Toasty Warm And Wrapped

I picked up some 3/4" foam pipe insulation and wrapped the hot water pipes up nicely on my new boiler.  There is are a few more pipes that need to be covered but I need to make another trip to purchase more insulation wraps.  They come in packages of four, so one more package should suffice.

Hoping this makes a difference with the delivery of the hot water.

Believe I got my fixation on winterization from my dad but thankfully the "red-neck" aspects skipped me.  For example, I'm not using pieces of shag carpet to line my basement doors to keep drafts out, HAHA!

My OCD, well, I have no idea where that came from, alas.

Tight As A Drum And Toasty!

I continue to make progress and crossing items off of my fall "to do" list!

Another one completed this afternoon and another one that I also loath doing.

It's just a thing I've been doing for years now, as we head into the colder weather.

It really makes a big difference and helps keep the cold air from chilling the living room.

In order to install the plastic kit, it's easier to take the curtains down so they're out of the way.  Since they were down, I tossed them into the washer because why not.

I also removed the window screens and washed the windows inside.

I also have a special wood wax that I smeared on the base and let sit for a couple hours before rubbing the excess off.  It helps to keep the wood from drying up too bad an cracking.

Also, as I usually do I lay a holiday themed blanket down, again to help with the chill.  This year I double it up and laid a thick fleece blanket down first, then covered with the second one so it can't be seen.

The completed project -

The last step in this process is to bring Oliver, the cat, down and show him that the plastic is up and that window sill sitting it prohibited.

Bubble Boy!

Yes sir, another fall project completed today!

The yearly bay window winterization shrink wrap installation project.

Before sealing things up I pulled the screens, washed the inside windows and applied a thick coat of gel wood furniture polish to the wood, targeting the base as it's getting dried out being in direct sun.  Added a thick blanket to the base.  Oh, and I washed all the window drapes in the living room too!  Can't remember when or if they've been washed since being hung but they look better.

Now, when to turn the heat on in this room, hmmm 🤔

Waxed and Ready!

Another fall chore completed!

Although, worn and beat up, my Cabela work boots are ready for another wet, slushy and snowy winter.

As I often do a couple times a year, and always in the fall in preparation for the winter, I apply a generous coat of mink oil to help keep the leather soft but more importantly to keep them as water tight as possible.  Nothing worse that wet feet in boots, especially when out shoveling snow and snowblowing.  I also ordered new Dr. Scholl's insoles to replace the old ones. Almost like new.

For the record, I nixed Timberland work boots; the company and their boots are dead to me.  I used to only buy and wear Timberlands back in the day, sadly like many things these days, their quality went downhill.  On several occasions, when I had issues, I reached out to the company and always were poo-pooed and told they couldn't help.  So, since there are too many other options, I gave Cabela a try and couldn't be happier.  I'll show them 😁

All Shrunk Wrapped!

I agree it's not the most attractive looking but from a efficiency perspective it sure does make a noticeable difference. 

Love our bay window that looks out over the driveway.  So glad we upgraded from a flat set of windows to this bay back in 2013.  Although, the bay is so much more pleasing it does take more to heat the room that it's in.  Installing the plastic shrink kit makes things a bit more comfortable.

I will tell you that Oliver, our cat, does NOT approve!  He loves to jump up into this week to take in the sights and can often be found napping here.  However, with the plastic he's SOL until spring time when the warmer weather returns.

Added Cold Weather Protection

Perhaps hard to tell from this picture but I installed a sheet of plastic over our bay window.  Much to the dismay of JoAnne and Oliver, this has become my heading-into-the-cold-weather tradition.  Believe it or not, it makes a BIG difference when it comes to heating the family room, BIG difference.

The Coop

The weather hasn't been too cold here in New England, so I left the coop plastic off their door.  I don't want it to get too hot in there.  Also, it allows the girls to see out.  However, that's changing, so I'll need to close this off soon.  It's always nice when I get this completed and the coop completely winterized and I know they're all tucked in for the cold weather to come.

All Tucked In For The Winter!

Well, I finally got the chicken coop - rabbit pen winterized this past Sunday.

The resident critters approved and are all now ready to take on the coming New England winter and all that Mother Nature throws at us.