bookmark_borderSpeaking of birds…

Almost two years ago, Lorna and I were outside working in the yard when she saw this fairly large bird land in our bamboo. I grabbed my camera and got several decent images of it. We have no clue what it was. We were making it rather nervous so we left it alone and went inside. An hour later, it was gone.

Because I have so many pictures of it, I’m doing the “read more” thing so the page doesn’t take long to load for those who don’t want to see them. Not that it would hurt my feelings any. Well, maybe just a little.

Continue reading “Speaking of birds…”

bookmark_borderUpdate on Princess Joella

Got a call from our vet today. The ortho vet said that maybe perhaps there might kinda sorta be an itty bitty fracture on her foot. But compared to the inflammation and that small bone out of place, it would not make the treatment any different. Because this is Jo’s good leg, we are going to be keeping it in a splint for SIX weeks. She is not going to be happy.

Because of the snow and the mud and her falling into both every day, we’ll be taking her in later this week to have the splint changed. It is rather dirty and if it is getting overly wet, that moisture is on the inside, irritating her skin. We briefly discussed an actual cast but decided the weight would be too much.

It is a really simple splint covered with gauze and vet-wrap.

This was her other bandage after her surgery a year or so ago. Much larger.

bookmark_borderJoella

Joella, my retired Service Dog, had surgery on one of her back legs a while back. Nearly a year ago I think. Anyway, she’s been doing fine from that but this weird winter weather we’re having is making both of us feel the pain. Then last week she started walking funny with her back legs and started falling down. So since Lorna was taking today (Friday) off, I made an appt. for Jo at the vet’s.

They changed the appt. back an hour but with everything else we had to do, the extra hour gave us a chance to rest. Just as we were getting ready to go, it started snowing. Nothing new and different around here (and most of the nation it seems!) but when it started to actually lay, we opted to take Lorna’s Subaru instead of My Truck. Besides, it was lower to the ground and easier to get Jo up into it. We had no trouble going there, some white spots but not bad. Poor Lorna’s been driving so much in it lately! But by the time we were done and leaving, it was pretty nasty out.

But I’m ahead of myself. We love our vet. Dr. Knepshield at Charlotte Street Animal Hospital and all the gang there are, like, the best. Dr. K got down on the floor with Jo and started messing with her legs and…we wound up muzzling Jo. It hurt that much. That and she wasn’t happy, didn’t want to be there, and she hates to have her feet messed with. Hates it. So on went the muzzle. What Dr. K found was that Jo had a toe that was up really high and the entire foot was odd. Because of the first round of x-rays that showed something but we weren’t sure what (Rotties are prone to bone cancer), they knocked Jo out and x-rayed her again.

There’s these tiny little bones in dogs’ feet called sesamoids. We humans have them too and, actually, the kneecap is one. Anyway, one of these tiny bones was out of place. She sent the x-rays off to the ortho vet (the same one who did Jo’s surgery) for consult but we won’t hear back until Tuesday. These bones can come out of place because of a fracture (which she didn’t see) or from an injury that inflamed the foot and the bone becomes displaced because of the swelling. If this had happened to Jo’s bad leg, we would have noticed it immediately because she would not put weight on it. But because she cannot stand on just the bad back leg, she was forced to walk on both back legs. And because they both hurt and she was constantly dancing to not walk on either one, that’s why she was falling down a lot. I can sooooo relate.

The good news is that Jo’s hips look fine for a dog her age! No change at all from the previous x-rays. Her bad leg (the ankle) looks the same, no better no worse, so that’s good. And other than the foot, her other leg looks the same too. So this is excellent news.

The bad news is that Jo has a cast on her foot. They put on a special cast that allows her to put full weight on it and it is rounded to help her walk. But a stoned Jo with a cast does not a walking dog make. They gave her the anesthesia to knock her out plus a heavy duty pain killer to deal with the pain she’d have from them manipulating that foot so much and from the extreme tenderness she’s having with the bad leg. She was so stoned, they had to carry her out to the car on a stretcher!

