Order Horizon

Tree house progress report

Mom, of course, being Mom, was unable to take it easy over the Independence Day weekend (and it was very wrong of me to be mistaken on that point — terribly, horribly, unforgivably wrong. Wrong wrong wrong!). She focused on making progress on the tree house in the way only she (frighteningly) can. The results were

1. Diagonal stiffeners on all the upper corners. This made the overall tree house much less wobbly, although we’re still getting some shift from torsion in the support beams. Mom is pondering the optimal solution for that.
2. Planking finished, so there is now a complete floor.
3. A rope / PVC ladder constructed and installed.
4. A pulley operated bucket, so Charles can haul stuff up and down without falling off the ladder.

Still a few bugs in the system, the biggest one being the lack of any railing on the top. The ladder is a bit of a problem, as we haven’t found a good way to anchor the bottom for people heavier than Charles. Once the bottom gets loose, it’s very difficult to finish the climb, with the lack of hand holds at the top.

Mom will persevere. I am hoping that this will keep her busy in the spring for a couple of years, as we’ve already discussed additional features to put in next year. But don’t let her know I’m plotting to keep her occupied that way.