I've spent the best part of this off week building a ground level deck to replace the patio we had downstairs by what used to be the entry to my Mom's apartment. After we built the upper deck, the rain falling through was making the little patio a mess, so we debated which would improve the appearance. My first idea was to simply build the boxes that we would attach decking and put those directly onto concrete blocks on the ground. Then I saw an idea with 4 x 4 sleepers in the ground to support the deck. After a big day of work pulling out the old brick patio, I had a fitful night of sleep. Too many aches and pains from using all those muscles I didn't remember I had. While lying there awake. I had an idea to combine the ideas, putting the back part of the deck on the sleepers and supporting the front of the deck with blocks under short legs down from the deck. Well the result was a really solid deck platform. After working with the alignment with the house, I found a spot that worked best. Then yesterday, I sawed all the decking and fitted it to place. Well, almost all the decking. I found I was 5 pieces short of finishing the project. So today, I started early using wood screws to lock the boards down. It was a lot more work than I thought. Right in the middle of my project, the skies opened up and rain came down for about 20 minutes or so. It really drenched my project. Once the rain passed, I got busy with a big effort to finish but fell short by a row and a half. If I have the time tomorrow, the last row can be cut and fitted. Then the fascia needs to be fitted. And if I get those attached, the deck part of the project is just about finished. Next comes the walk path to connect the stairs with the deck. That and some minor cosmetic work around the shrubs and the grass. Not too much left to do.
I always try to help Rachael with Hubbard/Rockford if asked. They had me down for 3 days but at last minute asked for the other day. Work at Rockford is slow so working isn't hard, but not following my usual routine tired me out a bit. I still had some work I could take care of up in Cullman. Some bushhog work and other little items but the high temps held me back a bit. I did ride my bike a little and got in some of my walking in addition to some chores. Max needed to be delivered to Charlotte, SC for his drum major camp. I volunteered to take him. I was glad to be able to perform this chore for him but the long trip up and back combined with extra heavy traffic in the Atlanta are, which extended to within 30 miles of Alabama, combined to really tire me out. There had been a problem with my left rear wisdom tooth for over a year, so I decided I should get it taken care of before I wound up isolated somewhere in PEI. The extraction didn't appear to be problematic until just be...