This week a crew will descend on our backyard to begin phase one of a backyard landscaping reboot. First they will break out the word’s ugliest concrete patio and remove the infamous grape arbor, a.k.a. rat canopy. Then they will dig down to adjust the grading at the back of the house so that water flows away not towards the house.
I struggle for words to fully describe the ugliness of this concrete patio. It’s a cracked abomination made of red tinted concrete with a layer of flaking gray paint. It’s the first thing you see when you exit the back door and it’s driven me nuts for years. Our contractor likes to reuse concrete but but I doubt this stuff is savable. He plans to replace it with a new patio made of broken concrete. Then he’ll replace the arbor with a more carefully constructed one minus the grapes.
Meanwhile, in the workshop, I’ve had a kind of awakening to the use of hand planes. They’ve been in use for thousands of years and don’t send you push notifications or collect your most private thoughts or “likes.” In addition to using those hand planes to finish a new kitchen table, I’ve been experimenting with the oddball practice of fuming oak. Full report when the projects are finished.
And, yes, we’re really late with the next episode of the podcast. I’m on it.
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