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Monday, July 28, 2014

If I am lucky

Ireland 
I have been a delinquent blogger of late because my list of chores has been extensive. Well – it has mainly been painting but this has been such a trial that it has taken all my energy.

So when we were staining the sides of the deck and the ceiling we did not worry too much about the stain dripping on the floor because we though that it would be covered up when we stained the floor. So our use of drip sheets was haphazard.

Wrong.

We discovered after testing a small area that the drips are readily visible through the stain – which is semi-transparent. So then I spent hours with my orbital sander removing all the spots and smears. This left some areas freshly sanded and others weathered – the deck has been down now for a few months.

So when we apply the stain there are no spots – but the sanded areas are a different color.

We have decided that this is in fact what we had planned. A sort of mottled effect which gives substance and character to what would otherwise be a common or garden variety deck with a uniform finish – how boring.

Today I painted the upper deck – the porch outside Cate’s study – with Dutch Boy paint. This is the paint that was used on the previous porch and I had to paint it the same color to match the trim on the house.

Dutch Boy is horrendously expensive but is the best quality paint I have ever used. It is so thick and rich you could put it on with a butter knife. And when you paint underneath something the paint does not run down your arm.

Tomorrow I am starting to stain the rest of the deck floor.

This has to be done by Friday because then we are going to Elk Springs resort which is in the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee. We have a cabin with a view of the mountains. 

We are going for three days – and it is a seven hour drive each way – which makes no sense unless you are us and like driving and listening to music. If I am lucky Cate will let me listen to Bluegrass.


I am taking sandwiches because Cate refuses to eat in any roadside restaurant expect Cracker Barrel – where she only ever has green tomato soup. So if there are no Cracker Barrels we starve.

6 comments:

  1. I would think you would be in the middle of a bazillion Cracker Barrel. You might even be near the original one, I don't remember where it is. I wiLL try Dutch Boy neXt time I am doing my commercial building if it ever stops raining. My sister is in Fairview TN. I am jealous of aLL her trees. I do have grape vines though. You don't get much useful shade from a pineapple plant.

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  2. esb: You probably need to put them under umbrella trees. I have checked and there are at least 50 CBs in TN so I am sure we will be OK.

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  3. Eat at Three Jimmies on the corner of Glades Rd and East Parkway (why 321). There are of course Cracker Barrels, but you will have to go thru hellish summer traffic to get to them. Also, if you buy clothes or books this weekend, it is tax free weekend, to help out with back to school. school starts Monday.
    Alamo Steak House on East Parkway is also fine. Take the trolley to Gatlinburg, the aquarium is splendid. Do drive through Gatlinburg and go up into the mountains. Clingmans Dome Road (go early) is wonderful as is the short walk on a paved trail up to the viewing platform. Highly recommend this.

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  4. Mary Anne Rudolph: Thanks for the tips. We went to Clingmans Dome today. Wow - there are certainly a lot of visitors in summer.

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  5. Early, you have to get up early and go. If you like where you stayed, plan to come back and stay during the week. After school starts. There will be way fewer people then. School actually started today in my county (Cocke County), you were in Sevier County in Gatlinburg. Most 'Northern' schools start later in the month or after Labor Day. There are so many things to see and do in the Smokies, but weekends are always the most crowded. Drive the Cades Cove Loop Rd and stop and hike into the homes that remain. I prefer winter time myself. It can snow, but is very much quieter then.

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  6. Mary Anne Rudolph: We did not even think of school holidays when we booked. A valuable lesson. WE nearly made it to Caves Cove - will get there next time.

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