We have a LOT going on at the CamFam Casa these days! The deck project is well under way and we just had the nasty blackberries on our side property absolutely demolished this past weekend. It was amazing to watch! A skid steer with a 6' wide brush cutter made short work of it. We're so glad to have this done. No more ER visits for Mason we hope!
I finally made a decision on a lawn tractor and am getting one of these bad boys next week! Husqvarna TS348XD.
The family is SUPER HAPPY that I finally got this over with. I've been debating for months and going back and forth with decisions. First it was this Husqvarna, then a Kubota to the tune of $24k that I just couldn't do, then a Cub Cadet, then a more expensive Cub Cadet, then back around to a Husky. It just goes to show that your first decision is usually the right one.
I can't wait to get this bad boy, throw on my wife beater and a straw hat, grab a Coors Light (can only), and hit the grass!
It's almost done! Still waiting on the mirror as the final touch. Should be here Monday, March 1. It really looks incredible. Everything is new except for the shower/tub surround. The kiddos wanted a "Beyonce toilet" with the push buttons. Mason REALLY wanted the fancy faucets. They were both excellent choices. I didn't get a pick of the cool new double arched shower curtain rod because the shower is too dirty for pics. I'll post final pics when the mirror is up.
Good progress last night. The wall tile is proving to be much easier. Either because its easier than flooring or because my skills have improved. Probably combo of both. The long wall is bowed almost 1/2" in the middle like a dish. Excellent framing and drywall work by our builder. Par for the course in most homes these days sadly enough.
So this is happening at our house right now. Appears to be an annual occurrence. A Northern Flicker likes to use our house as his "ohhhh sexy girlfriend...." drum.
1) Drumming: A flicker drums to communicate with a mate or to proclaim its territory and attract a mate. This typically happens during the breeding season (mid March to June), but may continue into July. For reasons that are not fully understood, drumming may also occur for a short time in the fall. Drumming is the most common reason for flickers to use buildings, and while it may be annoying, the bird’s activity usually does not penetrate completely through wood siding.
Flickers will return year after year to the same house because it works for them; they attract a mate this way. Thus, a flicker that has been using the same location for several years will be hard to move.
First off, my wife is awesome! I call her my "ride or die chick". Whatever I get myself into, she's always right there with me. This time it was moving a vanity we purchased all the way from Sequim to Snohomish and then figuring out how to get it up our weird split stairs. This thing is a beast and weighs 250lbs!
We rented a Uhaul with a loading ramp to transport the vanity. Getting it in the truck was relatively easy with carpet dollies and the ramp. The ride home was smooth sailing too.
Getting it up the stairs was the adventure. I rented an appliance dolly to use. Once we got it off the truck we decided to tip it on it's end and get it on the dolly. That part was pretty easy, so I got confident and figured "we can get this in the house." We made it into the house after tackling a few outside stairs on our walkway.
Once inside, breathing a bit heavily but with more confidence, we both thought we could make it up stairs to the second floor. Our stairs go up half way to a landing that then turns 180 degrees to go up the rest of the way. This means we have to have a tall item on it's end and shimmy it "around the corner" to make it up the next flight. Often there's not quite enough room to make a complete turn. There's also a large mirror on the wall facing you. For once in my life, I was smart enough to take down the mirror. Thank God I did.
With me at the top pulling, and Keri below pushing, we huffed the 250lb vanity up the first flight. When we got to the top stair, there wasn't enough room for me to pull it up without getting smooshed between the vanity and the wall. I made myself skinny enough to get it done, but not without a lot of fear that I was going to lose my grip and crush Keri underneath the vanity at the bottom of the stairs. Thankfully that didn't happen.
The next challenge was to spin it around the corner to get the dolly against the next flight of stairs to lug it up. One small problem - it was too wide to make the turn. We had to tip the vanity and lift the dolly at the same time in order to get one wheel of the dolly on the first stair. This made it unstable when we tried to muscle both wheels up onto that first stair and BAM it smacked against the wall. Right where the mirror would have been!
One it was on that first stair, the rest was muscling up the last flight. We managed and got it up there all by ourselves - "as usual." I'm always so proud of my wife when she steps up and helps out like this. She can do more work than most men I know. Sure, there's limitations - we all have them. But Keri is like my Mum and sisters. They are all strong women who step up and just get the job done :)
