Not really my Happy Place.

Or at least that was the thought that crossed my mind today as I was cutting the soffit overhead with the reciprocation saw. 

And of course,  the wind was blowing the sawdust right in my eyes. 

To be expected I suppose.

I still have a couple finishing touches to sort out right at the corner of the house.

 

One of which was to make more of a space between the soffit and that one beam sticking out there.  “Copper Dude” will be coming next week to put ends on those things, and that one looked problematic.

I managed to figure out all the kooky angles the other day for the new board there,  which of course involved at least a couple dozen trips up and down the ladder.    That was where the stick of wood with the two clamps came in.  No point trying to use a sliding T-bevel.  Actually,  I don’t think there even is a tool to use there.

This gizmo.

Not sure what you’d call that for a tool.

Just needed to know how much of a bevel there was on the back side of the upper part of the board.  Had to be one solid board too.

Anyhoodle,  it’s together to such an extent that no critters can get in.  I’ll sort out the rest of the fancy bits early next week.

And I remembered to put back the downspout.  They’re calling for rain again this weekend.

 

 

I suppose I’d best take a stab at cleaning out the table saw one of these days.  It never occurred to me that it would be so full.

 

The sawdust sure piles up when you’re having fun.

And this is what the dust collector didn’t get.  And really,  having it built up like that makes for more efficient dust collection,  since it’s then sucking all the dust more directly from the blade.

Like you care.

 

We’ve been invited up to a cottage at Wasaga Beach,  so I’ll try and take a few photos.  I *think* I need to take along a few tools,  although I’m not sure what I’d need.   The owners of this place refer to it as “The Situation”.  I think that will be the moniker they’ll stick with for naming the cottage.  Should be an adventure.

 

See you on the flip side.

 

Thanks for poppin’ ‘round.

Remember the Wolf?

I’m pretty sure I only saw Pulp Fiction once,  since it’s kind of like another movie that I only saw one time, and that was No Country for Old Men.   Both really good films, but just disturbing enough that I only wanted to watch that one time.  There are clips on Youtube of course so,  if I want to see someone’s brains splattered about,  I don’t have to watch an entire film.

Well,  “The Wolf”,  was a character played by Harvey Keitel,  who is called upon to come in and clean up a situation.  I put in my own italics there,  just so you know.

Anyway,  we’ve started calling Travelling Companion “The Wolf” lately,  since there has been some talk of helping with a couple issues.   And that’s all I can say about that.

 

 

*I’ve redacted parts of this entry due to some “hush hush” issues.  Has nothing to do with me.  I’ll advise later. Much later. 

 

*********big space**********

 

Meanwhile,  the scaffolding was picked up as scheduled yesterday morning.

I thought the truck was rather cool,  since the entire back platform simply comes down off the back and rests at ground level.  Makes loading a cinch.  Why would I schlepp all those parts back on the back of a pick-up truck?

I spent most of yesterday just intermittently cleaning up.  I’m almost there.  It was kind of overwhelming.  I ran out of boxes.

 

Took some time today to try and finish off the two missing pieces from the side of the house.

I’ll explain (if I remember) what I used this contraption for.  Of course,  It was one of the hottest days we’ve had in a while,  but there was grass to be cut, and wood to be gnawed away at.   And I’m not overly exaggerating about that second part.

Oh,  and coincidently,  I woke up to a report this morning on one of the news channels talking about how they were trying to “encourage bike riders” to go to the train station,  instead of using their cars. 

Well, not those exact words,  but something along those lines.

Hey,  I was barely awake.

 

See,  I was at the GO (Stands for Government of Ontario) Train station yesterday afternoon to pick up T.C. and her sister,  so I got to witness the pitiful “bike infrastructure”  that was on display.

 

Here it is:

 

Well now, I’d wager you could get a whopping ten or twelve bikes in there! 

Yup.  That’ll do it.

*idiots*

 

There were a few brave souls getting on their bikes.

Best of luck.

And you know,  if you look at all the thousands of cars that are leaving the train station after each and every train arrives,  there’s always only ONE person in the vehicle.  No wonder our roads are clogged!

 

Of course,  there were barely four or five bikes in there at any given time, since getting to the station by bike is fraught with all kinds of obstacles.   I mean,  who wants to ride in amongst all those harried car commuters as they go barrelling out onto the street?  

It’s called separate bike lanes people!   And I don’t mean painting some lines at the side of the road either. 

Bah!  Just go to The Netherlands and get a clue.

