Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Mutchi]

 

[Kris5902]

BY Bob to the Rescue

Monday
I arrived at my daughter's on Monday night and they had gotten their part done. The floor and tub were tiled and the walls painted. The first thing I did Monday night was to install the toilet.

There had been no toilet for a week. Did I mention the house only has 1 bathroom and was built in 1948.

View attachment 2735168

There was no door so I grabbed a rug I keep in my car for emergencies and tacked it up.
View attachment 2735170

Since it took me 7 hours to drive there, it was midnight Monday when the toilet was operational.

Tuesday
We woke up early Tuesday and went to work. Tuesday's priorities in order of installation.

1. Vanity Light
2. Medicine Cabinet
3. Vanity
4. Sink and faucet
5. Caulk tub
6. Install shower head and shower fixtures

By the end of the day, all was completed but a flaw was identified in the shower control knob. The shower was usable but it was 12:30 am when we were done and showers would wait until morning.

View attachment 2735171
View attachment 2735172

Wednesday
It was hard waking up on Wednesday until you realized a shower was waiting. Everyone showered before we got started. There were a lot of smiles.

The big project on Wednesday was to install a new door. I hate installing doors. Along with the door we wanted to install

• GFI outlet
• Towel rack
• Toilet paper holder
• Exhaust fan
• Baseboard molding
• Window trim
• Marble window sill
• Bathroom door trim
• Door knob

We got the door installed, outlet, towel rack, exhaust fan, toilet paper holder, baseboard, and marble window sill.

It was when I was working on the window trim when I made my first error. It was about midnight and I mis-measured a cut on the left side trim. I had them purchase extra trim but before I cut that window trim again I wanted to cut the door trim.

Once I cut the door trim I uncovered issues mounting it to the door frame. Nothing was even. The door frame, studs, and wall were all at different depths. There was no good way to fasten the trim. At that point I pulled the plug on everything. I put on the door knob and sent everyone to bed around 1:30 am.

Thursday
I only had a half day on Thursday as I had to drive home. Everyone was up early and off to the home improvement store we went. After searching through all the trim options, I found two things which would make a nice fix. We bought the trim and headed back.

Everything went together beautifully. It turned out like it was designed that way. I finished the window trim and I was done.

Close up door trim. There are 4 pieces of wood making up this trim. I am still surprised at how well it came out.
View attachment 2735244

The rest was on them. I left them with a functioning bathroom again.

As I pulled out of their driveway, my son-in-law's father pulled in to complete the electrical and help with finishing the trim and painting the door.

Here is the bathroom as I left it.

Bathroom door, inside

View attachment 2735243

Outside
View attachment 2735174

Vanity, sink, medicine cabinet, and window.
View attachment 2735175
View attachment 2735182

Window and bath tile.
View attachment 2735176
View attachment 2735180

Bath tile and shower fixtures
View attachment 2735177View attachment 2735179

View attachment 2735178

Light fixture and exhaust fan
View attachment 2735181

Water running into the tub.
View attachment 2735183

Amazing job Bob! And I had an inkling that it might have been one of those 1 bathroom houses… it would hardly be a real “Rescue” otherwise! 1940’s-1960’s houses, for all their quirks are great though. They have solid bones you just don’t find in newer construction (I may be biased). Once you get the needed upgrades to the electric and plumbing, they just can’t be beat for practicality and quality.

 

[Kris5902]

First thing this morning my grandmother called wanting to pick me and Rosie up to go pick some lettuce a friend was going to give her. I was finally forced after almost 2 years of avoiding it to tell her that I was not comfortable anymore with her driving. With the many health issues she has now she does not need her license but refuses to give them up. It looks like it is going to take my mom forcefully getting power of attorney over her to get them taken away. Now, I love my grandmother, and would do anything in the world for her, but dementia is setting in, and she has always been one that if you are not doing something for her she has absolutely no use for you. We also get into many arguments over how I am raising Rosie. I'm going to get her killed messing with horses, or kidnapped because I let her outside to play in our neighborhood by herself. If she had her way, and she's tried, Rosie would be afraid of her own shadow. Also she is a hoarder. Me and mom have tried for years now to go help clean her place up and just get rid of garbage and she throws fits and ends up in tears claiming we treat her like dirt.

