Last holiday of the year, day seven

Although the working title of this post, right up until I caved to conformity, was:

NORM ABRAMS: EAT YOUR HEART OUT!

Amy's away south in Red Deer (contains no actual deer) visiting with a girlfriend over night; Dex is with Granny and Grumpy, and I'm left home alone with the wee infant, currently slumb'ring quite efficiently.  (It's Amy's first night away from her second son and - we think, after conferring about it this afternoon - only the second time ever (by herself) since Dex was born.  That woman's gotta get out more.)

I have half a page of notes on the kitchen stove concerning what to do with Tavish between him waking up and Amy arriving back home some time before noon.  Amy has to let go in baby steps; but she only called once tonight, and that was for directions before leaving Edmonton, so I'm reassured by that.

So...

After using up most of my holiday staring out in the backyard at where the dog house ought to have been built by now, it finally is.

An unexpected problem cropped up.  Declan adopted it as his new playhouse.  He took one look at the partly finished Dog Mahal and promptly declared, "Castle!"  I think the canines will have to share it with him.  Which should not be a problem, taking into consideration that all six family members can fit in it at the same time, though our Jack Russell barely counts.

Amy can stand up inside with her head scraping the apex.

I'm not too sure at exactly what point I got carried away, but I think it may have been right at the beginning.  Having acquired free 4 x 8 foot sheets of plywood, I figgered it would be easiest to make a 4 x 4 base to build on, and just kinda went from there.

Where it went from there was UP.  There's still some cosmetic stuff I want to do, and Amy's brain is percolating with ideas for painting the behemoth, but it's structurally complete.  It's mostly done.  In the same way that Westley was mostly dead after succumbing to level ten of Count Rugen's water torture in The Princess Bride.  Not all the way done, but still pretty well done.

Right then; a few pictures.

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The tools, the raw materials... and the good intentions are strewn about liberally.

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All the framing done and a couple of walls up. 
Tavish was no help AT ALL!!

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I used the dogs' food dish as the template for the rounded corners on the doorway.  Appropriate, I thought. 

The drill, by the way, is the only power tool for which I can claim ownership.  All the rest were borrowed: circular saw, mitre saw, jig saw... heck, even the two saw horses I used to make an ad hoc working table were scarfed.

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Thar she blows!  The neighbour guy already promised help this weekend to lug the thing into place.  My various pokes and prods have yielded an estimate at about 300 pounds or so.  (Dog house, not neighbour.)

I'll post more pics when I, um, "slap some lipstick on that pig."

Comments

[rick]

"In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure dome decree...."

Perhaps you could subdivide and add a shag-carpeted loft for Dex in the upper storeys.

Nice job, Simon! But I wonder if this isn't potentially paving the way to a new Via Dolorosa of home improvement vexations for you: if you can throw up this splendid edifice (and almost overnight), why not a lavish new bathroom annex, appointed in more than Oriental Splendour?

[TerriTorial]

Ya see...being a wife myself I know that a man should NEVER show their crafty side or we will take advantage of it. I see closet organizers, shelves, and new bathtub installations in your furture.

Great job on the dog house!!

[Marc]

Nicely done!

I like the new banner, too.

[Linda]

You should be so proud! Your trove of talent is just bottomless, dude. I have a copy of the pic of dogs playing poker that's just rolled up on a shelf in my studio if you want it to frame and hang in the game room of the Mahal.
I might go check out Rick, his writing is on a par with yours...

[Paul]

Looksa goot! I'll throw up a couple pictures of mine in it's present "almost finished" state.

I also like the new banner.

[Mark]

I'm very impressed. I've never built anything that would reliably house living creatures.

Now, getting the dogs to use it is a whole "'nother" story.

[Simon]

Rick, the basement is in sad need of reparations first, ere our growing family split the seams on the britches, as it were. Thither must we next wend our way.

Terri, the warning is too little, too late. Darn you. But since I'm a guy, I probably would have ignored you anyway. (Darn me.)

Linda, thanks. And actually, Rick has more than a dash more panache than I. You should.

Paul, I've been waiting to see further pics of Shadow's new digs. (Mine's just going to be dragged (drug?) into a level patch of dirt rather than built on separate pads of gravel.)

Mark, getting it away from Declan so that dogs can use it is going to be the whole 'nother story. Sheesh!

[Paul]

Karen (Mavarin) left a comment on my journal that I thought belonged better here. She said: "If Shadow ever sits or lies on the roof, buy him a root beer and post the picture!" I laughed, because I had almost commented here that your dog house looked just like Snoopy's