Two what you ask? Two decks, that is. Joel and I decided that since we were on a roll, why not knock out another smaller deck? And so we did.
After all, once you have all the tools out and most of the lumber required to make a smaller deck we figured we may as well just do it. And besides, how could we not take advantage of this unseasonably warm February? When we woke up this morning it was already 59 degrees!
So we built the box, strengthened it with joists and attached it to the existing step at the back door of the same screened porch as the first larger deck. Our puppies have been having a hay-day digging up the yard in this part of the farm, so, we have been dragging a lot of mud and debris onto the porch. Now we have a great way to step outside when we leave early each morning to take care of our animals.....at least 2 strides will be up out of the mud.
Even though we had to make a trip into town to buy 4 more 8' deck boards this afternoon, we still managed to finish up before dark. It felt really good to put away all the tools knowing we wouldn't have to drag them out again to complete this project another day. And I think the two new decks add a little something to the porch, too.
I should back up a bit here to explain that before we could begin our second deck today we had to make a trip down off the Plateau to pick up our beef. Yes, remember we took Beef Cake to the slaughter house 2 weeks ago? Well, now our freezer is fully stocked with our very own beef. We think this should last us at least the next year.
Total beef count:(approx. count, I got tired of counting with my frozen fingers!)
66-1(lb.) pkgs. of ground beef
20 pkgs. of cubed steak(2/pkg.)
14 pkgs. of rib eye steak(2/pkg.)
10 filets(2/pkg.)
15 pkgs. N.Y. Strips
2 large loin tip roasts
7 chuck roasts
2 rump roasts
2 round roasts
4 shoulder roasts
stew meat and ox tail(for ox tail soup.....one of my favorites)
We also got the heart and liver that we will cook up over the next months(there was a lot!!) and give to the dogs as a treat. All in all we are pretty pleased with the cuts of meat we choose and are already figuring out what recipes we want to use first to sample the meats.
Whew! What a day we had today. While we are both bone tired, we love that we were able to finish up these projects before the weather turned on us again. I just watched the forecast and we are supposed to get severe weather tonight and by Sunday morning we are going to be back down to 28 degrees. Yup, winter's not over yet.
So please enjoy this pretty sunset over our roof as we haul our tired bodies off to bed.
Time for some couch time,
Debbie
