Wednesday, March 20, 2019: Pruning Dog Wood and Asparagus

For the first time this year, I took my Wednesday walk through the MoBot. I noticed that both the ornamental asparagus and the red twig dogwoods had been pruned down to the ground. When I got home, I did the same to mine.

Sunday, March 10, 2019: Squirrels

The weather has been warming up a bit. Last week while I was out of town, I got a notification of movement in the attic. Sure enough, a squirrel was roaming around. It did not seem to pay any attention to the trap and it appears the bait in the trap has been disturbed.

When I arrived home two days ago, I went up with a fresh cracker with peanut butter. The trap had been jostled and the old bait was underneath the cardboard tray I had put it on. I replace the bait and reset the trap.

Yesterday afternoon, I got another notification for movement in the attic. Sure enough, the rodent was back.

Again, it paid little attention to the trap. Today, I took the new ultrasonic boom box up to the attic. I had had it in the sunroom. We will see if that makes any difference. I have not gotten any movement notices from the eave camera is some time. That's where the other boom box is located.

Tuesday, February 12, 2019: Mind the Gap

Today was not exceptionally cold (around 35F) but the wind is strong and variable. I have often experienced an occasional draft in the entryway between the main house and the sunroom. I had previously installed a foam barrier in the vent above the east window in the entryway during the winter season. This eliminated the vast majority of the draft, but I still felt some. Today, I finally realized where the draft was from. There is a gap between the Sapele paneling and the brick on the main house. I could actually see daylight on both sides of the entryway.

I ordered some GE Silicon 2+ caulk. It is clear colored.

Update:

Sunday, February 17, 2019

I received the caulk on Friday and today I filled the gaps on both sides of the entry hall where it meets the brick house. At least now you can not see any sunlight through the gaps! I used all of the one tube of caulk. Seems like pretty good stuff.

Friday, February 8, 2019: Chiminey Cap

Holy Smoke Chimney Services finally came out to install the cap on our southwest chimney...the one that blew off last Summer.

They did not check with me before they left. Obviously, there is some tuck pointing that is not complete. As long as they guarantee that it will not blow off again, I'll accept it. They decided not to install the first cap they came with because it was the wrong size and they explained at the time that the didn't proceed because they could not guarantee it would stay in place. I will wait to hear from them.

Thursday, February 7, 2019: Deicer Thermocube and Squirrel Chronicles Continued

Last week, I decided to buy and install a Thermocube. This is a thermostatically enabled electrical receptacle. Power to the deicer will not happen unless the ambient temperature has dropped to 35F and it will shut off power when the ambient temperature rises to 45F. This will save energy. The cube is a dual outlet so I put a child guard in the open port. The Thermocube is not weather proof so I also purchased and installed a silicon "rain block" at each exposed plug in point. Since the deicer is plugged into the same GFCI as the pond circulation pump, as long as the waterfall is falling, the silicon seals are working.

While down in the sunroom this morning, around 8:00 am, I got the first motion notification in the third floor eave in the past week. There were actually four back-to-back videos caught. The one below shows the squirrel attempting to get to the bait, moving the cage around. It did not knock the ultrasonic boom box off the top of the trap, as was done once before.

While the boom box obviously did not deter the creature from entering the eave, the creature did not stay very long. Maybe it is working. Another question is whether this was a new animal or was it the one I transplanted over to the Tower Grove Park who has come back?

Wednesday, February 6, 2019: Tile Work

It was back on June 18, 2018 that I first noticed the subsidence of the tiles at the south door of the sunroom and contacted Mike S. He promised to come out and take a look, which he did on June 20. After looking, he promised to be out the following week to effect repairs. There were numerous promises over the next seven months. Today, he finally came and made a repair.

While the slab has certainly settled (Mike estimated about 1/4"), the settling appears to be in the slab and not the foundation. There is no indication of foundation settling at this time. Mike suggested the reason for the broken tiles is that they were more tight communication with the foundation.

