With the deck done, we move on. Lou is now working on the seatbelts in the Galaxie. I will repaint the porch floor. Five years ago after pressure-washing the porch floor a great deal of old paint came off. I decided to paint the porch floor like faux marble tile. It was after this that came the self-imposed ban on watching HGTV. After sealing the concrete, I painted the entire floor black. The next day when the paint was entirely dry I meticulously using painters tape, taped off 18" squares. Then with 1 can of dark brown paint and another of beige, I painted each square dark brown and the swirled in the beige while the brown was still wet much like making a marble cake. When that all dried I removed all the tape and I had marble tile with black grout lines. It looked so nice but my back and knees were really sore. My neighbor dropped in and when I showed her the porch, she really thought I had tiled it with marble! I had to laugh to myself because I couldn't afford marble anything much less porch tile!
Now five years ago I was a cat owner. Since then the cats have passed on to Catnip Heaven and I replaced them with 5 dogs. This was a gradual process. First came Petey. I went to our community's Chili Fest and saw a woman with a little puppy sticking out of a sweatshirt pocket. It was a Lhasa Apso and I had been so wanting one. The next day he was mine. About six months after that my neighbors new girlfriend would spend the weekends next door and she brought with her a small dog named Pup E. Dawg. Petey and Pup E. Dawg made fast friends through the chain link fence and soon they were allowed to visit one another in each others yard. Then came the puppy pajama parties and before long Pup E. Dawg spent the whole weekend. But then Monday through Friday, Petey would sit on the couch looking out the window and whining until Pup E. came back. Then began my search of the City Dog Pound for a companion for Petey which would not leave every Sunday.
I finally found Buddy, a small chihuahua. He looked so pitiful in that large cage surrounded by Pitbulls and other assorted large dogs. He looked at me with those bulging brown eyes that said, "Senora, por favor, please save me!" I never cared much for chihuahuas but he was small.....and pitiful. Within 1 hour of bringing Buddy home, Petey came running in from the backyard barking. It was like Lassie reporting that Timmy was in the well. When I went out to the backyard, Buddy was nowhere to be found. Petey ran to the neighbors fence and there was Buddy. But how did he get there? I checked the fence line, there were no openings. Can chihuahuas climb chain link fences? I went back in the house, out the front door, over to the neighbors, who were not home, into their back yard and retrieved Buddy which was not all that easy as chihuahuas can run pretty fast. Shortly later Petey and Buddy went out the Doggie Door to the back yard and within 15 minutes in came Petey barking, "Mommy Buddy is being a bad boy again!" And sure enough Buddy was again next door. This time after bringing Buddy back, I again went to the backyard and rechecked the fence line. Nothing. I went in and phoned Animal Control. They assured me that they had never heard of a chihuahua scaling a chain link fence. The privacy fence which is between ours and neighbors home is six feet high and wood but no breaks there and no holes dug beneath, so how is Buddy doing this and not Petey? I am beginning to understand how Buddy ended up in the pound. His family probably gave up paying his "Get out of Puppy Prison" fines! I took a seat on the porch and watched and waited. And little Houdini watched and waited, but he did not have my staying power, so he furtively moved toward the privacy fence. He nosed a board aside and scurried through. After he was through, the fence board went back to vertical as if it were never loose. AHA!! I ran for hammer and nail and made a quick repair, then in the house, out the front door, into neighbors backyard, cornered this newly adopted escape artist and brought him back home. Again I sat on the porch and waited and this time Buddy made straight for the getaway. I guess he was pretty surprised when his little nose trick suddenly did not work. The little bugger tried every board though until failing each he finally gave up.
The next year I got Petey a wife because he and Pup E Dawg never took to Buddy who went to a new home. Pup E. never took much to Precious either. I guess he resented her breaking up the Boys Club, but Petey liked her fine and the following year Petey & Precious had 7 babies, five of which went to loving homes. By then Pup E Dawg lost total interest in Petey and Petey didn't seem to mind and then Blondie moved in and Petey did mind. Blondie is a Lab/Shepherd mix and weighed 55 pounds. Right away Precious, 16 pounds, thought Blondie was her new puppy. Bear and Marshmallow the last two puppies were left and they were terrified of the new "litter mate" and by the time people showed interest in them we were so attached, but thought five dogs were too much. When the new potential family came to see them Marshmallow went wee wee all over the prospective new Mommy who promptly handed her back and said she was looking for something smaller. We were relieved and so five was not too many afterall.
However, five dogs with 4 feet each and 4 nails/foot took its toll on the porch floor. This time I will just do touch up, but painting all those grouts lines is tedious and all the painting is done in piece meal because I must accommodate the comings and goings of 5 dogs. It takes me two days and the seatbelts are not yet finished. And I come to find out hubby did a little catnapping under that Galaxie! And more news...Tucker's family is moving this week. Without Tucker to chase up and down the fence line 4 times a day we are afraid our dogs will become canine couch potatoes. Thanksgiving in three days. Best wishes to friends and family.
Next project...Decorating for Christmas..I had another brainstorm!
Monday, November 22, 2010
Monday, November 15, 2010
It is finished!
With a warm up we finally finished staining the last dock. We also added added a palm tree! We now have the only palm-treed dock on the lake! We took the canoe out to take pictures of the completed project as well as the supervisors, Blondie, Petey, Precious, Marshmallow and Bear. We still have the lighthouse to build but are in no hurry. It is time to catch up on other things. Hope you enjoyed. It was hard work but worth it and an accomplishment of which we are very proud.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Fleas!
Five dogs, five baths! Dawn Dish detergent kills fleas on contact. While hubby is treating yard for fleas with whatever flavor of the month flea killer. I put dog bedding and whatever rags they use for tug of war in the washer to soak in bleach and vacuum the kitchen, computer room and porch (the only areas dogs are allowed. I empty vacuum of whatever creatures were lurking in crevices and put vacuum away. I am already tired.
I get out the doggie towels , close all avenues of escape and take a break. I have 10 soulful eyes watching my every move. The four Lhasa apsos get baths in the kitchen sink. Blondie at 65 pounds gets the shower in master bedroom.
Petey, the alpha male in spite of his diminutive size gets to go first. He hates baths the most and is a handful I rather face before I am exhausted. Now Petey loves water. He went into the lake after ducks at age eight weeks and about gave me a heart attack. On the trip to Connecticut he took a dip at Kent Falls, amusing tourists as his fluffy coat spread out around his six month old body like a halo. On the way home he swam in the Atlantic Ocean in New Jersey but did not like the taste much. He also swam in the Tarheels Creek in North Carolina. He is forever taking surreptitious dips in the garden pond. But he hates baths! Go figure. He only ceases wiggling to be towel dried.
Marshmallow or Happy Tail as she is better known because her little tail is always going is next. I originally named her Marshmallow because she is all white. But she rarely is all white as she loves to play in dirt. Now she is not happy. She too hates the bath, she hates water period! She insists on sharing her bath with me! She splashes, squirms, tries to climb up onto counters, faucets, me! After she is towel dried I need a break.
Now for Bear. He was originally Buttons because in his white face, his black eyes and nose looked like buttons. But Lou did not find that masculine enough so because of his unruly mop, he became Bear. He is not particularly happy about baths but does not want to disrespect his manly name so at least he stoically stands still. Everyone got clipped yesterday except Blondie who has short hair. The like being clipped about as much as they like baths except for Precious.
