Canvas of Dreams

So for a long time, I have had the dream to have an outdoor room underneath the deck. Before the fire, it seemed my dream was a long way off. It was going to be a long time before we could change the existing windows to french doors, so I had to be satisfied with a partial step of putting in slate under the deck and framing the area with landscaping and flowers in boxes.

Since the fire, I have the opportunity to make this dream happen much sooner. The overall effect I want is to have an outdoor room. Ideally, it is one that would change season to season, provide treats to the senses (visual, olfactory and auditory) and would be a peaceful place in any weather.

I am going to redo the flower beds around the outside of the deck perimiter- there were peonies, daliahs, crocosmia, lavender, and morning glories. I also had a burgdeoning herb garden.

I will definately return to peonies, lavender, daliahs and crocosmia on the outside. I will probably add rosemary, snap dragons and sweet pea. On the inside, I will build (or buy) large flower boxes so there is an interior and exterior border. Under the steps I will do something staggered. I will have to do something with the posts, and I will have to hang flowers and other decorative elements from the roof. I think I will need some kind of solar powered fountain as well.

I don't know what to do in terms of plants under the deck. I will need partial sun and shade plants under the deck. I will also need to think about year round interest. What can I put under there that might bloom or at least hold an interesting form and shape through the winter. I may have to look into some kind of bush or something- or maybe some heather or heath?

My canvas

View from the deck straight back!

Another view from the deck!

View from the Deck

New Deck!

New Windows!

Wrong glass! The windows are in, but the glass still needs to be replaced!

This view makes a handyman's heart pound a little faster.

No David, NO! - caption and photo by our almost three year old son

View from the basement! Eventually, there will be french doors with sidelights here. This will be a fantastic view. And if I can keep from walking into that post, then it will be even better!

I just want to pull that siding down!

Well, duh! I am shocked to find that this material will smolder or burn if ignited. Given the evidence, it seems burning is more likely than smoldering...

We now interrupt your regularly scheduled programming...

So it was a long and difficult week followed by a long and difficult weekend, but the little guy had the right idea.

I can't begin to describe how nice it was to be at the house. Walking around our property on a beautiful fall afternoon brought me such a sense of peace. Clearly, someone else felt the same way. Despite the campfire in the back, it was nice.(See previous post.)

Today, the windows should be going in, but they might be delayed since it is raining. I will go check in a little while.

Our cross-your-fingers date to move back in is mid-January. It would be fantastic to be back for Sebastian's birthday- although that will be a very stressful work time for me since it is the beginning of the semester.

Sometimes you just have to take a break...

Firestarter

To the boyscout or girlscout who visited,

I admire your technique. I appreciate the fact that you so painstakingly dug out all the dry grass and leaves; your caution is comendable. Did you happen to notice, however, that you were on someone else's property? Just because we cannot live there right now, doesn't mean we aren't paying attention- and it doesn't mean that you can visit anytime you like or start fires anytime you want.

I will admit the reforestation area is very tempting. There is a nice curving path which will hide you from view. It is ever so peaceful back there. Now that the trees have grown in some, you can sit back there and not see the house or the street.

Oh, and, did you consider we might be a little bit disturbed by a fire on property since, coincidentally, we can't live in our house because of a fire?

Best Regards,
Professor V.

Fire Ring

Confusion

So while we are excited that the deck is going up, this has definately been a difficult week. The windows which arrived at the house were not the low e, argon, energystar rated we requested. It seems to have been a confusion between the contractor and the supplier. The resolution for now is that they will put in the sashes and then replace the glass when the correct glass comes in. This seems to be the best was to keep us moving forward. Of course, it is nerve racking because we won't be able to really check until after the windows are in.

Initially in this process, I was inclined to be very trusting, but as we move on, I am becoming jaded and concerned. I wonder if we should have ordered everything ourselves. I mentioned last week that I felt really out of control of the rebuilding. We have no sense of a timeline or of final costs. It seems like everything we want to order- which seems available based on the internet and our local Home Depot and Lowes- is either "not made anymore" or unavailable to our contractor.

So far, we have been told: 1. The Pella and Anderson windows we looked at are custom made and would take a very long time to get, so we should go with another brand that meets the same specs. That got us generic windows without the low e or argon or energystar rating windows- due to a mix up between the supplier and the contractor.

2. At least one brand of siding we looked at is not being made anymore according to our contractor- this is one that would have matched more closely to what we currently have in terms of style and would still have the energy saving benefits of what we want.

3. The GE double oven is unavailable?

4. The doors we looked at for the basement won't fit and only open outward.

Any one of these things wouldn't be a problem really, but the overall effect is to make us feel like we are being asked to accept the easier ( for the contractor and not what we wanted) alternatives. I am might be wrong about this; in fact, I probably am, but it certainly adds to the stress level for us.

This is a view of under the deck. I am surprised there are still burned pieces of wood there.There is a new cross beam on the inside with a metal facing that the deck is connected to. I am hoping that the rest of the burned wood will be taken out when they frame the new door/window combination.

View #2 of the deck. This one makes me feel a little better about our under the deck plans- and the decision to move the doors to center on the posts. There should still be a good view from those windows/doors even though there are posts there.

View #1 of the deck. The middle post is the one I am worried about- especially since it seems there are some problems finding the doors we wanted which open inward.

The deck materials are here. Yikes. Work on the outside is beginning.

This is the Trex material for the deck. It looks awesome. Good Choice Steve! (Trex Accents color Saddle)

Sebastian is checking out the site.

Wow. What a mess!

This is the post hole which I was worried about the other day. Now that I have seen the posts, I am relieved. It isn't going to be as distracting as I thought. Now you have to imagine a set of French doors in this wall.