Each year when Spring comes and we open the door of the Love Shack, we have to do our annual inspection to see what Winter has done to the cottage.
We had the usual case of mouse droppings. This is first on the cleaning list each year. It seems that one dam mouse always gets in the house. We seem to catch one in the trap early on and we never find a second critter, yet we find critter droppings. The little buggers always go in the same place. The silverware drawer and the linen drawer.
My most unfavorite critters, the spiders had moved into the windows and the door jams. They were the next to have to go. With the shop-vac in hand, I bravely head to clean out the webs and the newly formed nest that will not hatch in the house.
Husband did an inspection of the outside of the cottage and this year he found two shingles were missing from the roof. With the high winds and heavy rain the past six months we are thankful no water has come through the roof and to have an easy fix.
The water is turned on and the fuel tank is full. The beds have been stripped, washed, and remade. The floors have been mopped. The appliances have been cleaned. The critters are out and we are thankful to start this season outwith any major repairs on hand.
And now we can start planning this year’s tasks.
When we closed up last year we had a planned date to have the cottage lifted. The plan is going forward as the house has sunk a little more and the settling cracks are slightly larger. This is a must-do and we will go forward with that.
The wait for this project is the heavy rain we have had. The ground needs to dry up a little better before the project can get underway. Then the next project will start.
It’s going to be the front deck. The furbabies, the Warriors, and I want the front deck where we can sit out and enjoy the shade and the sunsets. So that’s where we will start, right after the house gets lifted.
Come on sunshine and warm weather. I have waited five years to put on this deck and now that it is only a month away, I’m dreaming about this deck. You laugh, yes I’ve been dreaming about it and also been buying plants for the front garden and collecting bird feeders.
My drafting board is set up in my art studio and that’s where you will find me for the next month. Drawing flower gardens and a large deck.
Again come on sunshine and warm weather, It’s May, I’m done with April showers, I want May flowers.
Building The Love Shack 
I’m glad to see you are making plans up there and a few things will go accordingly. Hoping that happens down here as well. The better people can normalize their lives with new precautions the better the world will do. The inclination for many is to hunker down and not spend or go on–it’s tempting but it’s not good. I won’t get to spend much time at our camp/home in the Upper Peninsula because I can’t let health workers in here to care for my dad, so none of our projects will happen. I’m afraid just regular upkeep will not happen, though we’ll go up and spend a day checking on things and cleaning up a bit. Maybe I can get my brother to shelter a bit more and come here for a long weekend. But it’s nice to hear your plans.
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Thank you. I’m considering myself extremely lucky that the Husband can do these things and thankfully the family already lives in the same house so we haven’t had to be apart. Like everyone else, we need some normality and something else to focus on.
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