Four Years

 What have I accomplished in just over four years?

A town without possibilities is not really the way a person wishes to think about somewhere new.

So, while I applied for positions I wished to work in, I just got down to work building this gazebo. The photo you're looking at here, was a kit, a 12x12 Arlington gazebo with electric. Now, what you really need to know is that it comes in heavy flat boxes... over 600 pounds. The photo you are looking at is the 'built' kit which I did with the help of Warren. Warren actually didn't know which kit to buy so I made that decision for him because the vision of how to turn this bare shelter into a screened wonder with sliding doors, was definitely, my vision and then, of course, execution. 

If you notice the double 2x4's all the way around, that was necessary to put bracing edge to edge in order to put a 4x4 treated lumber post, ceiling to floor. Two braces were installed in each section of the gazebo.

 I made so many trips to McMunn's, while Warren was at his job,... this became my work. As you can see, from the photo, the deck was completed at this stage. It should be noted that Elfrieda and Warren were the only two people who built this project. Truly, that is most amazing because there was a step, in the instructions, that said... 'This is a three man step,' but we, somehow, handled it even though I thought it was a bit dangerous to do so. We used pulleys to drag the roof into place. It was a slow step, that one.

I had brought two sets of barn door hardware, about $369.00 plus taxes (Home Depot), with  me, when I moved to this property.

These were used to build two sliding doors on the front of the gazebo. 

As you can see here, the sliding doors were two $49.00 finger- jointed screen doors that needed to be heavily shored up to give them a stable structure. This was accomplished with treated 2x4's on the sides and the bottom. That gave the doors a nice heavy form that has weathered three winters. All the front part here, I designed, specifically, for this project. On both sides of these sliding doors, a garden arch, pictured below, was installed. I had, originally, purchased five of them for our backyard wedding, October 8, 2022 at 225 5th Avenue, N.E. Dauphin, MB.

I, Elfrieda, screened the entire gazebo while Warren was at his job. The three sides were reinforced with fence panels that I purchased at Canadian Tire, Panacea Finial Decorative Border fence panel, 30"x37" each. I used nine panels for the gazebo and then bought six plus for my gardening. The large piece of fencing you see on the left, I had purchased at Lowe's before I moved away from Winnipeg. 

The gazebo, being a 12x12, actually had a bit of a smaller footprint so a 12x12 deck was what we built to put the gazebo on top of it.

The awnings I specially designed for this gazebo. 

When I moved to this property, there was quite a lot of backfill that was needed at the back entrance to the house. The soil had eroded and there was at least a six inch height that needed to be filled in order to bring the ground up  to a 'seven inch' space from ground to back door. This was done after the gazebo was built. A seven inch step is normal for any stairs. After this back fill, I scrounged every Barkman Bridgewood Slab that I could find in that town. Then I purchased a couple more from a garage sale... someone who had built a 'fire table barbecue stand' and had some pieces leftover.

I really felt that the location of this gazebo was a good one for a number of reasons. There was a step, concrete, in the back yard, that I smashed my toes on so many times, my toenails still haven't grown out. This strange idea would likely have been done by the original homeowner... possibly before we were born. That dastardly step is now covered by the gazebo... never to cause harm again.

I dug all the post holes for the concrete blocks, which were not very deep. The back of the gazebo has adjustable jack posts for leveling. 

I painted or stained everything the way it is. 

The space between the gazebo and the house is now a very nice courtyard.

I laid more weed cloth than I have ever done. The entire ground under the gazebo is covered in weed cloth. All the gravel and stone paths that I created had weed cloth underneath as well.

This garden box I dragged all the way from Winnipeg to 225... and, it may be coming back now. I am the gardener. Warren is not. 

I planted enough tomatoes, last year, to make enough homemade tomato sauce for my winter cooking. It was such a delicious sauce because I used about 5 varieties of  tomatoes in my sauce and we ate meals, from my work, all winter, until about April, this year.

The tomatoes are, again, coming in. I had a taste last week that is just spectacularly delicious. I hope I can get the rest of my crop.

So, this was quite a heavy investment, on my part... so much design, building and sweat equity. 

I'll talk about the bathroom renovation another day.