Precious April Love has become Mama Dog. Not so much because she is Mama to Happy Tail & Bear or that she adopted Blondie who out weighs her by 50 pounds as her newest pup.But because Lou cannot remember her name. But she is precious. By now Lou has finished spraying yard and porch so he gets to bathe Precious while I do Blondie. Precious loves baths and haircuts. She stands perfectly still and will even lie down in the bath. She is easy for Lou to manage and easier on his back then bending over Blondie in the shower. We both finish at the same time and since all is dry outside, the last two dogs do not need toweling and are allowed to just run out with the other three. We all go down to sit on the dock while the last two dogs air dry in the sun. Everyone of them falls asleep quickly. Surprisingly none of the dogs sported many fleas. Hopefully we have gotten them under control after a two year struggle.
It was hard work but both Lou and I are glad to have some time off from painting. His back ( several herniated discs) and my artificial knee are acting up. It is true when they say 'Old age ain't for sissies.'
I get out the doggie towels , close all avenues of escape and take a break. I have 10 soulful eyes watching my every move. The four Lhasa apsos get baths in the kitchen sink. Blondie at 65 pounds gets the shower in master bedroom.
Petey, the alpha male in spite of his diminutive size gets to go first. He hates baths the most and is a handful I rather face before I am exhausted. Now Petey loves water. He went into the lake after ducks at age eight weeks and about gave me a heart attack. On the trip to Connecticut he took a dip at Kent Falls, amusing tourists as his fluffy coat spread out around his six month old body like a halo. On the way home he swam in the Atlantic Ocean in New Jersey but did not like the taste much. He also swam in the Tarheels Creek in North Carolina. He is forever taking surreptitious dips in the garden pond. But he hates baths! Go figure. He only ceases wiggling to be towel dried.
Marshmallow or Happy Tail as she is better known because her little tail is always going is next. I originally named her Marshmallow because she is all white. But she rarely is all white as she loves to play in dirt. Now she is not happy. She too hates the bath, she hates water period! She insists on sharing her bath with me! She splashes, squirms, tries to climb up onto counters, faucets, me! After she is towel dried I need a break.
Now for Bear. He was originally Buttons because in his white face, his black eyes and nose looked like buttons. But Lou did not find that masculine enough so because of his unruly mop, he became Bear. He is not particularly happy about baths but does not want to disrespect his manly name so at least he stoically stands still. Everyone got clipped yesterday except Blondie who has short hair. The like being clipped about as much as they like baths except for Precious.
Precious April Love has become Mama Dog. Not so much because she is Mama to Happy Tail & Bear or that she adopted Blondie who out weighs her by 50 pounds as her newest pup.But because Lou cannot remember her name. But she is precious. By now Lou has finished spraying yard and porch so he gets to bathe Precious while I do Blondie. Precious loves baths and haircuts. She stands perfectly still and will even lie down in the bath. She is easy for Lou to manage and easier on his back then bending over Blondie in the shower. We both finish at the same time and since all is dry outside, the last two dogs do not need toweling and are allowed to just run out with the other three. We all go down to sit on the dock while the last two dogs air dry in the sun. Everyone of them falls asleep quickly. Surprisingly none of the dogs sported many fleas. Hopefully we have gotten them under control after a two year struggle.
It was hard work but both Lou and I are glad to have some time off from painting. His back ( several herniated discs) and my artificial knee are acting up. It is true when they say 'Old age ain't for sissies.'
Saturday, October 30, 2010
I AM A PAINTING MACHINE!
Whoever thought painting the railings green and all the pickets or whatever you call them white (both of us) should have had their heads examined! And whoever thought of staining the deck Alligator Green (me) should have been committed! The bi-color railings took twice as long but really looks sharp. The staining was a pain in the buttooski! I swear I dropped one drop of that stuff in the lake and you would have thought I was CEO of BP! It made an oil slick! Lou spent the entire day telling how much the EPA was going to fine me if they found out! Well, after that I was so careful not to pollute our lake that it took me forever! The deck of the little dock didn't take so long because only a 2' X 6' area hung over water. And the stain on old wood looks more alligatory than the stain on new wood so now we have multiple shades of green. Then we thought of painting the two walkways connecting the three docks grey which came out nice and broke up ALL that green.
Now, everyone knows that you cannot put yucky old furniture on a new dock right? So Lou spent three days painting furniture! I was busy staining all the little edges of the boards on the refurbished dock slowly and carefully. Then I had to repaint all my birdhouses which had come off the railings so the railings could be painted. The last piece of furniture repainted was my tea cart which had been placed along the fence line hopefully but futilely put there to slow down the dogs. Little Tucker (the neighbors dog) comes outside about 3 or 4 time a day. Each time he does, he races to the fence between our properties, barks or rather yaps his arrival, and there commences a race back and forth along the fence. Our 5 and little Tucker just a runnin and a barking for about two minutes then little Tucker prances away, his work done! Now our five dogs when bored will line up along the fence line and sit and stare and wait for hours for little Tucker to make his appearance. What is really funny is when our are in the house and Tucker makes his entrance. Five dogs go through two doggie doors at record speed. This is a 9" X 18" doggie door folks and sometimes they go through two at a time. Now four of these dogs are under 20 pounds but one weighs 60 pounds if she weighs an ounce and she goes through that door like a hot knife through butter and sometimes with a little dog under her belly! But I digress.
The fountain is in, the newly painted furniture is on the refurbished dock. The lighthouse is in the corner though not yet electrically hooked up. So tonight while we sat relaxing on the dock, Lou says, "Too bad the lighthouse isn't bigger. It would look cool out on the edge of the dock." Do you know where this is leading and why we should not talk to each other at the end of the day? So I say, "Well, you could build a bigger one." We still have the new dock to stain! But tomorrow we are going to take a break....at least from paintbrushes. I might talk Lou into getting the compressor out to reattach the birdhouses with his air brad gun, and a couple of pickets Bear loosened as he likes to use them as back, head, side scratchers. And I need to give five dogs flea baths. The interior of the house needs a thorough cleaning but the weather is so nice that as we are outdoors until sunset and if we use low lighting and do not look down when we do come in, you could hardly tell. Thank goodness we don't get much company! So how big do you think the lighthouse should be? Night all!
Now, everyone knows that you cannot put yucky old furniture on a new dock right? So Lou spent three days painting furniture! I was busy staining all the little edges of the boards on the refurbished dock slowly and carefully. Then I had to repaint all my birdhouses which had come off the railings so the railings could be painted. The last piece of furniture repainted was my tea cart which had been placed along the fence line hopefully but futilely put there to slow down the dogs. Little Tucker (the neighbors dog) comes outside about 3 or 4 time a day. Each time he does, he races to the fence between our properties, barks or rather yaps his arrival, and there commences a race back and forth along the fence. Our 5 and little Tucker just a runnin and a barking for about two minutes then little Tucker prances away, his work done! Now our five dogs when bored will line up along the fence line and sit and stare and wait for hours for little Tucker to make his appearance. What is really funny is when our are in the house and Tucker makes his entrance. Five dogs go through two doggie doors at record speed. This is a 9" X 18" doggie door folks and sometimes they go through two at a time. Now four of these dogs are under 20 pounds but one weighs 60 pounds if she weighs an ounce and she goes through that door like a hot knife through butter and sometimes with a little dog under her belly! But I digress.
