Operation Batwatch Addendum

First, an update to Operation: Batwatch. No sign of activity. Yet. We may have installed the bathouse too late in the year. Also J. thinks the bathouse may not be warm enough for bats. Considering a move of the bathouse to more direct sunlight or painting it black.

Second, we inaugurated Operation: Wrenwatch on Father's Day, and we're already seeing signs of life. J. placed the wrenhouse in the dogwood tree. I saw a wren in that tree less than a week later. And now we see that something is stuffing twigs into the wrenhouse.

Dead and Dying Plants R' Us?

Sheesh, what happened to the thuja next to the patio?We've been a little dry in the past few weeks, but this spot is watered regularly (the annuals are in this bed), so it's not that dry. Plus, this thuja was here when we bought the house, so I would assume it has an established root supply. The other thujas in our yard look fine, I don't suspect disease. It is only this thuja that appears to be throwing in the towel.

The herb garden, on the other hand, is doing well. I haven't started harvesting yet for drying, but I froze six bags of basil pesto last weekend.

Ceiling Fan #3

The final fan, installed in O.'s room.

This is a low profile fan, which we chose because the room is small and we thought that it might be safer for O. if the blades were closer to the ceiling. Another advantage of the low profile fan is that it seemed much easier to install than the other two with a downrod.

However, this fan doesn't seem to have as much oomph as the first two. The other fans feel like you're sleeping in wind tunnel, but this gives a slight breeze. Maybe it's the height of the fan, and it ought to be lower for the room? Then again, maybe it's the fact that it has four blades instead of five blades. I guess hindsight is twenty-twenty etc.; I just thought that a higher fan would reduce the chance of O. snagging the small objects and stuffed pets on the blades.

Though, really, an extra 12 inches isn't going to change the chances of that much.

Edited to add mental note: check that the fan is not in the reverse position.

Edited to add response to mental note: we just checked, and nope, the fan is not in wrong position.

Lighting Issues

This is the lighting fixture that is located in the dining room end of the living/dining room, or the pretentiously misnamed "great room."


J. and I have issues with this fixture. For one, it is probably a bathroom fixture masquerading as a dining room light, but it is not convincing anyone. And since the dining room was probably the former living room, the light is installed at a height that might be good for a sofa. As a result, the fixture imparts a nasty glare visible to everyone sitting at the dining room table. That's just crappy ambiance.

With our upcoming painting vacation, we've decided to address this issue, since we'll be tearing apart this area anyway. We can:
a.) Rotate the fixture 180 degrees. The light will point upward instead of downward. This might take care of the annoying glare problem. However, it means we will be effectively lighting the ceiling of the room. This is also the least challenging solution, technically speaking.
b.) Move the the fixture three feet higher on the wall. The thought here is that the light might diffuse better and light the table more evenly. Or it might just mean that the lightglare is more likely to bother tall people. This could be a challenge to our electrical installation and wood paneling repair skills, but it would be worth it.
c.) Replace the ugly brownish vases with slightly less ugly with white vases. Then we could buy lower wattage bulbs for less glare and the white vases would diffuse the light better, keeping the room bright. And if nothing else, at least they won't look dirty even after they've been dusted. This is also the most expensive of options, but it is doable.
d.) Do nothing. Paint around the fixture and leave as is. But really, what's the point of that?

Except for d.), all combinations of these are options. We could do a.) and c.), or a.) and b.), or b.) c.), or heck, all three.

A Mouse Fart of Post

No real reason to post, except that I could no longer allow that photo of the poor dead Japanese maple tree to be the first thing one sees. So, I leave you with a photo of a pretty thing instead.

This is a closeup of my potted scented geranium plant. If I pretend that I'm six inches tall and squint, it could be the maple.

Nothing new here. We're busy with work and life and have little time at the moment to anything but maintain. Big projects are in the works, including a painting vacation in late July or August. More on that later.

Mostly Dead, Slightly Alive, or All Dead?

Here's a photo of the buds that J. claims to be a sign of life from our Japanese maple tree.
It has looked this way for at least a week. We're going to give it another week, but it's probably time to go through its clothes and look for loose change.