My Gazebo May be A Two-Year Project!

The gazebo is finally getting some work on the lower parts.

Finding time to work on the gazebo has been tough for the last month or so. When we started this project we thought that it would be more or less done during Hubby’s vacation (his main vacation that is, as opposed to the one he had last month) but it turned out to be a much more complicated build than he was prepared for. The upper roof took forever requiring almost full extension of the big ladder and even then he was stretched out as far as possible to reach the peak. The lower roof was a little easier but it still required multiple positions of the ladder, each one needing various shims to make it vertical. Then there were fascia boards and caulking and sanding… Needless to say, his desire to get the upper sections done is getting pretty intense. They are now ready for the paint that we bought a month ago if only the weather holds on long enough to get it done. Other than that the only thing left to do up on top is to attach my new weathervane.

The fascia boards have all been sealed and sanded are now ready to be painted.

Wait a sec; I don’t think I mentioned that before. We’ve had this really heavy mounting system for a weathervane ever since we built the potting shed but for some reason we just never got around to buying a weathervane to put in it. I guess that explains why we didn’t put the mount up on the shed, either. Now that the gazebo roof is (almost) finished it’s practically crying out for some kind of finial to cap it off. I remembered that when we were in Mahone Bay a couple of years ago there was this really nice nature store that sold weathervanes so I looked them up to see if they were available online.

The store is called “For The Birds Nature Shop” and they have tons of weathervanes to choose from but it was a pretty easy selection for me. Well, besides the “Flying Witch on Broomstick” they also have “Moon and Bats” but I’m not sure that the bats would stay attached. Anyway, the Witch is just so appropriate that how could I pick anything else? It was back-ordered when I called but it has been shipped to me now and should be here today or Monday. The only question now is whether it will be the right scale for the gazebo. If we put it up and it looks too small we will put on the shed roof and look for something bigger for the gazebo.

My new weathervane as shown on the For The Birds Nature Shop website.

Yesterday Hubby finally started to work on the lower part. Two of the facets towards the road are going to be solid and covered with cedar shingles from top to bottom for privacy and heat control. He framed those walls in and they’re now ready for some plywood and the shingles. The doorway will be framed out next and then the other 5 facets will get some shingles on their lower 3 feet and then the screening. Maybe someday we will actually put some flooring down, too. It would at least be nice to get the wood off the house deck!

The upper spindles and their trim pieces are all finished.

The two privacy walls have been framed out.

The inside of the roof, someday I may get to sit under it.

As we’re now into October I guess that some of this work is just going to have to wait until next spring. Hopefully I’ll get to use it sometime next summer and that it does its job to keep the flies and mosquitoes under control.

UPDATE!!

My weathervane arrived in great shape and exactly when I was expecting it. The For The Birds store is a great place to shop. I loved dealing with them! Doesn't She look beautiful up there?!