Anyway, me and mom and Rose head down to her house, intending to pick her up and go pick this lettuce for her. Get there, and she'd had someone else go get it for her. Ok fine, you still need to go to the store and pay bills, lets go. Nope ends up sending me and mom to the store and bills can wait to the end of the month.

We get back and unload everything and convince her to let us help her by washing her dishes which had piled up. So she decides ok, she'd take a nap. While she's sleeping and mom is washing dishes me and Rose go clean her bathroom for her and do her laundry.

Due to her hoarding, she has a mouse problem. She claims she's only had a few mice for the last 2 months and has been setting traps and killing them. While yes it's true she's got traps set, and may be getting a couple here and there, but, this has been going on longer then 2 months.

Mom was almost finished with the dishes and I was waiting on the 2nd load of laundry to finish washing when we took a break and went outside to smoke. Out there maybe 5 minutes when it all went to crap. On our way back in as soon as we opened the screen door there he was. She has a 5 foot black snake in her house. Cue instant heart attack #1 for me. We scared the snake as much as he scared us so he doubled back and hid in the junk she had piled up along her living room wall.

Grandma also spotted the back end of the snake as he ran and swears she didn't know he was in there. This freaked her out so bad that for once she demanded we catch him even if it meant throwing everything along that wall away. 5 hours later, with about 10 different mice flying out at me when I'd move a box and half her living room clean. STILL NO SNAKE!! At this point me and mom are exhausted, when I came across a nest of baby mice and she had a idea. Since she refused to come home with us, her plan was to use one of her minnow traps and place the baby mice inside it to lure the snake in. I told her she's crazy but she swears it will work, she's caught copperheads before using that method. Fine, whatever, but that snake is too fat to fit through the opening. It also meant I got the lovely job of catching the baby mice. Now these were not pinkies, they had fur and could run around and jump. I hate mice almost as much as snakes and those little devils were jumping all over the box they was in so I was in the middle of heart attack 12 or 13 at that time. But I caught them, all 7 and they are now in minnow trap and its placed right beside her stove where we think maybe the snake escaped to.

It has been a long trying day and my nerves are shot. BUT, she wants all the junk out of her house now. While she is in this frame of mind me and mom plan to do as much as we can as fast as we can. Because one wrong word, or the wrong thing gets tossed she'll do a 180 and decide everything is once again useful and needs to stay.

I am so sorry you’re going through this. Dementia and watching a loved one slip into this sort of state is so difficult. And getting a power of Attorney is damn hard sometimes. They end up being so far gone before something can be done. Who would have thought a snake would be that much a blessing? I don’t think that description matches a venomous one in your area though, luckily. Probably just a very well fed Rat snake, though they can have some really nasty attitudes.

My grandmother went through a similar situation, and now the beginnings of these behaviors have been showing up in my mother as well. The only people who really see it are my uncle and I, and DH to some extent, but when you try to explain to someone that didn’t know her when she was mentally better, they just assume you’re exaggerating, or brush it off as no big deal. I had to clean out her hoarding, bedbug infested apartment after her surgery, and this is why we need to have her in the same house. She won’t eat more than toast or cheese sandwiches if left to her own devices. She literally tried to pack and move a broken toaster in the original box… “so it doesn’t work? Why do you want to keep it? It was a $10 toaster from Walmart, no I don’t care if it’s a “good box” it’s going to the dump!”

You’re not alone in this, and I believe it’s much more common than most people realize.

