our old deck was a disaster. it had 2 by 4 supports instead of 4 by 4, it was not cemented into the ground, the stairs were rotting out and it was covered in furry carpet. i thought it was at least passable since the only people who had been injured on it were trick-or-treating 4 years olds, clumsy on the best of surfaces, but when my dad visited he said it had to be the first thing to go. so on canada day weekend we built a new deck.

off to totem we went, where we were quoted about $1300 to make the whole thing. enter jenny's improvising and ian's attention to safety and here it is at a cost of under $400.
the pathway is made from broken bits of patiostone, courtesy of totem's garbage pile, the lattice is from our ugly backyard fence, and the flowers are from someone's garden. i am happy to say that most of them lived through the transplant and the summer. (i hve no idea why all this font is underlined. i can't make it stop though, so let's just go with it)

finally, in response to everyone who thinks edmonton is un-lush and un-lovely, here is our garden in mid july. it has since grown so much more, and we have so many little squashies and tomatoes we could have a roadside stand. things grow here, and it is warm and sunny all summer. we LOVE you edmonton!