Rita Adventure: Part 4
Playpens, showers, and a dinner party. :-)
It's Sunday, and now we miss the winds, because at least they had kept us cool. There is a slight breeze, so we want to be outside on the porch as much as possible. Darrin, being unable to walk yet on his own, and still having a penchant for putting anything and everything in his mouth, cannot be left alone anywhere. However, he's at least 25 pounds now, too heavy to be toted around ALL the time. Add to that the fact that he WANTS to be off on his own and likes the independence, and we realize we need some safe place set up just for Darrin. The house is out of the question, as it is simply too hot when we don't have the generator running to power fans, sometimes too hot even with the fans. Although we do have a baby walker here, there's really no place outside that is safe for him to use it, unless.... My mom and dad have a cunning plan.
The back porch is about an 8x8 sq. ft. area, consisting of a brick floor and a roof attached to the house's main roof, held up on the other side by two square wooden posts. If we were to clean it off (taking pictures first, of course, for FEMA's reference), and somehow put a barrier around the edge, Darrin would be free to sit and play or careen around in his walker as much as he liked, and he would hopefully stay cool because of the nice breeze. So, my dad, Mr. MacGuyver, goes to work building a barricade. He has several scrap pieces of wood and some plastic webbing, originally intended for reinforcing concrete roads I believe. Mom and I had found a roll of the stuff in the middle of the road, and had done the Texas DPS a favor and taken it with us. Stuff in the middle of the road is community property, did you know that? Mom did, her hubby's in law enforcement. :-)
Using the existing posts and the scrap wood ones, placed at various intervals, dad wraps the plastic net around the porch and secures it. The netting piece is pretty stiff--it won't sag, adn Darrin can't destroy it even with his five sharp little teeth. It's about 18 inches wide (tall) and there's only about a foot of length left over, like it was intended for just this purpose. The brick floor is swept off and mom lays an old blanket down as carpet. Darrin has an outdoor playroom! He spends a lot of his time running/rolling in his walker, going 'round in circles, enjoying his freedom and the breeze. He also sits on the blanket and plays with toys that we've brought out for him. Dad also has one more contribution. He has a large, hinged wire screen, probably meant to put out in a garden for ivy to grow up on it, which was one of the pieces considered for making Darrin's playroom barrier. Instead, mom has a better idea for it. Dad installs a vertical post on the porch, right at the middle of the sliding doors, and attaches the screen there, so that it swings open and shut. Now we can leave the sliding door open for ventilation, and still keep indoor/outdoor animals where they belong. Awesome! See, I TOLD you he was MacGuyver! :-)
In the meantime, since mom is so busy with other things (like dinner), Ms. G has been elected the squirrels' official nanny. There is, by the way, one boy and one girl, and they have been dubbed "Rocky" and Roxanne," respectively. Awwww. There's a bit of sadness later in the day when we find out that the kittens (as baby squirrels are called!) are indeed orphans. Mama Squirrel didn't make it through the storm. There's a moment of reverent silence, then, "Well," says Ms. G, "you'd better get to work!" Huh? Oh, riiiiiight...they'll need more milk. Hardy-har-har. :-)
We come now to the showers and party bit. Now, mom and dad have a generator, and they also have their own well. Due to the gasoline shortage, we've been running the generator as little as possible, not even using it to run the well pump. That's been okay, since there is a generous stash of water in the holding tank. It is decided today, though, that we will run the pump to fill the tank back up, and we will all take advantage of this time to take a shower. It's been about 48 hours, so no one is arguing. :-) We're feeling so blessed and thankful, in fact, that we're throwing a post-hurricane party for all the hill's residents. Starting around 6:00 PM, Ms. G and Ms. J will join us in taking turns using the outdoor shower, then once everyone is clean, we're having a meal fit for a king, including pork ribs cooked on the outdoor grill, and corn-on-the-cob and green beans cooked on the propane stove.
Oh, let me tell you about the shower! I believe it was a couple of years ago that mom and dad built it. They wanted an outdoor shower. It would have cold water only, so I thought they were nuts, but I am oh-so-thankful for it now! Higher up on the hill, behind the dog pen, they designed and built two new buildings. One was an open shed, to house the riding lawnmower and various lawn care items, as well as lots of lumber and the Dogloo house that was really the cats' shelter (there are around five outdoor kitties at any given time, though mom's limit is three! Shhh! Don't tell!). The other building is an enclosed outdoor shower, and it's awesome. The walls are all corrugated steel, and the frame and floor are sturdy wood. There's a bench, a trash bin, a mirror, a corner cubby for necessaries like shampoo and deodorant, and the soap even has its own little lidded holder, with a wire screen bottom so it won't collect water and get soggy. Mom and dad keep a plastic bin out there with plenty of towels and washrags. They often use the shower, especially if they've been working out in the yard, so they don't have to track too much mess into the house.
