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.