Now back to the weather. The roads were bad. Mostly slush but some icy places and, of course, all the people getting out of work and trying to go home. What normally takes 20-30 minutes tops took an hour and 45 minutes! The traffic was unbelievable. We finally got out of the traffic near our last turn (at Leicester’s only red light) when the minivan in front of us also turns. We give him plenty of room to make the hill (it’s a horrid hill in this kind of weather) and…he doesn’t make it. We sit and watch him sit and spin. Finally, with me hungry, Jo whining, Lorna’s patience at a minimal, we go around. That little Subaru just went right by him, not a single spin or slip. We hated to leave them like that but, well…. Anyway, we made it home, got Jo and me in the house, and all is well.

I’ll have pics of the girl tomorrow. She wasn’t at her best tonight (she was so freakin’ stoned).

bookmark_borderMike’s Website/Blog

I have too many websites. Really, I do.

Anyway, Mike’s website/blog/whatever (aptly named Mike’s Doghouse) is alive again. He and I are going to re-try our training for him to be my service dog. We had so many delays earlier but it worked out in the end. He needed time to mature, to find himself I guess. He’s still young but the time is right. I won’t post a note here every time I post a note there but I figured I’d tell you here that I was also back over there as well as here. You get all that?

bookmark_borderHouse Projects: Enjoying

Now that the snow has melted, I was able to finally take pics of the dog ramp. Boy, did it come in handy during the heavy snow!

For those of you not up to speed, this was the old “ramp”:

4’x8′ top section, mostly flat with tilt due to crooked porch

4’x8′ bottom section. like the top, it is/was plywood. it was kinda sorta connected to the first section but that connection kept breaking as did the 2×4″ support “joists”. because they ran up/down this section (gotta run or you won’t make it) it always wore down first.

And this is the new one:

5’x10′ top section

bottom sections. both are 8′ long. first is roughly 4′ wide; second is roughly 3′ wide.

Mucho bettero, eh?

5 4×4 posts, one 8′ and the others 6′ with one cut in half for the bottom section
9 2×6 joists, 3 were 10′, the rest were 8′
Strongtie brand hangers and brackets (strongly recommend these things)
8 “dek-blok” cinder blocks under the posts (we likey lots!)
Umpteen 5/4×6 deck planks
Blue Million screws

No clue as to cost. Way more than we expected and slightly more than we could afford but, frankly, it is going to last a long time. That was the goal. I think we accomplished that.

bookmark_borderHouse Projects: Finishing

Yep, we’re finished. Well, basically. Almost.

The other night, we finished marking and cutting the planks for the first sloped section. We put them into place to see if we had enough that night. Today I took them back down and added a center joist. We thought we could get away with not having one but, nope. It was interesting doing it myself. Mike’s been going out with me when I worked on it during the day. One day he stayed up on the porch and gnawed a bone, pausing whenever I started cussing. Earlier today, though, he was able to get down onto the ground with me.

When Lorna got home (much earlier since she got help on the route today), we got to work. First she dug holes for the two end concrete pier things. Then we squared it up and hung the last two joists. With that in place, we then measured out the width of the planks and cut all that we had. Then we did the two drill system and set the first section’s planks. The last board will have to be replaced. It didn’t quite fit and needed to be notched. I was using the new cordless circular saw and it was dark and….let’s just say it’s not pretty.

By this time, it is quite dark and very cold. But we wanted to get the damn thing done! We are supposed to get a snowstorm starting in the morning. Being able to let them out the back door vs me walking them outside was important. The new Porter-Cable drill has an LED light. Between that and a flashlight, we drilled one pilot hole and put in one screw on each end.

The first 5×10 section is done. The first sloped section, roughly 4×10, is done. We will replace that last board later. The third section, roughly 3×10, is planked up to about the last 3 planks. We ran out of wood. So close!

I’ll get a better photo tomorrow. That’s Jo at the bottom, being a wimp and not wanting to get up in the dark.

We want to add some lights since the ramp now extends far beyond the reach of the pitiful back porch light. We got some solar marker lights and that’s all they are good for – marking. I put one in near the top the other night. Our goal is to use all solar so we can keep it lit while not wasting energy. We may use motion sensors, not sure yet.

Like I said, it was quite dark by the time we were done. We cleaned everything up (Lorna had gathered the wood scraps earlier before it got dark) and let the dogs out. Sam has been going out the back door all along anyway since he can jump all the way up from the ground onto the porch. The girls, however, were quite freaked by the thing. PopCorn didn’t like the noise it made when Lorna walked down it ahead of her. Joella went down but didn’t want to come back up. We finally ignored her and come in, taking away her audience. It worked and within a few seconds, she was barking at the door.

bookmark_borderHouse Projects: Planking!

