Building Studiio Deck Part 2, Watering Alpaca, Hike

Yesterday I actually slept in a bit, if 7am can be considered sleeping in. The sun was up and shining on me when I went out to soak which the hot water felt really nice on my still sore muscles.

I headed up to the studio to get working and first was to install all the joist hangers on the main board before installing it on the studio. It took a while to mark the spaces then get the hangers installed

The metal was a bit low so I needed to use the bottle jack to help push the board up enough to be at the level I need. I used a scrap piece of decking under the slider track to make sure I have enough room to install the decking. I am leaving the metal siding at length on this side and will install the decking against it.

After a break for some food I got the pier blocks set and leveled then setup the string line to get my lengths for the 4x4 risers on the pier blocks. I cut the 4 to length and installed them on the pier blocks then installed the brackets atop each for the beam to sit in. Each pier took 20 deck screws to attach everything.

The heat hit and it was in the mid 80s F and the mosquitoes were swarming all around. I setup my big fan which helped quite a bit with both the heat and the blood suckers.

I measured and marked the beam for the brackets then installed them. I did a test with a scrap board and found that a few of the joist hangers were a bit to high, the top of the 2x6 sat above the header 2x6 and would have the decking a bit too high. I had to also lower the piers on each end a bit to bring everything into level. I then cut all the boards and got them set in place.

Once the boards were set in their spots I lowered all the joist hangers that needed it.

The decking was next and I had to load it onto the truck to drive it up the hill.

All 9 sticks got unloaded onto the deck and I found that I had to cut them all down to length as they were over 16 feet long.

After I cut a half inch from each I found some were still a bit too long so I will have to cut them the rest of the way today.

I was able to load up the bulk of the tools and all the extra wood and I hauled it all back down below. The tools went back to the shed and the wood got set on a pallet by the hay. I have to make space for it all on the wood racks and wit hit being pressure treated it can sit out without worry of weather.

In my driving up and down the hill I noticed the birds needed their water refilled and while I was at the alpaca was stepping into one of the water tubs to try and cool herself. Once I had the bird waters filled I went and emptied out all the water tubs and began refilling them. The alpaca came over and I gave her a good spraying down a few times as I filled. Their fiber is such that it takes a while for the water to get through it to their skin so I had to spray her down a lot.

Hive account@stryeyz had chicken going into the oven and my mom was up for dinner and we all ended up going for a hike up the hill and around the sheep pen. The studio is looking good. I am looking forward to getting the railing installed as that will be about the last thing to have the structure finished. I have just to come up with metal corner covers for all 4 corners of the building.

The juvenile bald eagle was perched next to the nest and watched us as we walked by.

We made the circuit and then had to head down as the oven was needing to be checked.

Under one of the eagle's perch trees I found a nice white feather from one of the adults and another dark smaller feather.

After dinner I had a well deserved soak which I needed to work on my really sore muscles.

Today I will finish installing the decking before it gets to over 90 degrees, I will harvest some peas, get more seeds in the ground, wash my laundry, and maybe run the weedeater around the farm again.