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5 Steps to Building a Tree House – Step 3, part 2

5 Steps to Building a Tree House – Step 3, part 2

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Building the Floor
Building the Floor

The Tree House now has floors.  Notice we cut a generous opening around the tree as it continues to grow and we want to give it lots of room.  Several 2×4 braces are underneath for strength, to prevent sagging and for all around support from wobbling. Don’t want the floors moving like there’s an earthquake when the grand kids are up there. We have braces between the upright 4×4’s and the frame the floor is resting on.

The Walls are going up
The Walls are going up

There will be walls on two sides.  We’ll cut small “port holes and windows” in them so the shorter/younger kids can peak out.  We’ll let them decide what shape and where they are as we want to get them involved as much as possible. The other sides will be camo mesh netting (we’re testing it, left of the ladder) that doesn’t stretch, we can see threw, and will keep them from falling off the edge.

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1st Porthole
1st Porthole

As with any new project or new build it’s important to get customer and user input along the way to a finished Tree House.  Below, is the first test by our users.  We know we passed all expectation we one of them said, “Grandpa, this is the best tree house in the WORLD!” And to think it’s not even done, lots more little things coming before it’s finished.  Now I’m motivate to make it even better.  We’re working on a slide, and a Supplies (food, treats and tows) Delivery System (SDS), and a cowboy dinner bell. The wooden crate or box with the green splash of paint actually a military surplus ammo box, one of three I got for $4 each.

User Testing
User Testing

Next we’ll add the camo mesh netting, more bracing, a ladder, a bench or two, hopefully a telescope, and the slide (a hose can be connected to make a water slide, shhhsh, don’t tell the kids yet) and more.

Stand by for more, thanks for stopping by, hope it gives you some ideas, thanks, John

 

 

5 Steps to Building a Tree House – Step 1

5 Steps to Building a Tree House – Step 1

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Family Maple Tree - Winter
Family Maple Tree – Winter

A great activity for vintage Baby Boomers and Boomer Grandpas is to design and build a Tree House with your kids, grand kids and other family members.  It’s a awesome bonding and teaching experience.  I plan on having the little kids do the painting and accessories when it’s time.  That way everyone can be involved.  When it’s finished we’ll have something for the family to use and have fun with for a lifetime.  Here’s my story, sort of a documentation of how we are building it.  Each stage will be a separate post.

Our family is blessed with a beautiful Maple tree in our back yard.  It’s part of our kids’ heritage and memories from growing up around it.  There have been hundreds of picnics, barbecues, tea parties, games of tag, birthday parties, and celebrations under our tree and in its cooling shade in the hot summers.  It shares it’s beauty in each season.  Summer is big green leaves and lots of comforting shade.  Fall is the only season when our tree requires our work or maintenance.  As fall progresses the big green leaves turn orange and then yellow, finally dropping from the branches, landing on the grass.  Here’s where the work comes in, someone, as in Me or our Kids.  I choose the kids for this job as they need to learn to work and care for what we are blessed with, right?  Hear that kids?

You see our tree above after the last snowfall of this winter.

All the snow has melted now and it’s time to build a Tree House

Step 1 Choosing your tree –  In our case we have only one tree to choose from.  By tree house standards this is a small tree which won’t really support much of a structure up in the tree.  So, we decided to build around the tree rather than in the tree.  You’ll need to choose a good strong tree, the right tree, then build the right tree house in or around it.  The formation or structure of the tree will determine the size and elements you will be able to have in your tree house.

That’s Stage 1.  Hope it gives you some ideas to build your own tree house.  Stay tuned for the next stage, Planning Your Tree House coming soon.

Thanks for stopping by, John

 

 

6 Great Activities For Retirement

6 Great Activities For Retirement

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Follow Your Retirement Dreams

Baby Boomers, Grandpas and Retirees, we all find ourselves with the true blessing of more time to do what we’ve always wanted to do!  What do we want to do with this time?  I’m re-inventing myself as what I call a Free Range Explorer.

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Until now,  I’ve always been a right brain creative type in left brain logical type jobs and careers.  I did what I had to do to support my wife and children.  No regrets, it is what it is and it’s all good! We all turned out pretty well.

Now, my life has changed dramatically for the better.  I’ve decided to focus my time on things I love.  Here are the 6 Great Activities For Retirement that I enjoy.  There are Many More, but these make me happy and are on top of my list.

They aren’t in order of preference, just random.

Photography – I remember my Dad taking lots of photos while on our “summer trips”. It was something he enjoyed along with the “slide shows” we all endeared after we got home.  Reliving those memories got me interested enough to get a 35mm SLR(I’m dating myself) and take a few photography classes during school.  My interest continued and is still strong today.  Now I have the time to take outings and trips and get more serious about making photographs.  Our house is filled with various 8×10 and 16×20 museum quality canvas prints of scenes from the South of France, Amsterdam. Norway, England and all over America and of course, children and grandchildren. It’s nice to have part of “me” hanging on the wall to enjoy.

Travel – Along with photography, my Dad taught me the love a worldwide travel when I was young.  So much so, that I’ve had careers with an international airline and elite travel agency. Now we travel to visit our children who are spread out.  And we travel mostly America and Europe learning from the locals, and experiencing their sites, nature and cuisine.

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Cooking – Cooking is fun and satisfying and has a nice reward at the end, Eating!  For fun, get your kids and grand kids involved with the planning, preparation, cooking and serving, and, oh yeah, the eating.  This makes for a nice bonding time and they might even learn something about getting along, planning and life.  I plan on adding Cooking classes in some of the cities I visit.

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Writing – Now that you have more time in retirement, you can write the block buster, all American book.  Write stories for your grand kids. Write your biography. A romance novel,  or a cookbook or a How To book.  Those last 3 happen to be the biggest selling niche’s on Amazon Kindle books.  After all these years you’re probably an expert at something.  Share that knowledge with the world on a blog or ebook.  The options are endless.  If you don’t think you can write a book, outsource it, based on your knowledge, to a professional writer on Fiverr.com for a small fee.  They can make your cover, do all the layout and get it ready for you to upload to Kindle.

Friends and Family – Your friends and family always need your attention and nurturing.  Try finding your roots by studying genealogy. Spend time with your family and friends, do things with them and have fun connecting.  Ride bikes, go to a movie, take a hike, learn a craft, restore an old car, or learn to knit or play cards together or play musical instruments together.  If your relationships are strained, now’s the time to reconnect.  Be the brave one and reach out to them, in the long run they’ll appreciate it.

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This is only 6 possibilities out of hundreds.  It might take some time to figure out what is most important to you but it’s worth the effort. Now that I’m moving into retirement I’ve been reinventing myself.  I’ve had to do some deep soul searching.  Even now, I’m still not done.  It will be an evolving mission with lots of change of route a long the way.  That can make life even more exciting.

Thank goodness we have the time and resources (more than ever before) to do what we want and become our best and happiest selves.   So how do you REALLY want to spend your time?  Go ahead, create your dreams and Live Life Well, everyday!

Thanks for stopping by today, John

A Free Range Explorer

 

Dreamers

Dreamers

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A very smart and successful lady says, “The world needs dreamers and the world needs doers. But above all, the world needs dreamers who do.” This is so true. The world needs both Left Brains and Right Brains. A combination of both is great.

So dream your dreams, and take action to make them come true.

What do you dream of doing or becoming?
Boomer Grandpas, GO FOR IT! There’s plenty of time.