Dustin LindenSmith

Last week I stained our front steps white. It was a hard stain to work with, because it was semi-opaque and had to be applied in just one thick, even coat. I had to do a lot of little touch-ups to clean up drip marks and stuff, but because it's stain instead of paint, I don't expect it to start flaking off in the sun like our deck's paint does.

Then I remade the butterfly-shaped pendulum from Zoë's bedroom clock, which wasn't working properly in its original design (shown in the first pic with pink wings and light green body) because the butterfly was made from wood and was too heavy to swing on its own. I did a dry run with a new paper version (shown with yellow wings and a red body), but the colours weren't as nice as the original. So I remade it once more, even more carefully, with new colours that I mixed up myself. It swings great, now.

This last picture is our backyard last night after dinner. The view of the lake has improved over the past few weeks because of all the old spindly trees and bushes I've been cutting down lately.