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projects

 Last week a friend of ours semi-jokingly asked if there was anything we needed.  He will probably never make that mistake again!! 

Two years ago I told Bobby the boards on the ramp to the shed were going bad. He said they would last a while longer. Last summer I told him the ramp was not steady when I put the lawn mower up. When I went out a few weeks ago to get the push mower so we could have some repairs done on it before spring, one of the boards had a chunk missing out of it and several others were clearly rotting.  So I told our friend about it and told him that I could not drive a straight nail, but if he could rebuild it, I could demolish the old one.  He came over and looked at it, and thought he could do something.

So the next day, his family came over.  His wife and I alternated doing things with the kids while he and one of us held things while he worked. It took half a day, as the supports underneath were rotten as well and had to be replaced, which added to the time frame.  My cheeks do not hurt at all, but they are either wind or sun burned (or both). They are still red. But we have a nice new ramp. It's not been painted yet, and a small part of me is considering staining it a dirt brown, then getting an old tire and running it through black paint and up the ramp.  I think that would be funny. (And no, I have not told Bobby my idea; he doesn't read my blog; I don't think he'd go for it.) My friend suggested I paint caution lines on it as there's a drop between the ramp and the shed.  That's actually a possibility.

Our next very minor project is possibly replacing the light in our study/office. The insulation between the bulbs and the light base has slightly burned away, during the last 21 years and the cover is extremely difficult to get on and off. I like its simplicity, but I really wouldn't mind having something much easier to access when it's time to change the bulbs and that also gives more light. We've narrowed it down to two options at Lowe's, but not sure which one we will go with, if we change it at all.

Option #2:
Kichler Barrington 11.5-in Rustic Incandescent Flush Mount LightI think this would be easy to change (no cover to remove or replace), would match the wood bookshelves, but I'm not overly crazy about the water bubble look in the glass, nor the overall look of the light.

Option #1:

coming soonI like the looks of this one much more, and it would also match the wood bookshelves, plus give it more of a timeless look.  I fear the one above would look dated in another 10 years.  While this one has a cover that has to be removed and cleaned when the bulbs need changing, it comes down with one screw located in the middle, not three screws against the ceiling like our current one does.


So this is our next "big" project.

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