The new dock, suppose to be finished by Monday, is still sitting on our gravel beach. My husband, suppose to be back at work on Tuesday, is sitting on the beach along with the new dock. Renovations never go the way their suppose to do they?

The project ran into its first snag when the flotation devices were out of stock - not a good start.

The second snag was the game plan. Bill had lots of advice, but no plan, at least nothing in writing. He’s now making it up as he goes along, guided by whoever comes along and gives him their opinion. Fortunately, those giving him advice actually know what they’re talking about.

The goods news? There’s no shortage of folks willing to pitch in and give us a hand. As you can see from the photos below what started off as a simple little dock extension has now turned into a full blown dock re-float complete with new hardware (about $600 worth).

This is one of the most expensive holidays I’ve been on in a long time (including wood, hardware and flotation about $5,000), and I’m doing all the cooking and cleaning. As I write this from the Starbucks in Parksville, I’m laughing and banging my head at the same time. This is what cottaging is all about. We truly are a breed of do-it-yourselfers (a similar dock built by an outside company would have cost $18,000).

We’re not alone in our renovations. Up and down the bay, the sound of paint sprayers, saws, and hammers can be heard clear across the lake. Everyone is hard at work holidaying.

My chi latte is all done and I still have another trip to the hardware store - more lumber and drill bits. Here’s hoping next year’s holidays are more relaxing.

Cheers,

Julie

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 6th, 2008 at 10:17 am and is filed under Fix It. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.