I have written (often) of my projects that (often) go awry. For that matter, “awry” somewhat characterizes many aspects of my life.
So, in my defense, I thought I’d share with you at least one project that went from start to finish without any good blogs! It did stretch out over about a week, working in the afternoons, but no major guffaws to add to my vast inventory of projects gone wrong.
The swing set came in two boxes. Large boxes. Boxes weighing in at just over 200 pounds! We started with this … along with dozens of plastic bags filled with all sorts of screws, washers, nuts, bolts, chains, and sundry swing set parts ….
and ended with this!
Sorry to disappoint you, but sometimes I actually do things right. The first time.
There are more pictures (with the kids in them) over on FaceBook. I don’t put pictures of the kiddies on this forum as it’s far too public for our comfort.
Last night, I ran about 60 feet of water line around the back and side of the house and installed 2 water bibs (where you connect a hose) with no leaks, no drips, no errors. I’m on a ROLL!
After putting a much simpler swing set together for my son many years ago, I swore on that day that I would pay someone $100 to do it for me and never attempt that again!
[I told my son I'd pay $100 to sit in a lawn chair and watch him put it together! He has no patience for things like this, though he is a very good helper.]
I see a grindaddy’s love in this picture. High Five!!
[I hope so, there is a lot of love in this project. The fun part was having the children "help" me at times. They loved the swings and slide when they were lying flat on the ground!]
Greg – You are an AMAZING guy! You never cease to impress me with ALL of your skills. Especially when motivated by a little (nearly) three year old grandson who is the apple of your eye and beneficiary of your good work.
I figure you were partially driven by the need to properly impress Jackson and also probably had Janice standing over you with a stern look, making sure you didn’t “goof” on anything to do with her precious grandchildren.
That’s a REALLY NEAT swing set/fort, too. WOW! When we were kids, we were happy to just have a rope hanging from a big tree limb and have a tree house that we built ourselves. It wasn’t much to look at, but was WAY fun!
Thanks for the photos showing your good workmanship!!
Dee
[You're right ... we NEVER saw anything this nice in our neighborhoods. Not even in the local parks. I give them 2-3 weeks and then it will be just another something in the back yard. But that's kids, huh?]
knew it all along
very cool !
[It is a cool swingset ... and came at a very nice price from walmart.com ... free delivery.]
It’s a work of art!
[Or an exercise is following a BOOK of instructions. Still had to go purchase a few screws and bolts. Don't know where the two 5/16 x 2-1/4" blots were put that I needed very late in the project!]
Congratulations on a job well done! You have very blessed grandchildren!
[Thanks! I am very blessed by our children and grandchildren. And friends.]
hope y’all have a great weekend
My hats off to you, Bro. I admire the fact that you still even try to do home improvement projects with your somewhat uneven track record. It is nice when occasionally something works the way it is supposed to.
[It is nice when one actually works out the way it's supposed to. Rare, but nice.]
My son and I plan to drive down to Nashville next May and build one of these (or similar) in my grandson’s backyard for his 2nd birthday. Send me an email if you can with where you got it, cost bubble, etc. And whether you’d buy the same thing again.
I assembled one of those hummers when my kids were little and we lived in Abilene. A couple of years later, when we sold our house there in three days and moved back to Little Rock, I told some friends that if they’d disassemble and move the playset/swingset, it was theirs. They actually did it!
I am quite impressed….