Gone Hillbilly

As I was leaving this morning in my old pickup, pulling the trailer with an aluminum extension ladder hanging out the back, Jen yelled “Don’t go hillbilly on us!”

Too late.

I was headed first to Home Depot to pick up supplies, then off to her mothers to finish some things. Once at her mothers I quickly set about the days tasks.

First up was replacing the back porch light. I swear mentally deranged monkey’s installed the last one. It was so bad, I ripped it down yesterday and simply bought a new one to replace it. Once the light was done, I installed wall anchors to secure her mothers bookcase from toppling over if ever Abigail decides to climb it. Considering the way she squirms and tries to pull up on everything now, I wouldn’t put the bookcase out of the realm of possibilities.

With the bookcase done, I decided to cut the front yard – the old fashion way. I have this reel style mower that’s been sitting in my garage for years. I figured I’d give it a try. It worked great. A little more exercise than a gas mower, but cut well enough and the exercise is good for you.

After the lawn I was famished, so I headed out to grab me some Big Mac’s for lunch. That’s right Big Mac’s as in plural. Hold the fries. Just the sandwhiches please.

So much for the exercise huh?

Back at the ranch it was more gutter work. Yesterday when I was cleaning them, I found the back corner to be pulled away from the house and disconnected from the downspout. Hmmm. The back corner is the highest point from the ground and I can’t put a ladder against the gutter since it’s pulled away from the roof? So I climb up on the roof and work on the gutter from above it. Not real easy considering you’re sort of hanging down the roof and out into thin air. Originally I’d bought gutter screws to replace the nails that obviously weren’t’ working anymore. But when I discovered I had to screw the gutter screws through the gutters (hanging upside down and sort of off the roof) and not just the face of the eaves, I decided trying the nails again. A few whacks with the hammer and the nails were working again. At least for now.

Finally onto the most important project of the day – cat doors. I’ve installed a lot of cat doors, so yeah, they are kind of important. The first was in the basement door. This would allow the litter boxes to be moved to the basement. BINGO! The second was in the bedroom door. This allows the bedroom door to be closed at night, yet the cats can move about freely. Cha-Ching!

Last but not least was loading up the pine logs I cut last spring when parts of a huge White Pine in her backyard came down. I’d stowed them under the deck knowing I’d come back to get them and we’d have a bonfire in the fall. Now that it’s fall… This was the hillbilly part. I told Jen I’d use the trailer to haul the logs and just strap them down. She found that to be a bit hillybilly in style, but it worked great. I threw the logs up, cut off the ends that were too long, then used two ratcheting straps to compress it all to the deck. Worked great. It wasn’t the logs I was worried about at all rolling down the road back to home, but the aluminum ladder (and all the other crap inside the pickup including an old trashed lawnmower her old “landscaper” left back in the weeds) I hastily tied off to the side of the truck.

Back at home I parked it all on the side then loaded up the car with the bike and dog and went for a ride with Sean and his dog. I didn’t really feel much like riding after the two day house maintenance blitz, but it was good for Gretchen to get out. Turns out it was good for me too. It really helped loosen up all the sore and tight muscles. It was also good to just do something recreational.

There’s still a few things to do, but I can run over in the evenings and take care of those after Abigail goes to sleep.

For now it’s just sitting around scratching the poison ivy that’s popping up all over my forearms from the tree on Saturday.

Yay.

– b