The Ordinary and the Mundane

Rainy days always produce the most soft and beautiful light.  I couldn't resist these worn and messy corners of my home in the gentle light of this drizzly day.  The beauty of life's little details is worth appreciating; we take so much for granted:  the textures in a pile of white laundry, the design of a splatter on the stove, the patina of a window sill that desperately needs a coat of paint.  Go ahead and put away the laundry, wipe the stove and paint the sill, but not without taking the time to appreciate the beauty of the ordinary and the mundane.

Thank you for stopping by My Turquoise Kettle Life today.

Wishing you a day full of appreciation,

Sandra

From "No Man's Land" to cozy deck




BEFORE




AFTER

Earlier this summer we decided to remove a huge pine tree from our back yard, the tree was encroaching on our house, our neighbour's house, becoming a hazard and completely blocking the view (and the light) from my studio window.


With the tree and stump removed we discovered a huge amount of space that had previously been hidden and unusable.  Also, we finally had a little sunlight in our yard.   I set aside a small space that will become a vegetable garden next year and decided to use some of the remaining area to create a low level floating deck. 



With the pine tree gone all the ugliness of this corner of the yard is exposed!

Tree cut up and ready for removal




A short section of fence (to the right of the chair) used to conceal a heatpump...
that fence had to go too.



I staked out an area for the deck 10' x 10'.....



 and leveled the ground.



Geotex fabric to prevent weed growth and a layer of gravel to ensure good drainage

With the site prepared the fun work of learning to use a table saw and mitre saw could begin.  I watched several You Tube videos on deck construction and borrowed a book from our library.  I was a little stubborn in my determination to build the deck alone; I just needed to prove to myself that I could learn to do something new.  My husband was a great sport about it and let me do just about everything.  He did wheelbarrow in several loads of the gravel and held the end of the twelve foot long planks while I sawed them.  My parents too were an encouragement, every couple of days they'd come by to see the progress and cheer me on. 



A simple frame of 2" x 6" planks supported by patio slabs



Its taking shape but there was too much of a drop to the existing walkway




Building another small 3' x 6' platform solved the problem of the difference in height

I painted a couple of Adirondack chairs and planted some big daisies.



Here's how it looks now, a nice sunny spot for a cup of tea

Thank you for stopping by My Turquoise Kettle Life today.

Wishing you a beautiful day,

Sandra