The Beat Goes On...

...and the beat goes on, drums keep pounding a rhythm to the brain...la de da de de, la de da de da. Can you name that tune? It seems like a good theme song for the beach this summer :)

Here is what the repair work looks like so far.

Yes, I said "so far". There is more to go. But before we talk about that - let's review and celebrate the successes to date!

1.

JohnMarth Inc. doing demo work.
In the end all but about 1/2 sheet of plywood was replaced. I love that he had a viewing gallery for the project!

2.

  New fascia in place and all joists replaced or sistered to new 2x6's.
BTW...no worries about Grandpa heading up the ladder; he was advising and helping from down below :)

3.

That is Kellen just finishing with the roofing shingles.  

4.

As soon as Kellen was packed up and on the road, we began the job of replacing the rotten wall and floor in the corner. But alas, what should we discover upon opening up this hole? Why extensive wood damage of course!

5.

With the discovery of the wood ravaging Powder Post Beetle we called in the professionals. Glenna, John and I packed up and emptied all 3 rooms before Bugman Gordon arrived. He sprayed every inch of wood - including all the wood furniture and wood handled tools we left inside.

It does not penetrate painted surfaces well - which is why you see it puddled up on the pink chair. But the flip side is the beetle doesn't like painted wood either.
Oh, I know WAY too much about Powder Post Beetles!

6.

Once the bug spray is dry, work on the wall and floor resumes.
I am standing in the (previously) rotten corner.
Notice anything missing in this picture?

7.

And what's missing in this picture?
Hint...I'm standing in the doorway to the back room.

8.

This was our 2nd trip to the dump...this weekend!
Daniel already made 2 trips a couple weeks ago. No one can accuse us of looking like the squatlies - Grandma will be happy!

And here are three pics of why at the top of this post I said the wall and floor repair is complete "so far". One side done...turns out there are a couple more to go!

After the repairs are complete all the new wood needs to be treated for bugs and then the whole place has to be painted inside and out to keep it standing for 50 more years! I sure hope we get this done before the rains start - yikes!

This is the back bedroom (the shelving unit is gone now) and you can see the far-reaching rot. The wall to the left of the door looks worse.

The outside landing is rotten all over...the plywood on the ground...the 2x4 framework and the 2x3 studs (ya, they really used 2x3's all over the place). John is surveying his options.

Just another angle of the landing. Take note of the 2x4 support in the bottom left corner of the pic...that is no longer supporting :/ At the top of the pic the 2x3's to the right of the door don't look like that anymore...John tapped them with a hammer to see how solid they were; they crumbled to pieces!

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Driftwood Update
Papa moved Ben's driftwood a little further out (I'll post pics next time - silly me forgot to get one!). It doesn't appear to float :) but it is getting water logged and that should help it break apart easier in the coming weeks.

Viewing Pics

Did you know that you can click on a picture and see it full sized? Or you can right click and choose open link.

The detail is so much better that way! Give it a try...

Quite by accident this pic captured memorabilia of mine - can you name the three items?

Another Beach Weekend Coming Up

Another beach weekend starts tomorrow with the 7:05 AM ferry. No, that is not a typo. Papa and I really are catching the 7:05 AM ferry to meet the bug-man (major groan) . After he is gone, papa will finish patching the hole and then replace any other boards or plywood the bug-man recommends. It will be just the two of us. This project is truly a one-man show and I am a most excellent go-fer :)

Fauntleroy ferry dock at sunset - but I expect sunrise to be just as pretty!

Aunt Jody arrives Friday afternoon; Daniel will pick her up and take her to G8G's. They plan to stay home and let Jody relax.

Daniel on a hike July 2011
Thought I better label this pic in case you didn't recognize him!

I think Glenna is going to go to Whidbey for some cleaning, cooking and sprucing. The annual Island County Fair is the following weekend and she is preparing for the Diefendorf clan to come for the festivities. Sounds like some more excellent Whidbey memories will be made!

The Palace
(aka Dief's Whidbey house)

The dogs are going to stay home in James capable care. They love being out there but it is too hard to watch them and be available for whatever John needs. Plus they would have to stay tied up until all the bug spray dried - that doesn't sound like much fun!

July 2009 on the way home from the beach. OMGosh - they both look so young and this picture is only 2 years old (14 in dog years!).

James

It has been a while since I posted anything about James so an update seemed in order. At the end of March his therapist Aaron said it was time to stop coming in for a while. James' hand had plateaued and just wasn't making any further progress. 

March 7, 2011

May 24, 2011. I think a WOW is in order, don't you?

They had been working on breaking up the scar tissue so he could get more movement out of his tendons, ligaments and joints. Aaron said there wasn't anything he could do in the clinic to break up the scar tissue that James couldn't do at home...and L&I won't pay unless Aaron can document progress with each visit. He sent James home with a violin splint (our nickname) and told him to wear it 8 hours a day and when he's not wearing it, stretch and use his hand as much as possible. Aaron gave him instructions to call for an appointment when things started to change.

