I doubt they will have Dagwood Dogs

Before

I have almost finished the deck – but it seems to rain almost every day and this is slowing me down. I only have some of the floor to go – apart from some touching up here and there.

The floor that we have done with two coats looks quite good and only a trained eye could see the blotches and paint spatters.

The touching up I have to do involves me getting on top of the roof. I may not survive this task so am leaving it until last.

But the garden is almost finished and Hermione the garden person was here this morning drawing a plan – so that we know what everything is and what and when to feed it.

After

A plant died but Hermione replaced it at no cost. It is possible that I killed it by brushing against it on my way out the back gate – but maybe it was just a weakling – and we want none of those in our garden. You have to be tough to survive an Indianapolis winter.

It is Indiana State Fair time and we are promising ourselves we will go. It will probably be a bit like the Sydney Easter Show – but I doubt that they will have Dagwood Dogs.

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.

I will have to polish the toaster

We live in an area called Herron-Morton place. During the civil war the whole area was a Union army camp – and a prisoner of war camp for captured Confederate soldiers.

It is close to the city and has many very old homes – some of which are a bit dilapidated - and many – such as ours which have been lovingly restored to their former glory.

Our house was originally built in about 1900 and was known as the ‘Wishard Mansion’ after Doctor Wishard who owned it – and after whom a local hospital was named. We have installed a ‘Wishard Mansion’ plaque on the front porch.

It has a long and sometimes sordid history. At one stage it was divided into apartments - and this probably accounts for the seven bathrooms.

It then fell into a state of advanced disrepair and was restored over a couple of years by a local builder – who lives just down the road from us.

The exterior looks much as (we think) it did when it was built. We are having a local historian rustle up some information – and we hope some photos of the house it its early days.

Inside has been completely renovated – and we are not sure what – apart from the front and back stairs – is original.

Anyway - the local Herron-Morton Place association has asked us to participate in the annual ‘historic homes open day’ and we have somewhat hesitatingly agreed to this.

I think this will involve a lot of cleaning, dusting and gardening in preparation for the event. I will certainly have to polish the toaster.