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*this* John W. Hays' take on things and experiences

Posts Tagged ‘screen door

Making Adjustments

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After pretty much power lounging for a couple days, Sunday became the day to take care of a few projects around the place. The most laborious had to do with the launch feature from the big raft. Somehow the big airbag got a hole in it and then it started filling with water.

Last weekend Steve got it to shore and laid it in the sand to drain. Yesterday, I went down to retrieve the bag from the beach and bring it up to the house to wash and fold in preparation for taking it back to the Cities for repair. At about the point I was losing my patience with the task, Cyndie arrived to rescue me and helped to get us to the finish.

The main project of the afternoon was digging under the round pavers beneath the tall bench at the fire pit. We didn’t dig them in much originally and that left the bench too high off the ground.

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That should take care of that set up for a while. We’ve tweaked them multiple times to finally get them all where we want them. I’m ready to not think about the fire pit seating for a few years now, except maybe to sit out there.

From there, I moved to some finishing touches on the screen door we installed a couple weeks ago. I added a turnbuckle tensioner, put longer screws into the hinges, installed some foam tape to seal the back edge, and put on a couple of quieting bumpers that didn’t really do much in the way of quieting.

I’m almost completely satisfied with it for now. Time will tell if it holds up very long to repeated use.

This morning I am driving home on my own and Cyndie will stay up with her mom. After a run of four weekends in a row at the lake, I’ll be adjusting to home life for an extended run. That means more days for driveway shoulder duty. Woohoo!

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Written by johnwhays

August 15, 2022 at 6:00 am

Superb Escapades

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Superlatives. Yesterday was as wonderful as the day before and served to amplify the pleasantries we enjoyed tenfold. The weather helped to accommodate anything and everything we found to do, including replacing an ailing screen door.

It looked simple enough until the door Mike and I picked up at the lumber yard in Hayward proved to be an inch taller than the one we were replacing. It appeared the old one had been cut down to fit so we borrowed a circular saw and did the same thing. After much searching, we found an old can of still viable stain and successfully completed the unplanned project.

We also received new insights about our trees from an arborist whose services were enlisted to analyze the health of trees around the group of properties that form the Wildwood Lodge Club, of which Cyndie’s family are long-time members. Near the end of winter last year there was a storm that brought down a lot of big branches and a few trees. The size of some of the limbs was enough to inspire seeking professional advice.

Between those events, the day allowed for paddle board and kayak excursions, we swam and sunbathed, and played a mini-tournament of games. Horseshoes, ladder golf, corn hole bag toss, darts, cards, and an encore round of “Fishbowl,” the triple-game of Taboo, Charades, and Password.

On a walk around the property, we twice enjoyed a close encounter with a doe with three very young fawns. They did not stray far after we came upon them the first time such that we found them again, a little further along in the woods where they were munching on ferns.

Cooking dinner on the fire was so good on Friday that we ended up doing it again yesterday.

Today will be a smidgeon less superlative as we adjust to the early departure of our friends, Barb and Mike as they head back for time with their grandkids this afternoon.

Superb, nonetheless.

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Written by johnwhays

July 31, 2022 at 9:48 am