Everything is More Fun with a Sister

In case you missed it, I’ve been lacking in my regular posting schedule.  I hate it because writing about the adventures of Toad Valley ranks right up there as one of my favorite things to do.  If I’m not busy telling witty stories, then what could I possibly be doing that could be cause for a disruption in my priorities?   The answer?  One evil word.  Stain.

As I mentioned in previous posts, I’ve been busy staining every single thing that is made out of wood on the golf course.  The pergola of the ceremony site which led to the deck which led to the fence behind nine which led to the upper deck which led to the patio area which led to, you guessed it, more staining.

My routine got even worse once my sister was done teaching.  My sister, Julene, teaches English at our local high school.  In the summer, she puts in her time at the family business.  She’s a slave driver!  She is determined to continue staining until every single things made of wood on the golf course is all glorious and beautiful.  That included staining the new deck we built at the miniature golf.

We also got the new mobile benches that my carpenter built stained.

He built four of these.  The ones on the deck have lattice work (which looks nice but equals more than evil when it comes to the staining department).  On the deck benches, we also have flower boxes at the end of the bench.  These work great for configuring the huge deck for many different uses.

There are also two benches which were built to help block the back area.  If you recall, we built a fence to hide this area last year.  Unfortunately, this winter’s high winds blew the fence apart, so we opted for another way to cover up our uglies.

After having been staining endlessly for several days, we were getting a little tired of staining.  It was toward the end of the day when my sister and I recruited my daughter to come and help us stain the huge fence at the minigolf.  We thought if we could tackle it in sections, then it wouldn’t be the worst job known to man.  Little does my daughter know what she’s in for!

My sister, Julene, was lugging the nearly full five gallon bucket of stain a long distance and decided to use her handy dandy wheel barrow as a mode of transportation.  This all seemed like a brilliant idea at the time. My daughter and I waited while Julene pulled the stain to our new staining destination.

Then.  She hit a bump.

That’s when nearly $100 worth of stain ended up on the concrete.

While my sister mourned her mistake, I couldn’t stop laughing.  Then, I did what any normal person who spends over $100 in stain does.  I grabbed a dustpan and started scooping up the stain from the concrete doing my best to save what I could.  While I scooped, my sister grabbed the powerwasher and got to work cleaning the mess.

By the time she was done, the concrete looked like it was brand new.  Go figure!

Here’s what I was able to retrieve of the entire five gallons that spilled out.  It only had a few wood chips mixed in with it.  No harm.  No foul.

Once the saga of the stain was complete, we got to work staining the long minigolf fence.

If it’s one thing we know how to do, it’s fun.

After staining for nearly two hours, we stepped back to see our progress and were immediately saddened as it wasn’t much to brag about.  Some quick calculations told us that it would probably take us an additional eleven hours of staining to complete this project.

Any volunteers?  We have a bucket of stain with your name on it!

Not that my sister’s antics were dull, but the highlight of the day was when we discovered a very clever bird at the minigolf right near where we had set up shop to stain.

The bird would not leave us alone.

Then. We saw the bird’s concern.  Her nest had been built and disguised within the rocks of the minigolf.

There you have it.  Only eleven more hours to go for us to have a beautified miniature golf course!

Who else wants to have a sister like mine?