Patio rising

We spent a lot of time in the backyard this weekend, especially since Walt is now on a tear to finish the patio. We're combining my birthday party with a housewarming, and since we've decided to do it as a barbecue, we need to have the patio finished. Like many things, I suppose that a deadline will drive action (at least more than no deadline will). Walt is really geeking out and has started a time-lapse photo session of the work (from a tripod wired to the roof); I'll post an edited version once he does some work on it. He's got a lot of work to do, though, since we just decided that we're going to put in a little koi pond; so not only does he have to lay the patio pavers, but he's also got to dig out this pond.

I kicked off a refinishing project this weekend, and I've become quite adept with the rotary sander. A couple of weeks ago, we bought a new table and chairs on Craigslist, although the set was very worn down and the table in particular needed to be refinished. It's a sight better than our current table and chairs, though, which are literally splitting at the seams (the table has at least two big cracks in it). I have to say, although after the sanding the table looked awful, it looks great now that it's got stain on it. It turns out that stain hides of multitude of sins.

Last week Devon and Walt spent the day together, and one of the things they did was to take the ferry across the bay to Sausalito. Walt's original idea was that they'd go to Sausalito, walk through the town and then take the ferry back -- but apparently Devon was so feisty that they got to Sausalito and then got right back on the ferry to go across the bay again. She had a great time, not only on the ferry but also on the other public transportation they took (cable car, bus and cab). Who wants to take the car when they can take the bus?