The fountain is in, the newly painted furniture is on the refurbished dock. The lighthouse is in the corner though not yet electrically hooked up. So tonight while we sat relaxing on the dock, Lou says, "Too bad the lighthouse isn't bigger. It would look cool out on the edge of the dock." Do you know where this is leading and why we should not talk to each other at the end of the day? So I say, "Well, you could build a bigger one." We still have the new dock to stain! But tomorrow we are going to take a break....at least from paintbrushes. I might talk Lou into getting the compressor out to reattach the birdhouses with his air brad gun, and a couple of pickets Bear loosened as he likes to use them as back, head, side scratchers. And I need to give five dogs flea baths. The interior of the house needs a thorough cleaning but the weather is so nice that as we are outdoors until sunset and if we use low lighting and do not look down when we do come in, you could hardly tell. Thank goodness we don't get much company! So how big do you think the lighthouse should be? Night all!
Friday, October 15, 2010
Decking!
Last week while hubby was awaiting the sandman he came up with a real brainstorm! Rather than carrying each 12' decking board down, scribing the needed cut, carrying it back to be cut and then carrying it back to be screwed in place (my idea), he thought to screw down a run of 12 footers, run a chalk line down the secured boards along the center 16 footers, saw them all, move the other halves of each board to its respective position on the other side of the center boards and Wallah! We save a lot of time and energy.
Well, this worked perfectly! And by days end we were done and believe me it looked so great!
Putting together the supporting structures for the demolished old dock was a piece of cake now that we were pro's. This time we came in a little under 12 feet wide so laying the decking took little effort except where the center side posts were positioned. We had decided to leave them above deck level by four feet and utilize them as posts for the railings. The challenge came when the deck board which alligned with them needed to be cut. One option was to cut the board so it butted against each post. This would leave 4" short on the outside edge on each side of the post. It would have been easier and afterall it is only a dock but yours truly rarely chooses easy. I decided that I wanted to cut out the centers of the deckboards at the ends and slide the board down over the posts! This involved yet another power tool (Yes, in the garage), a coping saw or jigsaw depending on which school of carpentry you attended. Hubby thought I had gotten too much sun but I went about measuring and drawing and he humored me and cut out my holes. Of course it didn't quite fit the first time but with just a minor expansion of one hole it slid into place just as nice as you please. He has to admit it was a good job and I ran for my camera and snapped a picture.
We had talked about a gazebo type structure for this dock but as we toasted marshmallows that night we decided it would really be an extravagance we really didn't need since we had a perfectly good screened in porch thirty feet away! We talked about the need for waterproofing the whole thing and it was at this point that I suggested since we needed to pressure wash the older structures first, it might be just as easy to paint the railings and posts green, the spindles white and the decking a grey stain before waterproofing. Is there a stain combined with waterproofing? We do not know but if there is we will check it out at Lowe's. Hubby agrees that it would look sharp but quite an undertaking.
The next morning we pick up 2 gallons of primer sealer and more screws. We really went through a lot of screws on this job! I commence a-painting while he commences railing placement. He is using the railing we took down from the old dock and amazingly it is fitting with only minor adjustments. He is as much of a perfectionist as I am, but his language is much more colorful! He is making a few attractive upgrades too but some existing structures with which he is trying to incorporate are less than "plumb." That means straight up and down, and boy are the not "plumb!" I remind him it's just a dock, not our livingroom, and he reminds me of my little cut out slide over the posts thingy I insisted on. I quietly go back to painting. He less than quietly entertains me with colorful language . By the end of the day he has completed the railing with a few spindles short and I have completed painting about 25% of the spindles. He reminds me that I am only doing primer sealer coat so I am actually 12 % done. He then tells me that as soon as he finishes the carpentry work he will give me a hand and working together 5 hours a day we should finish it about two weeks! That would be with painting the railings. I think we should stop talking to each other at the end of each day about what would look nice!
But after dinner we go down to admire the days work and...He says,"Maybe we could run a connecting walkway between the two docks at the deep end. "And I say ,"Sure! And then we could fence the whole thing in and make it a Koi Pond!" We can still laugh. This is a good sign. But the he says,"You know, we could put a fountain in there between these two docks. We have that pond pump we still haven't used because you fixed the old one." I have to admit this seems like a great idea and not too much work, just piling a few concrete blocks we have laying around with no particular use. It would be relaxing to have a water feature down here. Goodnight George....Goodnight Gracie!
Well, this worked perfectly! And by days end we were done and believe me it looked so great!
Putting together the supporting structures for the demolished old dock was a piece of cake now that we were pro's. This time we came in a little under 12 feet wide so laying the decking took little effort except where the center side posts were positioned. We had decided to leave them above deck level by four feet and utilize them as posts for the railings. The challenge came when the deck board which alligned with them needed to be cut. One option was to cut the board so it butted against each post. This would leave 4" short on the outside edge on each side of the post. It would have been easier and afterall it is only a dock but yours truly rarely chooses easy. I decided that I wanted to cut out the centers of the deckboards at the ends and slide the board down over the posts! This involved yet another power tool (Yes, in the garage), a coping saw or jigsaw depending on which school of carpentry you attended. Hubby thought I had gotten too much sun but I went about measuring and drawing and he humored me and cut out my holes. Of course it didn't quite fit the first time but with just a minor expansion of one hole it slid into place just as nice as you please. He has to admit it was a good job and I ran for my camera and snapped a picture.
We had talked about a gazebo type structure for this dock but as we toasted marshmallows that night we decided it would really be an extravagance we really didn't need since we had a perfectly good screened in porch thirty feet away! We talked about the need for waterproofing the whole thing and it was at this point that I suggested since we needed to pressure wash the older structures first, it might be just as easy to paint the railings and posts green, the spindles white and the decking a grey stain before waterproofing. Is there a stain combined with waterproofing? We do not know but if there is we will check it out at Lowe's. Hubby agrees that it would look sharp but quite an undertaking.
The next morning we pick up 2 gallons of primer sealer and more screws. We really went through a lot of screws on this job! I commence a-painting while he commences railing placement. He is using the railing we took down from the old dock and amazingly it is fitting with only minor adjustments. He is as much of a perfectionist as I am, but his language is much more colorful! He is making a few attractive upgrades too but some existing structures with which he is trying to incorporate are less than "plumb." That means straight up and down, and boy are the not "plumb!" I remind him it's just a dock, not our livingroom, and he reminds me of my little cut out slide over the posts thingy I insisted on. I quietly go back to painting. He less than quietly entertains me with colorful language . By the end of the day he has completed the railing with a few spindles short and I have completed painting about 25% of the spindles. He reminds me that I am only doing primer sealer coat so I am actually 12 % done. He then tells me that as soon as he finishes the carpentry work he will give me a hand and working together 5 hours a day we should finish it about two weeks! That would be with painting the railings. I think we should stop talking to each other at the end of each day about what would look nice!
