Veranda

A couple weeks ago I tore out the wood deck portion of our veranda to make way for a new and larger concrete veranda.  It was a bittersweet moment as my son helped me build it.  The new veranda is a big improvement and shouldn't need much upkeep, plus it gives a lot more room for my grill and smoker.
Since it's been installed me and the Glue have been making good use of it when the weather hasn't been too hot.  We have the umbrella to provide shade but we didn't want to screw it into the concrete so I got a base for it.  The sand I got to fill the base was a little wet and it was a pain to get in the base.  The Glue spent 3+ hours working on it while I was doing yard work.  She was on the last one when I got done and started to put them on the umbrella.  The second one I put down busted :-( which meant that the sand had to be removed so it could be returned which was another pain but not as bad as filling them.  I got another base but let the sand air dry before filling which made it a lot easier.
We are also adding a storage box which should arrive tomorrow.  I don't want too many things on the veranda so it may be awhile before we add anything else.  The box does have a two person "seat" on top of it which will be nice.
Now we have to decide and install the landscaping around it but I'm in no hurry to get that done.