The Coy Pond

THE PROJECT: Replace our old, ugly, hideous, enormous, mercury-having thermostat with a new pretty programmable one
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: Well, for us, it was kind of hard at first, but got easier as we went along. Now I’d say it’s pretty much super-easy.

We installed this thermostat before I decided we needed to start blogging about our home improvements, so we don’t really have detailed pictures of this project. Sorry!

Bruce attended a Home Depot “class” on installing programmable thermostats. Of course it looked extremely easy when someone else was doing it, and when all the wires matched up perfectly (because that’s what happens in these types of demonstrations). So he brought home a new middle-of-the-road Honeywell digital to replace our old wall monster.

Before doing anything, we shut off the heater and to further protect ourselves, we shut off the electricity to the heater/thermostat from the circuit box.

The first challenge was actually removing the old thermostat from the wall. It had been attached with screws, of course, but beyond that it was attached with 22 years of paint layers. It took awhile and some of Bruce’s brute strength, but it finally came free! Victory!

The next step was carefully removing wires from the old thermostat and labeling them individually with tape, so we could attach them to the new thermostat correctly. I really wish we had a picture of this, I was very proud of how organized I was able to keep things. This seemed like it was going to be SUPER easy, like plugging in speakers or something, until we realized there were a couple of wires that didn’t meet expectations. Like, there were two wires attached to the Y terminal. It wasn’t until I removed the plate from the wall that I realized the extra Y wire was just drawing power to run the giant analog clock on the old thermostat. Issue one resolved! Then there was the pesky TC wire.

I still don’t know what a TC wire is. Temperature Control is the common guess, and maybe that’s what it was, but apparently the new fancy digital goodness doesn’t need it. So I cut the curl off the wire and then covered the remaining exposed wire with electrical tape. I was pretty nervous to do that, to be honest. I get scared of this electrical stuff. It’s nothing to be trifled with, in my opinion.

Once we got the new wall plate up, all the other wires hooked up perfectly: Y, G, R, and W (if I remember correctly) all had terminals. This thermostat has little “plug-in” areas that get secured by screws that sink in and secure the wires. It was insanely easy once we got to that point. After we did that, we screwed on the front and, nervously, switched the power back on. Then we turned the heater back on. We set the thermostat so the heater would turn on (with the fan on auto) and VOILA! It worked! VICTORY TWO! After we were sure that was working properly, we switched the thermostat so the A/C would kick on. After a self-imposed delay, the thermostat turned on the cold! VICTORY THREE, and game over!

This was our very first ever electrical project and it was a major success. As long as proper precautions are taken, it’s actually very easy. I am looking forward to changing out the lights in our bathrooms, and fixing some upside-down light switches. I might even update our electrical outlets (the pros call them “receptacles”) if I get really ambitious!

If any of you have problems with thermostat installations, you can ask us. We’re now experts. Or at least we think we are. Which means that when one of you asks us for help, we’re most likely NOT going to know the answer to your question. :)

RESULT: Major success!!

Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter.
WOW!!!

It’s like Nutella, except peanut. It is SO GOOD. I could eat the whole jar!!

Now I realize it’s the beginning of the year and no one wants to eat unhealthy foods, but it’s really not unhealthy. All the ingredients are good and natural. TRY IT.

Unless you don’t like chocolate or peanuts. In which case, do I even know you?

As most of you know, we recently bought a condo. We took possession of the keys on October 2nd. The same day our daughter was born. Some people have told me we’re really brave to do that. I have corrected them and told them we were really stupid to do that. So be it, it’s done, we’re here, and we’re renovating!

There is quite a bit to do, and we think of new things we want to do on a daily basis. Unfortunately, it seems we find new things we have to do on a daily basis as well. We are going to keep track of and document the projects we want and have to do with this — THE LIST.

This list is subject to addition, subtraction, and basically any amount of editing. When our website redesign is complete (I have a design working, I just have to find time to implement it), I’ll put a permanent link to THE LIST from every page. Bolded dark red items are completed. For now, anyway.

