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Post by FrostyTurnip on Mar 5, 2023 4:38:51 GMT -6
I just need Yeshua to come back.
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Post by macmex on Mar 5, 2023 7:25:29 GMT -6
Excellent idea!
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Mar 5, 2023 13:32:06 GMT -6
Second that idea!
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Post by FrostyTurnip on May 29, 2023 21:56:40 GMT -6
Preplanning for house renovation. Any thoughts on affordable paint outside of a trumpet and funeral? Have you seen the prices?
It’s not an exaggeration to say, “I cannot afford it.” As the price to paint my exterior would be equivalent to half the value of my entire property. Just paint. Only the stupid paint. Hello stagflation.
At this point, I’m thinking of lighting a match.
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Post by amyinowasso on May 30, 2023 9:14:14 GMT -6
Could you use white wash? It is salt, hydrated lime and water. I don't know if it would stick to an already painted surface? Do you have a habit for humanity "restore" near you? The Tulsa store puts paint on sale sometimes.
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Post by FrostyTurnip on May 30, 2023 10:31:47 GMT -6
amyinowasso
Yep. There’s a Restore in Stilly (Stillwater). If it should happen that way, I’d imagine it necessary to absolutely harass them to get whatever comes in. I’m not yet ready for that because the roof needs to be replaced and a whole bunch of floor joists as well as sill plates need to be replaced.
The last i looked at prices, I was attempting to hunt down prices on some rough sawed slats. You know, the kinds with bark and knots still on them. I mean, surely the price of the boards alone (which already need some replacements) would be similar. Even that needs a coat of something. But all of it was so painful, I couldn’t follow through with the research. It’s just incredibly expensive. All the while I know I must not flinch as it is likely to worsen. Btw, Sherwin Williams has been making record profits. I wonder how far they’re going to push it? If our paupery behinds are already way beyond affordability, I’m certain builders are probably getting close to protesting.
I heard auto paint at the nearby shop is running around $700 gallon. No exaggeration. Custom jobs.
There’s also Vinyl siding but I don’t know how much, nor do I know how to install.
No joke: I can have a 25’ x 20’ metal garage with some interior room walls and automatic door installed for less than I can paint our tiny cottage. (Around 7-8k)
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Post by FrostyTurnip on May 30, 2023 11:04:46 GMT -6
This is off topic, but what I just wrote sounds horrific (it really is). BUT don’t despair too much for us. As the father would have it, Bill just got p.o’d at the Oreilly delivery job and started applying for shop jobs (brake press operator, etc.) 2 days ago. His cell phone has constantly been ringing. More than 20 times within 2 days. He hasn’t another job, but he’s going to put in his notice tomorrow. Never seen anything like it, he says. Looking forward to setting his own pay and being picky.
All praise to the Most High!! I recognize his Holy footprints in this.
That being said, the required reno is extensive and afterward absolutely everything must be painted to maximum coverage.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Jun 2, 2023 21:06:36 GMT -6
We have a large Habitat for Humanity in Tahlequah. They have a Restore there that has leftover paint from odd jobs, all mixed together that's just whatever color it ends up being. They sell it by the 5-gallon bucket a lot cheaper than any other paint I've ever seen.
In years past, we've painted corrals and barns with used motor oil. I've also painted other outdoor things with old roofing tar and diesel fuel mixed together. (Never do that inside a building) but it worked well on old chicken coops or whatever, just to preserve the wood.
I have an old outhouse here that was originally whitewashed back around 1938 with hydrated lime and salt, as Amyinowasso mentioned above. The lumber on the inside of that outhouse is at least 85 years old and still has whitewash on it. That stuff holds up pretty well, as it actually soaks into the wood, rather than just coating it like regular paint does.
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Post by FrostyTurnip on Jul 10, 2023 9:59:17 GMT -6
Good news: the fire department turned off the flood lights. I can tell when the sun comes up now. Good news: Likely, I will be able to afford painting the house. Might take all we have at the time, but it’ll do.
Bad News:
Remember my gratitude over the lack of damage from the storm? Yeah, well, Mr. Neighbor’s very old elm tree was rotten inside, typical of elm, and the storm knocked it over in the only spot that didn’t damage anything. It’s laying smooth out across the lawn waiting for someone to chop it up.
