More Maggie

Last Saturday, Chief came by for a couple of hours to cut in the new window. It's amazing how much light breaking up the north wall added.

That was a long, unbroken wall, but we needed light.

I'm so thankful for Chief.
Adopt your kids' friends, it's worth it.

Maggie feels completely different.

Opening up Maggie's back wall was amazing. I originally didn't want a third window there, because I wanted wall space for shelves. This window was the right choice. I still have wall space, just not as much, and what I have should be sufficient.

While Chief was busy giving Maggie more natural light, I spent the time to put a solar light in a chandelier I found on FB Marketplace. I had no way to hang the chandelier, so I fashioned a hanger out of some project wire we had around the shop. It's not a pretty hanger, by any means, but who's going to pay attention to it, when the chandelier is so pretty?

Worth the $15 on Marketplace.

I waited anxiously for sundown to light it up.

Looking in through the stained glass window.

The solar light was much brighter than I expected it to be, and I made sure to buy one with a remote control, so that it could easily be turned on or off. Now, I just need to find a new light for Whimsy. The "chandelier" I had for her finally burned out and needs replacing.

The Magical Potting Shed, Part 3

After working for just food for a couple of weekends, Chief had to spend some time with his family, and I grudgingly allowed it.

Unfortunately, we were quickly approaching October, and storms were on the horizon. I needed to get the roof on. LE generously let me pilfer the barn for bits and pieces, and I found some tin roofing material. It didn't quite fit the whole roof, so I hit Home Depot and bought a couple of clear greenhouse roofing panels to work in with the scavenged ones.

A couple of friends from work volunteered to come play Rosie the Roofer with me. We meticulously measured, laid out the panels, and had a plan. It wasn't going to take us but a couple of hours.

Measuring and marking, getting ready to put up the rafters.

Turns out, Lizzy the old truck, was just the perfect helper.

Despite all of the careful planning, measuring, laying out that we did, once we started putting up the panels things went sideways. Suddenly, things were not going so well. We forged ahead, making adjustments here and there, until we got a roof on Maggie. Her roof sits a bit askew, and it made us crazy until we realized that we'd assumed she was square.

She was not. An inch here or there makes a difference, and her north (back) side is a touch shorter than her south (front) side, so even though we laid the rafters square, the building itself is not. I, frankly, love it and I smile big every time I look at her crooked little "hat". It reminds me of Minerva McGonagall's jaunty hat.

Credit: Harry Potter FanZone

See? The roof is sitting at a jaunty angle. It's perfect.

Our "just a couple of hours" project turned into all day, but it was a ton of fun. My friend's son even joined us and made a gnome home out of 2x4 scraps.

My little gnome, cozy in his new home.

The Potting Shed, Part 2

It took me a while to get my poop in a group and get started, but I managed to hire movers to move the potting bench out of LE's basement and coordinate with Ashinator's best Marine friend, Chief. In September, 2023 we broke ground.

My non-negotiables for the potting shed included:

1. The stained glass window from the lodge,
2. "Vintage" windows from Mom's cabin,
3. The "potting bench" from LE's basement,
4. An old door that had been living in one of the barns that I fell in love with.

We literally built the shed around the potting bench.

I 'rescued' some pallets from work to use.

Chief worked fast. This was all the first day.

I was astounded by how much someone who knows what they're doing can do in just one day. It would have taken Mom and I at least two days to get this far. Building a frame instead of just putting it together like a puzzle is genius, not to mention the correct way to do it.

Ashinator mentioned that the potting shed was looking "quirky", which became its working name. It fit.

Bright and early the next Saturday, Chief was back at it, putting the windows in. Some of the windows were missing panes, broken from being removed from the cabin, but I wasn't worried about it, considering Mom and I had become glass cutting "experts" with Whimsy.

Non-negotiables numbers 1 - 3 complete.

She looks like a real building with walls.

The requisite "I helped" picture.

I might not know a thing about framing walls,
but I can use a square and saw.

Again, I was amazed at how much Chief could accomplish in just a day, and I'm so thankful he volunteered to do this. All I had to do was feed him! I definitely got the better end of the deal.

By the end of the day, "Quirky" fit as a name. 

However, the minute we started putting the OSB up, she no longer looked quirky. I was floundering for a name, until LE walked out and said, "oh, she looks magical". Ashinator and I agreed that she did, indeed, look magical and immediately "The Magical Potting Shed" stuck. I love how LE just casually comes up with the perfect names. Ash immediately shortened "Magical" to "Maggie", which I embraced. Maggie was named within a day or so of Dame Maggie Smith's death, so it seemed even more fitting.

Welcome to the family, Maggie.