My sister-in-law tells me that when growing up on Vancouver’s North Shore, if you didn’t play in the rain you would never go outside. Well, we had monsoon level rains today and it didn’t stop us from working outside. Work, play, it’s all the same……. Rain, what rain?

Yesterday, we brought over what will hopefully be our last load of lumber. E and I carried 1000 pounds of lumber onto the boat, off the boat, onto the truck, off the truck…..Very satisfying to think it should be our last….

Today, Craig built the framing for the deck on the perch, and the framing for stairs at the north end of the house. E laid the decking boards on the perch deck and the new stairway. The cedar kick boards for the railing have been stained but can’t be installed until they dry, just a little bit. Maybe tomorrow. Did I mention we are going to end up with 1200 square feet of decking on three different decks!!!!!!!!!! whooo hooo!!!

My job, was sous carpenter.. Is there such a thing? I brought needed boards to E and charged drill batteries and took away the wood scraps. I made pumpkin spice muffins (with cream cheese icing) for nourishment and kept the hot coffee coming… I basically just try to stay out-of-the-way and keep everyone happy. We all have our skills, and mine is not carpentry.

Thursday, we went to Costco for our six month top up of staples and meat. On the way we stopped at the garden store to spend my gift certificate from Anne. I picked out a Sir Thomas Lipton white rose for the (deer proof) deck. Planted in a container which I inherited from my Mom, it will make an excellent reminder of her, as it overlooks the ocean, on a summer eve, with the scent filling the deck.. Thank you Anne, it means a lot.

I was looking at Muskoka chairs (Adirondack) for the perch deck, at Canadian Tire, but they were $179.00. Too much!  Then we went to Costco and the same chairs were 49.00!!!  Score! They will fit nicely on the new wee deck off the guest room.

Whew, aren’t we all so glad not to be talking about system problems any more. Our problems are currently all resolved and E and I are moving forward. It’s all terribley exciting. I figure the deer proof deck should be finished by the end of the weekend and then I can get to what I like to do… plant stuff!!!

Getting proper rain gear has been on my shopping list for six years, but we have yet to buy any. My friend Hil, tells me there is no such thing as bad weather just bad gear…Well, we had rain today and we have bad gear,

E got soaked