Tag Archives: deck replacement

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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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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