Most of my spare time this summer has been devoted to helping the boys get their animals ready for the County Fair, and when I haven’t been doing that, I’ve been building my wife a greenhouse.
It’s not a huge greenhouse, and it’s nothing spectacular. But it’s also not one of those quick, snap-together kits. I’m pretty sure one of those wouldn’t survive the wind and hail storms we get out here on the high plains.
The greenhouse I’ve been building is mostly made of whatever I could find either free or very cheap. Yet I’ve had to make sure it doesn’t look too much like something Jed Clampett would have cobbled together out of pieces off the truck he drove to Beverly Hills. That’s meant I’ve had to take a little more time fitting those pieces together so they have at least some visual appeal.
We got windows people were giving away to serve as the walls, and we helped a friend tear down a loafing shed and used the tin from that for a little aesthetic touch. And last weekend, I finally put the last of the clear plastic roof on. All I have left to do is put the tin corners on the roofline.
Having that task done gives me back my weekends and evenings. I plan to use them to do some practicing with my bow and rifles. Hopefully, we can get out to do some scouting in our hunting areas before the season starts, too. Then, with any luck, I’ll be better prepared for a hunt, and maybe this year I’ll have some success.
As an added benefit, that greenhouse might provide us some fresh herbs, tomatoes and vegetables to go along with some elk or deer steaks this winter.
I’m just glad to have that task off my to-do list. I won’t kid myself and think I’m done with projects, but I’m hoping the greenhouse keeps the project planner busy long enough for me to get a few hunts in.
