Can you believe that my last status on the round house was posted on May 25th? Time moves so slowly any more, that seems like eons ago now, and yet we are STILL not finished. There are so many nit pickin’ little things to do, some must-have and some nice-to-have, but ALL critical things must be finished by July 31st because that’s when our first renters will show up at the door. The clock is ticking.
We have lived a lifetime since May 25th, and not all of it has revolved around the round house. Summer is here, and though our bi-annual Bowen Family Reunion ended up being shelved for the time being we’ve still had our own kids down here a few times, which is always fun. The neighborhood here at the lake is busier with families coming down to spend more time at their weekend places, so the ‘hood has been bustling with friends old and new. Many of you already heard the news that our sweet greyhound, Bo, passed away last month, which was tough on us all. And the circumstances surrounding his final trip home provided me yet another story to share with you.
We have a 2-car garage down here at the lake but one side is dedicated to Greg’s truck, which is always loaded down with all the tools required to keep things moving over on the house project. The other stall of the garage is filled with large boxes of brand new outdoor furniture from Costco, purchased more than two years ago and destined for our deck-expansion-that-never-was. But it WILL be someday I swear, so the furniture remains hermetically sealed and preserved in this sacred spot, along with our Polaris Ranger that ferries us to and from the boat dock on those rare occasions that we actually do lake-things, like other folks do around here. My car? Its spot was out on the driveway most nights, which has always been fine in the 20-odd years that we have owned a lake house in southern Missouri. Until now.
So on the morning that we had to load sweet Bo up in Greg’s truck and take the long journey back to KC to meet with Bo’s vet, we pulled Greg’s truck out of the garage and put my 2012 Prius in its spot, where it could luxuriate in indoor comfort and shade while we were gone. Upon our return four days later, we pulled the Prius back outside and drove the truck into its normal spot. Three days later I flitted out to my car to run some errands, pushed the start button and got…nothin’. All the lights on the dashboard lit up like Las Vegas, so I knew something was awry. I opened the glove box to pull the manuals out and study up on what it means when every single light lights up on the dashboard, and this clump of wires fell out. That was my first clue that my problem was not just a dead battery.
OK great – something got into my car and actively munched down on its guts. Are you KIDDING ME??!!! Friends happened to stop by just then, and with their support and encouragement I braved the idea of lifting the hood, only to discovered this:
These are the hallmark signs of a packrat. It is unfortunate that they are undeniably cute - I mean, look at those eyes!
But, do you see the colorful purple glove, the Bounce Sheet, and the dusty rose-colored tulle? Do you see the environmentally friendly rat poison (which obviously did not work quickly enough), and the t-shirt rag? All these items were scavenged from our garage by the rat while we were away. It seems that this cute, destructive packrat made its way into my car while it was parked outside, chewed its way through the cabin air filter and found luxurious nesting grounds inside my car. Packrats are nocturnal animals, so it was asleep IN MY CAR when I pulled it into the garage for “safety” while we were away. We have cameras in the garage, so after all of this was discovered, Greg reviewed the week’s footage and witnessed night after night of the thing foraging through our garage and gathering random items to pack away in the engine compartment. When we returned on Friday I moved the car back outside – again WITH THE THING INSIDE. Between Friday and Monday the animal completely demolished my car, chewing through all three wiring harnesses and using the trunk area as its bathroom. I’ll save you the details of all that.
Just before the tow truck driver arrived to haul my car away, Greg discovered that the packrat was STILL inside the thing, alive and well. We tried everything we knew to try to roust it out, but it wouldn’t cooperate. Just before sending my car off, we loaded it up with mouse traps and anything we could think of to get it stopped in its tracks. I didn’t want a live rat in my car of course, but I also didn’t want a DEAD rat in my car, in the heat, in my unattended car, away from me where no one would care. The Toyota dealership service manager called as soon as my car arrived there, and I quickly filled him in on the situation. He responded that he was sorry, but he was swamped and wouldn’t be able to even look at my car until later in the week/early the following week. I implored him to please let his folks know about the rat. Please check. Please get rid of it. “Yes ma’am. We will.” (Sure.) That was Monday. On Friday afternoon I received a call. “Well ma’am, we got your rat. It’s dead.” And what tipped them off, pray tell? The smell, of course.
Suffice it to say, my car was totaled. The repair estimate topped $12,500, and that did not include disinfectant. In my normal life I would have been devastated with this news. And in certain moments, I sort of was. But because Greg and I are living this alternate reality down at the lake we really don’t do much apart from one another, the blessing in all this was the fact that we could function pretty easily with just one vehicle. But one fateful day Greg was perusing the Shell Knob Online Yard Sale Facebook page, which is normally cluttered with items most folks would simply put out at the curb, but this day was special. On this day, someone listed their 2016 Toyota RAV 4 for sale. We followed up, it was legit, we bought it, and here I am:
And we have rearranged the garage so that THIS baby can be parked inside.
With the round house in the background, I’ll pivot to the latest goings-on over there. When we last left-off, I told you all the sad story of the mini-me round house burning to the ground and the collateral damage exhibited in the garage. Greg needed to “sister” longer, sturdier boards to the garage rafters to shore up our sinking garage roof, and once again an amazing neighbor along the street came to the rescue.
If you happen to need a backhoe, an arc welder, a scissor-lift, or any sort of big, manly “toy,” just come on down to our street because someone will have just what you need and will be happy to lend it. So, Kent was our knight in shining armor with his scissor lift. The lift provided Greg a stable platform and the ability to independently work on the rafters without leaning on them, and he got this dirty job done in record time.
Back to the house, where we had one last window to replace. Greg had resisted the idea of replacement here because he:
a) Wanted to save money, and
b) He thought this window was “so cool!”
I, meanwhile, railed on the fact that we had replaced every single window in this house except this one. This window bugged me for the following reasons:
a) It looked ugly, and didn’t match the look of the others
b) It consisted of four independent pieces of glass, two of which slid back and forth on a filthy track for no reason. I guess if you messed with it long enough you could actually OPEN the window to get some air in, but you almost needed an engineering degree to figure out how.
c) It was a pain to clean, for reasons noted above.
It took nearly a year of haranguing, but this week I finally got my wish. Immediately after he set the thing in place Greg agreed – it’s amazing. It’s big, fits in with all the rest, and is simple to clean. It’s just a picture window, and while a kitchen should normally have a functioning window to open and ventilate the room after, oh I don’t know – burning popcorn in the microwave? – it’s important to note that THIS kitchen is part of the living/dining area where there are already four 60” double hung windows and two sliding doors, plus an entry door just a few steps away, so there are plenty of ways to ventilate the space.
With that in place we can now finish the backsplash tile. We’ve come a long way overall, so here’s a little teaser of the latest improvements.
Hallway doors, with hardware - finally
Kitchen - we're getting there
Messy Living Room, in use
Queen bedroom, with picture that may hang above bed
Adjacent bathroom to Queen bedroom
Finished shower in that bathroom
King bedroom
Greg's second cousin, Kathleen, and her husband, Glen, were down here for a visit with friends, and broke away for a short while to check on our progress. We were grateful for the break, and had a great time catching up.
Now it's time to boat and float. Look for another update SOON!
