Hick had some bad news to report from Pony House on Monday. As he was walking around, getting ready to frame in a wall where the door used to go from Bedroom 2 to the back porch, he FELL THROUGH THE FLOOR! That's because he had ripped out the old floor to fix the joists, and had laid those wall boards down to use as temporary flooring, or maybe as a bottom insulation layer, like in Bathroom 2.
However... he had not nailed anything down. He stepped on one of the ends sticking over a floor joist, and it flipped up on the other end, sending Hick's leg plummeting to the ground underneath. He grabbed out to hold onto a wall, and ripped the index finger on his left hand at the middle joint.
Oh. That's not the bad news!
PONY HOUSE SMELLS LIKE SOMETHING DIED!
Hick said he noticed it when he went in. He thought it smelled like a dead mouse. With the floor torn up, and the attic open, who knows what critters might be investigating. Hick's buddy, This Guy, who sold us the $5,000 house, came over for some firewood. The limbs of the pecan tree that have been trimmed so far, and are stacked on the concrete pad in the back yard. This Guy came inside, and said, "That's pretty rank. I'd say it's a squirrel, not a mouse."
Hick said he's not about to climb a ladder to look around in the attic.
"Then how are you going to find it?"
"It'll quit smelling eventually."
Hick and The Pony took a couple of cabinets and the countertop for Bathroom 2 over there on Tuesday. I asked The Pony about the smell.
"It was mainly in one area. It's coming up through the floor. So it's something under the house."
Neither of them seem too concerned about finding the source. I guess they're waiting for it to mummify, like the cat Hick found in my grandma's attic over her garage when he was looking for treasures.
Oh, and Hick nailed a board along the edge of those wall/floor boards. To keep them from flipping up.
You are one patient lady.
ReplyDeleteHick might disagree. Often on the "patient" part, and sometimes on the "lady" part.
DeleteI'd be finding what died and removing it and how it got in and sealing that section off before I did anything else. Who knows how long that smell will hang a round? What if moisture from it seeps through somewhere and makes a stain? How is Hick's ripped finger?
ReplyDeleteThat's the process I had in mind. The Pony has since deduced that it's not IN the house, but underneath, on the ground. So at least a natural decay can occur. Although HOS (Hick's Oldest Son) was under Pony House today, and Hick says he didn't notice anything dead. Of course, Hick didn't ask him to look at that, but at the floor joists and how they were going to shore them up.
DeleteHick says his finger is almost healed! I guess it's a miracle. Because he says he's pretty sure it needed stitches. He even counted "One, two, three, four... I think it would have taken four stitches." No idea what he was counting.
On Tuesday, he was tying his shoes and ripped the lace across the cut. Then he complained that his bandaid was coming off, and blood was seeping out. I told him to use one of the good bandaids, along with the triple antibiotic ointment, and then wrap the stretchy stuff The Pony had a roll of (to hold on his elbow bandage) around it to hold on the bandaid. So no wonder it's "almost healed" the next day.