I got kind of waylaid in recounting my Summer Spots visits. Spoiler alert: I did complete the requisite 15 site check-ins to qualify for the drawing. Second spoiler alert: I didn’t win anything in the drawing. That’s okay, though. Chules and I had fun seeing the sights. And I’ll get around to posting about the rest of the sites soon.

What derailed my blogging was a late summer building project.

I had been knocking around the idea of making a play structure of some sort in my back yard for my grandkids to enjoy. We’d talked about it, and they had drawn up “plans” for what they wanted. Some of their ideas defied the laws of gravity, some defied the limits of my budget, and some had good potential.

After a prolonged conceptualization phase, I figured I’d better put my muscle where my mouth is, and I set about coming up with a real plan. My first draft looked like an outhouse with windows.

I then advanced to something that resembled a roadside fruit stand.

I can’t find the subsequent plans I drew, but they were equally inspirational.

I ordered materials from the lumber yard and set about digging post holes.

Having successfully built a square deck last year, I figured I could easily make a rectangular frame out of 4×4 posts. Unfortunately, I figured wrong.

I tried to determine what geometric shape I had made, if not a rectangle. I still needed to put a square roof on it, after all.

It was time to conjure up some optical illusions.

It didn’t help that most of the posts and boards picked out by the lumberyard were warped, some had significant splitting, some weren’t pressure treated as I had specified, and some – well, I couldn’t remember why I had ordered those particular size of boards in the first place.

Nevertheless, I persisted. I had to get creative to make some things work, and when I ran out of materials, I made do with odds and ends I had about the place.

It seems sturdy enough, though, and the kids like it. If you stand way back and squint real hard, it even looks pretty good.  

I think I’ve placated the building bug for now, so I’ve returned my attentions to the front yard. Here’s my plan for that:

I’ll let you know how that goes.