Time sure goes by too fast when Hubs is home. It seems like there is always a long list of things that we need to do. Here are a few of the things we worked on during his home time:
Our (ahem) floating dock. There was no way we could get it repositioned to where it once was without dismantling. Of course, that first meant getting it onto the shore. Let me just say that a 5 x 24-foot wooden dock is no light thing! We used our pickup to flip it out of the water. We also had an air mattress strategically positioned to help break its fall when going over the rocks. The dock survived. As expected, the air mattress didn’t fare quite as well.
Once the dock was on solid ground, we set about taking it partially apart. We decided to reconfigure it so we would have more of a deck area. Of course, this also meant a trip to Lowes for more lumber and other supplies. Gift cards took care of those expenses. We still have more work to do (straighten the one piece and build another 16 feet out), but it is getting there. Best yet, I’m no longer worried about it breaking loose from the rope and ending up who knows where on the lake! I missed taking a picture of the dock flipped over, but this should give you an idea of what we were dealing with.
Before it floated away.
Not easy to retrieve!
Secured with ropes
Water is going down!
Hubs relaxing on the new deck.
Another thing we took care of was two of our vehicles. Mostly routine maintenance (alignment, brakes, oil changes, etc.) but these things all require time and (sigh) money.
We had the adjustor out for our collapsed deck again. A huge annoyance in that he said we would hear back within a couple of days. I called this morning, and he now says he wants two estimates. Really? Why he couldn’t have called and let us know this, ugh! As it is, we (almost) have one. Yes, I placed a call about that, too. We had a contractor out but have yet to receive the bid.
When Hubs was home, we also replaced his tablet. His other one was over three years old and had quit working. He has a GPS but likes the tablet to get a better overview of where his work sends him. We have our service through ATT and wanted to stay with our no-contract plan, so this meant a trip to Best Buy. While buying it outright to the tune of a little over $200 might cost more, I like knowing that we can walk away from ATT at any time. I despise phone/internet contracts and have no desire ever to have one again.
We rolled some Kohls cash (earned from some business purchases) to buy Hubs some much-needed jeans, shorts, and shirts. Far from a pleasant experience as Hubs hates to shop for clothes. We usually get his work jeans at TSC but making another stop wasn’t happening! Since this trip earned me $20 in Kohls cash (plus I had a $5 Yes to You rewards and a 30% off coupon), I rolled it to buy myself some things. I managed to get two pairs of capris, six tops, and a baby gift for $54. Now we both look presentable out in public again. Lol I’ll use the new $10 Kohls cash I earned and get some socks. If you aren’t careful, Kohls can become a vicious cycle! And no worries, the bill was paid in full.
One of the last things we did was plant 125 bare root hybrid poplars I had ordered. Part of our land (we have four acres) had been harvested long before we purchased it. While there was some new growth, we have an acre or so by the road and on our hill that seemed slow to rebound. With delivery costs, these trees were $132. While this fell more under a “want” category, we also didn’t want to wait another year to do this. These trees can grow 5-8 feet (not a typo!) each year. You know the old Chinese proverb: “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” As to why we planted so many, it is because of the deer and the moose. If even half of the trees make it, we will have done well.
There isn’t much more on the debt homefront. I did pay another $400 towards our furnace. It is now down to $3700. We are making progress. If – and that is a big if – we can continue paying off $400/week, we could have it paid off sometime in August. For right now, hard as it is, I’m trying to take it one week at a time.
I hope more of your trees survive. Have you thought about deer deterrents?
I do too! Not much seems to stop the deer. The moose, too, will eat anything they can get too. We also have bears that, while they don’t eat the trees, they trample over them.
Wow! Lots of projects completed and more debt attack. Good for you!
We kept busy, that’s for sure. In addition, I also worked my regular schedule with the kiddo.
The dock looks nice! I hope the whole porch estimate and insurance adjuster thing works out well.
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Thanks. The contractor is supposed to be emailing me the bid. Still waiting. Sigh.
I can’t impinge trying to wrangle that deck – must have been FUN!!!! Plugging along here – have Chase under $6,000 now so it is getting there. It is hard to be patient, but a good lesson for me to finally learn. Hope there are no issues with the coverage on the deck!!!
I was thankful no one was around to see the deck fiasco! Lol I’m sure reaching another milestone with your Chase account feels great! Change that six to a five! Woohoo! I find stuff like that so motivating!
I can relate to the Kohls cycle. This year I have reigned it in a bit since I am on a clothe buying freeze for myself.
It is a cycle, that’s for sure. We are both set for clothing too, hence ending the cycle by buying socks. Lol
The new deck looks nice! Sounds like a lot of work to get it out and fixed. That’s a lot of trees to plant. I’ll have to check into see if those grow well here, we need something fast growing. Pine trees are very slow growers in this region.
Thanks! We still have more to do, but it will keep until the next time Hubs is home. I think your state does fall under the zones for these poplars. We ordered ours from Cold Stream Farms. I initially had a bit of sticker shock with the shipping charges, but it looks like it is the going rate for this sort of thing. They were packed well and came with 25 extra trees, so I was super happy about that!