Shelter Me!

Well, I have finally decided to blog about our little summer project.  You know the one that will take about a weekend, two at the most?  Oh, and the one that will cost barely anything?  I see, you have had those kinds of projects at your house too!
For a couple of years now, we have been wanting to put up a little deck, gazebo type structure in our back yard.  We have a lovely tree lined back yard that is hotter than the blue flames of a fire in the afternoon and early evening.  Our back deck/BBQ area has no shade and gets the full afternoon sun.  So, we decided, why not take to the corner of the yard and "tuck" a structure in the trees that could act as a picnic/campfire area.  We put this off from last year because we took 3 major trips and didn't want to spend the money on this project.

Sometime in late May (when the temperature was a tolerable 80 or so), we cleared some limbs, borrowed a post hole digger and began what we thought would be a quick, cheap project.  Well, several thousand dollars and months later, we are making progress.  The main obstacle in our way seems to be the 4 + weeks of near, or over 100 degree days we have had.  After taking several weeks off, waiting for the heat to break, we resumed our job last weekend.  Of course we had stopped at the worse possible point, having half of the rafters done.  And, did I mention that the temperature topped 100 all weekend?

As you can see, our construction team is comprised (mostly) or our son, Josh and a few pieces of Randy's prized farm equipment.  There have been some "guest" laborers (which will be shown in a future blog), some daring heights and some awkward moments.  We have changed a few things, added some features and mostly can't wait until it is finished.  There have even been several "what the heck were we thinking" conversations.  But, all in all, I think (hope) it will be something the family will use and appreciate in the years to come. 
Since my computer is downloading as the speed of a snail 500, I will have to continue this post at a later time. . . Stay tuned!