This month's calendar Archives
July 29, 2010
IT'S FRIDAY, MY FAVORITE DAY!!
Now that summer has finally arrived with nice warm dry days, Dave and I have been able to get some of those outdoor projects underway.
Dave and Ray have been busy working on replacing the support beams under the deck all week. They were removing one of the old beams the other day and I heard this terrible noise. The old beam literally exploded when they removed it because it was so rotten. There were pieces of rotten wood everywhere. It is scary to think that it held up with all the weight that was applied to it from the deck above. We had grandgirls running across that deck three weeks ago! They also had a delay on one of the beams as the lumber company brought the wrong length of board (so they thought) which after they came to pick it up it turned out to be the right length so they had to re-deliver it! Now that the bottom part of the deck is completed, they will work on putting new railings around the deck. I have to do some quick painting before that happens so that it will be easier to finish painting after the boards are installed. I got some paint on Thursday and worked until after dark that night getting two coats of primer on the surfaces that will be hard to reach after they install the railing. Speaking of painting, the last time I painted the railing I got a lot of paint streaks on the glass so I spent a good morning this week scraping the old paint off the windows before the guys can install them again. That was a job but the windows look a lot better without paint streaks on them.
I filled in for Dave on Monday at the visitor's center so he could help with the deck project. Usually it isn't very busy on Monday and so I took some reading materials and the computer with me to pass the time. But as it turned out, I was rather busy with 15 walk-ins and a couple of phone inquiries. The time goes by a lot faster when you are busy. I talked to people from all over the place who were visiting our little corner of the world. Two were from Austria and France and the rest were from Idaho, Florida, California and other places in the U.S. Everyone commented on how beautiful the area is and I feel so lucky to be able to live here.
I have been working out in the yard most of the week. I borrowed Leanna's weedeater and got the weeds cleared along both sides of the boat barn. I also worked on the slope in front of her house just as a "thank you" for letting me use the weedeater. Leanna and I pruned back all the dead fronds on the two huge ferns between our places too. I got the weeds pulled out of the gravel where the bird feeders are because I don't like to use a spray to kill the weeds. I am afraid it might harm my little friends and I sure hope they appreciate my efforts. (Ha! Ha!)
I have been enjoying the antics of the squirrels that come to the feeders each day. There are about three of four of them now. The oldest one we call "Stubby" - because he lost part of his tail - lets the others know he is the boss. He has given notice when another squirrel approaches the feeder while he is eating and he chatters away and chases after them. They all seem to get the message and either go to another feeder or come back when he is gone. I don't think any of them go away hungry.
I took the day off from all the projects on Thursday and went into Hillsboro to meet some of my old high school classmates for lunch. They meet on the last Thursday of each month and I haven't felt justified driving into Hillsboro for lunch each month without having other errands to do. Luckily, I needed to run a few errands while I was in town. Usually it takes me 1-1/2 hours to drive there, but not this time. I must have stopped five times on my way in for highway construction of some sort. Unfortunately, I didn't allow for this interruption and I was 10 minutes late for lunch. By the time I got there, everyone had ordered their meal but I joined them just the same. Afterwards I ran all my errands and started for home when I immediately had to take another route to Tillamook because of an accident so I was late getting home too. It's no wonder I am a "stay-at-home".
We have had a few fishing boats out in front of our place this past week and although I haven't seen anyone catch anything yet, we've had reports of some people catching a few. One guy came by and told Dave that he had caught one right in front of our house but we were busy and we missed it. It is a little early as the first part of August is when the fish seem to really start arriving in the river plus I haven't seen any seals which is another indication there aren't many fish in the river. But if you know fishermen, they will fish anyway just in case.
No big plans for the weekend, probably will do some more painting.
