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| Our Yard: A Fireweed Garden |
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| Deja likes it, but she doesn't realize she needs a fence so she can run free! |
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| We didn't like it as much as Deja. |
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| Bye-Bye Fireweed! |
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| The fruits of our labour at this point: A truck full of vegetation! |
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| Hello cement blocks! |
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| "Chelsea! Where's the shovel?!" |
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| Mike and Chester collaborating on the next step. |
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| Digging and Leveling and Measuring... |
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| Mike's architectural plans |
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| We picked up our hot tub; literally, it took 5 of us, and only one fell in a hole! |
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| YES! Our very own hot tub!!! |
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| Fence Post Holes: Only 5 casualties throughout the deck building process! |
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| A wheel-barrel of fun! |
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| Mike consulting with Chester and Judy |
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| Deja has the final say. "Chester, it's just a whisker off." |
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| As usual, Grandma Irene's right in the heart of the project. |
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| Finally, the posts are at home. The cement is next. This will save some ankles. |
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| Our Neighbour's Sidewalk: Luckily, he was nice enough to let us use his property. |
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| Cheryl and Judy collaborate on the next stage - renovating the old deck! |
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| We attached the deck to the house for even more support. |
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| We used every inch of our space up to the neighbours' fence. Now the fence is sturdier. |
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| The Crew: Chester, Irene, Cheryl, Judy, Mike (and me). Finally, we take a breather. |
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| We found a way to reuse our boardwalk and old deck. |
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| We moved the old deck up against the house and connected the two decks using the boardwalk. |
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| It was meant to be! It was Cheryl's genius idea and Irene's strength that made it work. |
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| Chester and Judy built a long step off the new deck, which also connected to the boardwalk. |
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| Luckily, we had storage and work space in this parking spot we created two years earlier. |
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| Every deck board had to be cut (on an angle) - Judy's Job! |
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| Every board had to be stained (on 4 sides) - Chelsea's job (with help from Judes and Irene)! |
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| Building around the hot tub so that it is somewhat sunken in |
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| Mike did almost all of the drilling (over 3000 screws), and his hands suffered for it. |
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| Mike standing back to appreciate the results of all the hard work! |
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| Cut boards are placed for future use. Trying to use our wood wisely! |
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| We can actually walk directly out of our sliding doors and onto our deck! |
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| One by one the deck boards were measured, cut, stained, and drilled into the joists. |
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| No one can keep up with Grandma Irene while also maintaining such a fun-loving attitude... |
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| ...except for Judy, who is ready to tarp up the wood for the night! |
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| Chester comes to check on us after his long days at work. ("Where's Judy?") |
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| The last corner board is put into place. |
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| Mike drills in the last screw. |
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| What a great feeling! |
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| The deck floor is finally done!!! |
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| Now, the fence: We painted the posts and frame chocolate brown. |
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| The deck floor was nicely bordered by the bottom of the fence frame. |
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| Irene carrying the fence boards, stained on only 3 sides this time. |
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| Judy cutting the fence boards, while Irene keeps them sturdy. |
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| After the fence boards were installed, they still needed to be trimmed. |
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| Installing the last fence boards. |
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| Judy holding the board in place while Mike drills. |
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| Irene helping Mike on the other side |
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| Mike trimmed the top of the fence boards with a hand-held mitre saw... |
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| ...and he was covered in saw dust to prove it! |
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| The fence after its trim |
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| The fence was all done on the inside, but still had to be painted brown on the outside. |
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| Mike finally putting all his hot air to good use |
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| We decided to stay up late and paint the outside of the fence in the dark! |
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| Judy filling our hot tub |
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| It took one hour to fill... |
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| ...and two more hours to get to operating temperature. |
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| An Arctic Spa hot tub - designed for extremely cold conditions |
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| Painting myself into a corner! |
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| Trying to make the old deck look new again |
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| The first hot tub experience in our own hot tub! |
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| We couldn't get Mike out of there! |
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| Cleaning up the wood and backyard |
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| Judy carrying the wood from our parking space, across the decks and boardwalk and into the back. |
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| Our deck is almost complete: Mike built a removable "lip" to fit around the hot tub. |
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| We renovated, reinstalled and painted an old fence and gate to separate our back and side yards. |
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| The painted boardwalk connecting the two decks |
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| Mike built exta-wide steps and a large gate leading onto our deck. |
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| Our neighbours' walkway between their house and our fence |
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ReplyDeleteWow, what a great set of photos. Tells the whole story!!! We did an awesome job, pretty darned good for a bunch of amateurs. Just have to get the stonework done next summer between the two decks. Oh, and I forgot, new shingles on the roof. Think that I will be away on vacation then!!! Just kidding, loved being able to help you out. Love you guys, Mom Kelly
ReplyDeleteHi
ReplyDeleteThank you for the update
Hottub looks lovely wish I was there for the deck party.
Lots of Love
Bev
OMG!!!!!!!! The yardchanged a lot!! looks amazing!!!OMG!!! beautiful!!!
ReplyDeleteCan't wait till gets cold outside eh? so you can enjoy the Norden lights and beer. lol I am so jealous!!! Come visit in Vancouver if you have chance, I will give you a big surprise!
Miss you a lot! xox
THat looks absolutely amazing! You have such a great family, all working together and staying positive like that. I experienced family envy watching your happy pictures go by! Nice choices on the colours/stains and paint. Love it!
ReplyDeleteMaureen
Chelsea,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the talk-through on the computer so I could see your blog. I love your deck and also your home and I'm so proud of all of you for the work you've done. Have to come and see it all soon.
Love Mom
Mom,
ReplyDeleteSo happy that we are finally able to correspond directly through computers, without someone having to print you hard copies of the blog. lol! This is truly why we've created this blog. We simply want to share some of our life moments with our close family and friends, especially those who are too far away. We hope it helps us all feel a little closer.
BTW, Mom, I'm very impressed with your new-found computer skills.
Love you,
Chelsea