A little NYC just outside of Poltimore, Quebec

In the picture is Robert and Kevin. Kevin will be building our deck.

Less as a matter of compromise than of default, Robert and I finally came to an agreement over the name of our new country home. It turns out that the scope of the veranda we had originally planned would have brought the outer reaches too close to the river to meet local building codes.  It was simply a case of way too much deck.

We bought two Adironack (Muskoka) chairs at the fair

The reworked plans, while still fabulous, aren’t quite as grand and “Good-sized Deck”, or “More Than Ample Deck” just doesn’t have the same cache as “Big Deck”. So, I let it go only to rally temporarily yesterday while at the local Poltimore County Fair where I came across a rather large rooster for sale...one that we could take home with us... but alas, “Big Cock” would have been a little too obvious. As a result I have begrudgingly acquiesced and the agreed name of our homestead down in the gulch is...”The Homestead”. Yawn.

In keeping with the rustic vein to which “The Homestead” alludes to, Robert has decided to build a giant glass studio up on the thickly forested ridge that overlooks our home (think of the Apple Store at the corner of 5^th Avenue and 59^th Street in New York City but in a woodland setting).

Robert's original models

Robert's final model

He purchased a few roles of neon pink surveyor’s tape from the local hardware store and after breakfast Sunday morning we staked-off the acreage of what amounts to be our backyard. 

Initially he debated whether or not to engage the services of an architect but assuaging my concerns of the Apple Store sliding over the precipice and pile-driving into our More Than Ample Deck, he has assented to the use of professional guidance. Stay tuned.