The kitchen project is 99.9% done. Just waiting for one part that is still on backorder. We’ve been enjoying our new kitchen space. We decided to take a little day trip and drove down to see trees in the Sierra:
This is from a trail in Grover Hot Springs State Park. The hot springs were close for some maintenance work so we didn’t get to see that, but we had a nice picnic and a short walk along the creek.
We had weird weather all week with afternoon thunderstorms and flash flood watches from the weather service. So far nothing bad has happened but we’re keeping a close eye on the clouds these days. Just yesterday the Burners started moving through town on their way to Blackrock where they got a taste of what desert wind can do to a campsite.
When I’m not watching the weather or driving around the state I’ve been working on my deck. Here’s today’s progress picture:
I got a stack of lumber for the deck structure. I’ve finished the three support beams and next I’ll start putting the joists in position. Then I can do the final decking surface. I ended up having to buy 20 foot long boards to span the distance for the deck and this is all pressure treated lumber because it is so close to the ground. Altogether there were about 25 boards that I cut down to make the beams and the joists you see on the right. Yes, they are heavy and I had to carry them one at a time.
Here’s the other feature I completed:
It is a pile of gravel — actually it’s technically a dry well. I dug a two foot wide and two foot deep hole, lined it with landscape fabric and filled it with rocks and gravel. There will be more landscape fabric over this area to prevent weeds. The idea behind a dry well is to deal with the occasional water flooding in this part of the yard. It’s not uncommon to get a pool of water here during a rain or snow melt. The dry well lets this water soak into the ground preventing a standing pool. We’ll see if it actually works.
And the little thing with wheels a thing we bought for gardening. It’s a small seat and storage for tools and lets you get close to the ground without having to get on your knees. My old knees don’t like being in the dirt anymore so this little thing has been handy to have while I was install all the screws for the beams.
That’s it for this week. If you need me, I’m in the shed looking for those joist hangers I bought.
Andrew's View of the Week 
Nice 👍
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The dry well seems a very good idea. And that seat is good too. I like reading about what you have been doing. It must be satisfying. Take care.
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It’s very satisfying. I love doing this kind of project.
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Good for you…and good that you took some time off for your drive, as well.
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It was a nice day out.
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I love how knowledgeable you are, Andrew. That dry well thing is interesting. Told Hubby about it and your little gardening seat/tool holder on wheels. So ingenious! We may look into one of those.
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I just found it at a hardware store one day. I didn’t really go looking for one.
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Seems like a great find.
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Great job, excited to see the final view.
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I hope to complete it soon.
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I’ve never heard of a dry well and it makes perfect sense.
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They aren’t common, but they do help.
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I admire your ambition to take on another big project. The kitchen came out beautiful, and I have no doubt the deck will, too. Thank you for sharing your progress with us. It is cool to see. 🙂
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I hope to have more progress to show this week.
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You are a busy boy!
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I am!
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I have several projects that I would describe as 99.9% complete… and they will probably always stay at that number (sigh). And I’m glad you mentioned the “little thing with wheels”. I have a similar aid but it’s more of a bench. Together with a pair of knee pads it makes gardening much more tolerable.
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I didn’t take a picture of the knee pads, but yeah they are needed.
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The only thing missing is a picture of the kitchen with, “find the .01% that’s incomplete”. Winner gets a custom quilt 😊
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Interesting thought …
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That looks like more than enough work for one summer. Never heard of a dry well, but it makes all kinds of sense.
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Not something you’d see much in Colorado, but here you need to have ways to deal with sudden large amounts of water.
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That’s a problem we’d like to have more often!
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I sure you would.
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A little dry well is an excellent idea! We had a big, deep one installed near the septic tank because we have such a high water table. The dry well pump sends the water out to a ditch where it won’t cause us any problems.
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I’ve never built one before, but here in the desert you need these kind of water traps to deal with the flash flooding we can get.
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Nice outing while the weather holds. That little seat on wheels could be handy, but how do you go about getting up….
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Always have a long handled hammer nearby — you can use it as aid to pushing yourself off the ground.
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👍
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