KITCHEN
tile floor
granite counters
new sink and fixtures
new refrigerator
hook up copper water line
new dishwasher
new range
new vent hood — we already did this once, but will do it again to match new range which will be stainless
new recessed lights (to replace HIDEOUS recessed lights left by former owners)
tile backsplash
refinish or reface cabinets

LIVING ROOM
new paint on walls — in progress
new window treatment
new laminate flooring
add trim and corbels under granite counter
new ceiling fan over dining room table
front door interior: fill hole, repaint, clean paint off metal trim (left by previous owner)

HALLWAYS
replace flushmount lights
replace old thermostat with pretty programmable thermostat — in progress
new paint on walls — in progress
new paint on doors/trim

LAUNDRY CLOSET
new washer/dryer
shelving for space left by stacking w/d
fix and cover outlet behind w/d
clear out dryer vent
replace light/vent fan
replace flooring
replace doors on laundry closet

GARAGE
build a workbench
new chest freezer… for puposes of beer making
various shelving and storage solutions — in progress
make room for a car! — in progress

JARROD’S ROOM
new paint
new baseboards
fix or replace window
new window treatment

OUR ROOM
new paint
new baseboards
fix or replace window
new window treatment

GUEST BATH
MASTER BATH
–everything– (list to come eventually)

Yeah I know, we’ve done this before. But now I really am bummed that we didn’t restart earlier!! We have a LOT to blog about these days… our adorable son, our precious daughter, and a new condo!!

I need to be better about photo-documentation, so I can share details about renovations. And food. And watch out, LOTS of pictures of the kids are pretty much a given.

I hope all your Christmases were fantastic, and all your new years are fun and safe!! The Coy Pond Project is back!!

One of the reasons I love visiting the Sierras in July is wildflowers. The seasons in the high sierra are a bit behind our seasons so July is like April here (or April in a place that has a lot of flowers). The flowers were just bursting especially up in little lakes valley. I found quite a few up in Mammoth too. Most of the flowers are wildflowers, though as mentioned above;  I found one field of flowers outside of a hotel in Mammoth that didn’t look cultivated, but it was given a little extra water. I am a big fan of wildflowers and try to photograph them wherever I can find them. Anyway hope you enjoy.

 

Well my goal this year was to improve upon my prized star trail photo from last year (see last photo), but alas it was not to be. I waited every day in the 5 nights that we spent in Bishop in May for an opportunity. Overcast skies and rain ruined my chances then. One of the reasons I wanted to go back this July was for some more chances for star trail photos and I was rewarded on Saturday night (7/18) with the opportunity. But alas I didn’t compose the picture right, and didn’t paint enough light into the photo to light up the car, and it was not to be. Way too dark (I won’t expose you to my miserable result) (And when the shutter is open for an hour, and drains down your battery, you don’t get a second chance…at least if you want any sleep.)

What we did get was a good glimpse at a wildfire.  Christy and I spotted two fires, one big and one small, caused by lightning strikes as we drove back to my parents home from town. The fact that there is so much open space makes it possible to see a fire from 20 miles away or more. It was fairly surreal to see. That night while waiting for my star trial photo to expose, the big fire was growing before my eyes. I think that I will blame the smoke for ruining my shot, not the fact that it wasn’t properly exposed. The big fire burned 3500 acres I think (or possibly 35000) and took more than a week to put out. The little fire was out very quickly, and probably burned less than one.

Anyway I was happy to get at least one good shot from that fateful night, it just wasn’t the one I expected. I hope you enjoy!

On July 5th, Christy, Jarrod and I went out to brunch with some friends who were in town who we had not seen in a long time. The brunch was at a beachside restaurant in Malibu. We were early and they were late, and we had to wait a long time to get seated. So what better thing is there to do for a little boy when the pager that we were given was a little lobster…(they also had live lobsters in a tank in the waiting area). Jarrod had some fun waiting for us to get a table, he was a ham posing for us and playing cute games of peek-a-boo. The restaurant had peanuts in the shell that he thankfully ignored. Hope you enjoy a few of the pics.

