Tag Archives: backyard

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The one where His Lordship investigates the deck project…

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Work has been progressing on the deck and the other day it was finally time for Lord Dudley Mountcatten to check things out.

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He approached warily, and then took a detour.

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To the stack of unused boards

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And then to the stack of extra wood, which he promptly climbed on and knocked over scaring himself to death.

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I laughed, so he jumped back on the deck boards and gave me the evil eye.

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When he finally ascended to the half finished deck, he explored a bit…

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And plopped.

We tend to do more sitting than walking on our outdoor excursions. His Lordship does not like to waste energy unnecessarily.

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But when he’d had enough fresh air?

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He paced back and forth in front of the door….

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Not understanding why I wouldn’t jump across the divide to open it.

So instead…

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He plopped, and seemed to approve of the new decking materials.

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Deck replacement day 5… it looks like a deck!

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It’s been a long time coming, but things are finally starting to coalesce.

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I peeked out back at noon and saw almost half the deck boards had been laid.

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When the husband got home at 5:00pm, two thirds were done.

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Apparently with the help of a wooden mallet.

But because nothing ever goes smoothly here, it was then we learned the contractor had misjudged the width of the boards and would be two short at the end of the project. And since this is a special color no one keeps in stock, we’ll have to live with an unfinished deck for at least two weeks while we wait for the order to come in.

Sigh…

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But if I take a photo from this angle, I can pretend all is well.

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Deck replacement day 4… progress?

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At the end of day four, which turned out to be an 11 hour day – our contractor arrived at 7:15am and left at 6:15pm- this was the result.

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Five deck boards.

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Five.

Count ‘em… five.

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Three ‘picture frame’ and two others.

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After 11 hours… at $55 and hour.

Let me do the math for you… that’s $605. Which works out to $121 per board. Granted there was a lot of measuring and cutting around the existing railing posts, and at $96 per board we’re glad he’s precise and doesn’t waste material, but wow.

Sorry Mick, but in this instance… time is definitely not on our side.

😳

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A veritable sparrow torture chamber.

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Warning: disturbing avian photo to follow, but trust me… no birds were harmed in the making of this blog.

If you remember, our contractor had just laid rubber protective tape over the framing of our back deck.

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I can’t say I examined it too closely after he told us it would protect the boards from water damage. I figured he knew what he was doing…

Until yesterday when I heard something strange out back and went to investigate.

What I found was a small sparrow hanging on the board, with one wing stuck to the tape. It’s little bird companions were tweeting and pecking and trying in vain to free it. I didn’t take a picture, I didn’t have time. I just wanted to save the poor thing.

Which I did, and it flew away happily.

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Although with a few less feathers attached.

Feeling pleased with myself for saving the small fellow I went back in the house, until I heard something strange out back an hour later.

Another bird was caught in the tape.

I saved that one as well and hoped that was the end of it.

Nope.

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Bird number three… who I did take a quick picture of before I scooped him up and freed him. This one bit me for my trouble.

Not wanting to continue the sparrow torture sessions, I grabbed a knife and made small cuts in the tape so it would lay down flat around the upright posts.

Thankfully no more feathered friends were trapped after that.

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Random snippets

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Cow!

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Mister Cow is happy in his new home and growing rapidly.

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https://youtu.be/hm4tSDlBqyU

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Billions returns for its final season this weekend. Axe is back… and I’m totally on board.

👍

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Pineapple margarita, just because.

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The baby chucks don’t look much like babies anymore.

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It’s getting harder to distinguish momma from the group.

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I performed a minor miracle last week and dragged my husband to the movie theater. This happens approximately once a year, so I have to choose carefully. And since I’m a history nerd? It wasn’t Barbie we went to see.

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When His Lordship is determined to look outside, no mere blind will stop him.

🤣

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Deck replacement… day 3 did not go well either.

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While we really like our contractor, I have to admit he’s not the fastest worker we’ve ever seen. His motto is do it once, do it right… which is great in theory… but I have a feeling it’s going to be hard on the check book.

After three days of work….

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We have perfectly level framing (which was already there, he just sanded the boards) …

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And rubber sealant tape.

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And one loose laid picture frame board.

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And rain.

Yes, we had that as well.

It rained so hard the contractor gave up and left, which was fine. Until we realized he didn’t take down his tent.

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An hour later tent drainage surgery had to be performed.

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And there was a lot to drain.

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Water is heavy.

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Which is why the husband performed the surgery and I documented the procedure.

Three days.

16 billable hours at $55 and hour.

$880… for prep work and some rubber tape. This is going to be one very expensive deck.

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No searching required.

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*Note to reader: For optimum pleasure this blog should be read with Marshall Tucker’s ‘Searching for a Rainbow’ playing in the background. *

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Rain? Oh, we’ve had rain.

Almost every day for a month and a half.

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And aside from making our lawn green, lush and almost impossible to keep mowed… there are rainbows.

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Which really isn’t a bad trade off .

❤️

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Deck replacement… day 2 did not go well.

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The new composite boards were stacked and ready.

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The contractor set up a tent to beat the heat of the baking sun.

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He started work on the framing.

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And then my husband went out to talk.

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And talk, and talk, and talk.

At the $55 an hour we’re paying this guy, I could do with a little more work and a lot less talk so I hauled the husband inside and got him busy organizing some of his old magazines and newspapers.

Bad idea. Very bad.

Because as soon as he found some interesting ones?

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He took them out to show the contractor.

And then he talked, and talked, and talked.

Jesus wept…we’ll have to remortgage the house before this is through.

And if Jesus weeping wasn’t bad enough?

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The heavens decided to weep that afternoon as well.

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Torrential rain, heavy downpours and big mud puddles.

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Left us with very little progress.

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But there is a great big tool trailer parked on the lawn.

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That’s a plus, right?

🥴

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Untouched color.

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Nine years ago… gosh, has it been that long?.. when my mother died, a friend gave me a memorial rose bush to plant in her honor.

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It’s struggled to hang on over the years… through droughts and floods and yes, woodchucks. But when it blooms? It really is fabulous.

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These are untouched iPhone photos.

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The colors really are this bright.

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The variations of shades knock me out every time.

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I think my mother would approve.

❤️

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