Day Five of Outdoor Showers

We're trying to continue to embrace the novelty of showering in The Great Outdoors. Mason initially predicted it would be about a week before we showered like real people again. But, of course, every step of the remodeling project is taking longer than expected. The new estimate is two weeks, so that's just another nine days of cleaning the tree debris and bugs out of our (outdoor) claw-foot tub before lathering up.

And poor Nick, he wanders outside with us when we shower and sits there with a look of disgust on his face. He lies in the dirt with his head on his crossed legs and watches us from afar, like a humiliated teenager. ("What is WITH these humans?")

I think we'd be more upbeat if not for the 90+ degree heat and nasty humidity that settled in as soon as we tore up the bathroom. Last night was the worst night we've encountered in our post-air-conditioning world. But about 2 a.m., a storm rolled through and thankfully cooled things off.  Meanwhile, the past five days have been heavy on the productivity level, so the sweat has been flowing freely.

Oh, then there was Wednesday night, when a bat decided to fly into the house. OK, it was a really small bat and I know he was more-or-less harmless, but I don't like bats. Just ask the ex, Dvorak. Mason, of course, thought I should just ignore the bat until it left, but once he realized I was NOT coming back into the house until the hairy flying mammal was escorted outside, he finally got serious. Yes, I am to blame for the death of a small, defenseless bat. (Small enough that he died under the weight of a flyswatter.) And once again, Mason's my hero.

So the new shower is framed and the new shower pan is halfway done. We should be able to start tiling by Sunday. We hope.

Other random notes on rural life:
-- Coyotes (yes, three syllables) have been more vocal of late; must be the heat. At a local breakfast joint, two elderly locals (OK, one MAY have been in britches) were shooting the breeze when one of them mentioned something about "coats." Even the other local had to stop and make sure he was referring to "KY-otes."
-- We spotted a snake track in the dusty sand on a back road of our property. A BIG snake track. We've been told they're here, but haven't seen any yet. We're told that dogs will keep them away. Way to earn your keep, Nick.
-- A 4-inch-long toad was in the middle of our road the other day. He was dead, or we sure hope he was, because he was COVERED in ants. Nasty sight. Saw it on our late-morning walk. But by our evening walk, it was gone. Seriously, could ants crawl off with something that big?

Just another week on Flat Top.