Thursday, May 9, 2013

The Snake In Our Yard and the Leaking Roof...All In One Day

Tuesday was quite the day.  My toddler loves to spend time outside.  It is the best part of her whole day, except for when her brothers and sister get home from school.  Since the weather has started to get warmer, we have started to spend a lot of time outside.  She will bring me her shoes first thing in the morning.  For about a week, she wouldn't want me to take her socks and shoes off at night.  She wanted to wear them to sleep.  I would wait until she fell to sleep and then carefully take them off.  When my sister was here visiting, I took my toddler's sock off after she fell to sleep and she woke up immediately crying, "Why, why, why?"  We got a kick out of that.

Anyway, on Tuesday, after I picked my son up from preschool, my toddler and I went out back.  I was walking over to put my chair down where I wanted it when I heard slithering.  I, of course, quickly looked down and saw a snake.  I took many quick steps back, to get my daughter.  I then took a picture of it with the camera on my phone.  I wanted a picture to show my neighbor to see if he knew what kind it was.  My 5 year-old son had gone to the zoo with his class on Monday.  I asked him what his favorite animal was.  He told me the rattlesnake.  I figured he might get a kick out of seeing this one. 






I came inside and yelled "Guess what is in the backyard!" 
He said, "What?" 
I said, "A snake."
He said, "Really?"
I said, "Yes."

He then ran outside to see it.  I told him not to get too close to it.  He couldn't see it at first so I had to grab the rake and point it out.  I wasn't going to get close.  I don't like snakes at all.  He told me that it was sleeping.  Sounded good enough to me.  We then headed across the street to my neighbor who has helped me kill black widows.  I showed him the picture of the snake.  He didn't know what kind it was, but he knows he doesn't like snakes.  He said he hasn't seen snakes around here.  I guess I am just lucky!  :(  By the time I got back here, the snake had slithered away.  I have no idea where the snake went.  It is making going outside a little hairy.  I look all around for a snake.  I have been told it is most like a garter snake.  I am not going to get near them anyway.

Later that evening, we had a torrential rainstorm with some hail.  I was upstairs cleaning the bathroom.  My 9 year-old daughter ran up and told me that I had to cover our peach tree.  I told her that I didn't have to.  We were covering it when there was a frost.  Then, my 10 year-old son ran up to tell me that there were cracks in the playroom.  I had no clue what he was talking about.  I asked him what he meant.  He said the water was coming in.  I knew that at that moment I had to run downstairs and see what was going on.  The water was leaking where the playroom meets the kitchen wall.  It was only in about a 2 foot area along that wall. 

The playroom was added on after the house was built in 64.  I don't know when the playroom was added on but where the ceiling meets the original house was where it was leaking.  I think that with all the snow we got in the winter, there might have been a time when it started to melt and then refroze, which might have put a bit of a separation at the add-on roof.  I don't know if that makes sense reading it, but I know what I mean :)  My husband is going to go up there and see if it is something we can just tar, or if it is something that is going to take someone that is a professional at roofs.  We are hoping it is an easy tar job!

We had rain yesterday and it didn't leak.  I just think that the rain was just coming down so fast and furious that it caused the problem.  We shall see!