Saturday, Mr. Neighbor and wifey were out doing just that. As I stepped out to pick some cayenne peppers, Mr. Neighbor runs over to the fence line and catches my attention. I’m really great full he’s nice, sober and level-headed. He’s a believer, too.
As he walked toward me in a hurry, I yelled “You are blessed!” And he fumbled to say anything and admitted it was a real blessing the tree fell where it was. He went on for a little while with chitchat until he got to the point of him coming over . . . .
There was a big tree limb hanging over his side of the property that needs to come down and since the storm event, he’s genuinely concerned about it causing damage should it come down. Short memory. AND OF COURSE, he was wondering when one of us was going to come over and cut it down. You know, make his life easier because somewhere somehow it’s our fault or something. Homie, the law on trees at property line don’t work that way.
Homie, the law on real estate is somewhat “as is”. Every new neighbor does this. 1) Buys the property without checking the zoning laws (ALL OF THOSE HOUSES ARE LISTED AS COMMERCIAL. YEAH.) 2) Struts onto the property and begins working occasionally. 3) Discovers buyer’s remorse. 4) Blames the only neighbor living on the block.
All the while, I’m like “Mow the lawn without fail for a minimum of 5 years, so I won’t need to and then we can talk about how I can make your life easier.”
Never mind we have seven downed trees of our own. Him not yelling at me is an upgrade, too.
Clown world, man. clown world.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Jul 10, 2023 18:45:00 GMT -6
Frosty,
I'm at a loss for what to say or do about that situation ... Other than maybe, some good old-fashioned, neighborly, reverse psychology.
My neighbor and I work together to get things like that done around here. We didn't use to, but we do now.
No one owns the strip of land between our two houses, so because of that, for several years, no one kept that strip of land up. The weeds were butt deep and the whole place was covered in standing and storm-felled, trees. Then one day I was talking to him and said, "Are you as tired of looking at that mess as I am?"
He said, "Yes, I am!"
I said, well then, since you and I are the ones who have to look at it for the rest of our lives, why don't we get busy cleaning it up?"
We did; we picked up all of the rocks, we cut all of the dead trees down, stacked them up, and burned them in the woodstove for firewood that winter. The rest is history. We take turns mowing it now.
When we first moved here, he never cut his grass. Once per year, the extended family would come over and set his whole 1-acre yard on fire during Thanksgiving. It's amazing how things have changed since back then.
One day about 15 years ago, he walked over to the house to borrow a shovel and said, "Ever since my old lady saw you planting flowers out there in your yard, she's been nagging at me to plant her some roses. Next thing you know, she'll want me to mow the grass too."
During the course of that conversation, I found out that he was deathly afraid of snakes. So after that, every time I'd kill a snake, (which was often) I'd sneak it over to the edge of his yard after dark; then the next time I'd see him checking his mail or something, I'd holler, "Hey, come here and see what crawled out of your grass!" He'd come look at it and I'd casually mention the fact that if the grass was shorter, it sure would make it tough for a snake to find a place to hide.
One day, I started raking his leaves and burning them, while running the weed eater and claiming I'd seen another snake. Before long, he was out there helping me flip logs and hunt them down. We killed a Copperhead or two over the next few weeks, then we joined forces to get his grass cut for the first time in history.
Now, if I kill a snake, I'm sure to haul it way off somewhere so he won't see it. Every now and again I'll mention the fact that there sure aren't as many snakes around here as there used to be when the grass was so tall.
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Post by FrostyTurnip on Jul 11, 2023 3:54:44 GMT -6
That’s really clever of you! My neighbor on the other side of us (empty lot) doesn’t mow very often. He has a beautiful gigantic patch of poison ivy that is slowly creeping up to my fence line. Eventually, I’ll need to start mowing it. It is what it is.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Jul 11, 2023 11:33:20 GMT -6
Frosty,
There used to be poison ivy here in bush form, that had spread more than two acres across and was taller than I am. Poison ivy only vines vertically if it can find a tree to latch onto. If there are no trees available the poison ivy just creeps along the ground horizontally, with its side branches reaching 6' to 8' feet high.
I've never been allergic to poison ivy, so I'd just cut it down with lopping shears, the weed eater, and the old riding mower. There were times that I drove off into poison ivy patches so thick that the vines lifted the front tires of the riding mower off the ground about a foot high. I'd drive for several yards into those tangled patches of vines with the front wheels off the ground and the deck at nearly a 45° angle.
