We Love Durham NC

Snow!

It snowed here this morning really hard for about 10 minutes. The kids ran outside screaming Snow! Blizzard! Hurry, we’ll make snow angels and snowmen!

It’s not that hot

At Harris Teeter I saw a car with the tell-tale condensation drip. C’mon, sure we’re wearing shorts, but is it warm enough for air conditioning?!

O Christmas Tree

We made the hard decision this year to get an artificial tree. I love supporting TROSA and I love the smell of real trees, but in the end we decided the water usage was too high for a real tree. Lucked into a 25% off sale at Lowe’s too.

Save water: Fix the shower leak

It’s rather unfortunate to have a shower leak in the middle of a drought, even if we were catching most of the water for re-use. No matter, it’s fixed now. Because I found the directions out there in the internets to be too jargon-y, here are some I like better. This is for a single-handle ball faucet, but if you were Googling you might look for leaking tub faucet crystal knob Delta.
1. Do not cut the sheetrock on the other side of the wall to get to the back of the faucet. Tubs are not like sinks. (But you can skip this step if you are interested to see what the builder hid back there.)
2. Use a flat-tip screwdriver to pop the button out of center of the faucet handle.

3. Unscrew the screw that was behind that button and remove knob.
4. Oops, quick, turn off the water for the whole house at the main. This is probably in a closet somewhere. Righty tighty.

5a. Go to Home Depot and get a big (for 2″ wide) pipe wrench. Pick up some “seals & springs” in the plumbing section while you’re there. The generic ones work as well as the name-brand Delta ones.
5b. There’s a metal collar that has to come off next. It doesn’t look like it comes off–it’s tight. Wrap it in duct tape for a grip and use the pipe wrench to twist it off.

6. Unscrew the plastic ring. Pull at that stob sticking out and it will pop right out, ball attached.
7. Point a flashlight up into the hole and you’ll see two rubber washers (seals, Os, circles). Pluck them out. Plumbers probably have a tool for this, but skinny fingers work, too. They will have a spring attached. Note the direction of the old seals and springs, and poke the new ones in just like that.

8. Replace everything back in order (ball, plastic ring, metal collar, knob, screw, button), tighten very well, and turn water on at the main slowly to test. Tighten and re-test if needed. It might leak a tiny bit for a few minutes until the new rubber expands in there. *
9. Voila! 60 gallons a month saved.

* If it still leaks, you might need to replace the ball itself.

Sunday was a day…

…for building a fort, with a sink and a table and a compost bin, and walls all around with a secret code at the door. The boy was wearing shorts and no shoes, and it is November. Might as well take the time to play outside now–it was too hot all summer to enjoy the yard.

[Here are some more places to get out and play.]

Drought-resistant plants

I’ve been looking for a place that listed native plants for our area. Here’s one showing drought-resistant trees and shrubs for Durham.

Seedlings

The kids have been planting all kinds of seeds in our planters. We will have a nice assortment of veggies and flowers soon, if the freezing temps (!) tonight don’t kill them.

Snow Day!

Snow, in Durham! My dog has never seen snow. The girl neither. The boy is sledding, stomping, and throwing snowballs. School’s out in Durham County. Woohoo snow!

Snowing?

We thought it was snowing in Durham today, but it was just frost dripping down from the trees. I know it is coming.