Violin Splint

Toward the end of June the splint stop fitting properly and was cutting off the circulation to his fingers. We called the clinic to get an appointment with Aaron...after much rigmarole, malarkey and general ridiculousness we saw him on August 3. He re-strung the violin so it doesn't cut off circulation and seemed genuinely pleased with the progress James has made! He told him to keep using it and touching it as much as possible. When James described areas of pain and activities that cause pain Aaron smiled his signature smile and said, "pain is good!".

Aaron smirking at me and my camera.
He and James always made fun of my continuous picture taking. James did admit that a friend told him how cool it was to see this journey documented in pics and James should thank me...I like this friend :)

We see Dr. Chris Allen the surgeon on Aug 31. We expect to hear all is good, no more surgery needed and it's time for light duty. No, that's not me being my usual Pollyanna :) We've been told more than once that no one wants to open James' hand back up again if it can be avoided. There is just too much that can go wrong. With the movement and feeling James is getting, Aaron thinks Chris will opt to continue with this slower, low-risk recovery without surgery.

Dr. Christopher Allen, surgeon extraordinaire - paperwork challenged

Speaking of light duty and Chris Allen...he may be an excellent surgeon with a quirky, engaging personality and lighthearted bedside manner but he stinks at filling out paperwork. Apparently this is a well know fact as we have heard it from the L&I case worker, the hand clinic technicians and the Harborview Program Coordinator that manages all the state-required paperwork. Because Chris hasn't returned any of the forms the state has sent to him, James benefits have been suspended. After days of calling to find the right person I think we finally have everything back on track...at least I hope we do. I'll find out next week when I call to check up on the paperwork trail.
Bureaucratic red tape is maddening. However, without this necessary evil there are no benefits and without benefits - well let's just say life would get pretty darn ugly very quickly!

June 15, 2011. His club hand has altered life as he knows it - but it does not define him. He continues to live the life of James - with a slight twist!

All Done...NOT

What was I thinking? Did I jinx our chances by putting the words "all done" in print? Of course we will never be all done at the beach; but I had hoped to at least have all the details of these projects completed.

But alas, the fishing cabin is demanding that we continue to pay attention to it. Upon opening up the wall and floor to replace the plywood, John found more wood damage.

JohnMarth Inc., beginning the repair work on the corner of the fishing cabin

Fishing Cabin repair work grinds to a halt when extensive pest damage is discovered

The damage was not caused by termites this time (like in the roof) but by the wood ravaging Powderpost Beetle. The damage appears to be too extensive for us to manage by ourselves and the chemical that truly eradicates them is not readily available to the general public. So we have called yet another contractor to help us out of this newest predicament.

This Friday John will meet Gordon of Exterminator Services to spray the fishing cabin and pump house - and then walk through the other two cabins to assess any extermination needs they may have. When it rains it pours...and it sort of feels as if it is dumping full thunderclouds upon us!

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But it's not all bad news.
JohnMarth Inc. hooked up the water line to the big cabin and not only do they have flushing toilets but poopy water once again flows to both sinks and the hose. Grandma and Grandpa were thrilled!

No more bucket brigade :)

After this success Bryan (the pump man) arrived and installed a new pump and pressure tank.

Bryan of Red's Electric

This new setup should prevent some of the problems we had in the past.
The tank (that looks like a water heater) holds 5-10 gallons of pressurized water. The pump won't kick on until the tank is down to 2-3 gallons of water. This will allow our imperfect system to bleed and leak a little bit without kicking on the pump.

New pump and pressure tank installed - all toilets flush - two happy smiles

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The master-of-disaster strikes again!
JohnMarth Inc. managed to move the driftwood disaster away from the dock. Next high tide it should be easy enough to push it out to sea.

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The new roof looks great!
Shaun and Kellen used a cool ramp that spans the stretch from the road to the roof to carry all the materials into place - including the all important Makita boom box (you may recognize those 2 names from past posts; they started this summer off as our first contractors when they installed the new wood stove in the little cabin).

Shaun has a construction business - and family members that are in every possible line of work - he has been a great resource for us. I can't remember the name of Aunt Dorothy's handyman but Shaun is our new Fragaria handyman - when JohnMarth Inc. isn't available ;)

The roof looks awesome. The name of the roofing material is Malarkey Black Oak. Malarkey seemed like an appropriate choice since it's definition is nonsense. This summer has been full of nonsense - lots of fun too - but way too much nonsense!

Cool ramp that spans the stretch from the road to the roof

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Next Project(s)...
Groan. Of course it has something to do with the fishing cabin. That bad boy has been very greedy for our attention this summer...and we haven't even gotten to the painting (inside and out)! In the meantime, we are still having lively discussions as to it's future uses. Sleeping? Tools? Storage? Fishing and boating gear? None of the above? All of the above? Somewhere in-between?