Now, I've never been able to get used to cold showers myself, but because of the heat, I was grateful for the opportunity to cool off, not to mention get clean! Even Darrin joined in--he needs to get clean and cool too! My mom and I trekked out to the shower house together, toting Darrin, and we had dad tote a large silver pail, like the ones we're using to wash our laundry. While mom and I took turns getting ourselves clean, Darrin had a grand time, sitting, naked, in a bucketful of cool water and playing with a washrag and some squirty tub toys. This boy LOVES water! He enjoys it so much, in fact, that we decide to set up the pail with cool water back on the porch, and he can play in it to cool off a few times a day.
Once we're all clean, we enjoy a sumptuous outdoor meal, and we all comment how we thought we'd be LOSING weight by being out of electricity and having to eat whatever came in a can, but NOOOOO, mom had to cook this awesome meal.... :-) Later on, mom and Ms. G and I take advantage of the evening session of running the generator to have lights on in the house and play a game of "California Rummy." It's a great card game; I'll be happy to email you the rules if you're interested. Anyway, a nice, relaxing end to a long day--full tummies, cool, clean bodies, and family and friends hanging out together. Darrin and Mommy slept on mom and dad's big king-size bed (wow, that's comfy!), to take advantage of the wind coming in the windows. It's been dry enough today that the wobbly trees aren't wobbling anymore, especially in the calm breeze (though I'm sure they'll be cut down in the near future for safety's sake). Oh, and my sweetie will be coming after school on Tuesday to pick us up and bring us back home. I'm excited about being with him, living with electricity and A/C, and sleeping in my own bed again, but also sad to be going so soon. Hopefully, I'll be able to come visit again in the next month or two, when things get back to normal.
Next entry: Monday! I visit a few dozen kitties, and later, Darrin shows me how smart he is. :-)
It's Sunday, and now we miss the winds, because at least they had kept us cool. There is a slight breeze, so we want to be outside on the porch as much as possible. Darrin, being unable to walk yet on his own, and still having a penchant for putting anything and everything in his mouth, cannot be left alone anywhere. However, he's at least 25 pounds now, too heavy to be toted around ALL the time. Add to that the fact that he WANTS to be off on his own and likes the independence, and we realize we need some safe place set up just for Darrin. The house is out of the question, as it is simply too hot when we don't have the generator running to power fans, sometimes too hot even with the fans. Although we do have a baby walker here, there's really no place outside that is safe for him to use it, unless.... My mom and dad have a cunning plan.
The back porch is about an 8x8 sq. ft. area, consisting of a brick floor and a roof attached to the house's main roof, held up on the other side by two square wooden posts. If we were to clean it off (taking pictures first, of course, for FEMA's reference), and somehow put a barrier around the edge, Darrin would be free to sit and play or careen around in his walker as much as he liked, and he would hopefully stay cool because of the nice breeze. So, my dad, Mr. MacGuyver, goes to work building a barricade. He has several scrap pieces of wood and some plastic webbing, originally intended for reinforcing concrete roads I believe. Mom and I had found a roll of the stuff in the middle of the road, and had done the Texas DPS a favor and taken it with us. Stuff in the middle of the road is community property, did you know that? Mom did, her hubby's in law enforcement. :-)
Using the existing posts and the scrap wood ones, placed at various intervals, dad wraps the plastic net around the porch and secures it. The netting piece is pretty stiff--it won't sag, adn Darrin can't destroy it even with his five sharp little teeth. It's about 18 inches wide (tall) and there's only about a foot of length left over, like it was intended for just this purpose. The brick floor is swept off and mom lays an old blanket down as carpet. Darrin has an outdoor playroom! He spends a lot of his time running/rolling in his walker, going 'round in circles, enjoying his freedom and the breeze. He also sits on the blanket and plays with toys that we've brought out for him. Dad also has one more contribution. He has a large, hinged wire screen, probably meant to put out in a garden for ivy to grow up on it, which was one of the pieces considered for making Darrin's playroom barrier. Instead, mom has a better idea for it. Dad installs a vertical post on the porch, right at the middle of the sliding doors, and attaches the screen there, so that it swings open and shut. Now we can leave the sliding door open for ventilation, and still keep indoor/outdoor animals where they belong. Awesome! See, I TOLD you he was MacGuyver! :-)
