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Dear Lee Valley,
As a millennium project in 2000, I undertook to build a gazebo
at my cottage using the Lee Valley 8' kit*. As often happens
with cottage jobs, it was rendered usable just this summer,
in the interim prompting snide queries from guests as to which
millennium?
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The
gazebo, also known
as the "Observation Post"
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The
cottage being on an island and my having a heart condition
limited some of the construction possibilities, particularly
when it came to the roof. Large sheets of plywood and heavy
bales of asphalt or cedar shingles were out of the question,
so I tapped my background naval-officer experience and settled
on a lapstrake or clinker-built roof, like a boat, using easily
transported 6" pressure treated deck planking. (Just
fine, except for cutting all the compound angles!)
To
close off the small hole at the top in simple fashion (without
any more bloody angle work!) I searched high and low for ideas—birdhouses,
pre-built cupolas, anti-squirrel cones, etc.—finally
settling on an old Canadian army helmet bought at an army
surplus store for $50 and change. A 1/4" threaded rod through
the hole in the six-armed apex joist fitting and a wing nut
pulled it all together. (I added screening in the void under
the helmet to keep out insects but allow hot air venting.)
The
gazebo is a real conversation piece now, and we've christened
it the "OP" (military-speak for Observation Post,
which of course is what it is.)
Thought you might get a chuckle out of this.
Sincerely,
Hugh Spence
Ottawa, Ontario
P.S.
The war department stamping on the helmet says made in 1942…same
as me!
*This
product is no longer available.
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