My 'Relaxing' Vacation

  

    While my American friends celebrated their country's independence today, the rest of us returned to work. This workday however, has been a day of rest for me compared to an extended weekend which proved to be somewhat of a marathon. Or a whirlwind. A marathon within a whirlwind.

   A dweam within a dweam? No, that was Princess Bride. Stay on topic.

   Right.

   Sandy was off all last week on one of her typical working vacations, spending every possible minute working in our gardens. (Okay who am I kidding. They're hers, I just get to stroll through them, smell the pretty things and lift the too-heavy stuff once in a while). I took Wednesday and Thursday off to work on our back deck, my second home as of late, finishing the sanding in preparation for staining. We stopped mid-afternoon Wednesday, cleaned up and drove an hour and a half outside town to watch my nephew graduate elementary school. The ceremony was long but pretty well done, every kid got involved and they threw in a slide show which was a bit long but entertaining. Was I really that young at their age? It seems a lifetime ago.

   Got home late.

   Thursday, sand the deck. Friday, sand the deck. Saturday, finish sanding the deck. Hey it's a pretty big structure (14' x 16') with railings and posts, so it takes a while. We stopped late Saturday, cleaned up and drove an hour outside town to visit my dad and his wife for their annual family barbeque. My sister, her kids and her boyfriend were there, my brother and his wife were there as well. We had a roast, corn-on-the-cob and potatoes which were all done on the barbeque. Caesar salad, shrimp cocktail and apple pie with whipped cream for dessert. And of course plenty of booze to wash it down. Luckily we were just finishing dinner when a nasty storm blew in. Some of us stayed out on the back deck to watch the show of wind and lightning. (God I love thunderstorms). We ended the night with a few rounds of pool.

   Got home late.

   Sunday morning I slept in until almost 9:00 (gee, lucky me). I awoke to a gorgeous clear sky, and after breakfast we sat out on the deck sipping Sandy's home-made latte. Afterwards it was back to work, where I gave the house a desperately-needed vacuuming. Is it sick I was looking forward to it? Then, back outside where Sandy and I both spent three hours applying the first coat of stain under a blazing sun. It seemed a bit of a waste at first having stripped off the old gray, weathered layer only to stain the wood gray again. But I have to admit the deck is looking great so far. Photos to come.

   Late Sunday afternoon we cleaned up. The neighbours a few doors down invited us over so we sat by the pool (didn't swim this time), shared some drinks and watermelon. I played with their dog, a very affectionate if rambunctious Doberman.

   It was a busy several days but overall a very enjoyable time. This coming Saturday we're driving an hour and a half out of town to visit my mom and her husband for their annual family barbeque. And where do you suppose we'll be on Sunday?

   Yup, working on the deck. (Edit: for those of you who have been asking, yes Sandy and I designed and built it ourselves).