Planning, Priming and Painting...

Last year we began working on and idea. It started with 5 4x4 posts. We dug the holes and planted them where we needed them. And there they stayed looking as out of place as anything ever did. This spring they were still standing there seemingly without purpose. They were actually the beginnings of our new deck rail but there were a lot more pressing things that needed done first, so in May we put some temporary handrails up on them. They didn't look very good but they did the job.

Not long ago we did a whole pile of painting around here. In the process we painted a bunch of 1x2's. Beth and Melodee painted them really good. Myles and I put up the real handrails on the deck and framed in what I am calling 'windows' though they really aren't for glass, they are just openings in the rail (which is about 7 feet high). With those two things done, we were ready for Chad to pull out his power tools when he got home from work and help us put the rest of it together...

 From a distance you can see the posts next to the deck with the temporary handrail on it.

And the finishing begins...

 With the scaffold all set up (that is to protect the little fishies that live just below) the lath is put into place.

 Myles helps his dad put the boards in place. You can't see me but I'm off to the side cutting them as the measurements are called out. In this picture you can tell what the 'windows' I was mentioning are...

 Up close, Myles concentrates on placing the staple just right.

 There I am helping to mark and place a few of the boards. There were a few moments we had to stop and rethink the process because the store did not carry the length of boards we needed. (Talking pictures when you are squinting in the sun don't always portray how happy you are as is the case for me in the above photo)

 So this is as far as the project went the first day. It is soon to be completed with the next material run as the store did not have the other lengths we needed to complete the project.

Melodee is pretty happy with the finished result. That could be me standing there smiling because even though it is not finished, I love the effect that it already has and the cozy feel it creates for my deck.

I am always amazed at how good a mediocre plan can turn out. When we started all we knew was that we wanted a trellis on the sides of the deck. That plan has evolved over the last year and a half as we have seen new ideas and as we have used our deck in it's unfinished state. That has helped us plan better for what we needed. The biggest change we made to the original plan was the windows. I am so thankful we put them in.

Life is so much like this building project. So often in life I only know that I am wanting to have a certain end result or goal achieved but I don't always know how I will get there. I am always amazed at the goodness of God in helping me, actually leading me by the hand to help me reach that end result and without fail it is always better than it was initially expected to be.