Monday, May 30, 2011

What has been going on this month?

I haven't posted for the entire month of May...so what have I been doing?  I have been doing the things I should be posting about.  So, in one way I HAVE stayed on track, but I haven't been documenting,and thereby trying to help all of you keep on track.  Sorry!

At the end of April, I got it in my head that a bigger deck would be a good idea, and then a sale at Home Depot lead to a LARGE delivery of wood and supplies to my house.

In case you didn't know, expanding a 10 x 10 deck to a 10 x 30 deck is a LOT of work, and a LOT of wood.  I thought I had at least a small idea about what it would take for my husband to do this DIY project.  No, my husband is not a natural handy man, but he is extremely smart and will research things until he becomes expert at them.  He is more of the measure 16 times, cut once breed, so I knew that it may go slow, but that he could do it.

He was cautiously optimistic as well, but we went for it.  Then it rained, and rained, and rained, and rained some more.  In fact over March, April, and May, my area of Utah has received more rainfall than in the past 150 years of those months.  Yes, I live in a desert, and yes I have mushrooms and mold in my flower beds.  CRAZY!

Every spare second of sun, or moment of dryness, or at least a slow drizzle was spent trying to make as much progress on the deck as possible.  A lot has been learned along the way, but I have to admit that I have learned a lot more than my husband who has done at least 95% of the work.

LADIES LISTEN UP!!!  I have had small, realistic expectations about the speed of progress, and because of it, my husband and I have not even had one cross word toward each other during this experience! 

He is learning a new craft that I really pushed on him (I can't be the only wife who has ever done this?), he can't control the weather, and we will have this deck for years to come, so what is the rush or reason to stress him out about the time line? 

Please know, this is RARE for me, usually I would push and make it a terrible situation for everyone, but WOW is this approach much better!
We started with this 10 x 10 deck, and it is MUCH better than nothing, but it really didn't leave much room for lounging and relaxing after the BBQ was up there.
Then the structure needed to be started, with a red headed audience (of course).
The stairs were removed and the deck began to take shape!

Okay, then I did add a bit of pressure to the hubby with my excitement (old habit, what can I say).  The deck was finally coming to life and all I could imagine was the deck furniture that I would soon be able to have on it.  Have you priced outdoor furniture lately?  OUCH!!!

I found a GREAT set at the best price I have seen for my needs at Bed Bath and Beyond.
This set is $299.99, but with the 20% off coupon it was $239.99!!  My only complaint is that it isn't very colorful, but with the outdoor pillows they also had for $9.99 each, it made for some much needed color (FYI I got two of the red stripe and two of the blue strip).
The basic structure is now built.  A few touch ups are needed, and I want a gate to be built on as well.  Then I will stain/paint the new areas, and we will be finished...well...the deck has gone so well that we have begun thinking about a pergola...time will tell, it is Memorial Day, freezing cold and still raining out there...

I do promise more pictures and updates as we go along though!  Happy Memorial Day!

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