Last weekend Christy and I took our last trip out of town before baby Cecily makes her debut. I originally had an entire week off for a large adventure up in the Sierras, but that was before I knew about the little girl’s coming. Anyway the trip morphed into a fun long weekend trip. In May my dad and I took a short hike up into Little Lakes Valley, up above Rock Creek Lake. I decided I wanted to go back on this trip. And was rewarded with some beautiful scenery, though I did not count on all of the mosquitoes. The mosquitoes were so bad, it almost made this hike a liability, especially since I forgot the bug spray. I should have known better since the hike is nicknamed “Mosquito Flat”

Little Lakes Valley is really high, it starts at 10,300 feet and then goes up about 500 feet or so, with the peaks all around at 13,000 feet. So the elevation is high, and spring is late, basically in July. The place bursts with wildflowers during this time. Lots of Penstamon, paintbrush, aster, and a lot of others. Driving up the road to get there I had to pull off a couple of times to take some photos of roadside flowers. Little lakes valley, pretty well describes it. The creek runs up the valley creating many little lakes, separated by small rises and meadows. It’s a pretty amazing place, God touched.

Off the roadside on the way home a caught a view of a whole field of Matilija poppies. Christy loves these flowers. She says they look like fried eggs. They are big and happy. I have only seen them in recently burned areas up in the Sierras. So maybe they are a sign of new life coming back. Anyway I hope you enjoy.

Last Friday I had the day off. In the morning I was on kid patrol, but I wanted to take some photos in the afternoon. The problem of course is writer’s block (or photographer’s block). I couldn’t think of a new place to go that I could get to relatively quick and still be able to take some good shots. I have been struggling with this quite a bit. So I asked Christy, and we didn’t come up with a good answer. So rather reluctantly I headed out with my tripod and camera to El Dorado Park Nature Center. I have been going to El Dorado for over a year and taking photos there. It is some place that I go at least once a month if not twice. It is great, and I’ve gotten some great photos there, but it is so familiar. Last year about at this time I took some photos of thistles, which I thought were an unlikely subject, but ended up being one of my best photos  last year. So  anyway last week I went out and the thistles were out, but I didn’t bring my camera.

I went out with low expectations on Friday, but I was so impressed. On my trip I found not one but two red dragonflies. I saw one of them for the first time in May, but because of our hard drive on our other computer and the transfer process, I lost the photos. The dragonflies are amazingly striking and big. I kept my distance and used a zoom lens that was all the way zoomed at 300 mm. I also happened to see a regular dragonfly and it was about 1/2 to 1/3 the size. Though the length was maybe only 50% bigger.  My trip also involved a close sighting of a Red shouldered hawk (I wasn’t quick enough to get a photo though, booo!!), a large tortoise, a rabbit, another hawk perching up in a tree, and two large blue herons. I got some good shots of the thistles, seen above (and got sunburnt for my trouble). Anyway all told it was my best day at the park in months, and I was a little sad to leave to come home. Hope you enjoy the photos.

[caption id="attachment_212" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="View from a field 1/2 mile from my parents house"][/caption][caption id="attachment_214" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption="Wildflowers on road to Rock Creek Lake"][/caption][caption id="attachment_216" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Cool Red Lichen looking up at the Sierras"][/caption][caption id="attachment_218" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption="Dandelion and fan shaped plant"][/caption]

On our trip to Bishop Christy and I were pretty busy, though I have to say we had our own little times of bliss. We generally took turns watching Jarrod. In the mornings Christy took a couple of trips to alpine lakes and would sketch and paint for 3-4 hours and I would watch Jarrod. We would go for drives and explore a little or roam around town. In the afternoons was my turn to explore. One afternoon Jarrod couldn’t sleep, and neither Christy nor I could convince him to take a nap. I needed to get out for an hour or so, so I took some photos from just down the road from my parents home. I wish I had views like this 1/2 mile from our home in Los Al. We were in luck to catch irises blooming in the fields around Bishop, though I had heard that they were past their peak. I was still impressed.

A couple of days later my dad and I took a trip up above Rock Creek Lake, and went down the trail about a mile toward Little Lakes Valley. It was pretty sublime looking up the valley at the creek leading up to the massive mountains. Dad survived alright, but I think I walked with him a little too far. He was tired and had some trouble with all of the rocks. I think he enjoyed it though, his camera was out of memory. (Booo!!!) Fortunately I brought my tripod for a shot of us both.

I was having fun finding creative subjects like the lichen and a dandelion (which was actually taken from our trip later in the week to Tahoe, but more about that in a later post). It’s kind of fun finding an unusual subject and turning it into a cool picture. Anyway hope you enjoy.