Water From Every Direction

Today started a little earlier than I planned.

Around 8:00 this morning I heard the garbage truck making its way down the road, so I climbed out of bed knowing I wanted to catch them before they reached our driveway.

When they pulled up, I noticed both of the guys taking pictures of the pile we'd put out.

That immediately got my attention.

I walked over and asked, "Everything okay?"

They smiled and told me it was fine.

Apparently they just take photos for the office.

I guess we'll find out when the bill comes.

Honestly, I didn't think the pile was all that excessive.

The garbage cans weren't even completely full.

There were a couple of toilets, the old rooftop luggage carrier, the dismantled couch and recliner, .

We'll see what happens.

Once the garbage truck pulled away, I climbed onto the tractor.

The first project of the day was retrieving the carved totem that had fallen during one of the recent storms.

Unfortunately, when I got over to it, I realized it was in much worse condition than I'd hoped.

The entire stump had split lengthwise.

It was full of ants, and there simply wasn't enough solid wood left to save.

The good news is the carved face itself separated in one piece.

I carefully picked it up and moved it over to a shelf in the pavilion where it'll stay dry until I decide exactly what to do with it.

At least a small piece of it will survive.

From there I headed over to the main house to start hauling firewood.

Most of it has been sitting on the ground for years, so it's absolutely soaked.

Even so, there's no sense letting it continue to rot where it sits.

I stacked what I could on the new firewood rack, then grabbed an old pallet from behind the pavilion and started another stack there.

Once everything was piled up, I covered it with a tarp.

Hopefully, with good airflow and enough time, some of that wood will eventually dry out enough to burn.

Making trips back and forth gave me plenty of opportunities to stop and look at a few other projects.

I spent a little time examining the old riding mower from what I believe is the 1960s.

Yesterday I was excited about the possibility of restoring it.

Today...

I'm not so sure.

It may simply be too far gone.

I'll set it aside for now and make that decision another day.

I also spent a little time looking over the post hole digger that came with the tractor.

One of the mounting brackets had been welded sometime in the past, and that weld has now broken.

I'm hoping I can locate a replacement bracket rather than trying to repair it again.

Throughout all of this, Wyatt was doing pretty well around the tractor.

At least...

At first.

Eventually he started barking at it.

I think these machines still make him a little nervous.

So I picked him up and put him on the tractor with me.

He wasn't exactly relaxed, but after riding around for a little while he seemed to settle in.

Just as we made it back to the old wood pile near the main house, the skies opened up.

Again.

The rain came down so hard that we made a quick trip over to the Quonset hut to wait it out.

After sitting there for a while, it became obvious the rain wasn't going anywhere.

So we headed back to camp.

Once things dried off a little, I decided to see if I could repair the mower.

I wanted to install the new tensioner spring and also take a closer look at the weed trimmer.

Somewhere along the way the air filter cover disappeared, so I needed to figure out exactly which parts to order.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get the mower back together.

I couldn't quite determine where the spring was supposed to mount, and I also noticed the drive belt has worn from running loose.

At this point it may simply be easier to let our repair guy handle it. Maybe... I might make another run at it. I usually figure it out before help arrives anyway.

We'll see.

After that I headed back into the bunkhouse.

Within seconds...

I stepped in exactly the wrong place.

My foot went through the floor.

Again.

Funny...

Not funny.

Since I was already there, I decided to cut away the lower sections of drywall on two walls and remove the insulation so I could get a better look.

To my surprise...

The insulation wasn't wet.

That actually gave me a little hope.

It's making me think the water may not be coming from inside the wall after all.

Instead, I'm beginning to suspect it's surface water collecting outside the house and moisture evaporating up from underneath.

That entire side of the house stays extremely wet.

If that's really the problem, then hopefully it's something I can improve before rebuilding everything.

I climbed back onto the tractor and spent a little time reshaping the ground along that side of the house, creating a slight slope to encourage water to drain away instead of collecting against the foundation.

Will it solve the problem?

Probably not completely.

But hopefully it'll help.

Tomorrow I plan to go through the entire area with my moisture meter to see exactly where the worst spots are.

I'm also going to pick up some house wrap and plywood so I can temporarily seal that section and protect it while I continue tracking down the source of the water.

We already expected to replace portions of the subfloor.

Before rebuilding anything, though, I need to understand exactly where the water is coming from.

Otherwise I'll just be repairing the same problem twice.

By the time I made it back to camp, Wyatt's paws were looking pretty dry. I have been meaning to put something on them, today was the day, so I rubbed a little paw balm on them.

He appreciated it...

For about thirty seconds.

Then he was ready to go back outside and play again.

By this point, I realized I'd spent the entire day thinking about water.

Water falling from the sky.

Water trapped beneath the house.

Water soaking old firewood.

It seemed like everywhere I turned today, there was another reminder of just how much water can shape a property.

I decided there was only one way to end the day.

I built a fire.

It felt good to sit there quietly, watching the flames and letting the day slowly melt away.

I never did see any hummingbirds today.

But while I was sitting by the fire, I heard the unmistakable buzz of one flying past me.

Sometimes you don't need to see something to know it's still there.

And somehow...

That felt like the perfect way to end the day.

~ Making Memories