Sloggin'. No Time For Bloggin'.

I've been busy, Ms J. Back yard busy. I've got my vegetable garden planted, finally. I've got a few herbs and some parsley. And this year, I'm trying to grow Brussells Sprouts. I bought four tomato plants from a local nursery and the next day, Christine gave me eight more. She got them from her cousin, Vicki, who grows vegetables for a living in Prince Edward County. I put a couple of the plants in my garden and gave the rest away to my neighbours. I should call Campbell's Soup to see if they'll need any tomatoes later this summer!

I'm planning to start building my deck next week and so I've been preparing the site. I've removed a lot of large stones, some as big as my head, and leveled the ground as much as possible. Bob was here today and he helped me fetch twelve bags of crushed limestone to help carry rainwater away from the outside wall of the house. The bags weigh over thirty kilos (70 lbs.) each, Ms J. I was grateful for Bob's help. Once the deck is built, it will be very difficult to make repairs if the foundation ever leaks. The basement has never been wet, but the crushed stone grading will add a little insurance against that possibility.

I got two estimates for materials. Home Depot and RONA. Home Depot stores are big, popular, ubiquitous ... and American. RONA is a Canadian company. I'm a good Canadian and I planned to buy my lumber and building materials from RONA. That is, until I got their estimate. Home Depot estimated $1473. for materials to build my deck. RONA would charge $2435. to build the same deck. A thousand dollars more??!

As I said, I'm a loyal Canadian. But for $1000., I guess I'll support the Yanks. First though, I plan to talk with someone at RONA to find out why they're so much more expensive and to ask if they can meet Home Depot's price. I'd really rather shop Canadian.

But a thousand bucks ... Sheesh!!

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