I’ve made a bit more progress on the gazebo recently. More than I’ve had time to post on this blog.

Today I started the second trellis. But not before measuring across from the top of the first trellis to check the level. I was then able to mark out 1′ spaces on the middle post of the second trellis with the confidence that my trellises would be level with each other.

In finally got started on my gazebo this week. Our roof and fence had to be replaced post-Hurricane Gustav. With those things finished I felt like I could work on the gazebo without worrying about a bunch of people walking through my backyard.

The ten foot posts I have look pretty tall once you put them upright. I may cut about a foot off.

I wasn’t sure if this post was going to stand on it’s own, but it’s been up for four days now. A couple of braces did the trick. More posts coming soon!

I finally went out and bought the first pieces of lumber for the gazebo. These are the two pieces that will run diagonally across the center of the structure. Tomorrow, I’ll use these two twenty footers to make sure my layout is right. Then I’ll be ready to purchase the rest of the lumber and start building.

Strange how these things get started. I was just thinking about building a gazebo and the next thing I know, I was out in the yard laying out the dimensions. I seem to go on autopilot when it comes to these projects. I think if I gave them too much thought, I’d probably talk myself out of starting them.

But it’s really starting to look like a gazebo, right?

Here’s the end result of the bottle tree project. The dayliles and echinecea I planted in front of it have bloomed.