Gerry Builds a Deck

Gerry had two weeks of vacation last month so we had lots of ideas of fun things to do in that time. Things like, clean up the yard of dog poo, spread weed kill on the front yard, get a truck load of mulch for the flower beds, put up another hand rail to the downstairs, do some spring cleaning around the house, and build a deck for his mother. Ger's Mom has a cement stoop at the back door of her house which was deteriorating and unsafe to walk on. After she got a couple estimates to remove and replace this little 4 x 4 with 3 steps that ran anywhere from $600 to $1600 Gerry said, "Hey I can put a wooden deck over top of that old stoop for a lot less then that and the deck will be a nice size, big enough for a rocking chair to view the back yard and it would only take me a couple of days." As we all know Gerry has grand ideas and no concept of time and is also one that needs a stick of dynamite under his butt to get him started.

Five days after the start of his vacation he went to his Mom's to dig the post holes. The next day to set the posts. The next three days consisted of a lot of cussing, building and tearing down what was built and breaking a couple of tools. I stopped over one day after work and he was not in a good mood, but my smiling face and quiet understanding calmed him down and we worked together quietly till the floor on the deck was finished. He gave me the nicest compliment when we got home that night. "Thank you for all the help, both physically and mentally." See why I am still married to this man? :)

Gerry took a few days off from deck building so we could enjoy a few summer movies.
**Star Trek was GREAT! Of course Gerry is a Trekkie and I am a Trekkie by marriage so we are familiar with all the old shows. This movie was so much fun and the actors really got the personality of the former stars done pat.
**Angels and Demons was also good. Tom Hanks fit this movie better in both appearance and acting then in the De Vinci Code. I was glad they didn't show the gory parts in detail like the descriptions in the book.
**Back to the Museum II, Fun movie and it was great to see all the stars from the previous movie back in the sequel. Dick VanDyke and Mickey Rooney were missing but all the other museum characters were there and Gerry really enjoyed the part Amy Adams played in her painted on aviator slacks. LOL
** UP Words can not convey the emotions this movie brought to me. I cried twice and laughed a lot and smiled throughout. It is a heart warming movie that reminds us that life has it's UPs and downs but through it all we can still live out a dream. GO SEE THIS ONE! We even did the 3D version which was fun!

Back to the deck.....Gerry is now back to work and the deck is minus steps. The first 4 days of his return to work had him getting up early and going to his Mom's house to work on the steps. By the end of those 4 days the steps were in with one hand rail. Then on Memorial day I went with Gerry again and we spent another 8 hours there doing the rest of the hand rails and the railings. The deck is finished for now. It has to dry out over the summer and then Ger's brother will put a stain on it and a wood preservative. I am constantly amazed at the things Gerry can do, even when he doesn't have a clue what he is doing. I am a proud wife. :) BTW Gerry's brother Dave is a painter by trade so we know he will do a nice job in the staining work. Take a look at the finished project.

As for what did we get done around the house you ask? Gerry did get the hand rail to the basement cut, stained and installed. The rest of the work will get done in time. :)