Day: June 16, 2024

Several days ago my lovely garage/shop which usually smells of wood chips, WD40 and wood stain, began to smell horrendously of death. At first glance I was worried the stains on the ceiling were the remains of a squirrel or raccoon going to jelly in the attic. So I braved the ladder and heat, took a torch and respirator with me and crawled head long along the ridge beams to look at the ceiling above the garage. Whilst hot, it did not smell, and there were no signs of disturbance on the vents, beams, or blown insulation. So I started to pull apart shelves where I felt I could smell the stink the most. Nothing along the ground. Nothing behind the wood piles, or in the garbage cans. Nothing near the top shelf where the heavy old doors, and a bed frame are stored. It took several days and I finally located one abandoned nest. So with a last hurrah I pulled out the Christmas lights tote box, and whoo boy! Jackpot. Stink-o-Rama! Got it out of there asap.

I dumped the whole lot out on the lawn and found three baby mice, a few centimeters each, and one massive mama. All four are dead. But mama was the foul beastie that stank up the joint. Man oh man. You always know when you’ve found death, it has a real cloying, stick to the nostrils, blah about it. Hopefully now the garage can begin to smell like wood, wood chips, WD40, and various stains once more.

I’m just glad it wasn’t something juicier like a squirrel, or bunny, or raccoon, or chipmunk family. That’s why I wore the respirator when I went up into the attic. I not only feared the stink, but that blown insulation is no joke either. I recall how hot and unpleasant a job it was to haul my ass up there with the hose/gun and spend a couple hours filling up each section between the rafters and beams. I remember there being more room the last time i went up there nearly 15 years ago. I was about 80lbs lighter, and more nimble. That probably had a lot to do with how i felt about it too.

Problem solved – for now. I don’t think an air freshener is going to cut it, as far as rehabilitating the space. I’ll have to give it a good mulling over. Perhaps I’ll get hit with some divine inspiration. Happy Father’s Day!

Busy day over at the Mini Putt, Batting Cages, Driving Range local. Took the oft forgotten route and did the panning for gemstones activity. Only one other family doing that when we arrived. It was a 90 minute line just to pay for Mini Putt. Then another set of lines for either course; pirate ship wrecks, or the logging camp. I don’t travel with my clubs in the car, so the range was out. I’m not that into baseball, and can not for the life of me remember the last time I took action on a pitch. I know from tossing the ball around with my eldest that my shoulder isn’t what it used to be. Not that I has much of an arm to begin with, but it’s worse than I ever recall it being. I don’t think I could toss a ball over my own house with much success. Lengthwise, not back to front. I’m not that far gone – yet. Ha. Once you’ve paid, and waited in the appropriate course line-up, you still have to contend with the slow moving families, and the fast play ones nipping at your heels. Worst of every option that is. Pass.

I’d rather we have lunch together and watch the original Pixar hit Inside Out. It is a surprisingly good movie, and I like the voice cast to boot. Doesn’t really matter what we watch or do, I like us being together as a family. Perhaps I’ll do dome basement karaoke, and the kids will dance along. That would be fine by me.

Have a great Lazy Sunday afternoon all.