 

[RoyalChick]

First thing this morning my grandmother called wanting to pick me and Rosie up to go pick some lettuce a friend was going to give her. I was finally forced after almost 2 years of avoiding it to tell her that I was not comfortable anymore with her driving. With the many health issues she has now she does not need her license but refuses to give them up. It looks like it is going to take my mom forcefully getting power of attorney over her to get them taken away. Now, I love my grandmother, and would do anything in the world for her, but dementia is setting in, and she has always been one that if you are not doing something for her she has absolutely no use for you. We also get into many arguments over how I am raising Rosie. I'm going to get her killed messing with horses, or kidnapped because I let her outside to play in our neighborhood by herself. If she had her way, and she's tried, Rosie would be afraid of her own shadow. Also she is a hoarder. Me and mom have tried for years now to go help clean her place up and just get rid of garbage and she throws fits and ends up in tears claiming we treat her like dirt.

Anyway, me and mom and Rose head down to her house, intending to pick her up and go pick this lettuce for her. Get there, and she'd had someone else go get it for her. Ok fine, you still need to go to the store and pay bills, lets go. Nope ends up sending me and mom to the store and bills can wait to the end of the month.

We get back and unload everything and convince her to let us help her by washing her dishes which had piled up. So she decides ok, she'd take a nap. While she's sleeping and mom is washing dishes me and Rose go clean her bathroom for her and do her laundry.

Due to her hoarding, she has a mouse problem. She claims she's only had a few mice for the last 2 months and has been setting traps and killing them. While yes it's true she's got traps set, and may be getting a couple here and there, but, this has been going on longer then 2 months.

Mom was almost finished with the dishes and I was waiting on the 2nd load of laundry to finish washing when we took a break and went outside to smoke. Out there maybe 5 minutes when it all went to crap. On our way back in as soon as we opened the screen door there he was. She has a 5 foot black snake in her house. Cue instant heart attack #1 for me. We scared the snake as much as he scared us so he doubled back and hid in the junk she had piled up along her living room wall.

Grandma also spotted the back end of the snake as he ran and swears she didn't know he was in there. This freaked her out so bad that for once she demanded we catch him even if it meant throwing everything along that wall away. 5 hours later, with about 10 different mice flying out at me when I'd move a box and half her living room clean. STILL NO SNAKE!! At this point me and mom are exhausted, when I came across a nest of baby mice and she had a idea. Since she refused to come home with us, her plan was to use one of her minnow traps and place the baby mice inside it to lure the snake in. I told her she's crazy but she swears it will work, she's caught copperheads before using that method. Fine, whatever, but that snake is too fat to fit through the opening. It also meant I got the lovely job of catching the baby mice. Now these were not pinkies, they had fur and could run around and jump. I hate mice almost as much as snakes and those little devils were jumping all over the box they was in so I was in the middle of heart attack 12 or 13 at that time. But I caught them, all 7 and they are now in minnow trap and its placed right beside her stove where we think maybe the snake escaped to.

It has been a long trying day and my nerves are shot. BUT, she wants all the junk out of her house now. While she is in this frame of mind me and mom plan to do as much as we can as fast as we can. Because one wrong word, or the wrong thing gets tossed she'll do a 180 and decide everything is once again useful and needs to stay.

What a story! You and your Mom did a lot of good deeds. You may not get thanked, but nonetheless you did good by your grandmother.

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

Hey, that's a lot of nice hay, and that chicken is beautiful!

Drummy is such a pretty and diligent rooster.

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

Me too. I have a half wine barrel that would make a very big and comfy nestbox. But only for eggs, not for chicks because they'd not be able to climb out.

I'm thinking if the layers take to the barrel, the little coop would be available for brooding and hatching.

Will there be a cover over the wine barrel or will it be inverted?

I was looking at my current, store bought coop. The nesting boxes have a removable floor. I was wondering if I could take the floor away and position a large planter under it. I will provide pics if i decide to try it. It might take some finagling.

