Things Coming Together

I do like it when several things all come together at once.  Today was one of those days.  I finally heard back from the re-upholsterers and the couch cushions would be ready today.  (It was getting to be quite a problem without them!)  They even agreed to drop them off in the late afternoon.  I'm not entirely convinced this was the best solution, but they at least can be used again, and in particular for the small party next weekend.  Hopefully, the cushions will stay firm for a couple of years.  The next time around, I'll just replace the sofa and love seat and try to ensure that they have some extra durability.

I had managed to stain the deck Friday morning, so I needed to put one more layer of stain on.  I was pleased that the forecast has shifted, and it probably won't rain on Monday after all.  That means that the deck really will be ready.  (You can see the stain doesn't quite match, but after another hard winter, it probably won't really look all that different...)

After work on Friday, I had sawed off part of the board (the one that will be the new railing) in order to get it to fit into the space.  (It's all the way to the right in the photo above.)  Well, it turned out that it was still too long, so I had to saw off another inch or so.  Then it still was a bit tight, so I hauled out the belt sander and finally got it to fit.  That was annoying, but ultimately fixable.

I was able to then put down the 2nd coat of stain on the floor boards and the first coat on the railing.  I can pretty easily put the second coat on tomorrow.  I should also see if I can get this one last board back to cover the gap between the upper and lower decks.  I'm hoping that I can just remove the nails and reuse the old board (flipping it upside down).  But if not, then I can just buy a replacement board at Home Depot tomorrow afternoon.

It was a fairly strenuous morning, so I read a bit in the afternoon, finishing up Kawakami's Ms. Ice Sandwich.  Then I took a short nap, then fired up the grill.  It has been a really, really long time since I've grilled, but I think it came out ok.  Still, I should probably try to pick up some better charcoal from the mall by Friday.

 

It looks like I will actually be ready for people to drop by this Friday.  All in all, quite a bit of effort, but a lot of these things had to be done anyway, so it was good to have an excuse to get me to focus on them.  At least that is what I am trying to tell myself...