May 27, 2012

This has been a quiet week for the most part.  I'm currently battling a headache, but otherwise pretty much ok.  Have to worry about Q a bit though and keep an eye on him.  The time we spent at the property yesterday was good time spent, considering we got the deck fixed enough to be much safer, but we failed to take Powerades with us for him, and he failed to eat before we left, so he ended up with a bit of heat exhaustion before he could get at using the chainsaw.  Being ten miles from the nearest gas station where we could get him anything, I piled him in the car and we took off so I could rehydrate him and get some food and electrolytes in him.  He rested on the way there and on the way home, so he was okay in short order, but it scared me a lot though I'm pretty sure he didn't realize it.  I tend to stay calm during a crisis, and it's hard for him to realize I'm actually frightened out of my wits in those times.  So we didn't accomplish all we WANTED to get done, but we got the most important part of things done, in that the deck is now safer to walk on.  We're going to eventually tear the thing out as it is now and redo it from scratch, perhaps expanding it lengthwise along the trailer so it's usable better.  We'd like to put a small table and chairs out there and a small grill so we can enjoy some outdoor time during the warm weather.  (Speaking of which, we found the perfect charcoal grill at Wal-Mart today for about $100 ... it would even work with wood instead of charcoal if we put a fire brick inside it ... TOO nice ... too bad we are broke this week and couldn't get it, but we bookmarked it in WM online so we can find it again later!)

Just for kicks and giggles, our current "livestock." This is my cat, Smudge, and from the blotch on his nose, you can see how my yearling boy got his name. His left ear is cropped, yes. He was a rescue kitten at eight weeks old, and they neutered him and cropped his ear before we got him.  But he is a sweetheart, just scared of outdoors and anybody who isn't me or Q.

And this is Quentin's boy, Bouncer.  He is also a rescue, though not quite in the same way as Smudge.  Bouncer's last "owners" (I refuse to say that with anything but sheer disdain) lost him due to neglect. He got bitten right in the middle of his back on the spine by a brown recluse spider, and they refused to treat it. The bite swelled up horribly, until it literally exploded. I can only imagine the pain that the swelled up bite caused him, let alone them letting it blow up like it did. It left a dried flap of skin and fur hanging on his back, and apparently, maggots were in the wound when they finally decided maybe he should go to a vet. He was treated, and we're not sure what the story is after that, but Bouncer finally healed and we got our hands on him. Now he has a tiny bald patch on his spine and he occasionally has trouble walking, which led to his name, since instead of walking, he bounces like a deer or kangaroo, depending on his mood.

Quentin starting to tear the deck apart.  This is the board we opted to take out and reuse, as it's not that badly warped  like we thought, and cheaper to reuse it for now than to put down a new board that will have to get ripped up later anyhow. Took both of us to heave it out of there and off to the side so we could lift it back up later onto the joists.

You can see here we moved the grab post closer to the house. It makes it easier for me, with my bad knee and hip, to get up the stairs. It was coming loose anyhow, and we just opted to move it closer so it's easier to grab and help pull myself up the first couple of stairs. The stairs are sitting on a bunch of rock slabs to raise them up closer to the level of the porch, but the first step is a bit higher than it should be because of this, and a bit hard for someone with short legs like mine to get up the thing. This makes it much easier.

Quentin working on stabilizing the one corner that was coming loose after we tossed the deck board off to the side. He doesn't much like having his picture taken, but at least you can see there's a real hubby in this, lol. Tall and skinny, but he's got a heart of gold and works his butt off. Of course, with this, you can see how much the brambles and brush have grown just since spring. We've got quite a job ahead of us to clear it up yet.

More reinforcing of the deck corner. Took about three good nails to hold it together, but the frame's solid again.

Q sitting on the joists, working on fixing the third one in that had completely fallen out of the framework. The one that was half hanging down is under where the other deck board starts.

Finishing up toenailing the third joist back into the deck framework. About all I was good for was handing him nails and the wrecking bar, and taking pictures yesterday, but good thing I wasn't busy with something else when we got done and he started feeling poorly!

 The deck, repaired for now. When we put the second deck board back up, we flipped it so it's upside down as well as sideways on the deck now. We've got solid joists all the way across, and the other deck board is smaller, as I'm sure you noticed. Q cut the thing in two with the chainsaw in order to get that fourth joist free of the deck board. It was too hard to get it free from that joist otherwise. So now we have a more reasonably safe deck to walk on to get in and out of the house until we get the thing properly torn apart and rebuilt after the move. Which we are a month behind on. This is killing me, waiting to move. I want to be there NOW! So does Q! Thing is, with working a few weekends at my job and him sick last weekend, we're behind on the work to be done to get it ready for moving into. However, we hope this upcoming week will be the last month when we are renting two places, plus we have the van payment and the insurance next weekend. Yeesh! We are going to be financially tight that week but it will be worth it to get further toward our goal of moving out of this tiny little apartment and onto the five point one-eight acres of woods in a trailer/cabin closer to work. That will be a celebratory week for sure.

 And for more kicks and giggles, this is Quentin's new-used van. Isn't Sheamus (yes, we named him for the wrestler, and yes, we like to watch wrestling) pretty snazzy with his weekend decorations? We are flying the flags every weekend now that we have the flagpole mounts on his sides. What bugs me is this is Memorial Day weekend, and out of all the time we've been driving him around the Branson and Hollister area the last two days, Sheamus has been the ONLY vehicle we've seen flying flags. Not even anybody flying those little window clipon flags, for heaven's sake! Where's everyone's American pride and respect for our armed forces? Nowhere around here, I guess, though we got a lot of rubbernecking, some pointing, and a few horns honked at us. Thankfully, Sheamus gets good mileage for a V8, so even before we've moved, Quentin gets pretty good mileage for commuting. It'll be a lot better once we're moved. (I DO keep harping on that, but I'm excited, and can hardly wait!)

The only downside to the weekend's work was that once he'd let it sit for a bit, Q couldn't get his chainsaw started back up. I think it was partly that he'd cut that plywood in two on the deck, and partly that he left it sitting in the sun afterwards instead of bringing it indoors with us when we were trying to cool down a bit. so when he went to start it back up, it would catch but wouldn't stay started. Checking the gas to see if it was low, the gas was literally BOILING in the tank. Ooops. So it's getting a thorough cleaning this weekend, along with Q washing the bug dartboard he calls a windshield on the van. Me, I refuse to take pictures of Victor, my Aveo, right now, as he is utterly filthy. He is supposed to be red, but he's apparently mostly brown right now. So tomorrow is a day when I get to take water and rags out and wash the heck out of him so he'll be clean for a day or two anyhow.

So, for those of you who are in the States, have a safe and Happy Memorial Day, and remember to honor our veterans. We're spending part of tomorrow visiting a local veterans memorial since we can't find a veterans cemetery, and doing our little part to honor those who served and died so we could have what freedoms we do have.