And there’s no point getting on council and trying to change things,  since these things “cost money”,  and we’d sooner waste it on paving new roads for cars.

End of rant.

 

The report on the train trip up to Ottawa was that it was “wonderful”.  But that’s not why we’re here.  She can write her own blog.

 

Tomorrow I’m off to bottle some wine.  Finally. 

We ran out a while back.

 

My brain is empty.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

Time to clean up.

Before my head explodes.  I can only handle the disarray for so long,  and then I start to get grumpy.

I didn’t take any more pictures, but you get the idea.  What’s missing is enough boxes to put all the scraps in.  Of course,  the grocery store down the street doesn’t have much of an empty box selection on a Sunday.  I’ll go back there tomorrow and take a look.  A fair amount of that will end up in the fireplace.

The wood burning one in the basement, that is.   I should probably give some to my sister-in-law as well,  since she does use her wood burning fireplace from time to time.  It’s mostly only good for kindling,  but at least there’s some value in getting some heat out of what would otherwise be garbage.

 

So with the exception of two pieces of tongue and groove that I’m missing,  that’s the end of “phase one”.  Although,  I never did think in terms of “phases”, but we still have the copper ends to put on along with the new windows that I have yet to order. 

What’s up there now isn’t staying.  We’ll actually be able to open and close windows without the frustration that accompanies anything to do with the ones there now. 

I guess the original idea was to not have any windows,  which is what I’ve seen in Austria and Slovenia,  but then there are the squirrels to reckon with.  So even if I fixed it so that nothing could get from there into the attic,  they’d still be crappin’ everywhere and causing huge amounts of destruction. 

Ain’t gonna happen.

Oh and by the way,  since having taken those two pictures,  I’ve taken down the rest of the scaffold and taken away that ladder,  but not before reattaching the down spout in its proper place.   Temporarily of course,  since we have a company on its way to replace all that stuff in the not too distant future. 

And here I was thinking we’d go to a cottage for a few days. 

Again,  ain’t gonna happen.

 

We worked like dogs all yesterday to get it done,  in the pouring rain to boot. 

My feet were like prunes.

We wrapped it up at 4:45 though!   Ha!

I had already made the commitment that the scaffolding was due to be picked up Monday morning,  plus I wanted to release Carpenter Dude from my employ at the end of the day.  He’s done.

Now I realise that some of you had said something to the effect that I could very well have done this on my own?   Well yes.  I suppose so.  I do have the skill set.

However,  having Carpenter Dude here “on the clock”  was the ultimate motivation to get it done.

Sometimes you needs to pays yer money. 

And then just “suck it up Buttercup”,  and move on.   Saying,  “Oh I’ll do it myself”,  starts to wear a little thin after 10 or 20 years. 

 

Basically, I’d still be out there,  most likely for the rest of the summer.  I know what I’m like.  About mid day,  I’d “need” a nap.

And then after that?   Too groggy to do much else.  And so on.

 

And how depressing would that be?  Having this project looming over my head.  Never quite done.   There’s more “on the list”.  Trust me.  So it’s not like I’m ever really *done*.

 

Now,  speaking of fireplaces,  my next little concern will be getting the “exhaust hat”  on the chimney cap along with the ‘in’ and ‘out’  tubes that have to run down to the gas insert that needs to go in.   I want to have that sorted out before too long,  since we’ll be getting a new roof presumably sometime in September,  and after that I’m not going up there.  It’s a metal roof,  from these guys.

 

Oh,  and did you know,  that if you use some sort of card (we have a debit card system here in Canada) at Home Despot,  you can take stuff back within 90 days and you don’t need your receipt?   I just found that out this morning.  I had bought boatloads of the adhesive that we were using,  and took back all the extra tubes that were never opened.   We’re talking like fifty bucks here.  No point in keeping ten tubes of PL Premium hanging around.  When am I ever going to use that much adhesive?  I’ll get some more if I need it.

 

I guess that’s all I have in my pea brain.

I’ll resurface in a day or so if I think I have something worthwhile to say.

 

 

Keep it between the ditches.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

 

.

Had an awesome night on the water.

The boat seems to do better if we have somewhat “heavy air”.   That’s mostly the way it works for keel boats I suppose,  but it still means there’s no room for error.
We made none.

 

By the way,  this is where we’re at in the cedar cladding situation.   We have a few more to do underneath there,  and then the part that runs down the side.  Then the unfinished bits need to be finished.   I’m hoping to release Carpenter Dude by the end of tomorrow,  but we did talk about working Saturday if need be. 

