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I took last week off work to catch up on some of the jobs around home. We're hosting The Sidekick's son's wedding at the farm in the next month, so there is lots of primping and prep- ping going on around the place. Some time ago, I started renovating the downstairs bathroom. (Okay it was before Christmas, and it wasn't close to being fi nished.) In spite of the fact the guests won't be using the bathroom in the farm- house, The Sidekick said it HAD to be done... Once the orders came down from that lofty height, I enlisted my very handy, talented and ambi- tious brother-in-law as the two of us joined forces to fi nish the bathroom. We make a great team-- my neck doesn't like to bend backwards, and he has a sore knee (but he did admit it's much better since we completed the bathroom.) Between the two of us, we make up a fairly com- plete functional man. I did the things that re- quired me 'not looking up', while he did the 'looking up' things. We now have a functional bathroom. With one 'day-and-a-half-hurdle' out of the way, I spent the balance of the week working out- side. Now I love to work outside, but working on gar- dens and fl ower beds ain't my fa- vorite job. I much prefer working ar- eas of land that are measured in acres, not square feet. However, I have made the vegetable garden accessible with the full-sized farm tractor, so I could run the cultiva- tor over it-- much easier that way. (I'm still trying to fi nd a way to work up the fl ower beds with the farm tractor as well, but I'm not having any great inspi- ration yet.) I sat on the old International for hours last week, cutting the lawn nu- merous times with the seven foot fi n- ishing mower. I want to get it nice and 'fi ne,' like golf course consistency, so it requires lots of cutting and recutting. Some things have had to be painted, like the verandah fl oor, as well as fresh- ening up some of the window trim. The Sidekick's son landed on the scene for two days last weekend to lend a hand. I gave him the job of painting the verandah fl oor. He started edging along the house, as I took the tractor and cultivator out to work up a small fi eld. When I returned, The Sidekick was painting while he was digging up and edging the fl ower beds. Seems they traded jobs. No matter, both jobs were completed and The Sidekick and I took out a mortgage to purchase a truck-load of bedding plants and assorted hanging baskets to give the place a blast of colour. We're actually enjoying the work, as we can see the fruits of our labours. Monday being a holiday, we fi nished up planting the fl ower beds, as well as most of the vegetable garden. The rain came that night, giving everything a good soaking-- perfect. The wedding is a month away, and we're well on the way to hav- ing the farm in shape. I have plans to spruce up a few things around the barn, as well as stain a pair of doors on one barn, since they are new lumber and look a bit too 'fresh'. As we wrapped up our work Sun- day afternoon, the bride and one of her brides- maids dropped by to see how we were doing. When I explained what we had left to do, she said, "Oh don't do that-- I like it the way it looks now, nice and rustic." I'm a stickler when it comes to pre- sentation-- I have a strong pride of ownership, and leaving things looking like a 'rundown old farm' ain't my style. I asked her is she was having her hair done for the wedding, to which she an- swered "Of course I am." "Why would you do that?" I grinned, "I think it looks great the way it is..." She's still trying to come up with a smart answer. --Ted Brown can be reached at tbrown@theifp.ca A Ted Bit Mixing 'rustic' with pride of ownership TED BROWN 'I much prefer work- ing areas of land that are measured in acres, not square feet.' •T he I FP • H al to n H ill s •T hu rs da y, M ay 2 3, 2 01 3 8 905-877-3100 www.BrooksHeatingAndAir.ca Local Experts you Know & Trust As always a portion will be donated to