I {{{ heart }}} my garden gates...

Oh how I will miss this old garden gate...

Four years ago, I even wrote a "love post" about it...

But the years have taken their toll, weathering the wood beyond repair.

It aged gracefully, and served us well for almost twenty years.

During that time countless children, now young adults, passed through this gate to play in our backyard.

 

And throughout the changing New England seasons...

 

... through all kinds of weather...

 

... it has provided a place for birds to rest...

 

... and chipmunks to play....

With each passing year, the weathered gate watched the clematis grow taller, fuller, and more colorful as it cascaded over the simple arbor.

We knew that this day would eventually come. We couldn't delay the inevitable any longer.

So last week, with great care, the old gate was removed and hubby started building a new gate, using the exact same design I came up with so many years ago.

 

With the frame built, it was time to start staggering the pickets...

 

Taller ones on the outer edges, gradually getting shorter toward the center; pickets spaced out just a bit so as to offer a hint of the secret garden that lay beyond the gate.

 

The gate had to have a heart in the center to represent love, and the memories of family and friends who passed through it over the years.

 

This new heart is perfect in its imperfection. Simple. Rustic. Made with love.

Just as the old heart was.

 

And then it was time for this beautiful new gate to be attached to the fence under the old arbor.

 

Hello, beautiful new gate.

 

May you, and the new fence that was also put up this year, last at least another twenty years, eventually weathering to that driftwood shade of gray that I find so charming.

 

This week I'm joining Brenda at Cozy Little House for Tweak It Tuesday
and Cindy at My Romantic Home for Show & Tell Friday.

 

Have a wonderful week, everyone!

 

Donna