Fishing Cabin Steps & Porch

And of course we have the regular maintenance projects that are a bit behind - we are sure hoping the kids will have some time to help - we need roofs swept, ivy cut down from all the trees, dirt dug out from behind both houses, wood chopped, and so on and so forth...whew, I'm tired! 

What a summer of hard work, decisions and lots of time with G&G (now there is a part that I'm cherishing!).

Project Manager

Today was all about securing the final contractors for our beach projects. Hopefully the final contractors. I do enjoy an organizational challenge that requires research, collaboration and decision making. That pretty much describes the last 5 months at the beach for Grandma, Grandpa, Glenna, John and me!

It started back in February when we began shopping for wood stoves and fireplace inserts. After that we dealt with electrical upgrades, appliance needs, pump woes, toilet woes, water line woes and a larger-than-imagined roofing project. I feel like I've forgotten something but that is all that comes to mind right now :)

I hope it ends this first weekend in August with...

The installation of a new pump by Red's Electric.
We really need a pump that doesn't leak and can push water to both cabins...we are all getting too old to carry buckets of water to Aunt Dorothy's to flush the toilet :/

New roof shingles on the fishing cabin by Shaun Winslow Construction

And...a new corner on the fishing cabin by JohnMarth INC :)

With luck, the title of my next post is All Done!

Last Weekend in July

John and I went to the beach this weekend to...
Complete the foundation for a new roof on the fishing cabin; make a dent in the project to bring water to the toilet at the big cabin; and sweep the roofs of both cabins.

Project #1)
I'm happy to report the fishing cabin roof is ready for professional roofers to apply shingles! All rotten, stinky termite infested wood has been removed and any surface mold has been bleached. It only took 3 trips to the lumber yard, 3 times more plywood than anticipated and 3 weekends...in the construction business, that sounds about normal :)

We completely covered the roof with blue, brown and green tarps then tied them down tight - it looks kinda cool - wish I had taken a pic of the finished project.

Project #2)
The new water line from the pump to the big cabin is in place. Plumbing connections to the big cabin will get done next visit because today is Sunday...and what doesn't John do on Sunday? All together now, "John doesn't do plumbing on Sunday!"

To make the repair John had to find the water line to the big cabin. Unfortunately it was no longer above ground because the hillside has sluffed too much debris behind the little cabin and we have not kept it cleared out. Digging trenches and digging alongside the house is hard sweaty work! 

The new water line will run along the turn-around bulkhead for now. There was no point in burying it in front of the bulkhead as planned because sadly the turn-around bulkhead is in need of attention sooner than later. The water line can be burried properly after that.

This is the last leg of the journey from the pump to the big cabin.

Project #3)
The roof on the big cabin is swept and beautiful. It didn't get done last year and that made the job way harder than this old lady anticipated. The debris was deep and stuck to the shingles in many places - I even needed John's muscle in some spots! I had planned to do the little cabin too but I had no umph left...hahaha...next time!

You couldn't see the roofing material on the wood shed but now you can.
Next job is to remove the gutters. They don't do what gutters are supposed to do but they do hold in moisture and bugs to rot the roof - like the fishing cabin - and we'd rather not repeat that experience again!

The roof was in fairly good shape overall but it does have a couple of issues we will let a professional roofer look at and assess. There is a hole all the way to the plywood (that John temporarily covered); there is a soft spot that is reeeeeealy soft by the chimney; the chimney flashing needs some love and attention; and there are loose shingles throughout.

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Since we were there without 4-legged friends...
I started another one of the many projects that needs attention: The Wood-Bug-Control Project. Just like sweeping the roof, cleaning out behind the cabins and cutting ivy, this needs to be on our annual to-do list. We have so much wood construction on the property (basically everything!) that it is a smorgasbord of tasty treats for all the wood-eating bugs in the area!

This handy dandy self-contained spray bottle should do the trick in and outside of all buildings. I started with the inside of the little cabin.

The sinking floor (that is sinking not stinking) made it easy to follow the directions and saturate the area where the wall meets the floorboards!

All the black squiggly lines we've been seeing in the floor boards are signs of wood bugs...be gone with you bugs, be gone!

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Before the roof shingles get put on the fishing cabin...
The walls and floors of the fishing cabin need attention. We know where this job needs to start (!) but the scary thing is where will it stop?!

Could we be so lucky that the northeast corner under the fishing table is the ONLY floor and wall that needs replaced?

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Don't tell anyone...
But I'm getting pretty good at lighting the coals and cooking on a charcoal grill! These veggies and potatoes were tantalisingly tasty and the steaks that went alongside them for the final 10 minutes were delish!!

Grilled onion, pepper, broccoli and red potatoes mmmmmm good!

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Final Thought for the day...
I absolutely cherish the time we spend as a family at the beach. Weekends like Memorial Day, 4th of July and Labor day are epic...and weave the fabric of family fun!

As it turns out, a weekend at the beach alone was a lot of fun too. I highly recommend everyone give it a try now and again!

Circa 2010