Raised bed creation

After planting the hops and some tomatoes next to them, I've been wanting to plant more veggies in the backyard and finally start using my yard. I purchased some really nice cedar 2x4s and got to work over memorial day weekend. At first I was going to make them over 2 feet high, but considering the cost of the cedar and after a rough mock-up I realized the height I finalized on (21 1/2") was plenty.

The sides of the raised bed (4' wide), with internal structure screwed in.

The 8' wide sides of the bed.

Screwing everything together.

Adding "hardware cloth" to the bottom.

Lining the sides with plastic for a little extra protection for the wood.

All situated.

Look from the other side.

Dumped some old logs, soil, and grass clippings to start it off.

So, I'm going to need a lot of soil to fill in the bed. I'm also hoping I didn't put the bed too close to the tree as it doesn't get a huge amount of sun most of the day. I plan on eventually making another next to it though, so I can always put the veggies that need more shade in this one, the ones that like sun in the future one.
It might not be necessary, but I also got some rebar to secure the bed into the ground. I've got the super long drill bit to drill through the wood too, but I seem to have lost my plug-in drill.

After thinking about it, the next day I added more screws to the sides to ensure the structure was totally solid. I figure the more the better with that much soil pushing out against the frame. I also cut away some of the branches above the bed. It's hard to see, but it made a big difference and will let more sun hit the bed.

I used exterior 3" screws all around.

Garage finish up

Finally got around to adding the retractable workbenches I got for the side of the garage. I ordered them online from the Home Depot and had them delivered. I was going to make some kind of variety myself, but after finding them online, and for a better price than I could make myself, I went for it.

Folded down

And folded up. Super solid too.

Exterior continuum

Still attacking the exterior siding of the house. Found a paint stripper, that along with my rotary sander, has worked really well to remove the paint. When the scraper didn’t cut it, the drill attached paint stripper has worked better than expected.

First attempt, just with paint scrapers.

After using new paint stripper and sanding. 

Left side first coat painted.

Exterior Initiative

Started working on the outside of the house as it was desperately in need and I acquired something I cared about growing...

Before. Wall looks a bit... uneven?

Close up after scraping, sanding, pressure washing... at least twice each.

Big view of completed section painted.

Close up of completed section.

Well, after all those pictures... I only cleared up 8 siding panels. You can see the same paint looks quite a bit greener. After about 10 years of sun, the existing paint turned a grey, or just cooked and fell off the siding altogether. You can see why I starting fixing up the siding. In the ground below the fixed section, I've got some specially procured cascade hops growing. My plan is to attach a lattice section above the hops so they can grow up the wall.

Garage Storage

Thought I’d give some ceiling storage in the garage a try to get all the extra seasonal and construction stuff off the floor and out of the way. Took a while to plan out the best place and most secure way to fasten to the rafters, but here’s a look at the setup.

Bolted the supports to two rafters to distribute the weight.

Added in with a collection of goods added.

You can see I also swapped out my homemade wood storage/shelves for some multi-tiered metal shelves on the wall. You can also see that with the ceiling storage hanging as close as possible to the far side, it's easy to access the storage from a ladder (the garage door opener in the middle doesn't get in the way).

Living Room Completion

I started painting the living room about 5 years ago now. I kept holding back on completing it as the carpet was doing weird things (developing awesome ripples everywhere), and I was always working on something more interesting. After I completed the theater room, and got the carpet stretched upstairs at the same time, the carpet was no longer holding me back from laying the baseboard and completing the living room. So... The completion begins. Nothing too spectacular, but it's now all done.

Pre-trim.

New trim nailed in and awaiting paint...

Ditto, here.

And more paint prep. 

Trim all painted and now for wall paint.

Cutting in with an extension ladder. Not fun.

All painted!

Just rehanging all the photos took half the day.

The white trim really looks sharp.

Garage spiffy-ing

Now that I have a bench to work on in the garage, and proper storage, I've been adding to that storage and tidying up quite a bit. I've expanded the storage on the sides of the garage and slowly but surely, been cleaning up the garage overall. I took my ikea bedroom furniture, which I've had since the 70's and repurposed it. Back in the 90's I painted it grey. Who knows why... but after a paint stripping and sand, it's back to its pure wood form (albeit... a laminate wood form).

The before and after a paint strip.

First set of shelves added. A look of the ikea cabinets below.

I cut down and repurposed some metal shelves (far left).

A full look at the back of the garage.

I added a quick support for 2x4s and other various boards.

The completed repurposed shelves.