Making Hay While the Sun Shines / Deck Repair!

A few days ago, there was a loud rumbling in the fields across the street. It lasted all day long, and went on well into dark. The farmer was using big machinery to make hay during the few days that the sun was shining. I rode my bike over to the corner, and the smells were just heavenly. Is there any sweeter scent than new-mown hay?

I was back again on this day, and discovered neat round bales in the field. I love the look of these things. And it STILL smells very nice there. I liked the way this shot turned out, with the focus on the little weeds down front (my plant ID program says they're a type of brome), with the bales a bit out of focus behind them. Take a deep breath. Yes, breathe it all in. These are the sweet smells of summer. These are the longest days of the year.

And now on to the deck repair project. I know you've heard some of this story before, but here it arrives at its conclusion. The huge, beautiful, shady deck out back is one of the main reasons why I bought this house in May of 2004.* The day I first got to see inside it, I knew I wanted this house. 

By the end of that very same afternoon, I had a contract in hand. I made an offer the next day. I told the realtor who sold it to me that I wanted to have my coffee on this deck every morning for the rest of my life!

But in January 2005, a huge ice storm brought down lots of trees. Many of them fell on the house. They ruined half the roof and knocked out part of the side railing on the deck, but we left it broken, thinking eventually we might eventually put steps down that side.

Well, it's good we didn't bother, because about 4 years ago, another tree fell, taking out deck railing on several sides. We had talked to contractors who told us they were booked months out. We got an estimate from somebody who demanded $1000 up front (for "materials," he said); fortunately, we did not give it to them, as they then never returned our calls, never showed up.

When the latest huge tree fell - the 200-year-old red oak - we got a guy to come fix our shed. Turns out he also does some contracting work, so he came back to fix our front steps. He did a great job and I left him a very nice review on his website.

Yesterday and today, he came back and fixed the deck. The wood needs to cure for 6 months or so, and then we can paint or stain or seal it, as we wish. (Here's a link to the story of the last time we painted.) In the extras, I've placed a photo of what it looks like now. Once again, he did a great job!

Not only did he repair the broken railing, but he replaced (and then hauled away) a lot of the floor boards which were rotten. A side benefit of the whole project is that the ants living inside those rotten boards left with the boards. In addition to having a nice deck now, most of the ants are gone. Hooray!

I don't know how recently you have had someone doing construction or contract work at YOUR house, but these two days have had their challenges. The deck is really integrated into the house in such a way that we HAD to close the drapes so that we would not all be staring at each other all day. The drapes cut off the light. 

There are no curtains on the kitchen window, which overlooks the deck, so we avoided spending time in the kitchen during the time the work was being completed, which was pretty much all day long, from 8:30 to 3:30, for two days in a row.

It was over 80 degrees on Thursday, one of the warmest days of summer so far, and we don't have air conditioners in yet. The construction work meant that we had to keep the windows closed because of the noise outside from nail guns and power tools and saws. Things were clammy. We managed somehow.

Before 8 a.m. on Thursday morning, I moved everything off the deck into the yard, and we moved the clothes line out a bit to hang the hummingbird feeder on. I added a second feeder in the yard, but neither the hummingbirds nor I were happy with that whole arrangement. No, not one bit.

With sighs of great relief, the hummingbirds and I returned to the deck on Thursday evening. It was a happy reunion. I just sat, and watched the hummingbirds, and breathed in the fresh air, and the sweet scent of fresh wood. 

Here is a milestone for this day: After 20-plus years of being imperfect (and with the past 4 of those years being pretty profoundly messed up), our deck has FINALLY been repaired. No, it's not perfect, and perhaps it never will be, but it's WAY WAY better. It's close enough to perfect for ME!

I have two photos so here are two soundtrack songs. For the haying and the sun shining photo, I've got John Denver, with Sunshine on My Shoulders. For the deck repair in the extras, I've got Alabama, with Close Enough to Perfect.

*Interestingly enough, the final house I looked at on that very same day was on the corner of Stonerow, a few streets behind the house we now live in. That house was $30,000 more than the house I ended up buying. Isn't it interesting that I now spend a lot of my time riding my bike back over there to admire the big fields and the open sky. I still don't like that house $30,000 more than the one I bought, but it is indeed a very nice view from Stonerow!