That worked well enough to get the vines short enough to see over the top of them, but it had almost zero effect on their overall growth, as the foliage on the vines would just thicken up as they were exposed to better sunlight.
Finally, I made the sacrifice of purchasing 2.5 gallons of 41% Glyphosate. (I think Roundup is somewhere around 3% Glyphosate), so this was pretty much a lifetime supply of the stuff.
I began spraying the poison ivy after that, rather than chopping it down. Since poison ivy spreads through rhizomes, the Glyphosate murdered it in vast swaths, making the purchase well worth the $150.00 price tag of the herbicide in bulk. I mix my Glyphosate at a ratio of 2.5 ounces per gallon of water to treat about 300 square feet, or the equivalent of 12' x 25' feet square. It goes a long way if you are just spot-treating individual plants. The only time I spray a spot 300 square feet all at once is if there is a huge patch of poison ivy covering the ground in a solid mass.
Tractor Supply sells 41% Glyphosate in 1-gallon jugs for $49.99 www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/farmworks-grass-weed-killer-41-glyphosate-concentrate-1-gal-1047993?cid=Shopping-Google-Product-1047993&gclid=CjwKCAjw-7OlBhB8EiwAnoOEk-9I2VS5RV3yds_W3vrcsB8kBULWOsrtE_yLCdix5jd4An3IE8PGpRoCgDMQAvD_BwE
I'm sure there are other places that probably sell it in lesser quantities. But buying Glyphosate at the higher concentration of 41% in bulk is a whole lot cheaper in the long run than buying individual spray bottles of Roundup which is so watered down that a single bottle has less than one ounce of Glyphosate in it.
2.5 gallons of 41% Glyphosate is equivalent to 320 ounces of concentrate. So it would equal a huge number of spray bottles of Roundup. (Probably enough to fill your truck bed with Roundup bottles).
I was amazed at how fast and effective that was at totally destroying the vast amounts of poison ivy that we had here. Now, I only spot spray individual plants as I happen onto them, usually not more that once per year in the Spring, before ticks and chiggers become a problem.
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Post by FrostyTurnip on Jul 11, 2023 12:58:16 GMT -6
Yeah, that’s the only legit purpose for roundup. I mean, most folks cannot even get near it. I inhaled the pollen and rubbed it on my chest once when I was trying to pull it with my bare hands. I didn’t know what it was. That was a real bugger, but normally I can brush by it with no problem.
I figure a really sharp scythe would work wonders, but glyphosate is called for here. IN fact, would probably be better to kill it down to the roots. I made the mistake of spraying it on a plant trying to crawl the pecan tree. The tree eventually recovered, but it hurt it badly.
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Post by chrysanthemum on Jul 11, 2023 16:03:33 GMT -6
Just be very careful of the roots even of dead poison ivy plants. The oil [called urushiol] can remain active for years even in dead vines and roots. I have an extreme poison ivy allergy as does my mom and at least one of my children.
Both my mom and I have had really bad cases, and that seems to build up some level of immunity. Our doctors tell us that immunity can wax and wane, and people who have never had a reaction to poison ivy sitll need to be really careful, as there can always be a first time. A bad exposure can mean a really dangerous case of poison ivy even in a person who’s never had it before. Heavyhitterokra, I’m really glad that with all that exposure you and your tractor had years ago that you never had a bad reaction. I’m glad it’s down to manageable levels.
We didn’t ever see poison ivy on our property in Texas, and we only saw it once or twice in other places. I guess it’s too dry there for it to flourish or something. Almost as soon as we crossed the border into Virginia on our drive here, we stopped at a gas station. After filling the tank with gas, my husband pulled our minivan to the side of the parking lot to check the air in the tires, and I had to ask him to pull up farther so that I wouldn’t be opening the door too near a huge mass of poison ivy. The door wouldn’t actually have touched it, but it was just too close for comfort.
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Post by FrostyTurnip on Jul 11, 2023 16:46:48 GMT -6
How much torque do I need in my push mower to mitigate the tree trash that I miss?
I have decided that from here on out, out of respect for my husband, all questions about properties, etc. shall be directed to my husband or be silenced. They can catch him at 4:30 - 5:00am after he comes in from work.
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