SATURDAY MORNING AT THE BIRD FEEDER...IF I BUILD IT, WILL THEY COME?

 Not the first day they didn't!

NEW DECK - PART 3 - LAST POST OF THE BUILD

It's now completed and am writing this on 10-4-23.  It's been a few days since the hammers were put away.  

I thought I would add this, a comment made from Linda at A View from Squirrel Ridge in my previous deck post.  She told me that Trex is made in Winchester, (the same town where we visited the Lego Exhibit a little while ago).  They, Trex, make these decks from wood scraps and recycled plastic bags.  She says some of the nonprofits in that area have conducted plastic bag drives with Trex, and have given them a free bench for reaching a certain goal.  

Thank you for letting me know Linda.  I was a little concerned as I tend to be very much a traditionalist, not really wanting to go away from wood.  Now I feel much better that we made the decision to use Trex. 

There are eight of these lights around the deck.  The middle photo was me taking an angle from below the light looking up.

Regarding outdoor furniture, our hope is to put two lounge chairs in this corner with a table between them.  I also thought planters with trailing flowers would be lovely.  We don't get a lot of sunlight in this corner.  If any of you have good ideas what to put there, please let me know.  I am trying to get as much information before purchasing anything.  

It's at the end of the year of course, so all our plans will be on hold until springtime.  We are making a trip to the garden center as I thought it would be nice to have a few pots of mums around the place for the Fall.

I saw all the shadows on the deck so with camera in hand....

In this area we are thinking a round table with chairs and an umbrella,

My dear other half has been out here with the leaf blower several times.  At the moment we think it is a losing battle, because the leaves are now in the rainfall mode.  It doesn't stop him from trying though and he's out there at the end of the day doing his best, a task which I do believe he is enjoying.

 There is a bird station which is a must. Still pondering about that.

The last of my photos were taken at the side of the house.

We also have an idea to do a little landscaping around the bottom of the trellis work.

With all that said, we know plans can change. We might not get it all done for the springtime, but it's nice to look ahead, to have a goal in mind.  We will see what happens.

Thanks for looking at our deck-build.  Family and friends have been asking for details and this seems the easiest way to get it out there. 

Enjoy your day!

THE NEW DECK - PART TWO

The old deck has now been taken down.  You can see it at this link.  

Here is the flooring. It took a while to decide to go away from 'real' wood to the fake kind.  The thought of not having to do a yearly maintenance - no sanding, sealing or repairing - helped with our decision.  Truthfully, it is more appealing to get away from the maintenance aspect as we get older.  We also felt we received good advice from the owner of the deck-building company.  

We had three estimates and after looking at the samples he showed us, and the knowledge that he had about this product, it gave us confidence that we had picked the right person.  His was the best out of the three estimates we had asked for.  It was also his own business, and we more often than not like to support our local businesses.   

The material is called Trex. There were several colors to choose from.  It was hard but we finally settled for this...

along with white framework with aluminum railings...

and kept our fingers crossed that we had made the right choices.

Once again, we were very impressed with these young men, not only for the long hours they worked, but for their skill.  Their good manners were also noted by both of us.

Next you can see the new wooden post and the protective sleeve that surrounds it. There are a couple of leaves on the top.  The leaves are falling like rain today, but I am thankful it hasn't actually rained hard, except in the beginning.

"Success is no accident.  It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do."

~Pele, Brazilian soccer player~

I was looking through my collection of poetry, and couldn’t find one that fit with what I wanted to say.  Gregg really likes this AI program - Perplexity - and unbeknownst to me, he asked for a poem describing this whole experience.  It is a bit whimsical and a bit silly, but I said I would share it.

Craftsmen five, we sing your praise,

For building us a deck in just a few days.

With skill and care, you worked each plank,

And now our backyard is a place to thank.

Your hammers rang and saws did whir,

As you built a place for us to stir.

We'll sit and relax, with drinks in hand,

And enjoy the fruits of your labors so grand.

We thank you for your hard work and skill,

And for building us a deck that's such a thrill.

Craftsmen five, we sing your praise,

For building us a deck in just a few days.

And there you go, groaner or not, I said I would share the poem with you all today, and it does embody how we felt. 

Also, you can see how it's coming along.  I will have one more post when it is finished.  Last Friday (the 29th) they were 99% there.  On Monday (yesterday) they came back one more time to finish up on the cosmetics. I will start putting together a final post to share soon.

This week our neighborhood has had a lot of hammering going on.  Several neighbors have been having new roofs after the hailstorm from several weeks ago.  The people behind us had men on their roof at the same time as our deck was being built.

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

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.