Dehydration Experiment I - Before

The winter rains have started here in Oregon, so there's really no chance of our figs drying on the tree. I looked though some online recipes yesterday for fig jam and preserves, but didn't think canning was the best option.

Sami and I had wondered if we should try a food dehydrator. They tend to be kind of expensive though, and some of them use a lot of energy.

I didn't really expect to find anything on craigslist, but I was curious and Fridays are slow days in the library. I typed "dehydrator" in the search button and a few options came up. One lady in Hillsboro (near where Sami works) was selling one for 15$. We decided that was an OK price for an experiment and Sami picked it up on his way from work.

I looked inside the thing to figure out the model number and see if I could find any instructions or advice on the pros and cons of this particular dehydrator. Apparently ours is a Ronco (as seen on TV infomercials). I found a mix of good and bad reviews on Amazon.

So, this morning I got up and picked some figs, grapes and tomatoes for our first test run. There are two trays of grapes, two trays of figs and 1 of tomatoes. I started the dehydrator at 9:30 AM. According to reviews it may take 24-48 hours till things are completely dehydrated. We'll see. I'll post the results later this weekend.

People like Free Stuff

Sami said he had 12 or more people interested in the free hot tub only a few hours after I posted the ad on craigslist. Two guys arrived to pick it up just before 7 pm last night. Fortunately they knew what they were doing and had some large crowbars to pry the tub up.

We ended up having to move everything off our patio, making the back yard into a huge mess so I've definitely got work to do there this weekend. We also had to cut down a bunch of the lower branches of the fig tree in order to get the tub though the gate. But it's done. Less than 12 hours after we posted the tub online, it was gone.

Free Hot Tub

We decided it would be too difficult and expensive to fix our hot tub. Also, we're getting the sauna, so we don't really need one.

We figured the best way to get rid of the hot tub would be to put it on craigslist for FREE. It will be interesting to see if anyone takes it.

Figs are Good for...?

Our figs are starting to get ripe. They're hard to pick because our tree is huge. I tried using our pear picker... a wire basket sort of thing on a long handle, but I only managed to poke holes in the soft figs. So for right now I can only pick the ones I can reach from our 6 foot ladder.

Anyway, now that we've got figs, what should we do with them? Do you have recipes? or suggestions for how to dry or preserve them?

Sauna Project - Drywall Demo

Last week I managed to pull up all of the old floor tiles. It took an entire day longer than I'd hoped. The 2nd layer wasn't bad, but the first one was stuck on with a sort of asphalt based glue that contains asbestos. The only way to get it up is to scrub it with mineral spirits then scrape it up with a razor blade. So it' time consuming and smells horrific... even with my Darth Vadar mask... er respirator. So I'm still working on that bit by bit.

My friend Melissa came over Friday evening and we pulled down the drywall on the closet surrounding the water heater. I used the saws-all to cut down the studs yesterday. There was a bit of mold on the wall behind the washer. We wondered if the pipes there might be leaking.

We planned to just cut a hole in the drywall there to take a look, but unfortunately the people who owned the house before must have put drywall directly over wood paneling, so it will be very difficult to get to. We can't use a regular drywall saw, and we don't want to use the saws-all because we could accidentally cut through pipes or electrical wires. So, we'll have to figure out what to do about that.

Next I'll cut out the drywall in the ceiling along the joist bay where the plumbing for the water heater will go.

Sauna Project - Nasty Floor Removal

You probably couldn't tell much from the previous pictures, but the vinyl floor tiles in the laundry room were peeling up, and not laid well. There were gaps between them and all kinds of dirt caught between.

Since we're taking down the closet and moving the water heater, we figured we might as well take the old floor up and put down a new one (currently there is only concrete below the water heater).

Things seemed easy at first. Look at that nice clean corner! But as I figured it was too good to be true. The rest of the room (I think) has an older vinyl floor and nasty adhesive under it. I've got my work cut out for me today. At least it's a job I can do (mostly) sitting down. My ankle is much better today, but I'm still supposed to stay off it as much as possible.

Sauna Project Begins!

Since we decided the hot tub would be too difficult to fix, Sami decided it was time to get a sauna.

We discussed putting one in the backyard, but Sami decided the best place would be in our laundry room. There is a bathroom with a shower just next to the laundry.

We measured the room and figured out that we couldn't fit the sauna into the current configuration. The water heater closet is in a very inconvenient location. The closet in in the middle of the wall and leaves two awkward corners.

Sami got very depressed.

I was still pretty sure we could work something out, so I did a nice scale drawing of the room. I figured the washer and dryer had to stay in their current location and the hot water heater would have to be relocated.

I started putting boxes the sizes of various sauna kits in different places on the drawing and figured out a fairly reasonable solution.

First, this built in counter for folding laundry would have to go. Later we can move the water heater to this corner.

After I took these photos, I disassembled the counter and put it on the street with a sign saying "FREE". Less than 15 minutes later a car came by and they took it. Very convenient.

Previously we had my sewing machine in front of the window. This corner to the left of the water heater closet was completely useless. We had boxes of craft materials and other stuff stacked here.

Aside from removing the folding counter, I didn't get any other work done in the room today. After I took it to the street, I ran downstairs to get the camera and sprained my ankle again...

It was pretty bad this time. (I also sprained it two weeks ago hiking, but I'd stayed off of it most of this time and thought I was nearly healed).

Anyway, I had X-rays today. There's a sprain and maybe a small fracture, the picture didn't come out very well because of all the swelling so I have to get another one on Friday. I've been told to stay off my feet for the next few days, so I'm a little disappointed. I really wanted to get going on the sauna project.

Sad Leaky Hot Tub

A month or so ago, I cleaned the mud out of the bottom of our hot tub. I tried to fill it up and get it working and realized it was very very leaky. We were finally able to find a repair company out here to check it out. I was supposed to put water in the hot tub so they guy could see the leak, but unfortunately they came an hour early and I wasn't ready. I had planned on putting the water in only 20 minutes before the guy came because it was leaking so fast. Anyway, he left without seeing the leak, so I took a short video showing it. Well, as much as I could show since it's about 6 inches from the ground and like trying to look up at your bathtub faucet while your face is directly under it.

Oh, yeah, we have a serious bamboo problem too... apparently the bamboo has grown all around the pipes and stuff under the hottub. I spent about an hour cutting it out enough to see the leak.

Grapes!

We knew we had a grape vine, but we didn't expect much from it. We didn't even know what color the fruit would be. Anyway, they're ripe now and very tasty. And seedless!