What I've been doing while I've not been blogging

My boyfriend and I recently visited friends who have two teenage kids, full time jobs, and a farm. They gave us a tour, which included a barn that they built -- by cutting down the trees and using them for the wood! Anyway, I left humbled and wondering why I, whose life is far less complicated by comparison, never seem to have enough time do all of the home improvements on my list, and determined that I would get a few of them done before the earth makes another trip around the sun. So this is one of the projects that has been on my list for oh, about 8 years -- and it only took about 6 hours once I committed to it. This patio off my deck had a hot tub on it before I bought the house. Without the hot tub, it's just a cement slab with pretty landscaping. Four rolls of Gorilla tape & two shades of cement paint later, faux tile!...