This old farmhouse always needs maintenance and repairs, and Ol’ Fuzz Face never seems to get around to doing it. Last month, Blondie and I finally persuaded him to get with the program. So now I, the world’s most amazing Maine Coon cat, will help you to catch up (ketchup) with all that we’ve been doing here at Serendipity Farmhouse over the last week.
To my 23,417 feline followers, especially my many cat cousins residing in Virginia and Ohio, without me, absolutely nothing would get done here at SFH. No, I don’t do the physical labor. Rather, I ensure that Blondie and Fuzzy do their jobs and I oversee their work.
Here’s an example of my most recent accomplishments.
Old Farmhouse Repairs – Work Breakdown Structure
Ol’ Fuzz Face is not a total misfit. He’s actually quite capable of recognizing what needs maintenance and repair around here. Unfortunately, his understanding only extends to the theoretical side of a task. He has no grasp, whatsoever, of how to maintain or repair anything using tools. – Let’s just say he knows the name of some tools, but he would hurt himself if he tried to use one.
Yep, Fuzzy has taken hours to develop a detailed Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) of all the maintenance and repair jobs at SFH. Yet, none of his plans have ever come to fruition. That is where Blondie and I stepped in.
Recently, Daughter #1 contracted Hambleton Handyman to complete several projects at her home. Son-in-law #1 spoke very highly of Matt, the craftsman who had done the work. With this strong endorsement, Blondie immediately set about the task of drilling into Fuzzy’s head and making it clear that this is how he could finally actualize his work plans. Once Blondie had softened him up, I delivered the closing threat argument. – “Fuzzy, if you don’t do this now, I will bite you!”
Not wishing to bear relentless nagging reminders from Blondie and shaking at the thought of physical harm from me, Fuzzy finally turned on his laptop and sent an email to Hambleton Handyman. – The rest is now part of SFH history.
1.3 Roofing: Roof Drainage Systems – Gutters
Blondie and Fuzzy agree that the roof and gutters have been a constant concern since the home inspection was done in October 2013. They eventually replaced both the roof and gutters. But one problem didn’t go away. Leaves and tree trash constantly clogged up the new gutters and caused them to overflow.
Based on Fuzzy’s research, Matt installed gutter guards all around. Hopefully, this will eliminate, or at least reduce the need for gutter cleaning in the years to come.
2.0 Exterior: Wall Cladding, Flashing, and Trim – Rear Porch
Poor gutter drainage and overflows contributed to wood rot over the rear porch. Additionally, carpenter bees, those nasty creatures (I hate their buzzing around my porch), had bored into the rotting wood. – Matt determined that the best approach to this problem was to replace the wood with PVC trim board, which would not rot and was impervious to carpenter bees. – Here’s the before and after. – The gutter guards and PVC board should clean up all the problems here.
2.1 Exterior: Doors – Crawl Space Access Door
The main access to our crawlspace has weathered over time. During a furnace inspection last year, the access door broke away from its mounts. – Matt reinforced the mounts and added new hinges. Then he painted the door. Here are the before and after pictures.
14.0 Outbuildings Structural Components – Foundation – Critter Damage
For years, the mains shed (barn) and the woodshed have been plagued with groundhogs. They have undermined both areas and are an existential threat to the foundation of both sheds. – Let’s just say, I and the entire SFH Security Staff have spent many hours devising means to rid our sheds of these pests.
Fuzzy had devised a plan over 18 months ago to do the job. But he is so slow and inept that his plans were never carried out. – On the other hand, Matt needed only a few short hours to turn the plans into reality. Here are some pictures of the shed area and the new barrier fencing to deter these pesky varmints.
Old Farmhouse Repairs and Maintenance Complete
Now, Blondie and I claim responsibility for this obvious success. We forced Fuzzy into contacting Hambleton Handyman. But there was another reason for success on this project.
Matt was the one who turned plans into realities. He’s a self-starter and capable of seeing a job through to completion. But there was one other important factor at work here.
Soon after Matt arrived on the first day, he noticed me sitting on the porch. He could see I was watching his every move. – He was heard to exclaim, “What’s that!?”
At first, he thought I was a dog, due to my size. When he learned I was a fully armed Maine Coon cat. His attention to detail noticeably increased. As a wise and seasoned military veteran, he knew my eyes were on him.
Thank you, Matt, for a great job!
This is May 15th, the feast of St. Isidore. It is fitting and proper that on this day we make this report. That’s because we’ve asked St. Isidore to be our patron for all things agricultural, horticultural, and in all efforts involving physical labor. Our last full public report was made in 2018 (
SFH has other measures for determining the arrival of Spring. We can now see that all 33 cloves of garlic planted in late-Autumn have now emerged from their Winter rest. – – There is still some good in this world!
maker. This time she made Scandinavian Light Rye using a recipe by Beth Hensberger as found in 
fields, and lawns of the SFH estate shall receive the very best of care this year.
So, that is why the last two months have been filled with the sounds of electricians tearing out old wires, installing conduit, running new wire, drilling holes, etc., etc., etc. Needless to say, Mr. Monte was not happy with the noise. Yet, despite the noise and strange humans wandering through the house, Mr. Monte frequently made forays into the work areas in order to assess the quality of the work. He let us know when he thought there was something amiss.
As a wonderful side benefit, we now have a special 30 Amp circuit for our Class C RV “El Camino Del Monte”. And that, dear readers, signals the opportunity for the next big upgrade at SFH – an updated kitchen. Yup, either in 2019 or 2020 we will update the SFH Test Kitchen. And, when we do, we can move into the RV and live comfortably there. With the new 30 Amp service, we will be able to run the RV air conditioner, watch TV, listen to music, and prepare Julia Child meals while the workers are performing their magic on the “new and improved” SFH Test Kitchen.