Yep, that’s right. We finally laid the first section of planking today.

Over the last several days, whenever it wasn’t too damn cold, I went out and did a little something each day. One day I put up the last post on the first level. Another day I cut those damn angles I bitched complained about earlier. Another day I did the bracing on the first slope and replaced another with a pressure treated one.

Normally, Lorna has Mondays off but had to work yesterday. So, she got today off in exchange. We started off in the usual way by getting breakfast at Waffle House followed by a trip to the bank and then Lowes. A few days before, we’d picked up the pressure-treated 2x4s, some solar lighting for the back, and we treated ourselves to an early Christmas present. We got a Porter-Cable 18v cordless set. A circular saw, a reciprocating saw, a drill, and a light. We knew we’d need a second drill for when we laid the planks. The battery circular saw I’ve wanted for a long time and goodness knows all butches want a reciprocating saw. Nothing to do with Freud, though, but with Tim Taylor.

Anyway, today we got two more concrete pier block things and a pack of doohickeys for the drills. Bits, shanks, etc. We finally got home and got to work.

We had to finish all the bracing so I got down off the porch (my legs will be soooo glad when this is done), gave Lorna the measurements and she cut them. I then put them up while she cut the next set. This deck may not be perfectly square and it may look ugly but by george, it ain’t moving. The blocks came in real handy for doing the bracing.

After that, and with only one slight deviation, the first problem was the first plank. Because of the tilt of the porch, the right-hand side (as you look at it from the ground) is higher than the left-hand side. The board did not fit flat against the porch so we had to….well, let’s just say it was complicated. We did, however, have to adjust two boards to compensate for the slight “fan” we were getting but we kept telling ourselves “it’s a dog deck, not a tap dance floor”. When we got to the first set of posts, instead of notching the plank, we just cut it just short enough to fit. Same thing for the end. It went rather fast! We did one board at a time until we figured out what we were doing then measured and cut a bunch and put them down. With one of use using one drill to do pilot holes, the other either held the plank in place or started driving the screws.

All of this stuff before was important and we got a lot done each day even though it never looked like it. But seeing that top section covered felt a helluva lot better!

We got six planks ready for the next part (barely half of what we need total) but it was getting cold and we were tired. Not a good combo when using a circular saw. Other boards are measured and marked although too long for me to cut by myself. Instead I may re-work some of the first slope and get the final section ready. We decided to prop the ends up on two more blocks. They’ll be partially buried in order to make a good slope.

We’re going to have good weather for several more days. Cold but clear. Maybe an hour or less each day and we may get it done yet!

bookmark_borderHouse Projects: Angles

Flat is good. Level is good. Then comes angle/slope. Not so good.

Level will always be level. Angles have 360degrees of difference.

The Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG) has rules for wheelchair ramps. The slope is 1:12, meaning for each inch down from top to the ground, the ramp must be one foot long. So a 20″ front porch would need a 20′ ramp. According to one website, the board would be cut a mere 5degree angle. Of course, there’s other things to take into consideration. It may be 20″ down to the ground from the porch but if the ground slopes further away or higher up, the length changes. My front ramp is actually fairly flat and is about 35′ long because while there’s a dip between where it ends and the porch, it is about the same height.

This is a dog ramp and I don’t think I’ll ever take my chair down it. There’s the mud and the poop and more mud and still more poop. Both of which are a major PITA to get out of tire treads. So we’re looking at a steeper slope. Probably around 10-15 degrees.

We at first thought we’d use a special bracket but it wasn’t as simple as it looked. So then we decided to hang the two boards on the support posts. But how to give them both the same slope? Good question. We initially measured the gap and it was really close. But then that nasty Square issue came up again and screwed it all up. So we’re gonna have to cut the ends, dammit.

I hate cutting angles. I really do. Because of other mistakes, we do have some scrap wood I can practice on but still, I hate cutting angles. We only have to do it to two boards.

For those following along, the first section is 5’x10′. The first slope will be about 4’x8′ and the next will be 3’4″x8′. It is not as wide because that section will start on the inside of the posts vs the outside like the ones hanging now. But then I just looked at the photos above and I see we made an error. Actually, technically, we made 3. Heavy. Sigh.

