A Shot in the Arm

 

May came in bringing wonderful spring weather, and we spent much of it basking on the back deck and alternating between Netflix or Prime on the wine barrel TV and retro movies on the big screen. Sure, the lawn needed cutting....a few times.....and the dandelions came on stronger than ever. 

Ontario remained in a state of lockdown, though with increasing vaccinations there was more light at the end of the tunnel for some potential summer liberty. Jane got her first dose of Pfizer in early May, and I followed soon thereafter with a jab of Moderna.

We even made a list of things we'd like to do when life returns to (semi)normal - from ambitious travel plans, right down to small things like going out for breakfast or hitting a drive-through for fast food. We haven't had a Timmy's in 14 months!

Jane's bike of choice finally came into stock at Canadian Tire (she had been watching!), so we took the van into town for a curbside pickup......followed by some pedalling down our quiet country road.

Jane also did some very early tomato processing - one of the local greenhouses had an excess of supply given the diminished restaurant demand, so they were selling them for $5 a flat - hard to pass that up! She canned some pasta sauce, salsa and marinara.....and she will still make more in the fall using the more traditional and delicious field Romas.

Bring on the May 2-4 long weekend - hot and humid!

Athens can be a puzzling place

A few 2-4's from Anderson Brewing arriving just in time for May 2-4!

Jane's new bike

Jaws on the big screen!

She's never met a Mike she didn't like!

Moonlit windmill over the barn roof

Jane rescues a rodent!

First wave of local berries from Raymont's

Netflix and chill....

Too good to pass up!

Lockdown Continued

In the midst of another COVID lockdown, this time a six-week stay at home order in Ontario, we continued to put idle hands to good use and plug away at various tasks.

The back deck atmosphere was augmented with the addition of a fire table, picked up curbside at Canadian Tire prior to the lockdown - since we can't have bonfires on the deck, it's something to at least take the chill off during late night movie marathons. We also added the mesh curtains to the gazebo, which had spent the winter in storage after erecting the structure in late fall.

We tackled the fourth wall of the house, after parging and painting the other three last year. This also required ripping out the yew hedges, which were growing out of control, to be replaced eventually with some lower maintenance options. We also trimmed some other long-overdue areas around the yard, and hauled several more van loads of brush off to the nearby yard waste depot. 

A gorgeous March saw flowers blooming and trees budding, only to see a sudden dumping of snow in mid-April. Thankfully it was gone a day later and didn't seem to do any lasting harm to the plant life. 

Fire table for the back deck

Spring Splash

Yew gotta go....

.....but I'm stumped!

Mesh kit for the gazebo - yes, there are three more panels!

Daffodils!

Trimming the front hedge

Parge repair on the West Wall

There's always time for puzzles!

A wet blanket on Spring

More cedar trimming

Over a Barrel

So we were looking for something funky to serve double duty on the back deck, as both a high table for standing, as well as a projector stand high enough to avoid a rakish projection angle. We came up with the somewhat brilliant idea to source a wine barrel from a local vineyard!

We set off in the van for a pleasant drive to Colchester Ridge Estate Winery (CREW), south of Harrow and along the Lake Erie shore. There were a few competing options, but since CREW is already our favourite local winery, and their barrels had fewer metal bands than some others....the choice was easy.

We even got some backstory to enrich our deck furniture experience - it's a 2015 barrel made of French Oak, and last held a batch of CREW Merlot. We also googled the info on the barrel's head and found that it was made by French barrel maker Sylvain, who have quite an extensive website detailing the process. 

Our friends Heather and Dan helped put some wheels on the bottom, at a distance of course, which not only raise the height that much more, but keep the bottom of the barrel out of the wet and makes the whole unit more easily moved.

We sanded, we stained, and we sealed. Heather and Dan also made us a nice removable table-top out of oak, so we have options. The end result is pretty stunning!

Maker's Marks 

Thanks Heather and Dan!

 

The finished product with removable top

Roll out the barrel....

A little residual Merlot

Thanks CREW!

Drying the Stain

Staining with Early American

Sealing with Spar Varnish

BBQ Theatre!

Our old BBQ was on it's last legs, and we had been watching for deals.....so we leapt into action when Canadian Tire put some on sale. Curbside pickup went smoothly, though the box was a bigger square peg than expected and BARELY fit into the Juke's round hole. 

We picked a nice sunny day (luckily very common of late!) and assembled it on the back deck, before firing it up to christen the grill with some pork chops, BBQ sauce and beer. We're going to try keeping it on the back deck, rather than out in the Man-Garage as has been the customary residence for grilling.

We also set up the outdoor theatre to take advantage of the gorgeous weather - first, we just set up an outdoor TV.....but then we jury-rigged the big screen into place with a 2x4 and some chain, and brought out the projector for some true outdoor theatre! Unfortunately we have to wait until it's fairly late in the day to get a decent picture, but still.....a nice way to watch a movie on your back deck!

With all due respect to Brad Pitt....What's in the Box???

Great day to assemble a BBQ!

It's another Cole, Man!

Inaugural grilling of pork chops

The Big Screen!

Behind Her Eyes....and yes, that's Pennywise in the window!

Watching TV on the back deck

Spring Cleaning

So we definitely had just one month of winter this year - it arrived on January 31st, and was gone by February 27th, barring some random April return. We've been tackling some spring yardwork far ahead of schedule, not just because of warm termperatures but it has also been drier than a typical spring.

We attended to some long-overdue tree trimming, loading it straight into the van for disposal at the nearby county yard waste depot....which unfortunately is only open every OTHER weekend at this point.....but better to have a van full of dry brush then piles of wet brush on the ground!

Jane is also far more able to help with the yardwork than the past few years, and seems to take particular delight in attacking trees and hedges with the clippers!

We also finally got rid of Pennywise's old outdoor cage - some folks came and took it away (after much labour), though Jane had already done a fair bit of work before they arrived. As I left for the office, I handed her a large iron pry bar and a shovel, with these specific instructions - "Just be careful not the break the shovel using it as a pry bar" - see predictable results below.

A blanket of Crocus!

A nice walk down the Bowman Trail

Jane made homemade bagels!

Off to the yard waste depot

Stuffed to the rafter!

Tackling some cedar hedges

Time for another puzzle

Dismantling The Cage

Why use a pry bar when you have a shovel???

The Cage is gone!

See a next year, Dryer!

More of Jane's handiwork....for Mike to clean up!