I just want to say once again, that I’m pretty sure I never worked this hard….. at work.

But that’s fine.  Once we’re done,  it’ll look pretty damned awesome.

Which brings us to the other topic of the evening,  and that was our night out on the water.   The wind was steady at around 12 to 15 knots (we think…wind meter is broken)  and that really seems to work for us. 

Mind you,  it helps if you don’t mess up.  And we didn’t.

There were a couple times when there was that realisation that something is out of place,  but again,  it’s a question of being very aware of just where all the lines need to be so as to avoid those “rookie” issues. 

I’ve seen things on other boats. 

I just look away.

 

I posted a bunch of pics on Book of Face.

Hopefully that link works.

 

Now I’m off to beddy byes.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

It’s Wednesday, right?

It was time to move the scaffold.  That was today’s big event.

Well,  and we did get some of the tongue and groovy filled in below where the windows go.  Didn’t take a picture.  That was at the end of proceedings,  and I was getting a little pooched at that point.

Well,  maybe more than a little. 

I think I need a vacation.

We’re into our third week here.  It’s getting to the point where you can really appreciate the difference.  There were some days when it felt like we hadn’t really accomplished much.  Very frustrating.

The weather has really been phenomenal.  Nearly no humidity,  cloudy then sunny.  Prefer cloudy.

I think I said that.

Well, it did rain for maybe a half hour.  We sort of have it figured out now though if it looks like it’s going to rain.  I had a couple small tarps at the ready for the compressor and the cut off saw.  I didn’t really completely uncover the pile of cedar at the side of the house,  so that wasn’t a problem.

I do realise that I probably shouldn’t really care if someone else’s stuff gets wet,  but there’s some recessive gene that I have,  that won’t permit me to abuse a tool. 

Hey,  some folks are Vegans/Vegetarians/whatever. I’ll have some bacon from time to time.  And put butter on my toast.

However, fail to change the oil in a machine or abuse it in any way?   Never.

I’m sure it’s some sort of mechanic/woodworker venial sin.

No,  really.  There’s bound to be some special place in Hell for tool abusers.  Right next to the Chevy Vega that’s burning oil and has terrible valve lash.   That you have to listen to and smell,  for eternity.

 

Just had to go downstairs and extricate a small suitcase for Travelling Companion.  She’s travelling,  but not with me.  Taking a little jaunt up to Ottawa to visit her brother.  She and a sister are taking the train.  It should be an enjoyable trip.  Providing of course that there are no derailments or Injuns on the tracks. 

I meant to say “engines”.  “Injuns” wouldn’t be P.C.

‘Cause I’m all about being politically correct. 

 

And on that note,  I’m going to bed.

 

Sticks.  Ice.  You know the drill.

 

Thanks for looking.

No job for a haemophiliac.

Because I would have bled out by now.

Not that I’ve severed any digits,  or anything quite so dramatic,  but just this morning I briefly lost my mind and thought I’d reach after that Olfa cutter that I accidently bumped into and knocked to the floor.  (It’s like a ‘box cutter’.)

Not a good idea.  Hadn’t retracted the blade.  Silly bunt.

That was just a little incision. 

It’s all healed by now.  Because well,  I’m not a haemophiliac.

But of course,  there’s been a couple nasty little splinters that required the steady hand of Travelling Companion after I had attempted my own version of surgery.  Gah!

One in each hand, in the palm of each hand. 

You know,  if my hands were maybe a little rougher, that might help,  but I doubt it.

Anyway,  we’re still at it.  I just noticed how dirty my shirt is in that picture.  Good thing I took it off and left it downstairs.  Handy to have a shower in the basement.

 

It’s kinda too bad that we can’t leave it all open like that,  but we’d have critters in there in no time.  And they’d be crappin’.

I’m forever finding evidence of previous visitors. 

Why just this morning,  not long after my Olfa episode, I discovered a nice neat little ‘coon turd.

Even if I rallied some sort of campaign,  I truly don’t think I’d ever get rid of all the evidence. 

Ever.  

That particular turd was in the soffit. 

How did that song go?  I've been everywhere?

I’ll distract you with a little Johnny Cash.

It’s in awesome stereo too, by the way.  Listen in the right channel for the “Boom-chicka-boom” picking style of Bob Wootton.  It’s quite infectious.

