I Painted The House Green, But Now She Wants A Greenhouse!

If you own a home, the projects never cease.  When you get one thing fixed, something else will break.  There is constantly things that you want to add to your place, just because you would enjoy it, or make your life easier.  When winter comes around our house, it's a constant chore moving plants in or out of the house, or under the house in our case.

With that in mind, Beverly wanted to save my bad knees some trouble dealing with the plants so she said that we needed to build a greenhouse!  Of course, we're going to build this greenhouse ourselves!  That's not a labor saver for me, but like they say, if Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.  Or, happy wife, happy life.

Honestly, we've been talking about this for years and also we wanted to use up some old windows and other materials that we salvaged from the old Eastering house on the back lot.  With that in mind, the work began in the fall.

First, we decided to put the building in the corner of the back yard, taking in consideration where the sun would shine in the winter months and not taking up too much yard.  As we got into the actual building process, and incidentally, after we had poured the footing, we decided that we should have gotten further away from the neighbor!  Oh well, live and learn!

As with most things, I over build.  Such was the case in building size and foundation.  The dimensions kept changing each time we started to build until finally we compromised on the final 10 feet by 12 feet size.  Beverly and I poured the footing ourselves.  I wouldn't recommend that to you now that we've survived it!

Then we decided to make it out of cedar.  Cedar is rot resistant and looks good, but can be a little expensive.  Of course, we did see a good example over at Magnolia in Waco that we are patterning our's after.

Who is that old man with the shovel in his hand!  He must be a salty dog

from the looks of that hat!  And, he needs to careful to not lose his pants!  I 

think that tape measure was about to drag them off!

Looks like I'm thinking.  I don't remember what I was thinking, but I'm

sure it was all charitable.  Beverly says "Hardly any!"  It's a line from the movie Witness.

 

Dig it deep.  Dig it wide.  Dig it straight.  Dig it square.  Three out of

four isn't bad.

And then the rains began!

Back near the fence lies the footing for the greenhouse.  We will probably

move the old "fort" after the greenhouse is finished.

And just like that, it was poured!  Well, it took a little while.

The laborers had to put their hand prints in the wet cement!  Silly kids!

And the work began.  It was a sort of design this thing as you go

project.  We had an idea of what we wanted it to look like, but without a blueprint!

With a little of the frame up, we began to realize that we might have over built it!

I think we could always use it for a garage for the Jeep!

Lets see.  If I want to use those old windows, I'll have to frame them in about this area!

Of course, several of the window panes were broken and will have to be replaced!

A better view of the size.  It's going to cost a little more than I anticipated!

Careful on the ladder......

it's a long way down for someone that moves slow!

No, this isn't the finished product.  This is from a trip to Magnolia in Waco, 

but this is the vision of what we want to accomplish.  Of course, ours will be

a little less "finished"!

I like the pitch of this roof  and the shade cloth, especially during a Texas summer!

More details of the Magnolia product.  I don't see us using the rock, 

but I think it's nice.

Stay tuned.  To be continued...…..

COMING SOON IN 2019

John Muir Had The Right Idea

John Muir was known as "John of the Mountains" and wrote extensively about mountains and his respect and love for them.  I once had a t-shirt with this saying on it;  "The mountains are calling and I must go!"  So, with those words of encouragement in mind, we again set out for the beautiful mountains of southwest Colorado for what has become an annual trip since 2005.

Our 2018 adventure was to include our long time California jeeping friends Jerry and Terry and second time Texas jeepers Riney and Karen.  But, on their way to Colorado, Jerry and Terry's jeep developed a major gas tank leak while they were in Phoenix and consequently they were not able to make it to Ouray.  Since we were already in Alamosa and Riney was  already in Durango, there was no turning back.  While we had a great time, it was just not the same without the entire crew.

Ouray is one of our favorite destinations.  Over the years we have heard people pronounce Ouray a lot of different ways, with emphasis on different syllables.  We've heard Oooray, Your Ray, and several others.  So, we asked a native what is the correct pronunciation and they said simply said, You Ray!  We are beginning to see some changes to "our" little mountain town, but it's still a great place to see.

Our usual first night stop in beautiful, cool Alamosa.

When we pass through the valley north of Alamosa, you will find some

beautiful farms that produce alfalfa, all types of potatoes and wheat.  During this

trip we stopped and visited one of the many potato farms and bought a couple of

varieties as well as some quinoa.

Finally made it to Gunnison.  It's a crooked last few miles coming in from the south!

But, on the other hand, you don't have to travel over the Million Dollar Highway!

Beverly, Karen and Riney pose for a picture on our first day.  We traditionally

take Last Dollar Road over to Telluride the first day.  It's a beautiful drive and it

takes you to downtown Telluride where you can see how the rich live!  On the way back

we took Ophir and it was an experience.  We've been over Ophir before, but this

time we got into a lot of shale and finally had to turn on the lockers to get down.

A favorite overlook near the start of the trail.  Note the photographer on the

top of the overlook.  The leaves were pretty, but not as brilliant as some years.

O'Brien's Pub for dinner the first night.  Their fish and chips are pretty good after a long day.

Oh, have I mentioned the flowers?  Colorado in the summer features some

beautiful hanging baskets throughout the towns.

Our idea of a perfect picnic!

A little shopping in Ridgeway.  I think she looks awesome in this hat!

Love it!

Oh, no!  She's found a baby Christmas tree and I think she wants

to take it home!  Can you say National Forrest Service?

On day two we took Hurricane and California passes over to Animas Forks.

Beverly is enjoying the view over Lake Como before we headed down toward the 

road to Silverton and then back to Ouray.

A jeeper's philosophy!  "Hang on, I want to try something!"  I've been there, 

but I try to avoid it as much as possible.

This was the first time to stay somewhere besides River's Edge.  But, the staff at

Twin Peaks Lodge made the transition so easy.  It's a beautiful place and we look

forward to going back in 2019.

When the old mine carts wear out, you re-purpose them into flower containers!

Twin Peaks Lodge and Hot Springs was a welcome change from our old

routine.  Located on the southern edge of Ouray, it's a little further from the

downtown, but is quiet and well maintained.

Another example of the pretty landscaping at the lodge.

Little pathway from our room to the pool, hot tub and the office.

Did I mention the flowers?

Beautiful walkway around the pool area.

While we didn't use the pool or the hot springs, we had a great time

just visiting, playing games and relaxing.

On the way home we came across the hot air balloon.  It would take us a few days 

to get back to Texas via a balloon!  And, where would we put the jeep?

Gunnison city park for a pit stop.  If you're interested, the Gunnison Sonic

makes the best onion rings anywhere.

My bride wanted to take a picture while I stretched my legs.

As Woodrow would have said, "We're gonna build a little ranch right here

in this valley!"  I could enjoy living there!

Finally home and ready to unload the jeep.  Thank you Lord for the safe trip!