~The Deck~

Check out our (almost) finished deck! I got out my notebook, almost two years ago, and drew out a deck that I wanted to add to our existing porch on the front of our house. I showed Ted, ripped it out, and pinned it to our bulletin board. There it sat. Finally, this spring Ted promised me he would build my deck! Woot woot!! He said as soon as he was done planting he would start. Planting came and went. He said as soon as he was done spraying he would start the deck. Spraying came and went, still not even a glint of maybe starting the deck, because after planting, and after spraying, there is haying. Finally, I let him know that the deck would be done before the baby was here. Meaning if he wasn't going to do it, I was going to hire someone to build it for me. That put a little pep in his step and we made the trip to purchase all of the materials, to the tune of four grand. Yikes, but it would have been MUCH more had I hired someone else to build it.

The deck building was underway, and I was so so SO excited! It was slow at first, but I knew it would be. Getting someone out to mark gas lines and such, then laying out where to put posts, digging the holes (thank goodness for the drill on the skid loader to get this job done fast!), setting the posts, basically getting the foundation of the deck ready to go. Once this was done, and with help from Ted's dad, the deck took on a form and it really went fast. I didn't just sit back and take pictures, I like to get my hands on the tools and help out where I can. I spent one afternoon with the boys screwing down most of the deck boards.

After the floor was in place, Ted got busy on the railing. I took a girls weekend trip and came back to it almost  completed, with most of the railing in place and a beautiful deck to enjoy the rest of the summer and fall on! Still left on the deck is a couple of sections of railing and the railing for the stairs. Thank you, Ted, for the GREAT deck you built me!