On cold and especially snowy days like the ones that we've had recently, I've especially missed the warmer weather! Since I have been negligent in my efforts to update this blog, I thought that now might be a good time to look back to the last warm days of 2009 and cover what I was working on at that time.
As last reported, I ended up erecting a new fence around the backyard. The fence has unfortunately only fared but so well against the insistence of people passing between it and the tree that sits at the junction of mine and my neighbors' properties, and as such I've had to continually re-insert the bamboo panels into the frames. Once the snow melts one of my first tasks (after once again fixing the fence) will need to be creating some sort of barrier between the fence post and the tree, which will hopefully keep people from trespassing on my property and messing up the fence.
I decided to add some lighting to the fence posts, and, because I did not want to add hardwiring, decided to use solar-powered LED lights. For this, I actually ended up using exterior pathway lights, normally inserted into the ground, but in this application I drilled a hole into the posts and then shortened the length of the lamps' posts and inserted them into the posts. So far so good, though unfortunately with only morning light these usually only stay lit until around 10 or 11 PM.
I also added some new plants in the front and backyards. In the front I've tried to add more perennials, opting for more native and drought tolerant plants, as this is a western exposure that gets the late day heat. Also, the large tree in the front yard, with its dense foliage, prevents rain from really watering the ground (unless we really get a downpour).
In the backyard, keeping with a more Asian/semi-tropical inspired landscape, I've added a small leaf clumping bamboo (that I was assured is non-invasive), Japanese blood grass, Japanese forest grass, and a hardy palm. I added recycled
rubber mulch (made from old tires) in the planting bed, which I edged with a product called
Snap Edge, made from 100% recycled high density polyethylene.
Of course these plants are now under a coating of snow. I just hope that I got them in the ground soon enough that they will come back in the spring. Stay tuned!
One of the consequences-cum-opportunities in my home came from having to create a chase in the corner of my bedroom for my water heater's exhaust. The chase resulted in a 24" deep inset, which created a perfect little space behind my bedroom door for a desk. There were only two problems: First, there was nothing that I could find that I both liked and was in my price range. (What?! I have expensive tastes!) Secondly, the floor in the corner, much like elsewhere in the bedroom, is not flat, but ramps up slightly towards the corner, meaning that any purchased desk would either need to have thoroughly adjustable legs or be shimmed. So, faced with these challenges I opted to build my own desk, utilizing a simple, modern design and some surprisingly inexpensive items from IKEA.
The desk design consists of a white desktop, supported on the side and back walls with a concealed metal angle, with a turn-down support piece on the open side, a continuation of the desktop. The materials are 39.5"L IKEA work surfaces, which I bought for $3.99 each(!), a 4'L metal angle (cut to length with a hacksaw), and assorted fasteners from Home Depot. After attaching the metal angles to the wall using screws and washers where there were studs and drywall anchors elsewhere 
(thankfully I had pictures of the framing to help locate the studs) I placed the top piece on the brackets and took measurements for the side piece. I used cam screws and nuts from Home Depot (the very same featured in just about every piece of IKEA furniture) to connect the side piece and top, so at this point I measured and pre-drilled for these. For the cam nuts I ended up buying a forstner bit, which renders a (nearly) flat bottom at the base of the drilled hole. The one surprise that I had in this process came when drilling the center hole, which is when I discovered that the IKEA desktops are hollow with a cardboard honeycomb. 
Fortunately I was drilling slowly (and did not drill through the top) and there was enough wood blocking at either side of the work surface to allow me to use two fastening points. I then cut down the side panel, which was angled to account for the sloping floor. Because the underside of the desktop (now the inside support) was unfinished, I spray painted the underside semi-gloss white to match the rest of the piece. Then it was simply a matter of letting the paint dry and then connecting the two panels together, and then finally, using small screw bolts and a socket wrench, attaching the desktop to the brackets.
I'm very happy with the end results and hope that it proves to be a useful and productive workspace.
