Oh My Gosh! What a Day!

The cedar trees are gone!

We got a fairly early start yesterday. The very first thing on the agenda was scrambled eggs and toast. We’ve been eating a good breakfast every day and I think it’s helping me keep from noshing during the day. And, I’m sleeping better. I may have lost some weight, but I haven’t stepped on a scale in quite some time, so I’m not quite sure on that.

We drove over to the polling place and voted. The other night, I told Mr. FixIt we should go vote early so we wouldn’t have to stand in line. I knew we’d be busy yesterday and I didn’t want to take too long voting. He laughed at me. He said he’s lived out here since 1979 and he has never stood in a line. Ever. We went in and sure enough, we were the only ones there. There are two voting machines. TWO! One for him and one for me. Mr. FixIt told them I didn’t want to stand in line and they laughed and laughed. I told them…in my defense…I lived in Colorado for forty years. There’s a line for everything! She asked if I wanted a sticker and I told her I was good. I was just heading back home to put a roof on the house.

I love country life!

We added to the burn pile!

Boy, howdy…did we work our butts off yesterday. Well, my stepson worked HIS off, for sure. The first thing we did was cut down the three cedar trees out front. They were leaning precariously close to the house. The first one came down kinda where we wanted it. The second fell towards the house instead of away and it slid down along the gutter and landed parallel to the front. The third fell in the opposite direction and came so close to the house it wasn’t funny.

There are two brick pillars with a round cement ball on top of each…one on either side of the front steps. The tree knocked one of those off and came within an inch of taking out the railing on the basement access steps. Good thing cedar trees are relatively soft and squishy or we could have had a real mess on our hands.

Cedar is the most beautiful wood and it’s so aromatic.

Mr. FixIt Jr. took the chainsaw to the bottom of each tree to knock off some of the trunk. Then he wrapped a tow strap around the base and I dragged them around to the burn pile. The guys followed me around and cut each tree up…one at a time and added them to the pile of brush that’s been accumulating over the last few years. We got a beautiful stack of cedar logs for the fire pit.

Once that job was finished, it was time for more work on the roof. Mr. FixIt Jr. got the rest of the shingles scraped off. While he was up there, II did climb the ladder just enough to reach over the edge of the roof. There is about a two foot wide strip of underpayment that needs to be replaced so I worked on removing the nails and pried that piece out. Wow! It was crazy the amount of bees nests that were in the the soffit below. And a couple of dehydrated mice, as well. Ugh!

WVGranddaughter #2 and her beau came out to help. I fixed lunch for the two Mr. FixIts. Then everyone got busy and by 4:30, we had everything ready to replace the boards today. This morning, we need to go to town and rent the shingle hoist. We also need another sheet of plywood. And a 16’ 2×4 to replace the one where the leak rotted it. When we get back, we’ll replace the wood that was water damaged then roll out the tar paper and staple it down. And then…the shingles!

I was supposed to go to the doctor today and we were to meet friends from out of town for lunch on Thursday. But there is just way too much to get done and it has to be finished by sundown Thursday night. Because sometime during the night, it’s going to rain. So, I cancelled both of those, unfortunately. Sometimes you have to do the grownup thing and be responsible. Believe me, I’d rather be doing just about anything besides what we’ve been up against this week.

When the kids were preparing to leave, they were discussing what to have for supper. Mr. FixIt suggested Chinese food. They weren’t in the mood, but we were! Of course, that means I had to drive to town, place the order, wait for it to cook then drive home. It’s a whole hour before you’re tucking into that yummy lo mein…but oh, is it ever worth it!