In the meantime, since mom is so busy with other things (like dinner), Ms. G has been elected the squirrels' official nanny. There is, by the way, one boy and one girl, and they have been dubbed "Rocky" and Roxanne," respectively. Awwww. There's a bit of sadness later in the day when we find out that the kittens (as baby squirrels are called!) are indeed orphans. Mama Squirrel didn't make it through the storm. There's a moment of reverent silence, then, "Well," says Ms. G, "you'd better get to work!" Huh? Oh, riiiiiight...they'll need more milk. Hardy-har-har. :-)
We come now to the showers and party bit. Now, mom and dad have a generator, and they also have their own well. Due to the gasoline shortage, we've been running the generator as little as possible, not even using it to run the well pump. That's been okay, since there is a generous stash of water in the holding tank. It is decided today, though, that we will run the pump to fill the tank back up, and we will all take advantage of this time to take a shower. It's been about 48 hours, so no one is arguing. :-) We're feeling so blessed and thankful, in fact, that we're throwing a post-hurricane party for all the hill's residents. Starting around 6:00 PM, Ms. G and Ms. J will join us in taking turns using the outdoor shower, then once everyone is clean, we're having a meal fit for a king, including pork ribs cooked on the outdoor grill, and corn-on-the-cob and green beans cooked on the propane stove.
Oh, let me tell you about the shower! I believe it was a couple of years ago that mom and dad built it. They wanted an outdoor shower. It would have cold water only, so I thought they were nuts, but I am oh-so-thankful for it now! Higher up on the hill, behind the dog pen, they designed and built two new buildings. One was an open shed, to house the riding lawnmower and various lawn care items, as well as lots of lumber and the Dogloo house that was really the cats' shelter (there are around five outdoor kitties at any given time, though mom's limit is three! Shhh! Don't tell!). The other building is an enclosed outdoor shower, and it's awesome. The walls are all corrugated steel, and the frame and floor are sturdy wood. There's a bench, a trash bin, a mirror, a corner cubby for necessaries like shampoo and deodorant, and the soap even has its own little lidded holder, with a wire screen bottom so it won't collect water and get soggy. Mom and dad keep a plastic bin out there with plenty of towels and washrags. They often use the shower, especially if they've been working out in the yard, so they don't have to track too much mess into the house.
Now, I've never been able to get used to cold showers myself, but because of the heat, I was grateful for the opportunity to cool off, not to mention get clean! Even Darrin joined in--he needs to get clean and cool too! My mom and I trekked out to the shower house together, toting Darrin, and we had dad tote a large silver pail, like the ones we're using to wash our laundry. While mom and I took turns getting ourselves clean, Darrin had a grand time, sitting, naked, in a bucketful of cool water and playing with a washrag and some squirty tub toys. This boy LOVES water! He enjoys it so much, in fact, that we decide to set up the pail with cool water back on the porch, and he can play in it to cool off a few times a day.
Once we're all clean, we enjoy a sumptuous outdoor meal, and we all comment how we thought we'd be LOSING weight by being out of electricity and having to eat whatever came in a can, but NOOOOO, mom had to cook this awesome meal.... :-) Later on, mom and Ms. G and I take advantage of the evening session of running the generator to have lights on in the house and play a game of "California Rummy." It's a great card game; I'll be happy to email you the rules if you're interested. Anyway, a nice, relaxing end to a long day--full tummies, cool, clean bodies, and family and friends hanging out together. Darrin and Mommy slept on mom and dad's big king-size bed (wow, that's comfy!), to take advantage of the wind coming in the windows. It's been dry enough today that the wobbly trees aren't wobbling anymore, especially in the calm breeze (though I'm sure they'll be cut down in the near future for safety's sake). Oh, and my sweetie will be coming after school on Tuesday to pick us up and bring us back home. I'm excited about being with him, living with electricity and A/C, and sleeping in my own bed again, but also sad to be going so soon. Hopefully, I'll be able to come visit again in the next month or two, when things get back to normal.
Next entry: Monday! I visit a few dozen kitties, and later, Darrin shows me how smart he is. :-)
posted by Brandi Rae | 12:46 PM
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