Things just never turn out the way you think they will. I planned a nice 10-day vacation on the Outer Banks of North Carolina; walking, bike riding, swimming, sitting on the beach, watching movies, and eating seafood with a few friends.

But when I arrived at Annabelle’s cottage in Southern Shores and I found this reminder of Hurricane Dorian blocking my way to the back door.

I bought a large crowbar at Home Depot and with the help of Milton removed all the boards so we could enter the cottage normally. I notified Annabelle and thought my job was done.

Enter Jeff.

The next day Jeff was digging out the post remnants so no one would trip on them. Little did I know that they were 3 1/2 feet in the ground in concrete.

Thus began Handyman Summer Camp, the replacement for a lazy week at the beach. There is a joke about the definition of sailboat cruising, what should be sailing to great locations, lounging on the fantail drinking beer, and enjoying life is actually “boat repair in exotic places”.

This was home repair in exotic places. Jeff convinced me we could rebuild the fence and mission creep began.

Mission creep set in. One thing led to another and we installed a clothesline, a bench, and an area for the refuse and recycling roller cans with patio blocks for safer walking without steeping on the everpresent briars. The bench and clothesline beams add torsional strength for the next hurricane.

So I learned how to lay patio blocks, build a fence, and build a bench, probably 20 hours time.

But wait there is more Ronco.

I learned roof repair. The roof was damaged in multiple locations.

Wait there is more!

That wasn’t enough so I replaced multiple blown bulbs with new, brighter LED bulbs, installed a new LED light fixture in the upstairs bath to replace the loudly buzzing old style ballast light, stopped a leaky toilet with a new flapper, made the house safer with a new smoke alarm, added a foot-washing hose and nozzle in the outdoor shower, mounted a solar-powered LED motion detection light on the new fence to illuminate both walkways, and painted weathered wood trim under the upper roof.

So the restful vacation turned into a learning experience with Handyman Summer Camp. I feel proud that we took a storm mess and turned it into a gift of service for Annabelle. The cottage looks much better. I hope she likes it.

Oh, yeah, I did get to go over to the beach on the last day. Water was nice.