Timeless Garden Art

Family Fun

Our grand-daughters were over a few days ago while Cece and I spent a bit of time in the yard.  The girls are 10 and 12 and joy to have around.  Gillian, the 10-year old is bright and busy, never failing to come up with something to do or to explore.  This particular day she took Cece’s camera and started exploring the yard and gardens taking pictures of the things that interested her.  I thought I would share some of those photos.  I found it interesting what Gillian chose to photograph.  Here are five of the dozen or so that she took plus one showing our three local grand-daughters: Alia 12, Gillian 10, and Mikayla 2.

This Concrete Monk Guards Our Front Entrance	Our 3 local grand daughters	A lilly
Small boy with ball by small pond	Small St Francis Statue in Front Garden	Bird Feeder from Dining Area

Gazebo Finished

I finally took the time to finish the gazebo.  My baby brother died two weeks ago, so I focused my energy and mind on the gazebo.  The kit went together very nicely.  The toughest part of the kit was the first two rafters with the compression ring.  I managed to drop it and broke the prefabricated ring; so, I took it apart and repaired it before continuing.  This time I used ladders as props to help me lift the first two rafters with the compression ring into place and anchor it.  After that the rest of the rafters and roof deck went into place nicely.

looking through the roof framing at the trees and sky	I chose this photo to show the extent that the gazebo is located under the trees in the ravine that is immediately next to the gazebo.  I would have liked to leave the roof decking off because the feel of the gazebo was great like this.  Unfortunately, the weather in western Washington is such that the roof is really needed.

The hardest part of the project turned out to be the roofing. I used 30-year tab shingles. Every single sheet had to be cut to fit, which took a bit of extra time over a typical roof job. However, we are really happy with the result and Cece even commented on the appearance and the color.

Since the kit is made from cedar, we want to keep the natural appearance, so I coated everything below the roof with water sealant.  Unfortunately, this will have to be an annual maintenance job.

Here is the completed gazebo.The picture to the right shows the ravine with the trees and underbrush which give the gazebo the feel of being in the forest.  It is now a great spot for eating out or for quiet meditation.