AND SO IT BEGINS...THE NEW DECK - PART 1

A beginning post (there will be others) of the process of having the new deck put in.  Everything here has been done in one day.  I hope you won't be too bored, not my usual type of post and definitely a change of pace from flowers and critters. We were very impressed with how hard these young men worked, starting around 9.00 a.m. and finishing at 7.00 p.m. (this was yesterday - 9-25-23).  The weather is iffy this week, but we had a rain-free day, though not so much today.  It rained hard in the middle of the night.  They arrived this morning to leave a skip out front...

with more building material.  My first few photos show the old deck.  You can see the planters and the bird bath.  My aim is to put more planters, with a few feet of space in between, along the rail area.  I have always liked the privacy framework but the new one won't look like this. It will still have a privacy screen but won't have the overhanging beams.  I'm not one for change but there you go.   There will be no beams to hang the plants, or for the birds to perch, or for the squirrels to run across.  

I heard the crows in the trees squawking, "What the heck!"  The other birds are wisely making themselves scarce.  

So, above and below you can see where the planks have been removed and it's down to just the supports. It seems strange to look down after opening the patio door.  We seem higher up than I had thought.  

All a matter of perspective I know.  

That's the old wood in a big pile.  Does it sound silly to say that I feel a bit sorry to see the old deck go?  A lot of good memories seeped into every beam over the last 30 plus years.

Holes have been dug for the posts...

and now the new frame work.

I have a confession to make.  For a couple of years now I have watched either YouTube videos on camping, or where people build their own log homes. I love the look of log homes and love to see them come together.  As the day wore on, I enjoyed the process out back.  

This is as far as we got as we are waiting for an inspector to look at what has been done.  Once we have the go-ahead, I will be able to do another post.  

At the end of the day we had an unexpectedly visitor, a Mourning Dove flew onto a beam.

He was definitely giving me the eye, trying to figure what was going on.

He couldn't really settle and kept beam hopping.

Back and forth, back and forth...

Finally, he gave up and went back home up into the trees.

Is that a look of disgust?  Am I projecting?

You betcha!

A cardinal came a few minutes later, but after one hop he was out of there before I could get a photo. He also gave me the side-eye and yes, I am once again projecting.

I hope to have a second part to this deck building very soon, maybe a third.  I am not sure how these things work with getting the inspector's approval, or how long it will take.  Not too long I hope!  We did everything by the book, got the permission of the Home Owner's Association first, got signatures from four of our neighbors and showed them the plans to make sure they would have no objections.  They were all very nice about it.  It took a couple of weeks to get the go-ahead from the HOA, and now the inspector to wait for.  Interesting process!

Yes, Mr. Squirrel, and you have a thing about peanuts don't you?  But that's okay, I have a thing about projecting, says I with a smile!  Please don’t  look at me like that! 

Thanks for looking 

and have a great day.