But after dinner we go down to admire the days work and...He says,"Maybe we could run a connecting walkway between the two docks at the deep end. "And I say ,"Sure! And then we could fence the whole thing in and make it a Koi Pond!" We can still laugh. This is a good sign. But the he says,"You know, we could put a fountain in there between these two docks. We have that pond pump we still haven't used because you fixed the old one." I have to admit this seems like a great idea and not too much work, just piling a few concrete blocks we have laying around with no particular use. It would be relaxing to have a water feature down here. Goodnight George....Goodnight Gracie!
Friday, September 24, 2010
Wow! What a job!
The supporting structure of the new dock is almost done! Putting up the sixteen foot 2 X 6 at the front was the most difficult as we had to work from above because the water was 3 feet above our heads. And let me tell you this was a heavy board! Lucky it was a short day due to rain, which means only six hours!
Oh, I almost forgot about the days fly in the ointment... well, make that the first fly. While we were arranging the loose boards we had placed on top so we had something to work from, someone dropped the drill in the water. I won't mention any names but I will say I was glad it was not me. But I had the honors of diving for it and that took fifteen minutes because I am rather buoyant ( Is that where the term Bubble Butt comes from?) Hey, but thanks to Craftsman the drill still works! And one of life's little lessons...Hubby accidentally dropped a screw into the lake and I complained about the high price of screws. He miraculously found it. And shortly after yours truly dropped two! Open mouth insert foot...or the crow I had to eat.
The second came from the demolition of the old dock. The stairs were impossible to unscrew so with that 200 pound crowbar (well, it felt like 200 pounds at the time) the two of us totally wrecked the joist hangers. And let me tell you getting that set up out of the water was no picnic! If we were not on such a tight budget I would have sailed that puppy out into the lake!
By the way, no further sign of the otter so maybe he/she was just scouting out the appropriateness of the unusual den area. And the seat belts came for the car. We installed the carpet in our spare time last week but still have not finished work on the dash and that work is easier without the seats in. Oh, and the parts to convert to power steering also arrived. That can wait! The antenna has not yet arrived, but was shipped today. Attaching that to the radio is part of the dash work still undone.
Now, back to the planning. The finished measurement of the newly constructed dock is sixteen odd feet by twelve foot nine inches! They make twelve or sixteen foot boards. Twelves are too short, sixteens a lot of waste and extra expense. So to cover up our short-sighted error, we decided to run two sixteen foot deck boards up the center and run twelve footers perpendicular to those center boards after we cut them all in half! Six footers would save a lot of sawing but they do not make six footers. How rude is that!
Just had to take a break to go out and retrieve my camera. I left it on the railing...in the rain..hope it survives. It was only a light rain. While I was out there I thought I'd take a picture of my night blooming cerus cactus. Have missed every bloom so far as I have been to tired to go out after dark. As it turns out I was still a little early. I will have to try and remember an hour from now. While I was out there I did see one of the little screech owls that nests in our owl box every year. She/he is two months early to nest yet but I am glad to see they are again in the neighborhood. We haven't seen them since the babies fledged last spring.
Okay, time for milk and cookies.
Oh, I almost forgot about the days fly in the ointment... well, make that the first fly. While we were arranging the loose boards we had placed on top so we had something to work from, someone dropped the drill in the water. I won't mention any names but I will say I was glad it was not me. But I had the honors of diving for it and that took fifteen minutes because I am rather buoyant ( Is that where the term Bubble Butt comes from?) Hey, but thanks to Craftsman the drill still works! And one of life's little lessons...Hubby accidentally dropped a screw into the lake and I complained about the high price of screws. He miraculously found it. And shortly after yours truly dropped two! Open mouth insert foot...or the crow I had to eat.
The second came from the demolition of the old dock. The stairs were impossible to unscrew so with that 200 pound crowbar (well, it felt like 200 pounds at the time) the two of us totally wrecked the joist hangers. And let me tell you getting that set up out of the water was no picnic! If we were not on such a tight budget I would have sailed that puppy out into the lake!
By the way, no further sign of the otter so maybe he/she was just scouting out the appropriateness of the unusual den area. And the seat belts came for the car. We installed the carpet in our spare time last week but still have not finished work on the dash and that work is easier without the seats in. Oh, and the parts to convert to power steering also arrived. That can wait! The antenna has not yet arrived, but was shipped today. Attaching that to the radio is part of the dash work still undone.
Now, back to the planning. The finished measurement of the newly constructed dock is sixteen odd feet by twelve foot nine inches! They make twelve or sixteen foot boards. Twelves are too short, sixteens a lot of waste and extra expense. So to cover up our short-sighted error, we decided to run two sixteen foot deck boards up the center and run twelve footers perpendicular to those center boards after we cut them all in half! Six footers would save a lot of sawing but they do not make six footers. How rude is that!
Just had to take a break to go out and retrieve my camera. I left it on the railing...in the rain..hope it survives. It was only a light rain. While I was out there I thought I'd take a picture of my night blooming cerus cactus. Have missed every bloom so far as I have been to tired to go out after dark. As it turns out I was still a little early. I will have to try and remember an hour from now. While I was out there I did see one of the little screech owls that nests in our owl box every year. She/he is two months early to nest yet but I am glad to see they are again in the neighborhood. We haven't seen them since the babies fledged last spring.
Okay, time for milk and cookies.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Monday continues
That would be love to bark at the otters.
So after bowling we decided to take it easy today and continue demolition. So of course few screws would come out and eight 2" X 12" X 12 foot boards needed prying loose, which means pulling screw heads through 2 inches of board. We took frequent breaks !! Now we are down to the final board. Upon this board sets a post to which the gate going into the lake is attached. This post is attached to the final board at the bottom. This is unattached quite easily. The post has one screw attaching it to the sea wall. This also is easily removed. Now the post will not budge. Yeppers! Another fly in the ointment. There is one other screw holding the post in place. It is screwed in from BEHIND the seawall. If we try to pry it we take a chance of destroying a sixteen foot section of sea wall. Behind the seawall is decking. Upon this decking we have stacked all the railing we have removed. This means removal of railing. This means unscrewing sufficient number of deck boards . This means hoping deck board screws will come out and I have already told you about our problems with deck screw removal.
We decide to use a SAWS-ALL to cut the screw. Hubby says the only problem now is the big red thing that is blocking us from reaching the SAWS-ALL. So now we move the Honda so we can back the Galaxie out of the garage far enough to get the one tool we didn't think we would need, We have several long blades for this tool but they are for cutting wood. We only have short blades for cutting metal. We cross our fingers that the short blade will reach. It barely does but we have to do some twisting of the post to get the angle he needs, But we get the job done. We remove the final deck board and move on to the first support board, and once more we find this relatively easy because it is nailed and not screwed. And then we are at the end nearest the seawall and it will not come off. We pry, we pry, we strain, we struggle. Finally the last two inches of board breaks off! The original builders had used, not nails, not screws, but a BOLT! So Hubby hammers away of the remains of the wood being held in place by that bolt and when he has finished, the bolt has magically vanished but we do not care! It is quitting time!
All we need to do is put up some temporary railing to keep the dogs out of the lake and the newly arrived otters in! We decide on using the section of railing with a gate in it so we can get back into the lake the next day we get a chance to work. This takes about fifteen minutes. Putting the tools away takes another fifteen minutes and it is on to showers and frozen pizza for dinner!
Tonight we will go sit on our last remaining dock and watch the dogs bark at otters!
