Patch the Gutter

There was a gap in my gutter, over the corner of the deck.  During heavy rain, a constant stream would flow out the bottom of the gutter.  More gutted than gutter.  It had eroded a low spot into the yard.

I decided to shoot it up with silicon caulk to seal the gap.  I would smooth the silicon with a scrap of cardboard, and paint it later to match the gutter.

I already had a caulk gun (used once), so I bought the first caulk I saw with the word "gutter" on it.  This would also be the first real job for my ladder, a 6 ft step-ladder which I bought because it's tall enough for me to get into my attic, which it isn't.

It turns out that owning a caulk gun is not the hard part.  Nor is realizing it's "caulk gun", not "caulking iron" and being laughed at at Home Depot.  The hard part is being patient.

I didn't let the interior of the gutter dry out completely before applying the silicon.  I sealed most of the gap, but water slowly dripped through and ruined the bottom of the seal before it cured.  For reasons I still don't understand, I couldn't get the silicon smooth.  It either scraped away from the gutter or turned into drippy stalactites.  The leak is slowed, but I'll have to go up again when it stops raining in a few months.  I also dripped silicon onto my ladder, giving it a cool "distressed" look.

I'm trying to fill the low spot in the yard by dumping fallen leaves and twigs in there.  I assume fallen leaves and twigs turn into dirt somehow, otherwise the earth would be made of leaves and twigs instead of dirt.