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Things are starting to come together on the flooring project.
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And I’m almost afraid to say this lest something horrible happen….
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But work is progressing smoothly.
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It’s going to take us a while to get used to this type of floor as we’ve had carpet in here since we moved in, but I’m liking it so far.
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Lord Dudley Mountcatten’s jury is still out.
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Though he does enjoy the work table when our contractor goes out to the man cave/Barn Mahal for lunch.
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Progress!
👍
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This first picture is what I call porn for women.
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A man, using a shop vac to clean.
And boy do we need cleaning.
Dust?
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It’s everywhere.
And since my husband is retired again … (did I mention that? He went back to work for 6 months but decided to call it quits for good this time. Or so he says)… our contractor has put him to work with the time consuming annoying jobs.
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Like pulling out all the little pieces of old carpet trapped under the frame of the brickwork.
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So many little pieces.
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Of that horrible dusty rose crap that’s still in our bedroom.
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Its removal will be the next project we tackle after this one.
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If this one is ever finished that is.
And because you know nothing goes smoothly here…
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See the threshold piece wrapped in plastic on the right? See how it matches the flooring? There should have been 3 tubes of that, we got 1.
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The other 2 tubes looked like this.
Not even close… which means another delay and annoyance while we wait for the store to replace it.
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Furry inconvenience?
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We’ve got that too as Lord Dudley Mountcatten has developed a fascination with power tools.
😉
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Thought I was done with the Boneyard Beach photos?
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Almost…
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I promise.
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But who could resist framing their spouse in driftwood?
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Making our way back to the path, I snapped my last photos.
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And my husband joined in the odd shell placement tradition…
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Trying to balance one on the sign.
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Success.
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Exiting through the marsh …
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We climbed back in the ungodly expensive rental behemoth…
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Of which my husband had become entirely too enamored.
It was late afternoon of our last day of vacation so we took a leisurely drive around Edisto Island and enjoyed some of its quirks.
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No one knows who erected this odd marsh angel but apparently she changes with the seasons and has become a local favorite.
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This is the only acceptable answer to the question what do I do with dead palm tree stumps?
Hula girls, that’s what.
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We drove past this native while on the main beach road.
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It was a wonderful sight so I made my husband turn around and circle by him twice to ensure decent photos.
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A poo covered jacket seems a small price to pay for such a beautiful friend.
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This bottle display is an old Gullah way of driving out evil spirits. They have to be blue, but sorry… for the life of me I don’t remember why. The Clemson tiger paw is a modern addition.
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Remember the herd of tiny deer we saw every night? I wondered where they could possibly live in so busy an area…
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The answer was our resort’s golf course.
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Where they clearly didn’t read the sign.
😉
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New sub floor sections have been laid.
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And the old china hutch has gone to our farming neighbor…
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Which almost didn’t happen as they lost their grip going out the door.
😳
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Parts of the old sub floor didn’t need to be replaced…
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But they did need to be sanded down to a level surface.
Sooo much sanding.
Sooo much dust.
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Lord Dudley Mountcatten does not like the noise or the mess.
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But he does like having his own personal viewing platform when work is done for the day.
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Lord Dudley Mountcatten likes the noise plastic makes when he jumps on it..
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And God knows we’ve got plenty of plastic right now.
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What he doesn’t like is plastic rooms he has no access to….
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And in true cat fashion he’s always on the wrong side of the wall.
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The newly added zippered door helps, though he still has a propensity to sit and stare.
His Lordship doesn’t understand why his house is torn apart, noisy and covered in plastic…
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But he’s trying to make the best of it.
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😉
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Project #7 (8? … 9?… whatever, I’ve lost interest in counting at this point) began with dust protecting plastic being draped.
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Once a mini plastic walled room was in place, work on the ceiling began. I wasn’t looking for perfect at this stage, but I was hoping for better.
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After a mind numbing amount of scraping and dusty, lung clogging sanding…
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A smooth surface was ready for texture.
