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Click for huuuuuge…

I know it’s all suburban and crap, but I wanted to make the slice of it in which I live at least a little prettier. So, between my frustration with the look of and the need to mound dirt in order to have enough space for planting stuff in the concrete ring around the base of the tree off my front porch, I replaced it.

Total cost for this project was less than $40, including the purchase of two new garden hand tools, a bag of potting mix, and a cold chisel for trimming a piece of the brick. All in all, I think it looks better, and it seems like it’ll probably be easier to water. It’s not perfectly level, but it’s pretty close. The root system of the tree made it nearly impossible to dig down and level everything perfectly, but I think it’ll be all right. If not, I’ll just dig it out next year and adjust the stone.

Tomorrow I’m going to attempt to install new mirrored disks in a file server, and hopefully the day after that I’ll install some florescent lights in my garage. I think a pair of dual-tube 8′ fixtures (total of four 110W tubes) should sufficiently illuminate my garage. Right now I’ve got a pair of 100W incandescent bulbs and it’s just not enough to do real work by. Hopefully with the brighter light I’ll be able to do detail work on my car, like cleaning out the inside, waxing it, etc. It needs it, too. The last time I made a good effort to clean it was before my big trip in November.

All the pictures for today:
· The picture from above of the ring around the base of the tree.
· Wider shot of the tree and the base.
· Looking off the front porch past the flowers showing the trees and a neighboring condo.