Vermin

I was doing some chores around the house this weekend, and made an interesting discovery. Squirrels are eating my window frames.

Upstairs, there is a windowsill that is close to some branches of a tree in my side yard. Apparently, the squirrels were curling up there to enjoy some of the heat leaking out through the very old windows. While they were there, they must have been teething or something, because they have gnawed away much of the part of the windowframe that holds the storm windows. I put in some stop-gap measures to secure the storm window, but more is required. I need to find an extension ladder, so I can get up there, remove the storm window, rebuild the frame, and reinstall. Also, I need a way to kill squirrels. I should probably trim back the tree limbs while I am at it.

If I owned the house, this could easily be the start to a number of small maintenance projects - the trim could use new paint, for instance. But I think I'll have to talk to my landlord, and see if I can get him to take care of a few things. It seems like once you start down that road, there's always another project cropping up, something else that needs to be stripped, painted, rebuilt, replaced, or repaired. Perhaps if I enjoyed the sweat equity, but just not worth it in a rental.