A 22 pound turkey for three people, a minor fire thanks to a hole in the roasting pan, the overhead light fixture going kaput just before Christmas and about 4000 km of driving…. That’s our holidays in a nutshell. Now that the holidays are over, we can finally get back to the business of trying to get some renovations done. There’s something about a new year that offers renewed hope that I might actually accomplish something in the next twelve months. We’ll see.
Lights out
I think it happened the two days or so before Christmas Eve. The overhead light in the family room suddenly went out without warning. The circuit breaker hadn’t tripped and changing the bulbs did not change the result. I suspected that the ballast was shot, and my dad confirmed my diagnosis when I asked him his opinion on Christmas Day. We went out of town after Christmas and returned January 3. I finally made it around to Home Depot to find a replacement ballast. Unfortunately, none of the numbers matched up, and the gentleman helping me out said that he had never seen a ballast like the one I had. Great! A new project! More on this in a minute.
Ever try to give a turkey away on Christmas Eve?
With the in-laws now living 10 hours away, we were planning on a simple Christmas dinner for just the three of us and my Dad. My dad doesn’t care for turkey, and my wife is allergic to pork, so ham was out of the question. The one meal we all agreed on was a rack of lamb with taters and veggies. Little preparation, and only an hour in the kitchen. No fuss, no muss.
Three in the afternoon on Christmas Eve, my dad drops by with a fresh turkey that had been given to him. 22 pounder. With no room in our freezer and no takers on the offer of such a large bird on such short notice, we decide to just go ahead and cook it and freeze the leftovers. So I made a quick trip to the grocery store for some stuffing and the last disposable roasting pan, just before closing time.
Smoked turkey, anyone?
Christmas Day my wife shoehorned the huge bird into the roasting pan, and put it in the oven. During that process, the pan suffered a small puncture. We used our last bit of aluminum foil to line the pan, but it did not stop the grease from dripping. At one point, the grease drippings ignited sending smoke pouring out of the oven vent. The small fire burned itself out quickly, with only a little minor damage on the bottom of the oven. I made a quick tour of the open stores in our area and finally tracked down some heavy duty foil, and we placed another pan underneath to catch any drippings.
And in case you’re wondering, the meal was delicious!
What I did on Christmas Vacation
Well….we spent 12 hours on the road on the way to visit the in-laws. Over the course of the week, we drove many more miles visiting other relatives. It was a very enjoyable time, and a simple reminder that family is what is really important. The drive home lasted 14 hours (we took a scenic route), and four days later, I am still road weary.
Side-tracked by a new project (Lights out, part 2)
We plan at some point in the future to tear down the family room addition that was built by the previous owner because it is so poorly constructed. However, it does have one interesting architectural detail, with a partially vaulted ceiling. When we moved in, there were two skylights, but because they were leaking, we had them removed and the holes covered over when the roof was re-shingled.
Between the two skylights is a fluorescent light fixture that serves as the main lighting for the room. It was this fixture that stopped working suddenly, leading me to go shopping for a replacement ballast that appears to be hard to find.
Family room overhead light.
For over three years, I have been meaning to insulate and cover the skylight tunnels. I just never got around to it. Now, since I have a light fixture to replace, I have a chance to fix up this area.
The plan is to install a suspended ceiling near the top of the wood frame around the vaulted section using either embossed panels resembling tin or at least a higher end acoustic panel. Two opaque panels will diffuse the light from fluorescent fixtures installed above. The ceiling will still be recessed by a few inches, and will still have some character. The water damage will be completely hidden and we will again have light. And the whole project should be relatively inexpensive, and might actually pay for itself since I will finally be insulating the skylight tunnels.
2007…The tentative schedule.
From the vantage point of the first week in January, the new year is shaping up like this:
January: family room ceiling, finish painting the second floor.
February, March: clean up demolition debris in basement.
April: Plumbing for the hot water heating system (big bucks)
May: Install hardwood flooring on second floor, start installing doors and trim
June: The in-laws return for a few months….with any luck, there will be some living space for them upstairs.
Remainder of year: Finish trimming out the second floor, resume work in basement. A lot will depend on finances and budget. Outside, I still have stumps to remove and improvements to make in the landscaping.
One thing is for certain, I have to start getting some things done during the week instead of just the weekends. There are only 52 weekends in a year, but there are 365 days. It’s time to start burning the candle at both ends again…at least for a little while.
