Pittsboro, NC

 Finally, a post that is slightly sailing related....

Our sheets for our berth on the boat were worn out.  I've got two sets - they're standard queen size.  They're all-cotton, high thread count Better Homes and Garden brand and very soft.  But they didn't wear well.  Just 6 months and one of the bottom sheets has thin spots and small tears.  Maybe something about the fact that we're slightly salty sometimes affected the wear.  Anyway.  Time for a new set.

At the local Target, I found this deal - looks like really nice sheets - 600 thread count and all cotton.  On clearance, my luck.  Really nice heavy "hotel" sheets. 

 

I do need to back up a bit - I promise it will all make sense.

 Two of my favorite shirts - (both given to me by Miranda and Richard) have unfortunately gotten bleach spots on them.  This one was a gift to tell us that they were engaged.

And this one they found at the Variety store in Ocracoke many years ago.  Both are well worn but I hated the bleach spots.

 

So I decided that the solution was to bleach out the color and add back color....

 

 

Even though one little drop of bleach will leave a white spot, it takes a huge amount of bleach to actually bleach out all the color.  I used my last 1/2 gallon on these shirts.  This one was stubborn but I figured it would be enough.

 

 

And now I'll tie the two stories together.  I figured if I was going to mix up a batch of dye, I should kill two birds....

White sheets are just too "clean" looking for the boat.  I wanted a bit of color - so I treated the sheets with soda ash (to help set the dye) and tied them up with string for tie-dying.

 

The fitted sheet.

 

 

Four pillow cases.  (yes, isn't that cool that it comes with extra? I guess that's what you get with a sheet set that was originally $70!)

 

And the top sheet.

 

I'm using a standard Rit liquid dye this time which requires hot water.  So I put every large pan I own to boil.

 

Out to the yard - all the items in the (clean) mop bucket full of hot dye.

 

Stirred and let set for 1 hour.

 

Back into the kitchen for rinsing.  I then bathed everything in white vinegar to also help in setting the dye.

 

So - a partial fail.  They shirts turned out a lovely color....but the dye seemed to enhance a stain at the armpits.  

 

These shirts are many years old, so not surprising that they are stained - but you couldn't really see it before.  So - I will tie-dye these shirts with a swirl pattern to hide the stain and get back to you.

 

But I'm really happy with the sheets.  Spread out loosely on the guest bed.  Just the right amount of random color.  They'll be lovely on the boat.

Pittsboro, NC

 Back to the drain re-do...

 With a nice solid concrete "floor", Duane has it formed now to secure all the pipes in thick concrete.  (The black plastic is a 32 gallon trash can re-purposed.)

 

After that concrete had time to set up, he filled in the void with dirt and formed it for the base of the "cap".

 

Additional inside form to accept the new grate.

 The next day, interior form removed.

 And new grate in place!!!  

Here is the overall view so you can see some of the terrain that drains into this area.  We'll have to pause here because it is going to be a rainy weekend.  We contacted our dirt-delivery guy, he's out of town for a week - so we'll get a load of dirt delivered when he returns to smooth out the area.  Glad that messy project is almost done!

Pittsboro, NC

While Duane has been working on the drain, I've mostly been wielding a pressure washer.  (Another borrowed from a neighbor tool, gotta love it.  Thanks Pat and Diane!)  I searched the blog here to see when we did this last.  I thought it had been several years.  It's only been 2 years. 

 Before and after shots.   

 

The deck on the north side of the house has the original deckboards and they have gotten pretty moldy.  (All the other deckboards are new a couple of years ago)

 

This part of the decking is over 25 years old so looking pretty good.

The north side of the house always has a nice green sheen after a couple of years.

Kinda hard to see, but it really is much brighter.

Down on the lower level, it had really gotten dark with algae or whatever grown on concrete in the shade.

 

The big concrete drive going into the garage mid-process.

 

All done!

My arm is tired!!

Pittsboro, NC

More work on the drain.....

The work scope got a little larger - Duane wanted to figure out the erosion a bit, so he hand-dug out the large pipe a ways.

But then he needed to dig further so he borrowed the neighbors small backhoe.  (Thanks, Charlie!)

Then it's time to start putting it all back together.  Pat happened by for a visit and helped, of course.   Mixing some concrete and pouring the foundation to support the drain basin.

 

He'll let this set up overnight and start the re-construction tomorrow. It will make sense then.

 

Pittsboro, NC

 Yay!!  ANOTHER amaryllis!  This is the last one....

Pittsboro, NC

 

Duane is digging up a drain out by the hangar. 

