Deck!

Ledger boards up!

We spent a couple of weeks in Paradise this July.  We went armed with a "to do" list that would choke a horse, so to speak.     It was a grueling two weeks but we are quite pleased with our accomplishments.  Truth be known,  I would rather be there, completely exhausted from our tasks, than any other place.  period.   I will let pictures tell the tale!

Post square made leveling up our posts very easy!

If a girl must wear a nail pouch, it must be pretty!

The 6 x 6's went up relatively easy!

Just one of the several set back challenges.  This end footing we had to dig out and replace.  Misjudged the depth when we set it originally.

We made a few trips into Great Falls.  Divided our $$ between Home Depot and ProBuild. When we went into HD, Jeff looked up from the Pro Desk and smiled ear to ear, "Your Back! Is it just you two or did you bring the whole family again?!"  Love the People!  There is an entire pallet of 2x6's on the trailer.  Our new 24' trailer has been a HUGE blessing!

Joists up!

decking going up!  Hundreds and hundreds of screws!

We will eventually have a gate that spans this area.  To hopefully, keep unwelcome critters OFF the deck!

The girls were so excited about the view.  BUT we had to stay close by when they were out there.  Miss Gracies eyesight not being what it once was, she was found trying to figure out just where to jump from the 9' drop side!  Silly Girl!

Once we were able to move the saw on deck, things moved right along

Yes, it was noon somewhere, and Hard Lemonade and Beer made the stiffness not so noticeable!.  I couldn't even move fast enough to get my camera away from RGT

Ahhhh

Railing posts

with the deck up, we could FINALLY get the end pieces of the roofing on!  Yea!!  Water tight!

Now Miss Gracie knows where the end of the deck is.  We had planned on putting some balusters up as well but did not like the look.  So 118 cut to size balusters are waiting for a new purpose and we have decided to put one more railing, mid way between the top and bottom rails.  Next trip.

Well loved - our completed deck doubles our living space.

We arose with the sun, around 5:30/6:00 and worked through the day.  Dinner was usually between 9 and 11 pm.  We did purchase a small BBQ grill and relished the taste of BBQ hamburgers and chicken!

Kara once said to me, "Mom, You need to name the Cabin!"  And I started to think about that.  We have been calling our little piece of Planet Earth, "Paradise", but I guess that really isn't a proper name, is it?  For me, it describes it to a tee,  but it may not be paradise for some who choose to visit there.  

So I will name the cabin, Kara.  I will pick a name that fits the way I feel about this tiny slice of Montana.  You, and other cabin visitors, will have to give it your own name...

I choose to call our cabin "HOME".

And as we all know,

        Oh, Auntie Em!  

                  There's no place like Home!