 

It was a damned near perfect day,  weather wise.  Turned off the air conditioning in the morning as the humidity never did get up into the uncomfortable zone.  It kept threatening to rain,  which meant it was wonderfully cloudy.  I like cloudy when it comes to being on the sunny side of the house. 

Or being outdoors.  Period.

I notice our neighbours across the way have their air on.  I don’t understand.  It’s almost cool enough for a jacket which,  considering where this is coming from, means it’s plenty cool.

 

I guess I’ve bored you enough. 

 

We’ll be singing the same tune tomorrow.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

Managed to beat the rain this time.

Because last Monday morning,  a lot of the wood got wet.  Not a good thing,  especially when it comes to pre-finishing the one by six.

 

 

And how sad is it to take delight in these small victories?   We’re scraping the bottom here people.

Scraping.

The bottom.

 

With the exception of a few trips up and down the ladder,  I spent most of the day yesterday hacking out a couple more decorative pieces for the side of the house.

 

At the end of the day I had to help Carpenter Dude install one more piece of cladding,  and I suggested taking the jig saw up there with us to cut the bird’s mouth “in situ”  so to speak.  It was actually a pleasure to cut in a straight line.

I’ve started out this morning getting a handle on cleaning up this hot mess that used to be my shop.

Yikes.

I’m not going to be spending too much time doing anything close to “work”  if I can help it,  and of course there is that World Cup game this afternoon that I just might watch.  

Not saying whom I’m rooting for.

 

Actually,  I don’t really give a rat’s tiny behind…..

But it should be a fun way to pass a Sunday afternoon.

 

I’ll be back if I think I have something to say. 

 

Thanks for looking.

Really too tired for words.

And,  we’ve decided we’ll work tomorrow as well, since we had a couple rain delays.

Oh,  and Carpenter Dude had a dental emergency yesterday,  so that didn’t help the schedule either.  Nor his pocketbook.  Two root canals! 

But hey,  “been there,  done that.”   Although I’ve only ever had one root canal.  I still have a few years left so you know, there’s always the possibility of another one.  Or two.

 

I’m just going to throw up a couple pictures of the result of today’s fun and games,  and put up a link to the rest.

 

First half done.

Then the other side.

 

Daughter Number Two took over the camera and just started snapping away.  That’s the fun thing about the digital age.  That many pictures back in the days of film would have made a dent in the wallet.

Here’s the link.  Knock yourselves out.

Just plugging away.

In some cases, literally.  

I did have to don the respirator and take a trip up the ladder to see to a couple new bee holes.  They became evident when we removed the old facia. 

Travelling Companion spotted some activity. 

She has a sharp eye for…well,  bugs.   That kind of thing.

I swear she can see an ant heading for the house from fifty paces.

And then,  I’d best “deal with it”.

 

Oh,  and I never did actually *see* the bee.  I was just doing as I was told.

 

The Bug Man had graciously left behind some of his high octane bee-be-gone.  (Don’t tell.)    He wore a respirator, so I figured it was probably a good idea.

I wouldn’t mind filling up the old bee holes before we put on the new facia.  Most likely happening tomorrow.   I’ll probably just use up an old tube of brown caulking.  I’m reluctant to open up a new can of “Great Stuff®”, since you really need to use it up once it’s opened,  and I try to have a whole plan sorted out as to where it’s going to all go.  It’s been one of my mainstays for sealing up the house over the years.  I’ve lost count as to how many cans I’ve gone through in the last 20 years or so. 

I wonder if they sell shares?

Oh wait,  it turns out they do!   Might have to look into that.  Pays almost 3%.  That’s reasonable.

 

Where was I?

Right.

 

We decided to put on a second coat of Cetol® and carry on with the bits that will end up on the west wall.

 

That pile rounds out the entire count of 84.  Or was it 82? 

Oh geez,  I had better count those again.

Of course when I say “we”,  when it comes to putting on finish,  I’m referring to Son-in-law.   He had some spare time.  Came over to help.

 

That’s the new facia that I concocted yesterday.   I cut up the old pieces into “firewood”. I’m sure it’ll burn quite nicely.  For all of eight seconds.

I put “firewood” in quotation marks,  since it’s pretty well chewed and weathered. 

Hey, it was first installed in 1958!  It’s almost as old as ME!  And I’ve been feeling a bit “chewed and weathered” lately.

 

I think that’s all I got for today.  Like I said yesterday,  it’s just more of the same.  I’m dying to take a picture of the front of the house with the new frilly bits on.

 

Remember,  step on the ball*.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

 

*if you’ve ever taken flight training,  you’ll know that one.