It's a low spot that he had joined three other drain pipes many, many years ago, draining various areas of the yard/woods.  Unfortunately, it had eroded somewhat under all that concrete and he wanted to get it fixed before it got any worse and created a huge sink hole!  You can see the outline of the previous square concrete pad he busted and dug up this morning.

 

 And here you can see how all the pipes from the 3 drains come together.

Previously, the concrete was "capped" by this old grate from a BBQ grill.  

That grate  worked pretty well, but it was a bit flimsy.   When we were up at Mom's visiting, she gave us a "great - grate".  This one MUCH more substantial.

 

 Will be fun to see it all go back together!

Pittsboro, NC

 Equal time for all pilots!  Went flying today and Duane was at the controls, just another joy-ride.

We've got a dreary week forecast, so we may not get much flying in.

Pittsboro, NC

 Great day to go flying.  Just a little joy ride.

Always kinda fun to look at our flight track after we fly.  Just a lazy flight over the lake to see what's happening.  Not a lot!

And in the evening, I got out the new favorite gizmo - my George Foreman Grill.  Just a whole lot of veggies - it makes them perfect - no sogginess like boiled veggies.

 Brussels sprouts.

 

Cauliflower

 

And broccoli.

We watched the movie Nomadland - with one of my favorite actresses - Frances McDormand (the actress in Fargo and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri).  It's a story about a woman who lives in her van and travels the US after her hometown industry is shut down and her husband dies.   It won best movie and best actress Oscars so was thinking it would be really good.  Well, not so much, for me anyway.  Frances McDormand was excellent in her role, of course....but the movie was just too sad for me.  

Pittsboro, NC

 

Last night we finished the BBC series Merlin.  It's five seasons so we've been watching a couple of episodes a night for many weeks now.  Really enjoyed it and wanted to pass that along if anyone is interested in a family friendly distraction. (It's a old program so probably readily available).

 

OK, on to activities - this is about as far away from sailing as you can get!!!

I decided that I didn't really like the idea of the veggie plants being on the deck....so I decided I'd use the flower bed out in the full sun.  All the bulbs (iris, daffodils, red rockets) have bloomed this year, so there's really not much else happening in this flowerbed for the rest of the summer.

 

So I got out the nice new weed-eater Richard loaned me and made short work of cutting it all down.  I know, you really shouldn't cut the stalks before they're yellowed, but I've done it before with little problem.

 

And then I toted many wheel barrow loads of mulch from the leftover pile up near the house in the woods.

 

So now I've got a nice thick layer of mulch.  I'll dig down into/around the bulbs and plant the veggies from the deck.  They should do well here - the soil is very rich from many years of mulching the flowers.

 

Since I was already wet and weedy, I went out with the weed-eater for a little more trimming.  This is the area that has a bunch of rocks and mounds of dirt - a little too rough for a lawn mower yet.

 

I'm tired now!!  I'll plant the veggies tomorrow.  Time for a shower and some Kindle time!

Pittsboro, NC

 Forgot this photo....I'm doing a tiny bit of gardening thanks to Keith and Denise.  They gave me a few pepper and tomato plants.  I'm just using my crappy old leftover flower pots to have a little garden on the deck this year.

Pittsboro, NC

 I can't believe it's June already!  It was incredibly dry the past month - but we finally are getting some much needed rain.  Rather dreary though and the lights have to be on in the house.  My view as I type.

Not a lot happening - doing some errands, paperwork and home chores. 

Pittsboro, NC

We had to stop on the way back from Oriental and change a tire on the pickup - one of the front ones had a bad deformity appear.  So Duane put on the 20 year old full-size spare which looks in good shape (never used, but still - 20 years old).  I guess we'll be at the tire store this week sometime after we unload all the crap in the pickup.

Not much rain, if any, fell while we were away.  The new grass is looking a bit withered.  Hopefully it will rain soon and perk everything back up.  

On a brighter note, the second set of amaryllis is in full bloom.  Love how the different colors bloom at different times to elongate the show!

 

And it was a lovely afternoon so we took the airplane out for a little joyride.  (You can see the new grass starting to look a bit sad).

Oriental, NC

 We're heading back to Pittsboro today so most of the day will be packing up and driving back to the house.

 

 It's been a strange chilly weekend.  Low's in the 50's and highs some days in the 60's.  Definitely odd for the beginning of June!  A little "smoke on the water" action this morning since the water is warmer now than the air.

See ya soon, Sojourn!

Looks a little lonely without the Dreapers and What If!