The Real Legacy

Its been about two weeks since I posted to this blog. To anyone who might be following it, I apologize. Early last winter when we were planning the renovations to 3283 I suggested to my family that it might be fun to write a blog chronicling the progress of the effort. I'd never written one before and only really read the one my daughter wrote to tell the story of my grandson's adoption. The idea must have 'stuck' since this blog was set up for me by my daughter as one of my Christmas presents. She chose the name: The Legacy of 3283.

I've been doing what I thought I'd do...describing the progress being made on changes to the property, the daily construction activity and the visible changes to the structure. Though, these have only a little to do with legacy. A legacy is "something transmitted by or received from an ancestor or predecessor or from the past." While the structure and property encompassing 3283 are significant...and definitely something that has been, and will be, passed on...there is more to it than that. The real legacy has been demonstrated to me over the past two weeks. 

Our family gathered here like it has for four generations and like I hope it will for generations to come. Some "work" was done ... but mostly we just enjoyed each other and played.

Many times over these two weeks I was reminded of my father's often repeated direction to us:

"Be Happy. Have Fun."

Susan, her husband Damon, and her sons Drew and Leo arrived on June 21st. They all stayed the weekend, but mom and dad returned to Minnesota leaving granny and pop alone with the boys for a week. This was prompted by Drew being enrolled in the nearby Hope College youth soccer camp for that week. He worked there mornings while we enjoyed Leo. Then in the afternoon we all played together.

Some work was done. I have to thank my kids and their spouses for pitching in to get 3283 closer to finished. I know work was not their top priority when the kids kept wanting to "enjoy" the cottage.

Work WAS done: Susan helped by scraping the eaves.

She scraped 30 feet of old boards.
Which are now ready to paint along with those replaced.

Leo helped with Dishwasher replacement.

Drew took his turn holding pipes out of the way as I prepared the floor.

Damon painted the front porch ceiling in preparation for new solar shades and a new floor.
Shades come on the 9th. Floor still needs final selection and purchase.

But we avoided work for most of the time. The Cottage is a place for fun. And we had plenty of that. No captions are needed for the pictures below. All were taken on-location: beach, soccer camp, front porch and Michigan Adventure amusement park. The smiles tell the story perfectly!

My son Mike, his wife Lindsay and their son JJ arrived late on July 2nd and stayed thru Sunday morning. With them at 3283 all of my family was here together. It was Special!

There was more beach time...watching fireworks from the front deck on the 4th....bike rides down the drive...and a visit to the nearby critter barn. When we all get together so infrequently a LOT tends to be crammed into a little time. [Some of the following pics were "borrowed" from Sue's, Mike's and Lindsay's Facebook posts thus the unique borders....thanx to all of the original photographers.]

We measure kids every July 4th.
That door jamb has decades of lines for kids and grandkids.

JJ wasn't too sure about standing still for the measurement.

Mike put on his paint clothes and helped out with painting some of the high spots on the outside of the addition. But my ladder didn't reach the east wall.  Looks like I will get a pro to do those sections of the wall.

The family all headed to their homes on Saturday and Sunday. So, it was back to work for Bobbie and me. We spent Sunday afternoon with paint brushes working around the basement door and under the front eaves.

Bobbie and her mom left last evening [Sunday]. So I'm here alone again. I finished up the porch eaves this morning just before the rain started. And I'm preparing for some more real progress to begin this week. Tomorrow the solar shades will be installed on the front porch, and Jeff Sparks will be here tomorrow or Wednesday to install the new living room windows. The Mechanical Inspector is scheduled to give his blessing to the HVAC system tomorrow.

And landscaping should be beginning later in the week. I met with the landscaper, the concrete sidewalk contractor and my sprinkler company last week to coordinate their efforts. Among them there will be final grading, sidewalk construction, topsoil installation, sprinkler installation and sod and flower bed mulch installation. Their combined effort will take up to a month due to scheduling with other work. But, by mid August 3283 should be green again.

Together with inside work: more electric, insulation and drywall the next 4 to 6 weeks will be busy again. So, the blog will return to [near] daily postings. Keep looking for them.