Today, I Fixed the Furnace

     Well, I didn't really fix the furnace.  I did stop the vibrating noise that was driving us crazy.  Every time the blower started we heard a loud hum.  Calling someone to disassemble our HVAC system for "a humming sound" seemed like the sort of thing dopey people with no practical skills do.  I know hot water baseboard heating, wood stoves, and window units.  This gas fired furnace and newfangled central air had me over a barrel.
     Everything you might want to know is out there on the internet.  I started googling.  The two main reasons that furnaces vibrate or hum are dirty filters or a squirrel cage that is dirty or has loose screws.  Squirrel cage?  That conjured up a picture.

A squirrel cage is the blower fan.

     I doubt I would have taken the furnace apart, but I was up to changing the filter.  Et violà.  No more humming.  I thought I changed the filter recently.  It was filthy, so I guess I have been lax.  So folks, change those filters at the recommended intervals.

     If you want to learn more about the innards of a furnace:

  
 

Franklin Rotary Treadle Sewing Machine

     I just snatched up my favorite trash pick ever - an old sewing machine.  It was filthy.  A couple of hours with a vacuum, a rag, and a bucket of Murphy's Oil Soap solution took care of that.  It needs a new belt (and probably a lot of oil).  Otherwise, I think it might still work.  It is housed inside a peeling walnut veneer cabinet that is beyond repair.  I was fascinated by this piece of history.

Mike did the research.  The Franklin Rotary machine was sold by Sears from 1911 through the 1920's.   It cost around $40.00.  That's approximately $500.58 in today's dollars.  Five hundred bucks will get you a nice, basic machine these days, though you can spend a lot less.

The cabinet door has a place for spools of thread, bobbins, and a few notions.

The treadle needs to be screwed into the floor of the cabinet.  All four screws are missing.

Check out these cool bobbins.

The cabinet was filled with all sorts of scraps.  Only six bobbins, two spools of thread, and some hooks and eyes were worth photographing.

Here it is, all cleaned up.  Mike's research tells us these machines are worth whatever a buyer is willing to pay.  He found someone selling what looks like the same machine with a different cabinet for $400.00.  He also found a website that will appraise these types of sewing machines for a $9.00 fee.   

A Cheaper and Greener Way to Make Pop Up Box Cards

     I love making pop up box cards.  You don't have to buy those expensive stamps and punches from Stampin' Up!®.  I have stamps from the clearance bin at A.C. Moore, and I use basic circular and oval paper punches purchased (with a coupon, of course) from the craft store.  Other embellishments can be clipped from recycled greeting cards, printed out using the clip art program on your computer, or even cut from magazines.  I save every tiny, left over piece of scrap booking paper.  It might end up as a balloon, heart, or butterfly shape in a future project.  There are numerous videos on YouTube which show how to make box cards.  Here are two of them:







     My cheaper, greener twist on things is this: don't waste your money buying acetate sheets for mounting your embellishments.  I wash out and remove the labels from plastic sticky bun and salad greens containers.  Then I use scissors and a paper cutter to slice these containers into 1/4" strips.  How much will you save?  I checked prices at Staples.  Clear acetate sheets cost about $1.00 each when purchased in a box of twelve sheets.

Orange citrus cleaner is good for removing the label adhesive.  If the adhesive is especially stubborn, use WD-40 and thoroughly wash off the oily residue.

I probably didn't need to include this step - split the container in half.

If you are being extremely frugal, you might get an extra strip from this wide edge.

Cut off the ripply sides of the box using scissors.  Use a paper cutter to slice the clear top of the box into strips.  I find 1/4" is the best width.  If you don't have a paper cutter, use a marker and scissors, or you might try using some type of straight edge and a box cutter. 

The bottom of the container is ridged.  You can cut following the ridges to get nice strips.  If you want a really strong mounting strip for a big, heavy embellishment, leave the humps on the sides of the strip.  It adds a lot of strength.  Otherwise, trim out the humps for more "invisible" strips.  The finished card looks better if the embellishments flop around a little. 

Chopping away.  You'll probably toss out the shorter strips, saving just the longer ones at the center of the box.  You be the judge.

Here are my free mounting strips.  A legal-size envelope works well for storing them.  

I made this cards for someone who just became a United States citizen. 

This is a third anniversary card.

A Birthday Card
The banner is suspended between two plastic strips. 

     UPDATE: One of my crafty friends tells me that a two liter soda bottle makes nice mounting strips.  Yes, it does.  I suppose any #1 plastic will do a nice job.

Penn's Cave, Centre Hall, Pennsylvania

     Mines.  Caves.  For some reason Mike and I are always looking for a chance to descend into the bowels of the earth.  Penn's Cave, located in Centre Hall, Pennsylvania, is unique because a stream runs through the entire cave.  Visitors view the cave by boat.

Penn's Cave House was built in 1885.  It was used as a guest house for cave visitors until some time between 1960 and 1980.  It became a private residence in 1980.  Besides the cave, there are several other family friendly entertainment options on the grounds.  Each of these other options has an entrance fee, so all sorts of combination tickets are available in a range of prices.  The website lays it all out: http://pennscave.com/  

This is the entry to the cave.  The boats are custom made and powered by extremely quiet electric motors.   There are 48 steps down to the boats.  The cave is about 1300 feet long and the roof is up to 55 feet above the water level.

We picked up some new cave facts on this trip.  Fact #1 - Caves are the safest place to be during an earthquake.  They simply do not crack.  Fact #2 - The temperature in caves is not 55° all over the world.  The constant temperature of a particular cave will be an average of that region's summer high and winter low.  With a possible range of temperatures from 0° to 100° in Pennsylvania, Penn's Cave remains at 50°-52°.  A cave in beastly hot Arizona might have a temperature of around 60° if the outside air temperatures are between 0° and 120° during the year.

This cave had limestone formations, but they were not as impressive as those found in other caves we visited.

A Baby Stalactite
At the risk of sounding like The Big Bang Theory's Sheldon Cooper, I present Cave Fact #3: Stalactites first form as straws.  The lime in dripping water forms a straw.  Water drips through the inside of the straw until, at some point the bottom of the straw becomes plugged with lime deposits.  Then water drips down the outside of the straw, making the formation thicker and longer as time passes.  

The Exit
We saw ducks swimming into the cave as we left.  We made a U-turn and returned through the cave to the boat dock.  The tour takes about one hour.