After much hemming and hawing and I don't wannas, I got out Sunday afternoon and put the hooks into my eaves and got my outside lights up. It wasn't really that hard, and once I got going, I finished fairly quickly.
I was only able to get half the house done, though. You see, the roof over my porch and carport extends out further, so the eave is lower. This other half of the house, well, I couldn't reach it. I thought I'd either have to get a taller ladder or grow about 6 more inches.
Yesterday at work, I was just a working away, when I had an idea. See, the previous owner left several skids out behind the back fence. They aren't the wooden kind, but seem to be made of a heavy duty PVC or something similar. I thought maybe I could put my ladder on top of one of those, and it would boost me just enough to be able to get those last few hooks in the eaves.
I'd already gotten two of the skids and put them into my shop, so I could get my stuff up off the floor until I can find and fix wherever the water is getting inside when it rains. There were still three more behind the fence. As soon as I got home, I ran out there and pried them up. It wasn't easy, as they'd gotten all clogged with dirt and were half buried. By the time I got them out of the ground, the clouds were dark and the wind had picked up. Storms were moving in.
I thought maybe if the rain had moved off, I could get the rest of my lights up this afternoon, but it was still chilly and damp. Maybe tomorrow.
But look, I was excited about this. I thought I would have to run an extension cord from this outlet under my window across my porch and up the side of my house to plug my lights in.
I'd gone and bought a 20 foot extension chord just for that purpose. For some unknown reason, I just happened to look and discovered this.
There is an outlet in my porch light fixture! I wouldn't have to run that cord across my porch! And I could use my shorter extension cord. I've got a 10 foot up there now, but could probably make do with a 6 foot. That's where my luck ran out. All the 6 foot extension cords I have, and none of them are rated for outdoor use. Oh well, can't win them all. But the good news is, I can turn my Christmas lights on and off from the switch inside my house! There is a manual switch on the porch light, so I can turn the bulb off.
I spent some more time over the weekend bricking. I think I've about got the method down. Spray the bricks with Easy Off. Let it set an hour or two. Use a wire brush to loosen the paint, then rinse it with water. Tedious, time consuming, and a bit messy, but it is working.
Sunday evening, I decided to go ahead and pry the bit of molding off the side so I could thoroughly clean the edges of the bricks. If I'd had sense, I'd have cut the paint with a utility knife right there where the molding met the wall, but I didn't. Have sense, that is. Or cut the paint. When the molding came loose, it pulled great sheets of thick, rubbery paint with it.
But look what I found underneath.
Isn't that pretty? Why on earth would you want to cover that up with that hideous yellow? I'm not a big fan of yellow, in case you haven't figured that out. I thought if I were really careful, I could peel the paint off and leave that wallpaper, but some bits of it tore. I'll just have to paint over it with my choice of colors. That'll be the next project, after I get the bricks repainted, the mantle put back up, and the living room painted.
Every once in a while, I buy these little icicles.
We always had them on our tree when I was a kid, and I get them from time to time, even though they're a pain in the patooty. They add a nice little shimmer, and a bit of nostalgia, to my tree.
Finally, I was at work today, thinking about how I was going to cook my pork chop on my George Foreman knockoff grill when I said, "By golly, I'm not going to let a kitchen appliance beat me! I'm smarter than a glorified crock pot!" I was determined to cook that pork chop in the Instant Pot come hell or high water.
Since I still hadn't found an actual recipe, I decided to just wing it. I knew you had to have liquid in there to make the steam, so I adapted my favorite marinade recipe --which is basically soy sauce, brown sugar, vegetable oil, and some spices -- and added just a bit more water to make sure it would steam enough. I tossed the chop in there and set it for 8 minutes.
Now, in a lot of those videos I watched, the person would say, "I set it for [however many] minutes, but I think I'll use less time because it came out falling off the bone tender." Um, is it just me, or isn't that how you want your meat to be?
Mine came out pretty good, but next time, I think I'll use the quick release depressurize thing instead of letting it depressurize naturally. Either that, or cut the cooking time back, because it was just a little overcooked. It was still tender, though, and tasted good.
Tomorrow, I'm going to try cooking rice, which I've never managed to get quite right. If it does a good job on the rice, the Instant Pot can stay.
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