Our poor contractor tries hard to please and he didn’t want to screw it up by applying too much product, so he set the nozzle to fine and let it dry. It wasn’t close to a match so he sprayed it again. And again. And again. Forced to let it dry in between shots.
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Finally, at the end of the day when he was about to run out of daylight…
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With my husband holding a light so he could see where he was spraying….the optimum amount was reached.
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As usual Lord Dudley Mountcatten did not like the temporary plastic barrier.
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He stared it down, but it didn’t move.
Knowing he gets scolded if he tries to rip his way in, he opted for a more subtle approach.
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The old ‘throw your catnip mouse at the wall and see if breaks through’ maneuver.
He gave up for a while because he knew I was watching but as soon as I left the room?
I heard scratching.
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No mere sheet of plastic will keep Lord Dudley from making his appointed rounds.
🥴
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Returning to the condo after Boneyard Beach, we met the nightly herd of neighborhood deer.
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They wander the area at will, not the least bit scared of cars or people.
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Southern deer are much smaller than the ones we’re used to seeing up north.
To me these are basically large dogs.
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We wondered where they slept in this area… it’s a beach after all, crowded with houses and very little undeveloped woods.
Did I mention we had dolphins in front of our resort twice a day? Two hours before high tide and two hours before low. They follow and drive the fish and we loved seeing them frolic.
Of course every time I tried to film them they stopped. Pay close attention here and you’ll see one break the surface.
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And speaking of sea creatures, Edisto Island is all about the turtles.
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Brightly painted and prominently displayed.
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Some of them were quite creative.
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On the main drag?
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The sand seemed to be gaining ground.
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And every time we drove by this rental house? We laughed.
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Oops. Major parking dimension miscalculation there.
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Another balcony selfie, slightly squinty as I was looking into the sun.
😉
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Prepping for our next renovation project… ceiling repair/paint and new flooring… meant emptying the room.
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After stripping it to bare bones, I realized Lord Dudley Mountcatten was not pleased.
Because along with everything else that had to be moved? His scratching post would have to be temporarily relocated as well.
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His Lordship is very attached to said post….
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And did not easily relinquish his grip.
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Furniture shopping continues and my snarky friends are still being helpful. Their latest suggestion?
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Well, it is green.
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The dark eyed Junco is a small bird of the sparrow family that we never see until the snow flies. They’re always the first to appear after a storm and we’re not the only ones looking….
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Lord Dudley Mountcatten keeps a close eye as well.
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Well, that’s rude.
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Trim work has started on the bedroom windows which means the man cave has once again been taken over….
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And reeks of wood stain and polyurethane.
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It’s odd how sometimes you read a passage in a book and it just gets you. This choked me up the other day. I hope it’s true….
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Sign seen at a local restaurant.
😊
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The Angus drawn carriage tour of Beaufort continued…
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Past Spanish moss and charming antebellum homes.
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You might recognize this tree if you’re a movie buff.
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It’s the live oak Robert Duvall sat under during The Great Santini. They filmed it in Beaufort as the author Pat Conroy is a native son.
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Beautiful homes, beautiful gardens…
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And some of the most amazing Angel Oaks I’ve ever seen.
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The Angel is the variety of live oak that droops it’s branches to the ground….
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And in Beaufort?
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The town is so enamored of their spreading glory it’s illegal to cut one down or even trim.
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Thank you Beaufort.
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I wholeheartedly agree.
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Our guided tour was a little over an hour of immersive history and I loved every cold, wrapped in a blanket, minute of it.
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There’s a strict building code near The Point that says new construction must blend with the old. I’m not sure lime green was a popular Civil War era color, but they’re charming all the same.
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I wish we’d had time to explore this museum.
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But when we disembarked the carriage a certain someone had to strike up a conversation with the guide.
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Hint- it wasn’t me.
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Though I did enjoy a little quality time with Angus.
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He was a wonderful chauffeur.
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And deserved his treat.
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River's world..... 