plan b

or, why we had to build a deck instead of a patio. frustration. so, back in may we started our backyard patio. after a long weekend of mixing and pouring the concrete pavers, we waited for another sunny weekend. and waited, and waited. during that time, as the rain washed away some of the leveled yard, we noticed little holes appearing, that became a little bigger. we started to dig a little, then a little more, and realized we either had some mole holes or gophers or something like that. whatever it was, we realized that building a patio on top of that may not be the smartest idea. so we threw some smoke bomb type things down the holes and started planning "plan b".



plan b is now a low slung deck. last weekend, we started framing the deck and preparing the site. ian started digging postholes while i slowly transported the existing patio. it seemed like such a waste of time and money to just put the deck over it, so we decided to move it to the side of the house. our house is built into a hill, and we have stairs on the side of the house, going from the front of the house, down to the back yard. at the base, there is poured concrete that we would need to replace anyways. now, it has a nice cobblestone paved landing, which houses our garbage cans nicely.



we had wonderful weather this weekend, so we were back to work saturday morning [after our sad vet trip :( .] by the end of the day saturday, we had all of the decking laid. ian would measure and cut the pieces, while i nail-gunned them into place. i only had one mishap and shot a nail across the deck and hit the firepit. thank god ian and sydney were not in the firing path! i need to work on my angle-shooting skills :) this is what we had by the end of the day:



on sunday, ian finished the trim, and trimmed off the ends of the deck sticking past the firepit side. we really need to figure out our landscaping beside the deck tho. it looks a little barren. we'd like some sort of privacy along the chain link side too. i'll need to get some finished deck photos sometime this week. we have moved the grill out back and have definite plans for outdoor dining this week. is it wrong that i want to buy a little leash for black cat and bring her outside to enjoy the sun?

for the knitterly readers, ugh... another plan b. a few months ago, i started knitting a picovoli/tivoli by grumperina. i finished it a week or so ago, and went to try it on. the damn fabric is biasing. which i guess on a normal top might not be so noticeable, but with the highlight of this top being the increase/decrease seams, its way too obvious. at least to me.



from the comments i've received, its because of this type of yarn, being knit in the round in stockinette. its a wonderful finished fabric, but i think this is going to need a plan b of its own. probably another summer type tank, NOT knit in the round. maybe the tuxedo tank from interweave knits? this one makes the pattern actually look cool, plus her hair is totally rockin'.

time for me to go check on black cat and see if i can coax her to eat some food. its gonna be a long sad week.