If you live in Alberta, you know that winter has arrived…overnight. The photo left was taken on October 31 (no snow). Within a couple of days, we were under a layer of pure, white beauty (I love winter!), but those first days of winter brought a harsh reality. Many have forgotten how to drive (scary) in inclement weather and if you are like me, the snow shovel was nowhere to be found, let alone gloves (Charlie has already chewed up a new pair of cashmere gloves) and proper shoes. It’s amazing how the mind works…no sooner as a new season starts, and our thoughts have moved on to the next!
In a February 2022 post, I mentioned that we wanted a screened room on our patio…the wasps have chased us indoors so often on those long, warm summer evenings when we’ve wanted to sit back over a glass of wine or a light dinner.
Rarely do I relax and enjoy the garden after a full day of planting, weeding, watering or just puttering. But, as significant landscape projects are coming to fruition, maybe…just maybe, I will…
That brings me to our screened room which has just arrived!
Thankfully we had one warmish day when the crew from Forge 53 could start erecting the frame. After the plans were drawn up over the summer, the structure was welded in their shop (by Adam Macmillan, the fellow on the ladder, who took the plan from paper to reality with such precision, everything fit like a glove!), sent out to be powder-coated, and set up in the shop again (just to make sure everything fit).
Surprisingly the frame went up in an afternoon! It’s 10 ft. x 10 ft x 11 ft high at the peak. The French doors are still in the garage, but the doors and windows will soon be installed. Initially, we discussed doing screened walls on two sides (the south and east), a mirrored wall on the house side (to conceal the brick wall) and glass on the back west wall as a buffer from the wind. Jesse, the designer on the project, suggested that we do glass inserts all around that could easily be popped out and replaced with screen inserts depending on the season. This option gives us more flexibility and more months to enjoy the outdoors.
I’ve been thinking of an endearing name for this “room”, but nothing noteworthy has popped into my head. Since we will mainly use it for wining and dining, it may just be called “Happy Hour”.
For now, the patio furniture is haphazardly stacked inside, but I have several months to visualize how I will decorate for next spring/summer.
This is Jesse Rudiger-Aasgard, one of the partners of Forge 53. ***Full disclosure, Jesse is my nephew (in-law), who just happens to be a very talented, creative young man, happy to accommodate every change or idea.
I wrote a blog post, “Forging Beauty“, on January 25, 2019, featuring Jesse and his partner, Mike of Forge 53. Since then, their company has grown exponentially, working on many custom jobs throughout North America. They’ve carved out a unique market niche to continue forging beauty.
xox Judy
Website: forge53.ca
Instagram: forge_53