Still here

I hear you, puppy.

No blog post roundup this week, sorry!

Tris and I are both still alive and well. We've just been insanely busy this week.

Him, eating and sleeping and doing lazy horse things.

Me, going at breakneck speed on house projects, dealing with eight million things at work, and then hosting my entire family for Thanksgiving. Which went great! Despite the usual snags and oh the upstairs toilet and the kitchen sink going on the fritz. Sigh. Also, the downstairs bathroom not being finished (more on that later).

In addition to that, I brought my home computer in to a shop this week hoping that they could give it a tune-up. I am one of the last of the dinosaurs using an older desktop computer for most home computing, and mine was running like molasses. They cleaned it up and are going to double the available memory for me, which should get me another 3-5 years of use before I have to re-purchase.

Hence, less blogging. I didn't really think about how much I relied on having a home computer to blog, especially during an insanely busy work week, but there you have it.

I am hoping for a return to normalcy and sanity soon. I'd like that.

In the meantime, here's a shirt I bought while getting new shower curtains at Walmart. I would like t-shirt weather back so I can wear it!

House Post: Energy Efficient Sink Faucet Aerators

This is not the sexiest or most glamorous or most exciting home improvement project, but it was lightning quick, really easy, and should make a nice difference in our utility use.

The basic gist is this: the average showerhead and sink aerator is set to a fairly high gallons-per-minute, or GPM, rate because energy used to be cheap and the ideal was to cover yourself (and/or your dishes) in as much hot water as possible while cleaning. Think those rain shower things. Which is all well and good if you don't care about the cost of the water and the cost to heat that water, and then overall world conservation problems regarding water and energy resources.

But I care, because I hate paying more for bills than I have to, and I live in Vermont, and climate change and world resources and all that stuff is a Big Deal here. I mean, we're going to mandatory composting of household food waste in 2016, so.

Previously, I had already done our showerheads, which was an easy thing to do. Last weekend, I tackled the three sinks in the house: kitchen and two bathrooms. Some of the aerators didn't have info on them but the one I removed from the upstairs bathroom was marked as 2GPM. I replaced it with a 0.5GPM aerator, so I cut both water use and energy use in 1/4 by replacing it!

Here's the step by step of the process. I used these aerators from Niagara; they cost about $1 apiece, which seems insanely inexpensive to me! They should pay themselves off very quickly.

Step 1: the old faucet in our upstairs bathroom sink

Step 2: here's what 2GPM looks like

Step 3: wrap the old aerator in an elastic. this will provide better purchase for the wrench and make sure it doesn't scratch the metal

Step 4: remove the old aerator simply by turning left with a wrench or pliers

Step 5: here's what an aerator-less faucet looks like. clean out the faucet a bit, there's probably mineral buildup in there. you can soak it with vinegar if your faucet is shaped correctly, or just take a small brush up in there, or just loosen it with your fingers

Step 6: here's why aerators are a thing! water goes everywhere without one

Step 7: place the new aerator in and get it threaded on. my least favorite part; for some reason I've been having horrible trouble threading things lately

Step 8: elastic again!

Step 9: tighten as much as you can. don't half-ass this, or water will go everywhere

Step 10: here's what 0.5GPM looks like!

Step 11: voila! a bit deeper than the old one, but by maybe only 1/4"

The whole process took 10 minutes start to finish, and that's partly because I was photographing. So let's say for 7:30 minutes and $1, you can cut your energy use in one faucet by up to 75%.

Weekly Blog Roundup

Happy weekend, welcome to the blog roundup for the week!

3rd Annual Equestrian Blogger Gift Exchange from Fly On Over
It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Mountain Trail Adventures from Pony Express
Holy shit that looks like a ton of fun.

An Equestrian Thanksgiving Table from If The Saddle Fits
I am focusing more on bathroom renovations than I am on dinner table decorations but I loooooove these!

Motivate Me Wednesday; How to stop being a people pleaser from Viva Carlos
This is really, really good.

DIY: Dyeing a Saddle from The $900 Facebook Pony
Whoaaaaaaaa.

Things You Should Never Take for Granted as a Rider from The Legal Equestrian
...what. Not only would I not take these things for granted, I doubt I will ever do any of them even once. Maybe #4, but not likely in a horse that I own.

Small Victories

Some months ago, I found a really nice Goretex insulated barn jacket on clearance at SmartPak. I examined every inch and determined that the zipper was broken: it no longer had a retaining box at the bottom to stop it from opening up again once it was zipped. I was willing to live with that for the great price - it was a style of coat I really wanted.

I have started wearing it in past weeks, as it got colder. First I thought I would just leave it unzipped. That did not work. Then I thought I could use a safety pin to hold the bottom closed once zipped. That did not hold up to the rigors of riding.

Then I thought I would have it fixed, but the sewing shop I have used for small things in the past said it was unfixable, and I would have to replace the zipper at a cost of 2x what I paid for the coat. No thanks.

So I bought a zipper repair kit, and spent about 30 minutes Googling and thinking and trying different things. The end result? I added a second zipper clincher (the thing that actually moves up and down) to the bottom of the zipper. So now I can unzip it from the bottom if I want (like if I want more freedom of movement in the saddle) or leave it down, and it will stay zipped.

The zipper kit cost $10, I paid $40 for the jacket, and it retails for $279 right now. I call that a win!

Reminder: Giveaway of Stablekeeping by Cherry Hill

REMINDER!

If you haven't yet entered to win this awesome book, don't delay - enter today.

It's an awesome book chock-full of useful information. And who doesn't love a free book?!