The best laid plans…

… have a tendency to get scrapped when sun and alcohol are involved.

I had great hopes for this weekend – namely, being able to finally paint the garage door and stain the deck, given that we’re in the middle of a whole week *cue collective gasp* with no rain. The plan on Saturday was to go to ultimate playoffs in the morning, hang out with my team at a BBQ, and then stain the deck. Well, I definitely got home early enough to get the deck done – except that instead I took a nap. Courtesy of a gorgeously sunny day with temperatures nearing 30, and Marianne being very generous with her Strongbow at the BBQ. No regrets, though, because how often do I get to take a nap in the shade in our back yard?

The playoffs have been very disappointing this year – none of my teams won free beer. And given that in any group of 4 teams, the top team gets free beer… *sigh* That’s just rotten luck. Each team won our first game and lost the second one in the playoffs. But I still had a great time – thanks everyone for another fantastic season!

Today was much more productive – I turned down an all-you-can-eat sushi outing for dinner (yes, I know, superhuman willpower right there) and actually got home in time to paint the garage door. I think it will need another coat, but already I’m loving the look much more. Original colour with work-in-progress on the left, new colour on the right. The edges were a bit of a pain – I actually had to paint the edges while the door was up and open, since when closed they are covered by the rubber weatherstripping. I’m sure the worker’s safety board would not approve of the gymnastics I had to perform on the ladder to paint the top of the door, but they got the job done.

You know how our little girl kitty is a strange one when it comes to dietary preferences? Well, I have two more items to add to that list – watermelon, and crepes. That’s right. This crazy kitty thinks she’s a dog.

And finally, what I’m sure you’ve been waiting breathlessly for all weekend – the dehydrator update. Oh. My. God. Anna, you’ll have to pry this toy from my cold, determined hands when my trial period is over! Dehydrators are amazing. I can’t believe I’ve never tried this before. I’m pretty sure I’m getting one for christmas. I have to be careful, though – in the tupperware shown below are two mangos and three apples. Have to pay attention when snacking…

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User error

I have a confession to make, to all of you who think we’re great at all of our renovation projects. Well, we’re not. In particular, the ensuite reno project has been full of lessons recent.

Lesson the first: you already own a respirator – why not use it when using wood stain inside a small box of a bathroom? The first coat I did with the door open – well, actually, the door was open in the sense that there was no door. Dan put that in just as I finished the first coat. The second coat, however, was a doozie – I was definitely feeling the side effects of the woozy and nauseous variety afterwards.

Lesson the second: apparently shaking the can of said stain is not enough. No – you need to dig to the bottom and dredge up the actual paint so it can mix with the… rest of the liquid. I don’t know if that stain had just been sitting on the shelf at Home Depot for a while or what, but that stuff was pretty well settled. The epiphany came when, unsatisfied with the cabinet still looking more like cedar than walnut after two coats of walnut stain, I decided to put on a third one and was getting to the bottom of the can. And somewhere along the way, on the next brush stroke I ended up with black goo on my shelf instead of the nice, easy-to-apply liquid I’d had before. Well, now it makes sense! Some panic-filled (imagining having to tell Dan that after all his hard work, he needs to completely redo the cabinet because I screwed up the colour) brushing and rag-rubbing filled the next 20 minutes, but I’m actually very happy with how it turned out. A coat or two of clear-coat, and I may be ready to finally show off our ensuite in all its glory!

Hopefully, my next experiment will not be nearly as complicated as wood stain. Anna has loaned me her food dehydrator to use in preparation for our canoe trip, and (despite the first batch not even being ready yet) I have to say I may be hooked. For now, I’m starting with fruit leather (you know, the real fruit roll-ups) and dried apples and mango. Don’t they look delicious?

What’s that, dear mango? You want me to eat you right now?? Oh, how I wish… but I must resist your charms! You will taste so much better on the 3rd day of our canoe trip than now, when I’ve already eaten at least another cup of your brethren, who were not uniform enough to be put in the dehydrator.

I’ll update you on the progress tomorrow!

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