments, things like loose fan braces in guitars or bass bars in bowed instruments.
Front door continued... Still concerned about the installation. The frame will need some prep work. First thing is to cut the (5-1/2" wide) casings back about 2 inches from the inside, leaving 3-1/2 inches. This "technique" is my idea very innovative, and an unknowable known to all installers, according to Tyler. I could even do it myself. But if you cut off the inner part of the casings, the door would fall off the wall. Worse yet, it would have to stay off until the new door arrives. That could be 8 weeks. Then....... A temporary doorway cover could be made with a 4' x 8' piece of that rigid foam insulation board. Just needs a frame to go around the edges and across the middle for support. I already have some scrap 1"x2"s in the basement. It can be screwed on where the screw holes won't show when the new door is on. Meanwhile I can use the back door or the basement door. I said I wanted to do the minimum extra work for this project. But this would be fun work. Not boring, like painting, or repairing plaster, which has no deadline. And if I run into more unknown knowables, there will be plenty of time to figure out how to fix them. Tyler should reply today, unless he went on vacation. Meanwhile I will think of a Plan B, in case he never does. I can't wait to tear out that front door.