The Staining Continues....

This weekend was fun packed! With the emphasis on PACKED!

Friday evening Terri sauntered up the hill and we with the assistance of a bottle of Bogle 80 - tore through about 46 boards which we are staining for the outside of our Lodge Home. It went so much quicker with the wine and gossip! Although this Bogle isn't going on the re-do list it was nice enough for the purpose.

Saturday we'd hoped to finish the staining of the siding but we got some much needed rain which kept the air to humid for the stain to dry. The next project on the To Do list was putting in a fall salad garden. Down in La Trois Belle we have two raised beds. One contains sunflowers and sweet potatoes and the other was a Three Sisters garden with squash, corn and beans. The concept worked well but we should have waited about a week between planting the sweet corn and beans. The runner beans wrapped to tightly around the corn at to early of an age and smothered the corn. We cleared the sisters bed to make way for broccoli, lettuce and spinach. The weather is just turning cool in the evenings. That time of year when you can almost smell the crisp clean frost in the air and you long for a bonfire. Well really you're longing for marshmellow s'mores. Hopefully we have about 30 days prior to that first frost coming. That should be enough time to enjoy a few salads and prolong the fresh green taste of summer.

With that project accomplished we worked our way down the driveway trimming branches and discovering an old path that led to a dilapidated bench. We cleared away the leaves and trimmed the wayward shrubs to discover that the path was lined with rocks. It was once a cute sitting area intended as a resting point on a walk to the road. Now I wouldn't trust the bench to sit on these days, but it looks cute just at the edge of the driveway half hidden, inviting you to sit a spell, relax and take life easy. What a wistful dream at this point! Perhaps it's repair is a good spring project, before you can plant but are itching to be outside. With a sense of satisfaction at finishing more than we'd intended, Terri went to study and I helped the Princess with a felting project. It was great fun.

The next morning I decided the property needed some sprucing up so I tackled the weed-eater. With one thing and another the weekly maintenance has gotten away from us a bit, although many of the weeds are in their full flowered splendor they had to go and give way to civilization. There are many spots for nature to take it's course but not the entire place! It was a larger project than expected but it sure does look beautiful all trimmed up. It gives me joy to look at a job well done!

After taming the wilderness I was informed by the Princess that it was time for a make-up session. Ashley is a big fan of putting makeup on me and I in turn apply it to her. We have been playing this game since she was two (she's eight now and I am painfully aware that soon will come a day when she won't want to play with her mom anymore. I enjoy each moment as a precious gift.) The more outlandishly fairy like the better. The process usually involves a lot of glitter, extravagant hairdo's and dangling earrings. After being suitably fairy dusted I returned to tackle a few more boards before the weekend slipped away.

One thing I've been doing as I stain the siding is add a little of whatever I'm doing to the Olympic Stain. So Friday I christened a board or two with a few drops of wine and Sunday I dusted some of the fairy dust from my cheeks onto a board. I figure there is a lot more that goes into a self made home and if drinking red wine and playing fairies makes us smile, it should put a good spirit into the house also.

Totally exhausted I dropped into bed. I had a few minutes to think before I dosed off... and I used them to reflect on how things are going. Although times are tight financially and time-wise and we must make every action count (sometimes twice) I thought overall, This Indeed Will Do!

PS - despite my best efforts to scrub the sparkles off my cheeks I still had a few attached Monday morning. It made me smile when my co-workers thought I'd been out clubbin'. Just another wild weekend at ThistleDew and I danced a jig down the hall.