Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Another Project...

The Bag Lady's home is in a constant state of chaos and upheaval improvement, and last summer she started another of her "projects". She has a deck across the front of her house, but she wasn't happy with the stairs leading to the ground at one end of the deck. The ground slopes away there in a rather uneven manner, so she decided to build a step/deck to replace the original stairs.


Here are some photos of the building of the step/deck.

Laying the groundwork:


Some of the lumber waiting to be put into place:
SupervisorCat:By the end of the summer, the Bag Lady had finished most of the building of the deck. There are still a few finishing touches that she would like to put on the deck - a handrail for the stairs might be ....handy.



She still wasn't particularly happy with the transition from step to ground, so this summer, she decided to work on that a little. The stairs end right in the middle of a slope, and felt a little dangerous to her (when you're as clumsy as the Bag Lady, almost everything feels a little dangerous...)

She also wanted to take advantage of the southern exposure at this end of the deck - she decided another flower bed would be a good idea because her perennials are in dire need of thinning. She added some lattice under the deck, and built a flowerbed:

And she built up the ground in front of the stairs to make it more level.


She isn't quite finished - her little injury interrupted the construction phase, and then the weather decided to be unco-operative (which gave her the perfect excuse to let her finger heal up a little more).
Those green boards that are holding the dirt in place? She was pounding a nail into them when she whacked her pinky. She knows better than to do the crossed hands nail pounding, but somedays she gets a little absent-minded. Then she pays for it. Sigh.


And yes, she did almost all the construction herself - the Cowman loaned a hand one day to help her hang the outside ledger board.

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

duly noted.

we're going with COWMAN.

signed,

MizFit who fears shes gonna still let a COW WHISPERER slip out every now & again.

Crabby McSlacker said...

You are so handy and energetic!

Just be careful with the tools, we want you in one piece. No power saws, okay?

Missicat said...

Beautiful!! I agree with Crabby - step away from the power tools! We need all of you around to build more stuff we can admire!

Leah J. Utas said...

Well done. Now, sayings about blood and toil are just sayings, 'kay?

the Bag Lady said...

Miz - there were so many great suggestions, I decided to just switch them around lots - keep everyone on their toes!

Crabby - ummm, not exactly energetic, but occasionally (overly)ambitious. And I'm really, really careful when I use power tools.

Missicat - thanks! Power tools only under supervision?

dfLeah - I'll keep that in mind - thanks!

Scrumpy said...

You are just so cool

the Bag Lady said...

Thanks, SB!

Geosomin said...

Wow..you're my hero.
:)
Do you have your own tools or does the man in black let you share his?

I love seeing a woman build and fix things (better tham m,ost guys can I might add!)...it makes me want to get off my ass and build something...or maybe finish one of the dozen things I started this winter :)

the Bag Lady said...

Geosomin - it's the other way around - I occasionally loan my tools to him!
Seriously, I do 98% of any "home improvement/construction", he only helps if there is something requiring 4 hands, or something is really, really heavy. (note the corner of the building with all the windows? That's the sunporch that I built a few years ago. Alone.)
On the other hand, don't ask me to do anything mechanical...
And he loves the fact that it's so easy to shop for Xmas/birthday gifts for me - I get really excited over power tools!

Penny said...

Colour me impressed! That's some amazing handiwork. Does Bag Lady fancy coming to the UK and contructing pretty things? Like maybe a pretty lattice-style guard to stop my towel falling onto my treadmill? ;0)

See this is what I was meaning the other day about people's talents, I feel all warm and fuzzy inside now. Woo!

TA x

Anonymous said...

Such well behaved animals:)...nice pics.

the Bag Lady said...

Tokaiangel - the Bag Lady would LOVE to come to the UK! She wants to continue her family tree research and isn't having much luck from this side of the pond! (and if she were there, anyway, she'd surely find some way to keep your towel from falling onto your treadmill!)

Thanks, Mark! The animals were so-o-o-o helpful.... :)

Reb said...

Looks much improved Sis. I was going to suggest you do a post about the sun porch and explain why the windows look the way they do.

the Bag Lady said...

Thanks, Reb - I was sorta thinking about that, but need to take some photos (which means I need to clean it first...sigh)

Unknown said...

Thats awesome; I need to learn how to build stuff and all. Those kinds of skills are so useful!

the Bag Lady said...

Sagan - they are useful - there are probably workshops being offered where you live that you could sign up for.
I learned most of what I know from my dad, but he was much better at it than I am.

Emily said...

steps rock!!! and your construction abilities amaze me. It makes me regret posting about my plumbing mishap yesterday...I wish I was more handy like you : )

the Bag Lady said...

Emily - I didn't get this way overnight, believe me. I've had my share of disasters!
Now I'm off to read about your plumbing problems...

Ann (bunnygirl) said...

I love your feline supervisor!

the Bag Lady said...

Thanks, BG - he was quite a help... :)

Hilary said...

Very impressive, Baggie. Ya done good! :)

the Bag Lady said...

Thanks, Hil!

Anonymous said...

Nice job! You are a busy and creative woman!

Supervisor is looking the part, and puppy dog is quite photogenic. :)

the Bag Lady said...

Thanks, Susan. My critters are pretty good watchers.