CLEAR THE DECK.

My husband, John, and I have had a very busy last several days. We got our unwanted deck safely torn down --- no easy feat. But fortunately, John had worked out just how it needed to be removed, so it didn't accidentally smash through our French doors below or do any other damage while it was in the process of being taken down.

So, now, it's gone, and our patio is bright and sunny again --- although it will be a while yet before we can enjoy it once more, as we've still got a lot of clean-up to do. My son, Shane, is lending a hand with all that, and we're salvaging all the wood we can to recycle by using it in another project we have planned for the future.

Meanwhile, John and I have also cleared much of our bedroom and got half the repainting completed. We hope we'll be finished with everything by the end of the week.

In between times, I've been working on my proposal and answering email from readers, which has got backlogged over the last few months. So I hope all of you who have written to me during that time have now received a reply.

In addition, yesterday was my stepdad's 80th birthday. So all the family gathered around for that. We had a lovely birthday dinner and celebration!