Tired

I am glad that I ran this morning because I would be struggling to do it now. I am beat, my hands hurt, I'm having trouble typing and I'm ready for a beer and to relax with football.

I decided that I should get up and get things done today. It's supposed to get cold and rainy tonight, so I figured what I got done today is likely all I get done for the week before I head to Seattle. My big plan was to get metal on the other shade shelter and then Tia asked if I could get a second section of stockade fence done on the East side of the barn to stop the wind. Since I wouldn't likely get enough of an awning done to make a differance, that sounded like a good idea.

So after running, showering with Tia to get a few minutes, and checking emails, I went out and dragged the 4 12' pieces of metal 800' across the yard. That was fun and the start of hand abuse today. I had to stop a bunch of times to take a break since gripping two sheets at a time is tough. They're too big and heavy to lift completely, and the half drag is rough on the hands.

Then I put those up on the roof and was glad I did. That shelter has been up for about 5 months with just the OSB and it was pretty beat up. I waited too long to get the metal there. But they went up easy and then I got one piece of trim on the front to prevent water from getting under the metal.

I needed to cut the next piece and didn't have a blade, so I went to Home Depot, which was a good break, and got a blade along with wood for the side trim and for the fence. I came back and thought I'd let my batteries charge up more and decided to build the fence next to the barn. I got both posts in, had Delaney help me with the two cross braces and then realized I'd angled out from the barn. So I dug it up and moved it 4 inches over, which is always fun. Then tamped down the posts to set them in there, more hand abuse, and then screwed in the pickets. I was going to have Delaney do some of them, but he couldn't quite get enough force on the drill to prevent slipping, so I had him hand me screws and we ran them in there.

At this point I was ready to pack up and rest, already having trouble grabbing things with my hands, but I wanted to get the trim finished on the tops at least. So I went and put up the first piece on the front of shelter #2, measured another piece and went to cut it. That was simple enough once I'd wrestled the blade in the circular saw. It probably took longer to get the blade in than cut the trim. Once it was cut I took both pieces, screwed one on each shelter, and I was done.

So both shade shelters have metal on the roofs and trim across the front of the high side. That's enough for now. If I get a chance one day this week I'll get the sides on or start them. We have another fence blocking wind from whipping around the corner of the barn, which will help with snow and rain management. It was a busy day for me and now I need to let my hands rest, or try to. Perhaps I'll shoot podcasts tomorrow and try to save my hands for later in the day or Tuesday for more writing.