An Homage to Rube Goldberg.

At least,  that was what I was thinking after I came up with my little gizmo this morning. 

Actually,  I *think* it was more like afternoon, since I had frittered away some time this morning trying to come up with a satisfactory method of cutting the facia boards for the front of the “veranda”. 

 

I really wanted to avoid using the jig saw if at all possible,  and figured I could come up with some method on the drill press.

No dice.  Too much lateral torque,  resulting in the quill popping out.  It’s a Morse Taper after all.

Of course,  there are no articles to speak of on the subject,  so I’ll steal a picture from the net.

That’s a “Morse Taper”.

 

So I had to come up with a “jig”.

 

 

Took me a little while to come up the proper mason jar lid/tuna tin ratio, but after some higher ‘rithmatic,  I got it. 

And yes,  we’re sticking with the “Gingerbread House” look.  May as well keep it original.

 

I think you get the idea.  Got to be a bit tedious when I was putting on finish right around the time I was missing Jeopardy.  *grumble*   I’ll just have to suck it up I guess.

 

Speaking of missing out on things,  I just surfed around to discover that some of my Dutch friends aren’t so very happy right about now.  Well darn.   Here I was kind of looking forward to seeing a final game between Germany and The Netherlands.   Naturally,  the Dutch would be calling out to “get their bikes back”.  I’ll fill in that blank one of these days,  I promise.

 

I suppose my Argentinian Barber will be happy. So there’s at least one person I know.

Hey,  football giveth,  and football taketh away.

If you have the bandwidth,  here’s a pretty cool video montage put together by our very own CBC.

 

How awesome would it be if we could somehow capture all that emotion that is evoked from the World Cup? (I still like the German term: “Weltmeisterschaft”,  sounds better.) 

Pretty sure it could power an entire city. 

Some of the Brazilian fans were weeping yesterday when their team lost.  WEEPING!   It’s a freakin’ football game people!  

OK “soccer”,  fine.

Tomato, tomahto.

 

Tomorrow is going to be pretty much the same story.  Although,  we may very well be installing some fancy facia boards.  That could be interesting.  Possibly perilous.

*ulp*

 

Keep it between the ditches.

Thanks for stopping by.

 

 

Oh right,  I suppose I should put in some sort of hint about Rube Goldberg.   Wouldn’t want you to actually have to surf the net.  That might be laborious.

More discoveries.

Well we’re still at it.  The *hope* is to be substantially finished by the end of the week.   We’ve had a couple rain delays,  which hasn’t helped.   Today we worked on through the rain when it started just after lunch, but got tired of getting wet by about three and packed it in.

I took the time yesterday morning to put in a new set of knives in the thickness planer.  Otherwise the cedar starts to get a bit “fuzzy”. 

I had to briefly consult the manual,  since it had been a while since I had opened the thing up.  Once I had the top off, it all came back to me.

I’m not a big proponent of one brand over another,  but the good folks at DeWalt have come up with a couple little features that make it easy peasy to change the knives.  The first part is being able to pop the lid off like that,  which then locks the cutter head,  making it a cinch undo the top knife.  There are no gib screws such as in a jointer,  and that helps.

 

Thus:

Too hard to describe what a “gib screw” is, but there are three of them holding that jointer knife in place. Getting them just right is a b*tch.  Trust me.

 

They’ve also very cleverly added a couple magnets to the T-handled wrench,  so as to make it easier and safer to get the knives in and out. 

 

Anyway,  I put it all back together and it works just fine. I think that was the intent of making it monkey simple.

 

So this morning we decided to tackle the corner of the house over the front steps.  I knew it was going to be a bit of a dog’s breakfast,  and sure enough,  there were some rotting bits. 

Part of that plan was to remove the soffit,  and I figured there would be some debris waiting to fall out,  but when we discovered the three bricks?   That was a bit of a surprise. 

I didn’t actually take a picture of the bricks,  since Carpenter Dude heaved them out onto the grass next to the driveway.

(Again,  note how he’s on the ladder,  not me?)

 

They were *new* bricks too.  As in,  unused.  Think the bricklayer misplaces a couple?  Why in the soffit?  Were they using them to hold down a tarp?  We’ll never know I suppose.

 

Oh,  and I almost forgot,  he found a seashell.

I’m not making this up either.   Too bizarre to make up.

 

Sure wish there was some hidden cash up there.