So after bowling we decided to take it easy today and continue demolition. So of course few screws would come out and eight 2" X 12" X 12 foot boards needed prying loose, which means pulling screw heads through 2 inches of board. We took frequent breaks !! Now we are down to the final board. Upon this board sets a post to which the gate going into the lake is attached. This post is attached to the final board at the bottom. This is unattached quite easily. The post has one screw attaching it to the sea wall. This also is easily removed. Now the post will not budge. Yeppers! Another fly in the ointment. There is one other screw holding the post in place. It is screwed in from BEHIND the seawall. If we try to pry it we take a chance of destroying a sixteen foot section of sea wall. Behind the seawall is decking. Upon this decking we have stacked all the railing we have removed. This means removal of railing. This means unscrewing sufficient number of deck boards . This means hoping deck board screws will come out and I have already told you about our problems with deck screw removal.
We decide to use a SAWS-ALL to cut the screw. Hubby says the only problem now is the big red thing that is blocking us from reaching the SAWS-ALL. So now we move the Honda so we can back the Galaxie out of the garage far enough to get the one tool we didn't think we would need, We have several long blades for this tool but they are for cutting wood. We only have short blades for cutting metal. We cross our fingers that the short blade will reach. It barely does but we have to do some twisting of the post to get the angle he needs, But we get the job done. We remove the final deck board and move on to the first support board, and once more we find this relatively easy because it is nailed and not screwed. And then we are at the end nearest the seawall and it will not come off. We pry, we pry, we strain, we struggle. Finally the last two inches of board breaks off! The original builders had used, not nails, not screws, but a BOLT! So Hubby hammers away of the remains of the wood being held in place by that bolt and when he has finished, the bolt has magically vanished but we do not care! It is quitting time!
All we need to do is put up some temporary railing to keep the dogs out of the lake and the newly arrived otters in! We decide on using the section of railing with a gate in it so we can get back into the lake the next day we get a chance to work. This takes about fifteen minutes. Putting the tools away takes another fifteen minutes and it is on to showers and frozen pizza for dinner!
Tonight we will go sit on our last remaining dock and watch the dogs bark at otters!
The story continues.
After bowling we started as soon as we got home. To the ten foot post we attached the 2"X 6" cantilever, carried it down to the water where all our equipment awaited and dropped it down into the water. It is at this point that we should have had a camera crew ready!
First we screwed a 2"X 6" support board of the appropriate length from beneath the above deck overhang out to the post so that it ran the required 7.5 feet out from the post. It was to this the next post we were about to set would be attached. It also would serve as to where we would position the post to be set and guide us as to the depth it would be set. Right!
Now we float our ten foot post with cantilever attached out twelve feet, juxtaposed to our support board marker and....... Do you have any idea how buoyant the piece of lumber was? I am up to my chin and Hubby to his shoulders, he would hold the top steady and raise it once I sunk the bottom to the appropriate position. Now if you float the post so that the bottom approximates the end of the support board marker and the commence to sink the end of the post to the bottom, 4 feet down, and if you know geometry, you know the post bottom is not going to end up where you want it. Add to this fact that it is taking my full weight to sink this buoyant beam which means my feet come off the ground! So I would get it to the bottom, find it was in the wrong spot, hubby would lift it so I could reposition it, the bottom would start to float back to the surface.....and we repeat over and over until we are exhausted and bone weary and after two days to recover from a cut foot and two more days of exhausting struggles all posts are set. Supports are screwed in but the last support was so deep in the water there is no way to get to it! We will wait until tomorrow and try using a stepladder in the lake. This should be fun.
By the way,as we sat out on our partially demolished dock after supper, Hubby spots what he thinks is a very fast moving turtle. It is not. It is an eighteen inch long water snake. He does not believe me and gets up to see. As soon as Hubby spots it, it spots hubby and disappears in a flash. "Is it poisonous?" he asks. No I tell him, "As you can see they are very shy."
This morning after breakfast and before bowling I go down to the lake and photograph our progress and there it is...the otters are back! "Will they come after us?" hubby asks. No they are mostly nocturnal and babies are not yet present. But the den is beneath neighbors dock and it won't be long before babies are born . We will have to hustle now. The dogs are ecstatic as they love to brak wildly at the otters.
First we screwed a 2"X 6" support board of the appropriate length from beneath the above deck overhang out to the post so that it ran the required 7.5 feet out from the post. It was to this the next post we were about to set would be attached. It also would serve as to where we would position the post to be set and guide us as to the depth it would be set. Right!
Now we float our ten foot post with cantilever attached out twelve feet, juxtaposed to our support board marker and....... Do you have any idea how buoyant the piece of lumber was? I am up to my chin and Hubby to his shoulders, he would hold the top steady and raise it once I sunk the bottom to the appropriate position. Now if you float the post so that the bottom approximates the end of the support board marker and the commence to sink the end of the post to the bottom, 4 feet down, and if you know geometry, you know the post bottom is not going to end up where you want it. Add to this fact that it is taking my full weight to sink this buoyant beam which means my feet come off the ground! So I would get it to the bottom, find it was in the wrong spot, hubby would lift it so I could reposition it, the bottom would start to float back to the surface.....and we repeat over and over until we are exhausted and bone weary and after two days to recover from a cut foot and two more days of exhausting struggles all posts are set. Supports are screwed in but the last support was so deep in the water there is no way to get to it! We will wait until tomorrow and try using a stepladder in the lake. This should be fun.
By the way,as we sat out on our partially demolished dock after supper, Hubby spots what he thinks is a very fast moving turtle. It is not. It is an eighteen inch long water snake. He does not believe me and gets up to see. As soon as Hubby spots it, it spots hubby and disappears in a flash. "Is it poisonous?" he asks. No I tell him, "As you can see they are very shy."
This morning after breakfast and before bowling I go down to the lake and photograph our progress and there it is...the otters are back! "Will they come after us?" hubby asks. No they are mostly nocturnal and babies are not yet present. But the den is beneath neighbors dock and it won't be long before babies are born . We will have to hustle now. The dogs are ecstatic as they love to brak wildly at the otters.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Another brainstorm strikes!
Hubby with his L-square and me with my string began our search for that 90 degree angle. Farther and farther out on the old dock we went amazed at the distance this was taking us from the seawall of the proposed new dock! Now he is beginning to worry that with the angle we were creating, that the new dock would infringe upon our neighbors water. We pound a nail, tie off the string and go back to the property edge and try to eyeball whether or not this will be a problem. With everyone having gone with the natural contour of the waters edge, we have all created optical illusions as to property boundaries. Each of us has a survey as to where our property extends into the lake but we cannot find the surveyors stakes! If there are any we will need SCUBA equipment to find them. It is a lengthy but hushed discussion and finally we decide that we will pull back a foot and live with the fact that the new dock will not be exactly parallel to the other two docks but close enough and infringement on neighbors portion of the lake will be negligible if any. Personally I believe we will both be in a better place before anyone even questions it as neighbor does not live next door and his renters do not care about what goes on between his landlord and us. We will let our heirs worry about possible infringements unless 7 years goes by and the question then becomes moot.
