I have just completed another weekend of deck improvements/repairs. Mrs. LIAYF and I decided to move the stairs to our deck to open out to our lawn rather than off to the side and down to a little used concrete patio. Although much more work now that we have to do major construction (you know how those things go, right? What seems like a hundred trips to Home Depot to get that one little thing that you don't have or couldn't anticipate last trip!), it will be much nicer and definitely more family friendly once we complete the project.We found the Army radio operator under the steps, half buried in dirt and moss. The deck has been there for at least 30 years. The house has hosted a number of families before we purchased it (it is a 1909 Craftsman), and the last owners had no children, so I am sure he has been down there for years. Looks like he has been trying to call for help for quite some time to no avail. I think we saved him from certain peril, since there was one ugly spider about twice his size (a Brown Recluse, perhaps) lurking menacingly close by. Those are very big and very poisonous, so the spider prematurely met its doom. The Army man was saved, and has moved into the house.
It is difficult to work on large home projects with an infant in the house, so it looks like we have at least a couple of weekends and some evenings of work still left to complete the project before Luke's first birthday party. We are sweating it a bit now, but know that we will be loving the newly configured space for the rest of the summer and for years to come as Lukas grows up! We anticipate that he will stash one of his own toys under the deck someday for some other little boy to find!
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6 comments:
Better call the VA for that guy. He looks like he may think he's still in Nam.
Yeah, we have had to break things to him gently.
On the plus side, he has aged well for being buried in the dirt for so long. First thing he wanted....hamburger and fries.
Since he was my second favorite character, behind the crawling guy, I can tell you that his antenna is missing. It still looks like he is trying to communicate with his unit, but he might be suffereing from some kind of Post Tramatic Stress Disorder.
More - Wow, you really know your army men! No wonder he has not been able to get through all these years, not having that antenna. I have offered him my cell, but he doesn't seem interested...
Great find! Those old soldiers are great. My grandfather's old house has a collection of those and miscellaneous toys from the 60's and earlier. It's like a quick trip to the past and a simpler time. But I digress.
You guys are making good progress on the home projects. My wife and I have very little motivation to take these projects on. Ironically, one of those projects is on the way this week should actually help us out: a baby gate. It involves drilling and power tools, and just thinking about it makes me want to go to bed. I'm sure you'll have everything wrapped up. Good luck!
I hear you Rob. I didn't have much motivation either, other than not falling through my deck and not having the cash to pay someone else to fix it. We ended up buying a Summer Brand pressure mounted gate, which was nice because it required no power tools.
They don't make toys like they used to do they. I remember having a big bag of those army men when I was a kid. Kept me busy for hours.
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