Time to spring winter

Is it safe to come out yet? Is winter finally over and spring on its way?

Winter is leaving. At least I hope it is.

I generally don’t like to complain about the weather. Partially because Canadians shouldn’t complain about the cold but also working from home means I can avoid most of it. This winter though, has been nothing but a cold, crappy disaster from start to finish when it comes to the schoolhouse. Mice infestations, frozen toilets, no heat and a near propane explosion have tested the limits of patience in our household.

So here’s to spring and with it some vacation time to do some serious clean up.

The non-Disney kind of frozen

Ever seen a frozen toilet?

Until last weekend  hadn’t either. I can tell you it involves much swearing.

The tank is tanked

While the water was off this winter, a little water remained in the system. Generally we keep a little heat on to avoid this sort of thing but when I arrived at the house the heat was off and at some point, according to our thermometer, had reached -9° Celsius at some point in the past few weeks. Good times. So a new toilet is on my shopping list now as the tank cracked substantially. We will wait until the spring to see what else has gone awry.

Insanely Easy Home and Garden Hacks: An infographic

This infographic had some interesting ideas. I thought that was something worth sharing whilst we wait out the winter months.

http://visual.ly/track.php?q=http://visual.ly/insanely-easy-home-and-garden-hacks&slug=insanely-easy-home-and-garden-hacks

2014 in review: The naked and the planters

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 1,300 times in 2014. If it were a cable car, it would take about 22 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Vintage JJ Pewter Schoolhouse brooch

I like a schoolhouse even when it is jewelry!

Haute Juice

Isn’t this a great piece of vintage jewelry?

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A gift for the birds this Christmas

We checked up on the Schoolhouse this weekend and made sure that we left a little something for the birds.

We’ve left some feed out around the property. Provided the squirrels don’t get there first the birds should have a bit of a Christmas treat. It’s the least we can do until our new bird feeder is installed. Pat is working on something for the spring. And it is a good excuse to get up there more often.

Shovelling tips: An infographic

Well it looks like we are finally getting some serious snow!

Here is a bit of info to watch for when you shovel your walks and driveways this winter! The stats are from the US but you get the idea. Stay safe!

Admitting to defeat

I believe I must admit that this year the mice are winning.

Upon arriving at the schoolhouse last night we discovered the mouse traps and poison I had laid out has been largely ignored. Except of course the box of extra poison I bought which seems to be covered in mouse poop.

This may be a losing battle…

Summer is over and so is fall

Well it appears that not only is summer over but so is fall.

Ok so autumn isn’t over for a few weeks but it sure does feel like it. I don’t have any wintry schoolhouse shots yet but the ones from this fall are a reminder that winter is on its way.

It always looks a little lonely at this time of year.

There are so many leaves to rake. I laugh at anyone with a suburban yard!

The yard was still green when we last raked but I doubt I will find it such now.

Boquet Octagonal Schoolhouse

Here is an interesting schoolhouse from New York State. Would have been neat to have an octagonal building.

Preservation in Pink

It’s not everyday that you encounter an octagonal stone schoolhouse; but drive on Route 22 through the tiny hamlet of Boquet in the town of Essex, NY and you’ll come across this historic 1826 structure. Designed by architect Benjamin Gilbert, the school served the population around the local, growing sawmills. The octagon was later popularized by Thomas Jefferson at Poplar Forest (read more here from AARCH). Today the building is owned by the town and open for tours by appointment. Many original features remain in this octagonal schoolhouse. The community is undertaking a fundraiser to raise money for restoration of the building. Read more here. And there’s an old set of swings, too. Take a look!

Boquet Schoolhouse in Essex, NY.

Stone & octagonal. The local heritage organization (ECHO) is raising money to repair to building.

And a bit of a historic playground to go along with the…

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