He thinks that if he replaces the broken tiles and allow them to "float" independent of the foundation, they will not break again. Hopefully also, the slab has found its "home" and will settle no more. To actually address the settling issue would be a massive and expensive proposition.

We have a lot of extra tiles. Why we have so many, I do not know. It appears we bought about 50% more tiles than we needed. What we do not have is much remaining grout. The original bag of grout has pretty much solidified, although there was enough to grout the new tiles.

If future replacements are needed, the grout used is a Polyblend Sanded Grout and the color is #60 Charcoal.

When Mike reattached the floor molding, he also attached the molding on the left hand side of the fireplace, which was never attached originally.

Overall, Mike was here about 2.5 hours and charged $150.

Friday, February 1, 2019: Another Promise

Today I called Mike S again and this time he answered. I had called over three weeks earlier (January 9), as I told him I would. I left a message telling him I was back in town and asked him to give me a call. I wanted him to let me know what to expect with respect to the work he promised he would do at the south door of the sunroom.

Just like the last time he actually answered my call, today he said he was finishing a job and could probably be out next week. He said he would give me a call on Monday or Tuesday. Based on experience, I am not holding my breath.

Squirrel Update:

On Tuesday, I declared victory in the ATO due to a lack of any noise or motion detection in either the southeast eave or the attic. As you might have expected, early Thursday morning, I heard rumblings and foot steps above the bedroom. I did not however get any movement notifications. I checked both the cameras and both are still working and the traps appear undisturbed.

Last night however, I heard nothing. Perhaps a potential new guest I heard early Thursday morning looked the place over and decided not to check in. Or, the guests are now in another area not covered by the cameras. I've ordered another P7816 Ultrasonic Attack Wave Pestrepeller to put into the closet behind T's desk...where I saw the bat. It should be here Superbowl Sunday.

Wednesday, January 30, 2019: Squirrel Chronicles Part IV

It has been four days since Andy's relocation from the attic and to Tower Grove Park. Since then, no noise and no movement notifications. Last night we had a cold front come into the area. This morning, the ambient temperature is -3F with a wind chill of -24F. If someone was thinking of moving back in, I think they would have done so last night. While I will leave the traps in place for awhile, maybe all season, I am prepared to declare victory in the ATO (Attic Theater of Operation).

The pond fared well over night and the new pond deicer is doing its job.

Sunday, January 27, 2019: New Deicer

The new deicer arrived today and I have air tested it and installed it in the pond. The ten foot cord is just barely long enough to reach the receptacle box. The ambient temperature today is up to freezing, but the temperatures are supposed to fall this coming week. Wednesday's high is only going to be 7F.

Squirrel update, no noise or movement notifications in the eave for the past 48 hours or in the attic for the past 24 hours. With the falling temperatures over the next few days, we will see if more guests arrive.

Saturday, January 26, 2019: Squirrel Chronicles Part III

I had not received any movement notifications from either camera since early Friday morning. Before retiring last night, I checked the cameras. The eave camera showed nothing had changed and the boom box was still in place and functioning (it gives off audible clicks every few seconds). The attic camera however showed the trap had been tripped and rotated clockwise about 45deg. I watched the trap for a few minutes and could periodically see the reflection of an eye. So, Andy the Squirrel had finally checked in to the Attic Hotel.

This morning, I went up to see how Andy was doing and to suggest we find him a new residence in Tower Grove Park, about 1.5 miles away.

I was not surprised when he expressed displeasure with the current accommodations and my hospitality. I brought him down to the Sunroom to allow him to enjoy the warmer environment before our journey began.

We drove over to the western most end of the park and Andy was released. He didn't even say "goodbye", but zipped over to the closest oak tree.

Returning home, I rebaited the trap with another rice cracker with a dollop of peanut butter and returned it to the attic to await the next guest's arrival.

I am very hopeful that the boom box in the eave is discouraging any potential guests from moving into that trap. Time will tell.