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

BY Bob to the Rescue

Monday
I arrived at my daughter's on Monday night and they had gotten their part done. The floor and tub were tiled and the walls painted. The first thing I did Monday night was to install the toilet.

There had been no toilet for a week. Did I mention the house only has 1 bathroom and was built in 1948.

View attachment 2735168

There was no door so I grabbed a rug I keep in my car for emergencies and tacked it up.
View attachment 2735170

Since it took me 7 hours to drive there, it was midnight Monday when the toilet was operational.

Tuesday
We woke up early Tuesday and went to work. Tuesday's priorities in order of installation.

1. Vanity Light
2. Medicine Cabinet
3. Vanity
4. Sink and faucet
5. Caulk tub
6. Install shower head and shower fixtures

By the end of the day, all was completed but a flaw was identified in the shower control knob. The shower was usable but it was 12:30 am when we were done and showers would wait until morning.

View attachment 2735171
View attachment 2735172

Wednesday
It was hard waking up on Wednesday until you realized a shower was waiting. Everyone showered before we got started. There were a lot of smiles.

The big project on Wednesday was to install a new door. I hate installing doors. Along with the door we wanted to install

• GFI outlet
• Towel rack
• Toilet paper holder
• Exhaust fan
• Baseboard molding
• Window trim
• Marble window sill
• Bathroom door trim
• Door knob

We got the door installed, outlet, towel rack, exhaust fan, toilet paper holder, baseboard, and marble window sill.

It was when I was working on the window trim when I made my first error. It was about midnight and I mis-measured a cut on the left side trim. I had them purchase extra trim but before I cut that window trim again I wanted to cut the door trim.

Once I cut the door trim I uncovered issues mounting it to the door frame. Nothing was even. The door frame, studs, and wall were all at different depths. There was no good way to fasten the trim. At that point I pulled the plug on everything. I put on the door knob and sent everyone to bed around 1:30 am.

Thursday
I only had a half day on Thursday as I had to drive home. Everyone was up early and off to the home improvement store we went. After searching through all the trim options, I found two things which would make a nice fix. We bought the trim and headed back.

Everything went together beautifully. It turned out like it was designed that way. I finished the window trim and I was done.

Close up door trim. There are 4 pieces of wood making up this trim. I am still surprised at how well it came out.
View attachment 2735244

The rest was on them. I left them with a functioning bathroom again.

As I pulled out of their driveway, my son-in-law's father pulled in to complete the electrical and help with finishing the trim and painting the door.

Here is the bathroom as I left it.

Bathroom door, inside

View attachment 2735243

Outside
View attachment 2735174

Vanity, sink, medicine cabinet, and window.
View attachment 2735175
View attachment 2735182

Window and bath tile.
View attachment 2735176
View attachment 2735180

Bath tile and shower fixtures
View attachment 2735177View attachment 2735179

View attachment 2735178

Light fixture and exhaust fan
View attachment 2735181

Water running into the tub.
View attachment 2735183

I'm completely gobsmacked! What a lot you got done and in so little time. You guys worked like Trojans. What a great result!

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

As long as there is one functional bathroom, it’s not a problem, it doesn’t even need to be nice or pretty; but if you have a 1 or 1.5 bathroom house and it’s torn apart and abandoned by the contractor… that bathroom becomes the priority really fast! We had a downstairs one to use while we renovated ours, inconvenient but not impossible. It took me a whole week to get complete and boy was I glad my uncle made us finish the basement suites bathroom before tearing out ours! For a while there was just a bed sheet tacked up between our roommates bedroom and the bathroom. We literally re-plumbed the entire house (while my Uncle did no silicone involved) and replaced the main ventilation stack as well, which was why the wall was totally missing… there was no getting the cast iron pipe out with the wall intact!