 

Other than that,  I got nothing.  I just went out after the end of Jeopardy,  thinking I’d fart around out there for a couple hours,  and it’s once again raining.  Gah!

It’s supposed to clear up for the remainder of the week though.

They say.

Just rolled my eyes.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

It’s Saturday afternoon, and I’ve done nothing.

I mean,  I ran to Home Despot this morning to pick up some new planer blades since well,  we be gettin’ a bit dull.  And made a trip to Costco,  plus Lee Valley.

Now,  I had no intentions of going all the way across town to Lee Valley,  but I found that I couldn’t get four and a half inch sanding pads at Home Despot.  Kind of frustrating,  actually.   I mean,  I certainly don’t mind buying from Lee Valley,  and I would have looked there first,  had I known that Home Despot only carried something called “Diablo”  sanding disks.  That’s all fine and dandy,  and I’m sure they’re just peachy.  Except that they only carry a five inch disk. 

So I beaked off at the attendant about some Jack-Tard at the corporate level who probably has a golfing buddy who works for Diablo,  and that’s how they got that product line. 

He offered no opinion,  only nodding knowingly.

 

The cladding of the exterior is coming along.   And this is probably why I was feeling a little weary today.  I don’t think I worked this hard…..at work.

I think it’s going to look pretty awesome.

The house is 56 years old this year,  and the wood out front is looking a wee bit sad,  even though it’s structurally sound. 

We also enlisted the help of son-in-law to slap on some finish.

“Oh,  am I going to be in the blog?”

               

“Then I’d best strike a pose”.

 

Actually,  he didn’t really say that.  I’m making that part up. 

Get back to work.

 

Speaking of looking a wee bit sad,  I might just try and get ahead of the disaster that used to be my shop.

 

Crikey.

 

My sense of order is really being challenged.  I try not to hyperventilate.

We’ve emptied my totally awesome Oneida dust collector at least a half dozen times.   Nary a spec of dust in the air when that thing is running. 

Of course, it’s really built for a “hobby shop”,  and we’re kind of doing things at a quasi-industrial level,  so I’ve had to keep an eye on the level in the bin.  One time we did clog up the filter.   That’s a bitch.  It’s a Hepa filter which,  apart from all the technical mumbo jumbo,  means that it has a bunch of pleats inside that really really trap all the dust.   Getting that mostly clean was a job.

 

I think that’s all I got.

 

Travelling Companion and I did go out to eat with the “kids” last night at a place they enjoy going to in Oakville.  Good eats at The Gingerman.

Hm,  kind of a crappy photo.

 

The prices were OK,  with entrees running between ten and twenty bucks.  And good beer.  It’s always a plus when there’s not just your run of the mill national brand/watered down/heavily advertised/ crap. 

Not mentioning any names.   Might get in trouble.

Oh,  and speaking of not drinking some watered down crap,  here’s me in the passenger seat after having a couple “real” beers.

 

Didn’t think I wanted to be at the wheel,  so T.C. took the helm.

Besides,  would you want that guy driving you??

 

Easy on the comments people.

Easy.

 

Thanks it for today,  and maybe a few days.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

It’s Wednesday, right?

Didn’t seem to matter that yesterday was Canada Day.  Big whoop.  Maybe one of these days we’ll go and watch fireworks again somewhere.  Haven’t had a chance to do that in a while.

The project continues.  This could probably be considered,  “The Big One”.  Also the reason why I’ve been putting it off all these years,  and that’s mostly since I knew it was going to be a huge deal.  Certainly overwhelming to tackle on my own.

And of course,  there are always those crazy little discoveries that one finds along the way.

Might I offer,  the “Big Nest”.  Or something.

 

 

A narrow cavity behind some panelling where the critters had been adding some material for a “home”.  This is an “outdoor” space,  and I imagine all of this took place in the several decades before we came along and I put up wire mesh to keep the critters out. 

It never occurred to me to take away the panelling.  But today was the day.  

Sure glad I have a respirator.

 

Our tongue and groovy arrived today, so that meant I could start in on some of the dressier parts.

Thus:

 

Always helpful to finish some of the bits before they get installed.   Much easier than hanging off a ladder.  Mind you,  hanging off a ladder is something that I am getting a little more used to,  even though it’s probably never going to be something that thrills me. 

 

Somebody needs to clean up that mess.

There’s more,  but I’m bushed. 

But hey,  I’ve lost five pounds so far this week!  Just too bad it doesn’t come off my gut.  Why does that never happen?

 

That’s all I got.

 

Thanks for stopping by.