The Best Laid Plans...

This past weekend ended up being an exercise in futility. The plan was to buy new pavers for the front steps and boards for the board and batten wainscoting on Saturday, install the pavers, and get the boards planed down to size. Then on Sunday we'd prime and paint the boards and get the chair rail installed.

Did.Not.Happen. When we got back from buying the stones and boards, Tom pulled out the old stones, leveled that area of the sidewalk and put the new pavers in. It was then that we realized we didn't like them. So we rearranged them. Still not good. We tried a combination of the new ones and the old ones. No go. So we went back to the store to return the pavers and look for something else. We couldn't find anything else we liked so we went home defeated, with the plan to try some stone and landscaping retailers next weekend.

But what to do with the front steps that were now torn apart? We put the old stones back into place - and stole two from the garden retaining wall to replace the ones that were damaged over the winter. We're planning on removing that garden and planting something else anyway.

With the sidewalk leveled it made a huge difference. I can't believe how much better the steps look just with that little change. It's still not where we want to end up, but for now at least it's not a hazard. Though it's sad that we spent an entire day just to end up back where we started.

And it doesn't look as bad as it did last weekend...

Or the weekend before...

On the bright side, we did pick up some trees to plant along the side of the porch. The neighbours' house is so close - there's no privacy at all. Last year we installed the railing to separate us a little bit, and now we're putting in cedar trees to block the view. They're small right now, but eventually they'll provide some privacy - for us and for our neighbours.

And we brought out the hammock, because the weather was awesome. Of course, Little Dog is in love with the hammock and won't let anyone in it by themselves. Even when everyone else has given up, she's still in there swinging away.

Oh, we did get the boards planed, and a couple of coats of primer applied, but that was it. The time just whizzes by too fast and suddenly is 8pm on Sunday night. This week is month-end for me at work so I'm staying late and nothing is going to get done before Thursday. But once Thursday hits -it's game on. There's no time to waste because...we finally have a date for our master bath renovation to start!