It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's a...

...deck. 

Well, ALMOST a deck. I came home the other night to this. 

Yes, our deck was pretty pathetic. Hubby and I have been arguing back and forth in regard to this deck. We do agree that it needed to be replaced, and we do agree that we wanted it a little larger.

But I was all "over it" about 4 years ago. The thing is 30 years old. We've gotten our dollar's-worth out of it. It was pressure-treated wood, and it had seen its day. 

But let's just say that Hubby was "contemplating." He contemplated till the thing was falling apart, but there wasn't much I could do at that point. He had a plan, and I'm smart enough to know when he's not gonna budge. He wasn't budging. 

No, you're not drunk (though if you're watching the debate and playing a drinking game? I can't vouch for that). The deck has settled alarmingly. 

I was also hoping for a nice, slightly pretty panel along the one side, but he's not going to go for it. I think we're getting plain-Jane decking here. But it'll be more roomy and we'll be able to take the grill off the front porch, which will be nice. This picture is toward the front of the house -- he removed the entire set of stairs; they weren't put in very well in the first place, and it was kind of hazardous. The footings were horrible. 

That was Deck Do-Over Day One... This is Deck Do-Over Day Two... We have temporary steps. They're nice and wide, but getting three dogs in and out with this? It's a bit tricky. But Hubby was fine with it.

I, on the other hand, had to turn Tippi around last night, because she got right up to that top step and I couldn't get the door open! 

He's going to re-use those steps - at least most of the parts - for the steps coming toward the back yard. 

It's going to be nice when it's done. I have no idea what it's going to look like, mind you. But it'll be nice. Anything is better than the Wrecked Deck we've been dealing with. 


This is the view out the door tonight. We have forms of a sort. I expect that this will be taken care of in the next couple of days. The weather is getting cooler, and I know Hubby wants it done before the first frost. Alongside, where you can't see, we have a bunch of bags of river rocks. We also have some pea gravel for underneath. We're expanding it out another 2 - 3 feet, which puts it right under the neighbor's tree. Which is half-dead. And they're not doing anything to take care of it... So hopefully, we won't be building this just so their tree will fall over on it...

I'll post pictures of the finished product. It'll be lovely. No matter what the design, just to have a new deck will be nice. 

Fail Safe...

Watching - and getting chills - the movie "Fail Safe" where Henry Fonda has just ordered 2 US military planes to fly over New York and drop bombs in exchange for 2 "mistaken" US planes which are about to bomb Moscow. 

This movie was made in 1964. Henry Fonda plays the President, who can't stop a Strategic Air Command plane which has accidentally been cued to bomb Moscow. And it's scary to think this could happen. In the next year or so, depending on the outcome of the elections. Or North Korea. Either one. 



Random Picture... 

Tippi saw a lap. And onto that lap she sat. I thought it was adorable. The gal who was the lap in question didn't seem to have a problem with it...So she sat. That's my girl! 

She loves her visits to Lewis University, and she was all decked out in her Halloween duds. 

Hopefully, we have several more years of visits there - she's going to be 9 in January, and has had a few close calls with her health. So far, though? So good...