home & garden update, year 4

whew. a little late with the update this year, it’s been a busy one!

previous updates:

I didn’t get to all the goals from the second update, but I did a fair bit anyways! The biggest project of the past year was the sauna (TKTK).

Getting the sauna up and running was an undertaking, even when building from a kit. First I dug out a few bushes, a ton of dirt, and shoveled two yards of gravel for 7’ x 8’ area near the hot tub. On that gravel, I constructed a cedar deck for the base. The deck sat for a few months after that while I waited for the kit to ship. Once it arrived, I assembled the sauna kit with some help. Then it was time to dig a 35’ trench for electrical conduit. I also needed to power hammer my way through 8’ of concrete from the panel to the grass. Electricians ran power to the hot tub and sauna, and then I could fill in the trench and patch my concrete patio. All told, this covered about two and a half months of work, mostly weekends and some evenings.

Last year we worked through our third ChipDrop to start covering some grass in the backyard as well. Currently working my way through the fourth (and largest yet!) as cardboard supplies allow. I hope to be able to use the other half of my driveway soon.

I’m going to put the rest of the items in a list because typing in detail feels like I’ll never get through them.

upcycled the remaining existing garden beds into another standing garden bed
grew 400+ pounds of pumpkin in the front yard. carved two as jack-o-lanterns, the rest were processed into pies, cookies, stews, breads, soup and a number of other dishes. delicious!!!!
had fridge repaired (ice maker burnt out)
replaced garage door wheels with vinyl rollers (reduces sound)
took an 8 week pottery wheel class
added shelves to both office closets
began exercising consistently
planted an apple tree (a 5-variety graft from costco)
transplanted two kiwi plants and pulled out the eyesore of an arch the previous owner had them growing over
re-did irrigation lines using soaker hoses connected to mechanical timers
let go of my government contracting job due to DOGE cuts
started freelancing again
hit a 725 day streak on Duolingo (Estoy aprendiendo español)
became an uncle!
consistently making art again (at least once a month, though aiming for weekly)

the remainder of this year, the goals are:

get through remaining pile of woodchips
continue exercising regularly (3x week minimum)
build little library
get a new mailbox
update closet shelving in hallway + master bedroom closets

then next year:

re-roof the house + install solar panels
re-paint the exterior
re-build backyard greenhouse
upgrade rain barrels
build a firepit