We have had a leak somewhere in the wall between the bathroom and the laundry for years.
Various plumbers/builders have insisted that it is the shower surround. We have had the bathroom replaced twice but the leak persists
This time we will be removing the walls and checking all the pipes! Luckily we now have an en-suite we can use while the bathroom is out of action.

Chicken tax: baby Edwina and Baby Alice

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

First thing this morning my grandmother called wanting to pick me and Rosie up to go pick some lettuce a friend was going to give her. I was finally forced after almost 2 years of avoiding it to tell her that I was not comfortable anymore with her driving. With the many health issues she has now she does not need her license but refuses to give them up. It looks like it is going to take my mom forcefully getting power of attorney over her to get them taken away. Now, I love my grandmother, and would do anything in the world for her, but dementia is setting in, and she has always been one that if you are not doing something for her she has absolutely no use for you. We also get into many arguments over how I am raising Rosie. I'm going to get her killed messing with horses, or kidnapped because I let her outside to play in our neighborhood by herself. If she had her way, and she's tried, Rosie would be afraid of her own shadow. Also she is a hoarder. Me and mom have tried for years now to go help clean her place up and just get rid of garbage and she throws fits and ends up in tears claiming we treat her like dirt.

Anyway, me and mom and Rose head down to her house, intending to pick her up and go pick this lettuce for her. Get there, and she'd had someone else go get it for her. Ok fine, you still need to go to the store and pay bills, lets go. Nope ends up sending me and mom to the store and bills can wait to the end of the month.

We get back and unload everything and convince her to let us help her by washing her dishes which had piled up. So she decides ok, she'd take a nap. While she's sleeping and mom is washing dishes me and Rose go clean her bathroom for her and do her laundry.

Due to her hoarding, she has a mouse problem. She claims she's only had a few mice for the last 2 months and has been setting traps and killing them. While yes it's true she's got traps set, and may be getting a couple here and there, but, this has been going on longer then 2 months.

Mom was almost finished with the dishes and I was waiting on the 2nd load of laundry to finish washing when we took a break and went outside to smoke. Out there maybe 5 minutes when it all went to crap. On our way back in as soon as we opened the screen door there he was. She has a 5 foot black snake in her house. Cue instant heart attack #1 for me. We scared the snake as much as he scared us so he doubled back and hid in the junk she had piled up along her living room wall.

Grandma also spotted the back end of the snake as he ran and swears she didn't know he was in there. This freaked her out so bad that for once she demanded we catch him even if it meant throwing everything along that wall away. 5 hours later, with about 10 different mice flying out at me when I'd move a box and half her living room clean. STILL NO SNAKE!! At this point me and mom are exhausted, when I came across a nest of baby mice and she had a idea. Since she refused to come home with us, her plan was to use one of her minnow traps and place the baby mice inside it to lure the snake in. I told her she's crazy but she swears it will work, she's caught copperheads before using that method. Fine, whatever, but that snake is too fat to fit through the opening. It also meant I got the lovely job of catching the baby mice. Now these were not pinkies, they had fur and could run around and jump. I hate mice almost as much as snakes and those little devils were jumping all over the box they was in so I was in the middle of heart attack 12 or 13 at that time. But I caught them, all 7 and they are now in minnow trap and its placed right beside her stove where we think maybe the snake escaped to.

It has been a long trying day and my nerves are shot. BUT, she wants all the junk out of her house now. While she is in this frame of mind me and mom plan to do as much as we can as fast as we can. Because one wrong word, or the wrong thing gets tossed she'll do a 180 and decide everything is once again useful and needs to stay.

OMG!!!!
At least she's letting you get rid of some of the junk. I hope your energy and patience lasts the distance and Grandma lets you get on with it.
You probably already know this, but get rid of the junk as you go, that is, take it away with you. Otherwise Grandma may raid the bin and bring stuff back in.

Wishing you all the best from the Southern Hemisphere.

Good luck!

 

[Marie2020]

It really is a ‘now you see it now you don’t’ situation. No pecking just gone. Very satisfying!