So with our string as our guide we slowly set the other two posts. Now it is getting late in the day, so we start setting up for tomorrow. We measure how deep the water is at the distance outward we want to set our next three posts. To do this we take a stew can tied to a string and wade out the prescribed footage at the approximate angle from each set post then measure the string adding the distance above water we will want to build the decking. We figure ten foot posts should work. We shower, get into dry clothes and set back off to Home Depot for three 10 foot posts and two eight foot posts. The eight footers are for the beginning of another brainstorm I have come up with...."You wanna do what with what?" We return home, unload and tote our cargo back to the lake. We have bowling the next two days. Tomorrow at 9 AM and the next day at 1 PM.
After dinner we do a little dismantling of the old dock. In the two boards we want to remove there are a total of twenty one screws. Of these twenty one screws seven will not budge. Another fly in the ointment..we look at each other and laugh because we now expect this sort of thing. We have two choices, use a hacksaw to cut the screws or carefully pry the boards pulling the heads of the screws through the wood hoping for as little damage as possible because we need these boards. We go with the path of least resistance and pry. It is a piece of cake and we are lucky. But look, the seven screws are still stuck in the dock. We decide we can cut them off at our leisure at some later date. We laugh again.
Sitting on the one dock that is intact we watch the setting sun and discuss plans for tomorrow. We will start with the post which will have to be set the farthest from the seawall, and at the greatest depth. The first post is four and a half feet from the seawall and with a twelve foot board from the old dock we will go out another seven and a half feet. Then we will cantilever another four feet farther. Seven and a half feet farther out is up to my chin, and hubby is an easy seven inches taller than I am. We start to talk about which son is the tallest and laugh again. The cantilever bottom will be far below the surface so we will screw this in place on the post before we set it. Ahhh! We are geniuses! We cannot wait for tomorrow.
As the sun sets we turn our thoughts to the newest brainstorm. I have suggested that once we finish the new dock, and complete renovations on the old dock, that we then roof over half the old dock so we will have one area lakeside under which to sit in shade or rain. Hubby thinks this is a good idea and doable. I ask if making the roof a hip roof rather than gable would be okay. He thinks this would be cool, kind of like a gazebo effect. Neither of us has had experience with hip roofs but we think we can do it. I will tell you that my Dad was a carpenter by trade and when Hubby's family moved to town and his Dad was remodeling the house they bought, my Dad was his Dad's mentor and Hubby and I were brought up carpenter's helpers so we do have some experience which we have built on (pardon the pun) over the years. We are both skilled with hand and power tools and have little if any fear of any type of construction though most of our experience until the past two years has been land based.
Our five dogs seem to enjoy all this outside activity. The newness of a dock without railing seems to fascinate them and they lie as close to the edge as they dare and look down at turtles and fish swimming by. Only one of them really likes being in the lake but even he will not jump off the dock although with us both in the water I have thought a couple of times that he was seriously considering it and I had to admonish him not to try. I know they remember the otters and with every break in the surface their ears perk up, a reminder to us that we do have a time schedule to with which to keep. Otters are mostly nocturnal, but they are still about at dawn and late evening. By then we are usually in the house. But in late November and and into early spring after the otter babies are ready to leave the den, they are more active and keep different hours. Baiting all the dogs around the lake seems to be a favorite pasttime and they are perfectly capable of injuring if not drowning a dog if the chance arises. I have watched them attempt to scale a four foot chain link fence to get to one of the neighborhood dogs, an inquisitive Border Collie named Sarah. Otters are fun to watch, but they are dangerous...and destructive. One morning I watched two babies ascend a neighbors dock, tear open the seat of their upholstered swing, pull out the stuffing and commence to race each other inside the plucked remains. It was quite amusing to watch the lumps of there little bodies race around and around inside the remains of that swing. I wondered what the neighbors would think the next time they went down to their dock and saw for the first time what remained of their Martha Stewart porch swing!
Well, enough for tonight. Another day another chapter.
So with our string as our guide we slowly set the other two posts. Now it is getting late in the day, so we start setting up for tomorrow. We measure how deep the water is at the distance outward we want to set our next three posts. To do this we take a stew can tied to a string and wade out the prescribed footage at the approximate angle from each set post then measure the string adding the distance above water we will want to build the decking. We figure ten foot posts should work. We shower, get into dry clothes and set back off to Home Depot for three 10 foot posts and two eight foot posts. The eight footers are for the beginning of another brainstorm I have come up with...."You wanna do what with what?" We return home, unload and tote our cargo back to the lake. We have bowling the next two days. Tomorrow at 9 AM and the next day at 1 PM.
After dinner we do a little dismantling of the old dock. In the two boards we want to remove there are a total of twenty one screws. Of these twenty one screws seven will not budge. Another fly in the ointment..we look at each other and laugh because we now expect this sort of thing. We have two choices, use a hacksaw to cut the screws or carefully pry the boards pulling the heads of the screws through the wood hoping for as little damage as possible because we need these boards. We go with the path of least resistance and pry. It is a piece of cake and we are lucky. But look, the seven screws are still stuck in the dock. We decide we can cut them off at our leisure at some later date. We laugh again.
Sitting on the one dock that is intact we watch the setting sun and discuss plans for tomorrow. We will start with the post which will have to be set the farthest from the seawall, and at the greatest depth. The first post is four and a half feet from the seawall and with a twelve foot board from the old dock we will go out another seven and a half feet. Then we will cantilever another four feet farther. Seven and a half feet farther out is up to my chin, and hubby is an easy seven inches taller than I am. We start to talk about which son is the tallest and laugh again. The cantilever bottom will be far below the surface so we will screw this in place on the post before we set it. Ahhh! We are geniuses! We cannot wait for tomorrow.
As the sun sets we turn our thoughts to the newest brainstorm. I have suggested that once we finish the new dock, and complete renovations on the old dock, that we then roof over half the old dock so we will have one area lakeside under which to sit in shade or rain. Hubby thinks this is a good idea and doable. I ask if making the roof a hip roof rather than gable would be okay. He thinks this would be cool, kind of like a gazebo effect. Neither of us has had experience with hip roofs but we think we can do it. I will tell you that my Dad was a carpenter by trade and when Hubby's family moved to town and his Dad was remodeling the house they bought, my Dad was his Dad's mentor and Hubby and I were brought up carpenter's helpers so we do have some experience which we have built on (pardon the pun) over the years. We are both skilled with hand and power tools and have little if any fear of any type of construction though most of our experience until the past two years has been land based.
Our five dogs seem to enjoy all this outside activity. The newness of a dock without railing seems to fascinate them and they lie as close to the edge as they dare and look down at turtles and fish swimming by. Only one of them really likes being in the lake but even he will not jump off the dock although with us both in the water I have thought a couple of times that he was seriously considering it and I had to admonish him not to try. I know they remember the otters and with every break in the surface their ears perk up, a reminder to us that we do have a time schedule to with which to keep. Otters are mostly nocturnal, but they are still about at dawn and late evening. By then we are usually in the house. But in late November and and into early spring after the otter babies are ready to leave the den, they are more active and keep different hours. Baiting all the dogs around the lake seems to be a favorite pasttime and they are perfectly capable of injuring if not drowning a dog if the chance arises. I have watched them attempt to scale a four foot chain link fence to get to one of the neighborhood dogs, an inquisitive Border Collie named Sarah. Otters are fun to watch, but they are dangerous...and destructive. One morning I watched two babies ascend a neighbors dock, tear open the seat of their upholstered swing, pull out the stuffing and commence to race each other inside the plucked remains. It was quite amusing to watch the lumps of there little bodies race around and around inside the remains of that swing. I wondered what the neighbors would think the next time they went down to their dock and saw for the first time what remained of their Martha Stewart porch swing!
