Wall Snakes and Fast Grass

When we started tearing out the old plaster in the house we are working on, we would occasionally find snake skins that had been shed in crevices and in the drilled holes in the wall studs where the electric wires ran through them.  When Brandon finally found the live snake, not just his shed skin, he said he jumped back ten feet before his brain really understood what he was looking at.  Snakes just do that to people, even when you know they are there.  The snake crawled away before I could get a good look at him and figure out what kind of snake he was, but we were pretty sure he was a black rat snake or a king snake, which are not venomous, and are common in old buildings.  Brandon finally got a good look at him when he took the picture above as the snake was wedged along a rafter in the ceiling.  It seems like he's balancing on his head, doesn't it?  

I wasn't there to witness the snake wrangling, but Brandon relocated the snake, who he named Carlos in reference to the baby that was found in the Hangover movie, and moved him out the the barn.  The barn which is less than twenty paces from the house.  So, it wasn't a big surprise that the snake just crawled back home.  Brandon's second encounter with the snake happened when he was standing on a ladder pulling down plaster and dislodged the snake from near the ceiling and it fell on his shoulder.  Thank goodness Brandon was there to break Carlos's fall so he didn't hurt himself when he fell to the floor.  I mean, thank goodness Brandon didn't fall off the ladder.  

Brandon must have been much more calm for the second relocation because he was able to take the picture above while he was taking the snake back to the barn.  I expect by the forth or fifth time he has to move the snake he will just pick him up with his hands since I'm sure Carlos relocation is going to become common until we get all the holes in the house plugged up.    

 

In addition to finding wildlife in the walls, Brandon has been making good progress on the floor in the living room and dining room of the house.  The floor joists that were tilted due to the termite damage have been straightened out as much as we could manage.  It's not perfectly level, but it's so much better than it was.  The fun part was putting the floor boards back, and patching in new boards where there were holes and where the floorboards couldn't be salvaged.  We took one of the original boards to a flooring place and they told us it was hard yellow pine, which isn't easy to come by.  So, we used oak and poplar boards and since our plan is to paint the floors, I think it will be just fine.  After stepping over holes and looking at the dirt under the house it's wonderful to have floor, so I'm not going to be picky about what type of tree was used.  

We even have some insulation installed in the wall behind the stair well.  We are trying to finish this wall now so we can build some stairs to the second floor.  Ever since the old stairs were cut down with a chainsaw and carried out to the barn, we haven't be able to go upstairs.  I'm excited about building stairs.  Considering our inability to do math, make anything square or level, or cut anything to the right length until the second or third try, building a staircase promises to be super fun.  Oh boy.  

Ten acres of grass is quite daunting to us.  Even considering all the work that is planned to make the house livable, we seemed to get most overwhelmed when considering the grass.  It just keeps growing! Fast!  Brandon spent nearly four hours push mowing the extra long grass to create a little border around the house.  Luckily, our neighbor volunteered to cut the rest of the property for us if we would supply him with fuel for his tractor.  What a great deal.  I think he was afraid we were going to let it grow into a forest and it was messing with his aesthetic sensibilities.  He seemed quite alarmed when we told him we didn't have any way to mow it right now.  While I was admiring the newly cut grass in the field in front of the house a horse drawn tour carriage went by on the road.  Who are these people?  Thank goodness our grass got cut since we are on some sort of tour route. 

I spent some time with a machete cutting down tall poison hemlock, which is an invasive species that produces millions of seeds and grows to over eight feet tall.  I would hate for it to spread farther that it already has.  While I was cutting around the mailbox I realized that what I thought were two old cedar posts that held the mailbox, is actually a cut cedar tree with two trunks.  It's a unique solution for holding up the mailbox. 

The old locust tree in the front of the house, with only one branch, is in full bloom right now.  The flowers smell great and the bees are loving it.  Even with lovely flowers it's a funny looking tree.  

 The pear tree has little fruits all over it.  I so hope it makes hundreds of pears!