Deck & Dogs

I got the deck stained today.  This is something I had been waiting for a couple dry days for and it all hinged on the “slight chance of drizzle” this morning to not hit in my own little weather zone and it didn’t.

Last year when the deck was new I did stain it twice.  The first time I bought this handy dispenser that you pour the stain in and “mop” it on.  It was a completely time consuming and very messy way to do it.  It was also the first time and the wood really soaked up the oil.  It took about 8 hours.  The next time I did it with a paint brush and on my hands and knees and again it took about 8 hours.

So last week when I went and bought the penetrating oil stain I was looking for an inexpensive disposable mop.  I found in the paint isle a paint sponge that I could screw a handle on.  I already had handles from painting so I picked it up and crossed my fingers that it would work as I wanted it to.

I stained the deck today in just over two hours.  I just poured the stain in a container that the painting sponge could fit in and mopped it on.  It worked fantastic.  Now to get the furniture and grill back on the deck and the wood table re-stained in black.  I love the wood deck and the wood table and if one weekend a year keeps them looking like this it is so worth it.

I will put before and after pictures up of the deck once I get the table done.

Because it went so quickly it gave me time to get some vacuuming and general house work done, since you know I didn’t do anything yesterday besides the marathon.  After that I went and picked up Sophie and took the dogs to the park for a walk as Katherine was in rehearsal, her show opens on Friday.

We did four laps, the dogs did more because I kept calling them back.  Here are some pics.  I love the one of Sophies ears flapping while running toward me.