Well, enough for tonight. Another day another chapter.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Started!
Okay. We went to Home Depot and bought six 4X4 pressure treated posts, three of which were 16 feet long and three were 8 feet. Talk about sticker shock! And let me tell you carrying those suckers from the driveway to lake front about busted our butts! That was yesterday. It was too late to start by the time we unloaded and within 30 minutes it was pouring cats and dogs anyway.
After breakfast today we gathered all our tools and supplies. We needed a hammer, 2 nails, string, a large L- square, sump pump, a drill, our short garden hose and the long pipe especially made for setting the posts.
Some of the tools were in the back shed, but others were in the garage. The ones in the garage were a logistical problem because in the garage with no room to spare sits our other project which is on the back burner while we await parts for it.
For those of you who do not already know, that project is the restoration of a 1963 1/2 Ford Galaxie 500 and it is a really large car. We are down to finishing touches on that and currently waiting for carpet.
Well, we have 2 driveways, 3 vehicles and a neighbor who has the local police on speed dial! Our town frowns upon vehicles protruding onto the sidewalk and this guy has the self appointed duty of phoning the authorities each time he spots a violation! So we had to back up the vehicle in front of the garage just far enough so that its bumper did not cross any legal boundaries. Then we had to back the Galaxie out of the garage just far enough to get to the tools without remodeling the other car. Moving the Galaxie is a two-man job right now because the front seat has been removed for the carpet install. Sitting on the floor and at the controls, my husband looks like one of those sweet old ladies whose head does not show much above the dash of her car and so I am needed to direct him. Once all are safely and legally arranged, we gather up what we need and head for the backyard.
While Hubby is unhooking the garden hose from the spigot, I run the electric cord down to the lake. Team work! Now comes the first fly in the ointment. Our projects would not satisfy our creativity without sufficient flies. The hand sprinkler will not come off the end of the hose. So while Hubby holds vise grips to the metal unto which the sprinkler is attached, I try to twist the sprinkler off with all my might. All that happens is the metal begins to crimp beneath the pressure of the vise grips. This is not going to work. Now we will have to use the much longer hose and Hubby complains that it is too long. I tell him our other choice is to run to the store for a new shorter hose. He trudges off for the long one and grumbling about the need to fix the short hose later because it is now no longer functional.
While he is doing that I connect power to the sump pump and lower myself into the lake. A sump pump is designed to move water from one area to another i.e. a flooded basement. We have no basements in Florida but in staying 'Green" we will use this pump to utilize lake water rather than water we have to pay for to sink the posts. You see we will attach one end of the hose to the sump pump and the other end to that long pipe I mentioned earlier. The other end of the pipe will be set along side the post and the force of water coming from the lake, through the pump, hose and pipe will displace the mud and allow the post to slowly sink downward into the space left by the dispaced mud. This is the theory. I will now emphasize 'slowly.' I will also mention the shower I got from assorted leaks in the apparatus! I figured the eight foot post would be too long, but better too long than too short. I figured we would just sink it to sufficient depth so that it stood just the right distance above the surface. Of course I figured wrong because the lake bottom had different plans. After going so deep, the post would go no farther whether from gravel or clay or a submerged something or other. Well, we (He) will just have to lop off the excess later. With one post in place it is time to do our squaring thing we brainstormed. I pop in a nail to the top of the post, attach the string and make my way to the old dock where Hubby is waiting expectantly with the L-square and optimism. Stay tuned! By the way the carpet for the Galaxie arrived while we were doing all this!
After breakfast today we gathered all our tools and supplies. We needed a hammer, 2 nails, string, a large L- square, sump pump, a drill, our short garden hose and the long pipe especially made for setting the posts.
Some of the tools were in the back shed, but others were in the garage. The ones in the garage were a logistical problem because in the garage with no room to spare sits our other project which is on the back burner while we await parts for it.
For those of you who do not already know, that project is the restoration of a 1963 1/2 Ford Galaxie 500 and it is a really large car. We are down to finishing touches on that and currently waiting for carpet.
Well, we have 2 driveways, 3 vehicles and a neighbor who has the local police on speed dial! Our town frowns upon vehicles protruding onto the sidewalk and this guy has the self appointed duty of phoning the authorities each time he spots a violation! So we had to back up the vehicle in front of the garage just far enough so that its bumper did not cross any legal boundaries. Then we had to back the Galaxie out of the garage just far enough to get to the tools without remodeling the other car. Moving the Galaxie is a two-man job right now because the front seat has been removed for the carpet install. Sitting on the floor and at the controls, my husband looks like one of those sweet old ladies whose head does not show much above the dash of her car and so I am needed to direct him. Once all are safely and legally arranged, we gather up what we need and head for the backyard.
While Hubby is unhooking the garden hose from the spigot, I run the electric cord down to the lake. Team work! Now comes the first fly in the ointment. Our projects would not satisfy our creativity without sufficient flies. The hand sprinkler will not come off the end of the hose. So while Hubby holds vise grips to the metal unto which the sprinkler is attached, I try to twist the sprinkler off with all my might. All that happens is the metal begins to crimp beneath the pressure of the vise grips. This is not going to work. Now we will have to use the much longer hose and Hubby complains that it is too long. I tell him our other choice is to run to the store for a new shorter hose. He trudges off for the long one and grumbling about the need to fix the short hose later because it is now no longer functional.
While he is doing that I connect power to the sump pump and lower myself into the lake. A sump pump is designed to move water from one area to another i.e. a flooded basement. We have no basements in Florida but in staying 'Green" we will use this pump to utilize lake water rather than water we have to pay for to sink the posts. You see we will attach one end of the hose to the sump pump and the other end to that long pipe I mentioned earlier. The other end of the pipe will be set along side the post and the force of water coming from the lake, through the pump, hose and pipe will displace the mud and allow the post to slowly sink downward into the space left by the dispaced mud. This is the theory. I will now emphasize 'slowly.' I will also mention the shower I got from assorted leaks in the apparatus! I figured the eight foot post would be too long, but better too long than too short. I figured we would just sink it to sufficient depth so that it stood just the right distance above the surface. Of course I figured wrong because the lake bottom had different plans. After going so deep, the post would go no farther whether from gravel or clay or a submerged something or other. Well, we (He) will just have to lop off the excess later. With one post in place it is time to do our squaring thing we brainstormed. I pop in a nail to the top of the post, attach the string and make my way to the old dock where Hubby is waiting expectantly with the L-square and optimism. Stay tuned! By the way the carpet for the Galaxie arrived while we were doing all this!
Sunday, September 5, 2010
PROGRESS
Trimmed the oleander which was hanging over the railing. It had been a beautiful cascade of white hanging into the lake but the blooms have all passed and it will grow back...hopefully after project completion. Also trimmed back the wax myrtle which also was hanging into the lake. This will not make the water snakes happy as they were able to crawl up into its branches. I do not mind them as thay are pretty and harmless however having one drop down on you from above is startling to say the least! It will be best for all if I remove that temptation from them as I do plan to sit out on the new dock someday.
