5 Little Projects – Part 3
5 Little Projects – Part 3

5 Little Projects – Part 3

This post builds on 5 Little Projects Part 1 published June 8th [projects 1-5 – duh] & 5 Little Projects Part 2 published June 21st [projects 6-10].

[11] In July Jim bought a privacy screen for the deck [#affiliate] – I spent an hour weaving it in and out of the railings & securing it with zip ties [included].  With everything shut down for Covid, a LOT more people are walking out onto the fish ladder, where they have a direct view up to our deck.  It was getting disconcerting and Jim’s solution is perfect.  It also blocks the sun and heat from the railing down, which is great!

BEFORE:

       

AFTER:

       

       

[12] I was planning to use my new pressure washer [#affiliate] that I got for Christmas to wash many things, one of which was the basement bulkhead.  However, we’ve been in mega drought mode since Spring, so it’s been a no go on the pressure washing.  I finally got sick of the bulkhead looking so ugly and algae covered and decided it was high time to paint it black.  First I hand washed the thing with lots of mildly soapy water, then primed and painted it.

BEFORE:

       

After 2 coats of primer:

       

After 2 coats of exterior black:

       

And a final touch-up to the inside edge of the main door [you could still see the white edge, as the door doesn’t always lay flat]:

[13] Repair the “2 cats sitting on a couch” that Christyne gave me.  The cats were not secured to the couch, they kept falling off, and every time they did more paint chipped off of them.  I super-glued their cat butts to the couch, touched up the chipped paint with as close a color-match as possible, sealed the paint with Polycrylic clear coat, then sat them back in the red bookcase:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

       

       

[14] Now that I replaced all our exterior doorknobs & deadbolts with Baldwin Smart Key ones, and we have one key to open our entire house, I decided we needed WAY more security for our exterior spare key.  Not that we ever had one… I mean, we NEVER lock ourselves out… [only about 6 times a year].  I decided to replicate the idea of the first responder lock box I installed last year and buy an exterior wall safe [#affiliate] for our outdoor spare.  It requires a 4-digit code to unlock it.  And don’t try to guess it – it’s based on a number that is personal to only Jim & myself 😉:

I decided to place it around the corner from our front door, so it’s not visible to the casual observer.  It was very easy to install:

       

It doesn’t have a way to hang a key inside, so at first I tried to screw a hook into the wall in place of one of the 4 screws.  It worked great until I tried to close the lock box and couldn’t:

i tried to hang the key from a hook in the lockbox but it wouldn't close

Self adhesive Velcro [#affiliate] strips to the rescue:

i used adhesive velcro strips to hang the spare key in the lockbox        i used adhesive velcro strips to hang the spare key in the lockbox

The lock box has a weather shade to cover the combination lock:

       

You can barely see it from the front door stoop [it’s to the left above the green bungee cord]:

And you can’t see it at all as you approach the door:

[15] Due to working at home since March, and having to use a “temporary” [permanent?] desk set up in the girl cave, I got tired of having to drag my desk away from the built-in cupboard whenever I needed access.  I’ve had the desk up on blocks, which weren’t secured to each other or the desk legs, so moving it was a nightmare.  I decided 2 weeks ago to screw the blocks together and adhere them to the desk legs with sticky squares:

       

Even with the extra stability, the desk was still a bitch to move.  So I found these slider feet [#affiliate] on Amazon:

       

The black rubbery part faces up and the soft fleecy side faces the floor:

Total game changer.  I moved the desk back [with ease!] to store a few things in the cupboard and Birdie came running.  She knows the sound of a cupboard opening and immediately wants to go in and investigate:

       

She was NOT impressed with how crammed full of stuff the cupboard is.  No room for Birdie:

       

It’s so nice to be able to easily access the cupboard, and my stained glass supplies on top!

Stay tuned for upcoming posts!

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6 Comments

  1. ANNE VERRY

    So nice to get so many projects ‘done!’ You two will love having more privacy as you sit on your deck and that screening hardly shows!
    You have a beautiful spot outside your back door; you’ll really enjoy having easy access to it. It looks beautiful and having a new area to explore certainly has made Darwin happy!

    1. Nine Dark Moons

      Darwin has NO IDEA how good he has it! All he does it bitch at me. LOL!!! He’s got a pretty good cat life. So does Birdie despite having no interest in the catio or the outdoors. She’s very happy to snuggle with me in bed in the morning and on the couch at night.

  2. DARCY HEIBER

    You’ve been busy! Cracks me up about Birdie wanting in the cabinet … two of our cats LOVE getting in my T-shirt compartment in the hall linen closet. They know the sound of it being opened and RUN to get there. No room in there for a cat, either! 🙂

    1. Nine Dark Moons

      Cats are so funny! Every morning after Jim goes downstairs I open up his t-shirt cupboard so Birdie can race inside LOL!!! It’s his auxiliary storage, so there’s plenty of room for her to root around and move things aside for better nesting.

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