We got very little done on Tuesday. It was not too cold but the wind was nasty. We got three posts set up and got the two boards hung. It takes a long time to do stuff because we aren’t as young as we used to be and we aren’t all that sure of what we are doing. Anyway, it started raining Tuesday afternoon and with the cold, we headed in. Tuesday night it poured rain here. The river is up again, higher than it was the last time. Then Wednesday morning the wind was enough to cause some problems. There’s limbs and trees down all over the place. We lost power at the house for several hours. It was dangerous taking the dogs out! Even when the wind died down somewhat, the back was a mud pit and there was no way I was going to get out there. Today wasn’t much better. The storm front is playing havoc on my pain levels. Tomorrow looks better and I may try cutting the boards to at least get that part done. What we may do is put up plywood on the first two sections then lay another piece down for the last section. Saturday and Sunday it is going to be snow, sleet, and/or rain. Again.

bookmark_borderHouse Projects: Square

Let’s just say that while we got a lot done on the dog deck today, we didn’t get much done.

To recap, day 1 (Friday) we got the lumber and misc. stuff. Then we had to make a path for the truck to get to the back porch. I probably drive better in reverse than I do forward. We got the truck unloaded and the lumber sorted and stacked.

Sunday was “lay it out and see what works day”. What this also means is that it is “return to Lowes and get what Paula miscalculated”. We got the old ramp taken down (easy since it was about there anyway), the ledger board hung, the two end piers/blocks in place. We also spent a lot of time telling dogs to move (which progressed to move dammit then on to, well, other words), a lot of time trying to keep dogs out of the way, and a lot of time “discussing” what is going where and why.

Today (day 3) we managed to get the frame for the flat section done. Sounds so easy, doesn’t it? Ha. It would have been, and boy we were flying high on our sense of accomplishment, except we got to the end board. Then we crashed and burned.

There’s this thing called “square”. It basically means the two pieces are at a perfect 90degree angle from each other yet still lined up properly with the other corners. There’s one method of measuring from corner to corner, diagonally, and making sure the two measurements are the same. Then there’s the 3-4-5 method. Neither one works if the people with the saws and tape and Porter Cable drill have no freakin’ clue what they are doing. At one point, I even called my brother in NJ. Hey, he’s a guy and guys are born knowing this stuff, right? Apparently not. But he does know the 3-4-5 geometry is correct and even sent me a little .jpg of it. My baby bro is such a geek, bless his heart.

[if working with something very very important to make perfectly square, the 3-4-5 method along with batter boards and tons of string and several plumb bobs is the way to go. but if your feet hurt all the way up to your ears, and “close enough for gov’t work” is a valid statement, then the diagonal measurement is cool and groovy]

We eventually got it fairly close. The posts are level, the joists are level, the diagonal measurement is off by less barely an inch. Probably the most squared part in this entire house. We also learned the true purpose of cross braces. By then we were mentally and physically exhausted. We wanted to continue, wanted to get more of the frame work up, but we couldn’t quite figure out how the brackets worked. Our brains were too fogged up with mechanical and mathematical stuff. So we cleaned up the area and hobbled inside.

Lorna’s car is having difficulties (it has over 240,000 miles on it) so she is having to take tomorrow off. It is supposed to rain in the afternoon so we are going to try and get the sloped part figured out and framed. We shall see.

Meanwhile, just to show you how screwy our house is, I present to you the ledger board (which is level) and the back porch. Click the image for a close-up view.

That really freaked us out yesterday. We dug out a second smaller level just to make sure the other one wasn’t broken. Why is the porch sloped so much? No clue. It was re-planked a number of years ago and they were just as freaked as we were. Decades ago, when porches were uncovered, they were sloped to help the rain water drain. But this porch is covered. (shrug)

Below is the first section. The braces need to be replaced (we used scrap 2x4s we had). The short post in the middle of nowhere is the leftover post from the old ramp thing. There used to be two but the other one pissed Lorna off and she ripped it out of the ground. We will probably pull that one out, too. If you look to the right, almost directly under the righthand joist, you’ll see two pieces of wood barely visible. There were longer ones there which I removed then stuck two shorter ones into the holes. We’ll more than likely leave them that way. Oh, and check out the bow in that middle joist! We didn’t see that until it was done. Kinda explains why it was not cooperative.

Now, how to make the next section slope? 16′ x 4ish’. I hate cutting angles.