I will digress to offer some interesting facts here. The oleander leaves are poisonous if swallowed. I had heard that the sap would burn your skin and that if you burned it the smoke was also poisonous, but I was mistaken on both those counts. The Native American Indians used the leaves of the wax myrtle as soap and they do foam up if you wet them and rub them vigorously between your palms. The brown watersnake is a prettily mottled copper, black and beige and is quite skitterish. The largest I have seen was about 24 inches. It is non poisonouse and eats small fish and frogs.
We have not yet made the trip to Home Depot for any lumber yet but did get to the pharmacy today to pick up our prescriptions. We want to stay healthy for the work ahead! It's all in the planning!
We did however brainstorm an idea for the squaring up deal. The closest dock, about 16 feet away is to what we want to run parallel. If we take a couple of nails, 32 feet of string and a L-Square and run the string from the farthest corner of the proposed dock (where we shall have already imbedded the first post) and run it to the old dock at a 90 degree angle and nail the string in place, we are thinking this will give us the line for setting the other two posts along the seawall which will be set equidistant for the width we want.
Did I mention that the old dock needs replacing too? We want to use the good lumber from the deck of the old dock which is less than 5 years old and very expensive 2" X 12" pressure treated wood as structural support for the new dock as well as the rebuild of the old dock which needs all new support posts (the existing posts are over 20 years old and not looking too good.) This complicates things as it means dismantling one to erect the other simultaneously, and about 6 to 8 weeks to get the project above water before the temperature of the waterrs falls. Now the old dock has railing all around, attached of course on top of the decking and this needs to come down before we can dismantle the decking for the structural support of the new dock. The railing is less than two years old so it will go back up once the old dock is refurbished. This railing serves several purposes: the most important two are keeping the dogs OUT of the lake and keeping the river otters IN the lake!
I will digress to offer some interesting facts here. The oleander leaves are poisonous if swallowed. I had heard that the sap would burn your skin and that if you burned it the smoke was also poisonous, but I was mistaken on both those counts. The Native American Indians used the leaves of the wax myrtle as soap and they do foam up if you wet them and rub them vigorously between your palms. The brown watersnake is a prettily mottled copper, black and beige and is quite skitterish. The largest I have seen was about 24 inches. It is non poisonouse and eats small fish and frogs.
We have not yet made the trip to Home Depot for any lumber yet but did get to the pharmacy today to pick up our prescriptions. We want to stay healthy for the work ahead! It's all in the planning!
We did however brainstorm an idea for the squaring up deal. The closest dock, about 16 feet away is to what we want to run parallel. If we take a couple of nails, 32 feet of string and a L-Square and run the string from the farthest corner of the proposed dock (where we shall have already imbedded the first post) and run it to the old dock at a 90 degree angle and nail the string in place, we are thinking this will give us the line for setting the other two posts along the seawall which will be set equidistant for the width we want.
Did I mention that the old dock needs replacing too? We want to use the good lumber from the deck of the old dock which is less than 5 years old and very expensive 2" X 12" pressure treated wood as structural support for the new dock as well as the rebuild of the old dock which needs all new support posts (the existing posts are over 20 years old and not looking too good.) This complicates things as it means dismantling one to erect the other simultaneously, and about 6 to 8 weeks to get the project above water before the temperature of the waterrs falls. Now the old dock has railing all around, attached of course on top of the decking and this needs to come down before we can dismantle the decking for the structural support of the new dock. The railing is less than two years old so it will go back up once the old dock is refurbished. This railing serves several purposes: the most important two are keeping the dogs OUT of the lake and keeping the river otters IN the lake!
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
What's on the agenda?
With the summer here in Florida winding down and cooler weather arouind the corner, it is time to plan my next project. What back breaking, sweat inducing, hair brained idea have I come up with? The bath in our master bedroom needs to be remodeled (that is quite a bit of inconvenience, not to mention the mess.) The dishwasher died and needs to be replaced (but I almost never used it anyway.) I bought a 3 foot high lighthouse in a yard sale which needs placement and wiring (about 50 feet from the house on the lakefront.)
I don't think I am ready yet for those projects. Maybe later. And the projects I haven't quite finished?........
We have two docks connected by walkways along the seawall but it only covers about thirty eight of the fifty foot seawall. That leaves twelve or so feet to fill. So I was thinking...how about a twelve by twelve foot dock to finish off the lakefront? I mean the last thirty eight feet weren't too hard and we had never done this kind of work before I guess someone 30 years younger who knew what they were doing could probably have knocked it out in a week rather than the two months it took us. But it was enjoyable watching the fruits of our labor slowly taking shape...and unshape... and reshape until we got it right. Then there was that little shrub we thought would be cute if left where it grew and if we just built around it. It died! Not from anything we did to it. It just died. It is still there, leafless, twiggy, bare except for the small racoon lawn ornaments we shoved precariously into its branches. We cannot decide what to put in its place.
When you are in your 60's with arthritis and degenerating discs, a do-it-yourself project of this magnitude requires careful planning. We have been planning to go to Home Depot for 2 months now. Maybe tomorrow. We figured we'd start with 3 4X4's to set along the seawall as a jump off point. The water is pretty shallow there so they wouldn't have to be too long. I am thinking they need to be set at least 3 feet under the lakebed, in 2 feet of water and about 2 feet above water. Of course they do not come in 7 foot lengths, which I think is inconvenient but in this case will probably work out at least for two of them. The seawall is not exactly square with the property boundaries but I want the dock to be. That means two posts will be in deeper water than the first in order to square things up. I am not sure how much deeper because we have not yet figured out how to square things up! Yet. Stay tuned!
I don't think I am ready yet for those projects. Maybe later. And the projects I haven't quite finished?........
We have two docks connected by walkways along the seawall but it only covers about thirty eight of the fifty foot seawall. That leaves twelve or so feet to fill. So I was thinking...how about a twelve by twelve foot dock to finish off the lakefront? I mean the last thirty eight feet weren't too hard and we had never done this kind of work before I guess someone 30 years younger who knew what they were doing could probably have knocked it out in a week rather than the two months it took us. But it was enjoyable watching the fruits of our labor slowly taking shape...and unshape... and reshape until we got it right. Then there was that little shrub we thought would be cute if left where it grew and if we just built around it. It died! Not from anything we did to it. It just died. It is still there, leafless, twiggy, bare except for the small racoon lawn ornaments we shoved precariously into its branches. We cannot decide what to put in its place.
When you are in your 60's with arthritis and degenerating discs, a do-it-yourself project of this magnitude requires careful planning. We have been planning to go to Home Depot for 2 months now. Maybe tomorrow. We figured we'd start with 3 4X4's to set along the seawall as a jump off point. The water is pretty shallow there so they wouldn't have to be too long. I am thinking they need to be set at least 3 feet under the lakebed, in 2 feet of water and about 2 feet above water. Of course they do not come in 7 foot lengths, which I think is inconvenient but in this case will probably work out at least for two of them. The seawall is not exactly square with the property boundaries but I want the dock to be. That means two posts will be in deeper water than the first in order to square things up. I am not sure how much deeper because we have not yet figured out how to square things up! Yet. Stay tuned!
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