Journal of progress: July 29-August 9

 We are not posting every week because, sometimes, it just seems not enough is accomplished to make an interesting post.  In ways, this is because of Don's working two nights a week.  This cuts his work time down because he has to sleep the afternoon before the first night of work and then sleep all of the next two days.  One of those is Sunday so he would not have worked on the house then anyway.  Also, just getting older takes a toll.

In doing the weed eating in our yard, Barbara has been seeing a lot of albino praying mantises.  

At long last, Don got started working on the bathroom. Here he is test-fitting the toilet. The tank is too close to the wall; there's not enough room to put the lid on the tank. It seems that our professional plumber installed the flange it has to bolt to, an inch too close  to the wall.

Here's why. The main toilet drain can't be moved to the correct position, due to two bolts in the main cantilever beam, which stick out in just the spot where the drain pipe has to go. Why didn't the plumber ask me to move them? Just one of the many questionable things he did.

Those bolts really stick out. I wonder if just reversing them so the heads are on this side would work. Guess I'll move them AND reverse them.

Man! It's hard to get in there!

Moved and reversed.

Once it's installed, the toilet has to be leveled. Not much room to work!

Success!

Didn’t have room to store all of our cheap, used cabinets indoors two years ago when we bought them from a friend, so we stored them outdoors under two layers of tarps, on pallets. When we opened them this week, we discovered they were mostly destroyed. Just about all the glue joints had come apart! The one we intended to use for the kitchen “island” was in the best shape, so that’s the one Don started repairing first.

Each joint had to be painstakingly broken apart without breaking any dowels, the old glue cleared away, then re-glued and clamped. When as many joints were pulled together as could be done at once, the clamps had to be removed, without disturbing the setting joints, then the rest of the joints treated and glued, and the whole face frame clamped up. Don had to work FAST to get all this done while the glue was still workable. Good thing he used to build cabinets for a living!

The last clamp is in place. Took five pipe clamps. You can't ever have too many!

When the cabinet was dry and solid, Don turned it over and attached new runners to the bottom. Of course, they weren't level (or the floor wasn't!), so Don had to cut the middles one down and shim one end of the end one, but it's now sturdy and ready for Don to make a counter top.

Barbara's been cutting the cheat grass with a weed-eater in the mornings while it's cool. Don's been grubbing out sage brush. and raking the cut cheat grass into piles.

Don found this tiny, baby fir tree growing up right in the middle of the biggest, twistiest sage bush of them all. After he carefully removed the sage, there was nothing to hold up the fir tree, so he drove a stick in the ground and used an old grocery bag for ties to keep it upright in our stiff winds. He hopes it likes the light.

One night at work, Don spotted a Great Horned Owl landing on the front gatepost of the movie set where he works. His pictures are in black and white, because they were taken by infra-red light.

Don was so amazed, watching this huge bird devour his kill (some sort of rodent, maybe a large rat) that he totally forgot he could take videos of it, until the last moment, when the owl swallowed the remains whole, just before it flew away. Unfortunately, the file is too big to post here, and Don doesn't know how to edit it. Anyone want to help?

Something Don DOES know how to do is woodworking. A neighbor who loves "authentic" stuff, built himself an authentic, English joiner's bench, a very special woodworker's workbench. He loves it so much that he needs to get rid of his "old" workbench, which he bought at The Home Depot a year ago and has never used. He offered it to Don for $50.00. Don calls it, "Our newest family member." An all-hardwood, American style joiner's bench, never used, and normally well out of Don's price range.