"The hardest thing is to take less when you can get more." - Kin Hubbard

Yep, too windy again today. But I can't waste these cool spring days ("cool" being a relative term, as we got to 82 this afternoon) so I attacked several outside projects that have been neglected while I work on an old truck.

I spent the morning finishing up a project I started Thursday afternoon.
I've spilled some epoxy coating and paint on the driveway over the last few months and soon realized that was going to happen fairly regularly until that part of the truck job is finished. I decided to let it go, and when I'm all done I'll paint the driveway. Hey, I know paint will stick to it, so no worries.

The walk that goes from the driveway to the front door was, at some point in the past, covered with some really ugly 12"x12" tiles, some of which were broken. I'd thought about re-tiling, but decided it would be cheaper, easier, and just as legit to take up this tile and paint the walk with the same thing I use on the driveway.

First, break up the tiles. This is not fun. Then get off all the remaining thin set, which is even less fun. A framing hammer, a cold chisel, an angle grinder with a floppy grinding wheel, and hours spent squatting. But it's done and ready for whenever it is that I do the driveway. Those little holes running alongside the house - about 1/4" in diameter - are from a termite treatment at some point in the past and I'll have to fill those before painting.

Those two posts to the left hold up a roof extension so that walkway is covered. I made them to replace the really ugly wrought iron decorative posts that came with the house. What you see is 1"x6" pine covering 4"x4" pressure treated posts that are the actual supports. Those pine boards were in desperate need of painting down at the bottom, so as long as I'm working on the walkway....

And as long as I have the white exterior paint in my hand the back patio cover needs a coat of paint. Thankfully, I ran out of paint after getting only the five vertical supports painted.

The security door over the front door doesn't close right. It has apparently sagged since I installed it several years ago so that you have to use too much pressure to get the deadbolt to latch. It should be a lot easier than that.
Get out the rattail file and go to work, then some spray lubricant for the mechanism. The door works fine now.

The fiberglass shower floor in the master bath isn't smooth and the irregularities seem to catch dirt, or grime, or something that's sort of brown. I can tell you that the combination of borax and white vinegar doesn't work as promised. I'm now trying oxygenated bleach. I'll report back.

While we ate lunch we watched a show about dogs that was fascinating. They've learned the dogs that seem best suited for service dog training are right paw dominant (when they start out they lead with their right paw) and any cowlicks in their fur twist in a counter-clockwise direction.

Tomorrow at Pathway we'll begin getting ready for Easter. We're going to do a pretty substantial outreach effort to the 2,000 or so homes in the subdivisions around the school where we meet and we hope that will result in visitors for that morning's outdoor service. We'll talk about that plan tomorrow, but mostly we'll begin praying for that morning and the effort that will go into it.

Now? Dinner. Then supper. Then dessert. Then maybe a before-bed snack.