Last week's work.

Last week I had a break from window treatment jobs so I finally got around to some projects I'd been planning to do all summer.  One much needed project was staining the deck. The dogs mess up the deck itself while the squirrels scratch up the railings. So all the horizontal surfaces really needed new stain. First I scrubbed the deck with bleach & then applied a coat of stain. Of course I happen to pick one of the hottest days of the summer to do this project-- so one morning I started staining at 7 am.  Here's a few shots (for LT)

Deck after scrubbing but before all of it stained. 

I was waiting for the stain to dry a bit so I could move the grill onto stained part & finish the rest. Thought it was a good time to do before/after shot. See the neighbor's pool being so damn tempting in the background... no one uses the darn thing!!

Deck steps torn up by the dogs- deck table is in rock area waiting for this job to be done- you may notice Jack on the stepping stones- the dogs hate the river rock & actually use the stepping stones. 

Fortunately I didn't have to do the vertical surfaces- except a few uprights hubby added underneath the steps to support them more. You may notice the two chin-up bars on the supports behind the ladder-- hubby uses the tall one for chin ups  & "Bubka's" (exercise where he pulls himself up & inverted- so his feet end up next to the railing above his bar.) The shorter one is for me & kids. 

Aluminum framed chairs with plastic
"wicker" is easily updated with "Fusion" spray
paint.

I also spray painted the bejezus the weekend before staining the deck- enough so my poor little fingers hurt from holding down that little sprayer top. I used "Fusion" spray paint in True Blue on these very old (purchased about 10 years ago) chairs that have plastic "wicker" seats. Originally they were silver frames & tan wicker. Years ago I painted the frames hunter green to match the (then) deck table. Then the wicker that was wrapped around the arms started shredding off so then they were hunter green with silver "armrests" & tan wicker. Thought I'd try out the Fusion paint that adheres to plastic & I definitely like. I like the bright pop of color. These chairs are no longer used with the metal deck table because I found some metal chairs at Sam's club that matched  it for like $20 each last year. Instead these blue ones are used down at ground level for pole vault days. Hubby typically uses one along the runway to rest his poles on. Boys & I typically use the others down on the mat end  to catch steps (take off) & video.  Along with the blue chairs I sprayed the metal table (now black instead of hunter green) to match the chairs. Also touched up the chairs since there were a few little spots of rust-- this way they should last forever if I keep them up in this manner. I really love both the table (over a dozen years old) & chairs because they are such easy care if I just spray paint them every so often to keep the rust at bay.

I had to take this one to show you part of hubby's workout- see the white spots on the black runway mat? Those are chalk HANDprints from hubby walking on hands to increase balance & upper body strength. Things are a little different at this house. LOL The tally marks on the bricks is actually his work- not kids... he uses chalk to mark runway & to keep track of how many vaults or sets of workouts he's done. The kookiest part- in our basement shower is a 50 gal. trash can filled with cold water- hubby dumps ice into it & stand in there for about 15 minutes after workouts. I know, we are a strange household. 

Jack usually gets to eating right away- so he gets the pouch food with gravy & leaves Sully just the kibble-- yet Sully is the overweight one. You can see my tomato plants, dill (got ravaged by caterpillars) hot peppers and herbs (above retaining wall) along with one of the blue chairs and corner of table that goes back up on deck. 

Sully is more interested in keeping food away from Jack than eating... it was already pretty hot that day- Sully doesn't like the heat. 

Sully being hot. 

Thought I'd throw in a couple of photos of the pooches for your viewing pleasure since Jack was in other shots anyway. =)