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Gas Leak

This is the second time we have had an issue with gas.  First it was a carbon monoxide problem with our gas water heater.  Now it was with the flexable gas lines connecting the fireplace and my gas dryer.

It has not been an issue since most of the windows have been open all summer long.  Now that it is getting into the 40's at night I closed up the house two days ago.  Two mornings in a row I completely slept through the alarm and had a really hard time waking up. I also had a headache. It was not until the second day that I started putting two and two together.  I checked our carbon monoxide detectors and they were registering zero so that was not the problem.  So we went out and bought a Bacharach Leakator Jr Combustion Gas Leak Detector.

It is a nice hand held unit that can detect all sorts of combustable gasses.

We started checking around and  found several areas where propane was leaking into the house.  With further exploration we found that the inside of the fitting on the flexible gas line on our fireplace had a small score on the inner metal cylinder.  This prevented a proper seal.

The faulty line.

You can see the score between 11 and 12 (if it were a clock).

We will replace this one and put copper washers in the others.

We are going to add some  Safety Siren CO & Gas Detector alarms to to the CO alarms that we already have.

Gas detector

Propane is a colorless and odorless flammable gas. Breathing in or swallowing propane can be harmful. Propane takes the place of oxygen in the lungs. This makes breathing difficulty or impossible.  The gas company puts a nasty smell in there to warn you but if the leak is small, windows are open or it's in the wall you may not smell it.  If you have unexplained coughing, dizziness, weakness, heavy sleep, unusually hard to waken or sick pets it is something you might want to consider when trying to get to the bottom of it.

If you do have gas in your house the gas company will come out and preform these saftey checks for you .  I think there is probably a charge but it would certainly be worth it.

 

For me? How pretty

These flowers arrived today.  I'm quite sure they are for me.

They are my favorite.

Oh yeah, they are mine.  See how the colors show off my beautiful coat. 

Evening Walk

Sometimes I get so busy working on projects in the house that I forget where we live.  We went out walking on our property this evening and it is really quite beautiful.

The river is pretty low now so we can get out on the islands with just our barn boots.

The Salmon are running right now.  The Pinks also know as Humpys, and Cohos, also known as Silvers.  The water is crystal clear so you can see them on their journey up stream.  Soon the Eagles and sea gulls will arrive to feast on them.

This Heron was along the water at the front of the house.  Going for frogs and small fish I would suspect.

We saw a ton of raccoon prints in the sand and heard lots of frogs leaping in the water just before we arrived in their territory. 

Our house ended up being just the way we planned it.  Nestled in the woods.  Surrounded by big leaf maples, firs and cedars.  You can hardly tell it is there and that is the way we planned it.

You cannot believe how many spiders there are this time of year.

They say there are two million spiders in one acre of land and we have about 6 acres...........holy cow, that's a lot of spiders!

It's all about them

They wouldn't have it any other way.  These dogs want to be where ever we are and want to know how the day is going to be all about them.

They don't want to miss a thing.  I'm glad they are not any bigger!

Meal time is always exciting.

Always keeping eye contact just in case I decide to go some where.

It's not just me.  They like to stick to Dave like glue too. (I am sick in this picture in case you can't tell, I look like crap and feel like it too.  Thanks Jane for posting this picture for everybody to see without mentioning a little thing like pneumonia.)

They sure are the best company!  One of the perks of working from home.

                                                                                  

Junk Drawers

It's not just me right?  Everybody's got'em.  Problem for me is that just about all my drawers become junk drawers over time.

All this crap (and then some) was in four drawers in my kitchen.  I really don't know how it gets in there or what most of it is or why I decided that we needed to keep it.

I have been on an organizing kick so I emptied all the drawers on the counter and have been going through it.  Most of it is ending up in the garbage.

Then I had four drawers to organize.  The first drawer has important stuff like bottle openers, lighters, batteries and twist ties.  There is space under the basket so I put the booklets that come with all my kitchen gadgets like my new coffee pot.

The next drawer is only about 3" deep.  Not sure what to do with that drawer so I put treats/snacks and cake decorating stuff.  Important stuff but not stuff you want out in the open. 

This is SO much better.  My plastic was in the corner cabinet with the lazy Susan's and it was hopeless. I could never find anything that was matching.

We will see how long they stay like this.  I have organized them before and they always seem to end up full of confusing odds and ends before long.