Work on the Deck

In late August we were enjoying some very nice weather in the Hansville area. Brett, Kasey and Cecilia decided to take advantage of the great weather to come up for a weekend to sand and finish the deck before the winter weather arrived.

Kasey doing some of the finish sanding

Of course they also hoped to have some time to relax on the beach but you know how home improvement projects always seem to involve more time than planned. The deck preparation, sanding, and painting managed to take up most of the weekend.

Brett operating the heavy duty Sander

While Brett and Kasey labored to resurface the deck Nancy and I had time to enjoy Cecilia. Of course we took time to go to the beach which she really enjoys.

Brett works on the roof with observers

During the week that followed we were sitting in the dining room having breakfast when Ray saw a large bird fly from the back yard to the tree. Upon closer investigation we discovered it was a large barred owl that sat in the tree for a long time and even allowed us to go outside for a closer look and to take his picture. We often get to enjoy wildlife in the yard like deer, raccoons, squirrels and chipmunks but this was the first owl we had seen in the yard.

Barred Owl keeping an eye on us

Realizing that we sometimes needed a bigger vehicle than our Honda Civic we had been keeping our eyes peeled for a van. Anticipating travels with visitors spurred us to purchase a Toyota van while visiting Eugene. It did feel a bit strange withdrawing the cash from a drive through window at our credit union, signing over the title in the parking lot and within the hour heading to Portland to pick up our guests.

Our new to us Toyota van

Family reunion fun

Brett, Wren and Cecilia enjoy the pickle ball court

We were really happy that Kari, Charles, Travis and Wren could spend time at our place when returning from summer in Tennessee. How fortunate that Brett, Kasey and Cecilia could travel north from Vancouver so that all of the family could spend a long weekend together. It was a full house and we sure had a lot of fun with lots of time at the beach or in the back yard.

Chalk art was also popular on the court

The back yard pickle ball court was a big hit. What, you don’t know about pickle ball! Apparently a lot of folks don’t but it is very popular around here and rumor has it that it was developed on Bainbridge Island which is not far from us. Pickle ball is played on a concrete court that looks much like a tennis court but smaller. Players use paddles that look like oversized ping pong paddles and a ball that looks a lot like small wiffle ball. The game is scored just like tennis but we did not bother to keep score. Pickle ball was a hit and many hours were spent batting the ball around on the court.


Wren, Cecilia and Travis resting

One day Ray played barefoot and that evening found that the concrete court had made his feet sore and he now recommends wearing shoes. The court was also used to create lots of chalk drawings which were washed away when we had rain. The family made many trips to the beach and created many sand castles as well as uncovered many sea creatures. It sure was fun to spend a lot of time on the beach and with the weather partly cloudy and very little wind we could enjoy the beach to the fullest. When the beach is in full sun it can be quite hot. When we returned to the house it was amazing to see how much sand came back with the kids as we hosed them down. One day it was rainy so we went to the nearby Naval Undersea Museum which is a very nice museum following the history of the submarine and undersea explorations. The kids had a great time playing in the control room and using the periscopes to see outside.

Charles, Kari, Travis, Ray and Wren relaxing

While they were here the wildlife seemed to hide, maybe they were frightened away by the extra people and Gopher, Brett and Kasey’s dog, that came up for a visit as well. One afternoon a young raccoon did hang around long enough for the kids to enjoy. We also had a doe and her fawn in the yard to entertain us for a while one morning.

Cecilia Wren and Travis enjoyed playing on the beach...

Hansville critters

Gopher is welcome to visit anytime

This has been an interesting month with wild creatures. As we do not have a dog or cat it seems the critters feel right at home here. We often enjoy wildlife sightings in our yard. We particularly enjoy seeing the does with fawns and raccoons with babies that seem to be frequent guests. We also enjoy the squirrels and chipmunks but recently we were pulled into a territorial battle with one squirrel. We had reports from guests that they heard noises coming from the roof. At first we thought it must be a bird on the roof, but more careful listening determined something was in the attic. As the sounds were so infrequent it took a while to track down the source but we had noticed a squirrel with a twitchy tail that seemed to often hang around the carport. When Brett and family were visiting we were watching the squirrel in the carport when it disappeared behind the chimney. On closer inspection we could see a small hole going into the attic behind the chimney. Next step was to insure the squirrel was out of the attic and then seal the hole. Gopher, Brett and Kasey’s dog, helped insure the squirrel stayed in a tree as Brett used expanding foam to seal the hole and chimney area. For the next few days the squirrel was observed in the area and some shredded foam scraps showed he had tried to re-open the hole. One day when we returned from the beach we spotted the squirrel near the area so Ray tapped a piece of firewood on the wall. What a surprise it was to all of us to see the squirrel make a suicide leap from the carport rafters to the top of the car and then scurry off into a nearby tree to scold us. Since then we have not seen evidence of him trying to reopen the hole but we did notice a squirrel looking out from a small opening at the other end of the house. Now that entry has also been sealed, and yes, we did make sure the attic was clear of a nest and babies before we sealed the entrances.