I had a four day weekend due to Independence Day and I spent it closing in about half of the open stud walls in my garage. It was about a million degrees so I got impatient a few times and made some obvious mistakes, but I also learned a bit and now have wall space to build cabinets and hang tools.

Today’s smoothie consists of greens and mint from the garden (left) and raspberries and chicory flowers gathered from the trail near my house (right). Turns out not too pretty, but tasty!

One of my favorite tools: my dad’s Petersen Manufacturing (Dewitt, Nebraska) Vise Grips, complete with his initials etched into it. He worked as a signal maintainer for the railroad in my early childhood—a job he was always proud of. His work there ended when he seriously injured his back.

The previous owner of my house left behind some heavy duty Lyon shelving in the garage. It is a heap of trouble to disassemble and reconfigure but I’m going to hold onto it because it’s older than me and will probably outlast me.

I rescued a good bit of old trim from a nearby remodel. It was just going to go into the trash! It’s basically identical to the beautiful old trim on our house. I think I could make some nice small pieces (boxes, picture frames, etc) from this stack. But holy crap they loved to drive the nails.

One last picture of the completed project. It’s definitely utilitarian carpentry but it solves a few problems for us. Rachel put some struggling spinach plants in it for the time being but I doubt they’ll recover as the heat ramps up.

Now it just needs a few pieces of trim, some paint, and a pile of dirt. I’ll post a final picture once it is finished and planted.

The supervisor inspecting our work. He has requested that we use the space to plant peanuts.

Work on the raised bed within the back deck has begun in earnest.

I may attempt this wall mounted tool chest from the New Yankee Workshop someday–but, of more general interest, it begins with one of the best looks at the famous Studley Tool Chest I’ve seen online. It’s an absolute gem of design and craftsmanship.