Building on to the house in the spring

I was outside the other day pacing around in the snow, measuring out the approximate area of the tower that me and mom had always planned to put on the front corner of the house. The intention was to build a dining room and music room off the end of the house with a turret where we could put a telescope and tea seating area.

Other plans are to build a seating area over the music room, a place where we could sit and view Mount Denali on clear days. I still want to build that seating area, a place where I can watch the sun rise with a small kettle of tea and two warm croissants with butter and honey. That is the kind of thing mom always enjoyed. I might even try orange teas, her favorite even if I never did acquire a taste for them.

I would like to get some wicker patio furniture, a sofa, chair and table at least. We had some before, but the elements have proven to me that without patio furniture covers to protect them from the elements, you can not let wicker furniture remain outside. I would hate to go to the expense of building the seating area and buying the right furniture and everything to create the perfect place to enjoy morning tea, and then have to replace the furniture after only a year or two because it basically melted in the winter.

I'm going to hunt up my building program, wherever it got off to, and use it to design the turret, start with that and build the music room and dining room later. I might only be able to work one board at a time, hauling in stones one and two at a time on my ATV to build the foundation, but I will build the house to match what my mom had envisioned it being.

We often talked about making a house like the Winchester Mansion, where it will always be being built onto, always be having rooms added. We liked that plan, mom always wanted to go visit the Winchester Mansion. Wanted to turn this house into a never finished project house much like the Winchester Mansion. I think I will do that in her memory.