Way back in September, I was blogging - and dreaming - about the apochrophal day when I would saunter across the deck to pluck a sun-ripened banana for breakfast. Well folks, that day is about to arrive, for this has been our Labour Day long weekend project:


And the joy was unconfined. There were barely three boards down before I came over all skittish with excitement, succumbing to an uncontrollable urge to sashay back and forth in my bare feet and cut off jeans, one foot tentatively after the other.
Just like Jennifer Grey in that tree-trunk-across-the-river-scene in Dirty Dancing. Or so I like to think.

Having got that out of my system I decided to do something useful, and promptly found myself a job selecting and measuring boards, and marking off the positions for Phil's sawing and drilling. I quite like being a chippie's off-sider, with a big fat pencil tucked behind my ear, but I expect the novelty will wear off in the next day or two.

And this is the fine result of our weekend's work. Were it not for that pesky patch of rain at 2pm, we would have finished. It's been one helluva lot of deck to lay, and the last few nights have seen us collapse rather achey-breaky to bed.  That said, it has to have been one of the most satisfying jobs so far - almost instant gratification - to watch it grow, board by board, into a beautiful space for outdoor living.

First deck breakfast tomorrow. (Bananas not yet ripe, unfortunately.)


A few words about our wood:
When it came to sourcing decking timber, our criteria were few and simple: Australian hardwood from sustainable, well-managed forests - and as close to home as possible. So I opened the yellow pages at Sawmills and ran my finger down. I stopped at Grant Timbers. I had a good feeling about their address: 7 Sawmill Road, Woodford.
I went online.
I read about the history of Grant Timbers.
I read about their management of the Bellthorpe forest.
I liked what I read.

And so the two chums set off for Woodford, to buy some wood.

Woodford is a pretty country town, and home to some very good things - not least, the world-famous Woodford Folk Festival - and Grant Timbers did not disappoint. Over at Sawmill Road, they're keeping it real. Grant's is a family-owned and operated company. Wood is what they do, and they don't mess around. Their timber-lined office is comfortingly rustic, yet incredibly efficient. They are excellent people to deal with. And best of all, they let us don yellow safety vests for a tour through the yards to see what we were getting.



Now that's what a call a deck for dancing: some sultry samba, some sexy salsa, a bit of boogie, and maybe, just maybe, a moonlit tango ...