Building a Back Yard

When we bought the farm we were stoked about the large pool down in the back yard. Having had the pleasure of living on a property with a pool for the previous few years, it would be nice to continue to have that experience with the kids.

Well, as it turns out, the experience was not as great as we would have hoped...

Building a Lemonade Stand (Part 2)

I managed to find some time this week to get out with the kids to give the stand a good coat of white paint. After the first coat, I hit the jackpot and noticed some cedar roofing/siding in our wood pile. I threw what I could on and here is where we are at:

    

Building a Lemonade Stand

My daughter wants an iPad. Wow. Kick in the wallet. Not going to happen.

My daughter wants to earn money to buy an iPad. Better.

Hannah is determined to save up for her own iPad. She has been saving money from the Tooth Fairy (seriously, when did it become $5 a tooth!?). She has been collecting cans and bottles and helping me sort and count them. She has been selling iced tea or lemonade when we have our busy customer days.

Building a dock ... my DIY Experiment: Part 4

Part 4: Finishing Phase 1 and 2

I managed to get out the next day and finish off phase 1. Phase 2 was going to be a walkway onto the dock. I managed to wrangle some materials to start the skeleton of this.

Here is what the dock looked like after phase 1 was complete:

                                  

Building a dock ... my DIY Experiment: Part 3

Part 3: Finishing the frame and adding planks

Sunday was another nice day. After wrapping up a few necessary farm chores, I rounded up all the older kids and headed down again. I took all the same items as the previous day as I might need them.

Once I was down there, I decided I would put another 2x6 on the inside of all of the posts. I put a chunk of post at the end on the right side to space it out properly. I used my level to keep the two boards level. 

After completing this, I proceeded to go through my remining 2x6s and cut boards. The length needed was approximately 53 inches, so I was able to get two planks per board for the most part. The excess I used to pick off split ends. After using them all up I realized I would need another 5-6 boards to complete the job. The kids were good but it was time to go in. 

Building a Dock ... my DIY experiment: Part 2

Part 2: Building the frame

This weekend was very favourable for me. I enjoyed a wonderful morning of worship workshops with Worship Victoria, then had time to spend out by the pond with the kids building my dock project.

On Saturday afternoon, I had a few hours where Hannah was with her grandparents, Charlotte was napping, and the boys were in my charge. I threw on my swim trunks and grabbed the boy's their boots and headed down to the workshop.

Building a Dock ... my DIY experiment: Part 1

Part 1: Dreams and Plans

For a while now, I have been eyeing our pond and wondering how hard it would be to build a dock for it. I'm thinking of a small dock, no longer than 8-10 feet out. Something to tie a canoe to. I don't own a canoe. Details...