Cape Blahs

On the Cape & Islands, spring takes it's time getting here most years.  I DO enjoy winter, especially when I can get out and play in the snow which is not all that often.  March and April, and sometimes even a good chunk of May can be downright depressing with chilly, gray wind-blown cold out of the north thanks to the way we are situated in the Atlantic.  This year is no exception.  I don't like to rush time, but I'll take some nice, warm and sunny days soon.

I don't recall getting through a March without hearing spring peepers at least once.  It's now April. No peepers.  Red-winged blackbirds, grackles, cowbirds and ospreys are back which is a good sign.  Hoping to get some spring migration birding squeezed in to May.  Even the snowdrops seem depressed, but they are trying.

We have a few things on our spring and summer calendars already.  Mrs will be heading to Florida in May for a visit with her Mom for about a week and we have one Vermont trip booked already.  My hope is to be able to take some last minute trips (maybe as early as late May) to western Massachusetts or Vermont with Harry or Luna.  I want to give backpacking/tent camping a try with them, though we did already take Luna on one trip last season which went pretty well.  I need to do at least one trip alone, hopefully with Harry, to see how I do.  Hopefully I can make it happen.  I have a ton of gear I want to try out, too.

Mrs and I were walking around the house on Sunday getting things ready for Monday when the Dish TV guy would be hooking us up for satellite TV.  I'm not overly thrilled to have mass amounts of channels back in the house, but it's as simple as not turning the TV on, so Mrs can have her shows in the evening while I'm at work, and I can have my silence during the day.  Anyway, I became a little overwhelmed looking at all of the maintenance that needs to be addressed here.  The decks are in desperate need of cleaning and refinishing as they have become slick with algae and the railings covered in lichen.  This will require a power washer, a whole lot of elbow grease and, of course, money.

Lichen and algae(?) on the decking.  When wet, which is frequent, these decks become quite slippery.

The decking is mahogany and I imagine will never look really nice again, but I'll do what I can.   Also a glimpse of how badly the trim needs to be cleaned and painted.

Another thing that needs MUST be done this year is replacement of rotten trim and repainting of all of the trim.  There is also a little section of shingles on the porch over the front of the house that needs to be replaced.  The area is so small that many of the shingles are cut into tiny pieces to fit so they just split, rot and/or fall off.  We think we will be hiring a painter to do the trim, but Mrs and I will replace the rotten bits.  I don't do well with heights or hornets, and it seems the hornets like the highest spots of the house.  A bad combination.  Me swinging my arms frantically at the top of a ladder.  I'll pass, thank you.

 Cleaning and painting needed!

The shingles that need to be replaced.  Luckily we kept a box of shingles from when the job was done, so we won't have an issue with matching them.

We would also like to have the ceilings inside of our porches cleaned and painted.  They weathered terribly despite being relatively protected.  We're thinking a white or very light blue here.

So, what will need to be done to get these things accomplished.  Hopefully by doing most of the work ourselves we can save a bit of money, but I don't mind paying a painter to do the trim.  These projects will also eat up vast quantities of time.  My plan is to stop the organized training I have been doing with the running coach and devote those mornings and early afternoons to the work.  I'm not training for anything specific, so there is no real need to be doing these workouts.  I can and will squeeze in enough runs and weight workouts here to keep in shape.  I can always pick up again when I am not as overwhelmed with projects.  I am hoping to keep a good attitude through the projects and know that keeping things well-maintained is good for the value of the property and also our well-being.  Seeing the images I have displayed above do not make for a happy me.  Better weather would be most welcome, too.  When I took these images a little while ago, it was cloudy, windy, and cold.

The sun came out around 1:30 this afternoon, but the cold wind persisted.  I gave in and just went inside.  Looks like a couple nice days to come with rain late Friday and early Saturday.  Thankfully.