backyard paradise

[trumpeting_angel]

Hello to everyone from my back yard!

My town has a very high water table, and we are plagued with mosquitoes.  I rarely went out in the back yard, and then only if well-protected with chemicals.  

BUT, today my roommate and I constructed a miniature water garden, from an antique stone trough he bought (he is an antiques dealer, but I set my sights on that trough!).  Bought a pump, a water plant, and dragged a bunch of rocks out here.  THEN (the screened gazebo being on the list for future improvements), we bought a screen house (like a tent, no floor) on sale for $39.95.  I put the patio furniture inside, we cranked up the water garden, and now I sit listening to fireworks and typing on my laptop.  AND listening to the sound of water falling over rocks.

I had always imagined a water garden was too much trouble, out of reach financially, or somehow impossible to create.  Not so!  Easy and cheap!  I recommend this to everyone who has a back yard.  

Anne, bug-free at last

 

[Nords]

Do-it-yourself lanai screens

Anne,

If you have the "future improvements" space, consider screening in your lanai.

We bought a "kit" from http://www.patiostore.com/Screen.htm for $2400 to screen a 40x10 lanai. We gave them the dimensions, they faxed back their suggested plans, and they even promptly sent a replacement screen door when the first one was mangled in shipping. The entire job was 35% of the contractor's comparable-quality estimate.

Everything's solidly anchored and zero-maintenance. Spouse & I did it with the parents-in-law over a weekend and we're all still friends. Plus I got to buy all the power tools I wanted, I mean needed. The lanai is bug-free to the point that the geckos don't even hang around anymore, and my father-in-law practically lives out there now...

 

[trumpeting_angel]

What's a lanai? I don't think I have one. I know what geckos are, I think; aren't they the little fellows that are spokeslizards for GEICO?

Anyway, we decided last night (after delighting so much in this screen house) that it's foolish to build a patio (is that a lanai?) when what we really need is something screened. So we're scrapping the plans for the patio, and going for the gazebo.

I thought a lanai was a balcony. . .

Bought a few water plants for that trough today; what fun. I'm going to dig a little pond, I think, and connect the two.

Anne
New England is a long way from Hawaii!

 

[Nords]

Yep, porches & little bug-eating lizards...

... and even after growing up in Pittsburgh, I can't get past the pain of living in anything below 55 degrees.

I know the human body should adapt but... I'm guessing you're not going to be putting koi in that pond!

 

[Skylark]

We just got a screen tent too, what a great addition to the backyard.

Now we are spending time outside instead of in the a/c watching tv. If I could just check my email from the screen tent!

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Wireless router and pc card for your laptop: $100 or
100' phone cord : $10

Reading the forums or email from outside: priceless

 

[sgeeeee]

Wireless router and pc card for your laptop:   $100 or
100' phone cord : $10

Reading the forums or email from outside: priceless

I started to post a similar message and then realized that Skylark may not have a laptop. Of course you could always run an extention cord too.

The technology exists, Skylark.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

No laptop?

How savage.

 

[Skylark]

Please, my #1 computing machine is a bottom of the line Wal Mart special for $300. Whaddya think I'm made of, dryer sheets?

 

[sgeeeee]

Please, my #1 computing machine is a bottom of the line Wal Mart special for $300.  Whaddya think I'm made of, dryer sheets?

Yeah . . . By the time you purchase the 100 ft. telephone cord and 100 ft. extension cord, you will have increased the cost of your computer system by 10-15%.

Still, answering your email from a shady spot in the back yard sounds decadent enough to consider it. It makes a good story.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Well I guess I can quit whining that my laptop is a little too heavy

 

[unclemick]

Since our backyard/er um deck is 12' over brackish water whatever goes out there that is electric is tethered or expendable. Loss many a handheld phone over 25 yrs. Power tools get the -stop short of the water cord.

 

[yelnad]

My evenings are often spent out on the deck with my wireless laptop...that is, when I can wrestle it away from my husband.

 

[gayl]

bottom of the line laptop; guess I should invest $10 in phone cord and $10 in extension cord and just hang out on the deck at night with some 2 buck Chuck

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

There are some nice all-in-one systems that are pretty darn portable...

I paid ~$350 for my HP laptop a year and a half ago, after silly amounts of rebates and coupons. Staples was giving $350 off, HP had three $100 rebate programs that all overlapped, there was a coupon for $100 off orders over $1000 for staples, a free USB disk drive offer, etc. I was surprised when HP paid all the rebates, but I guess they had to.

Laptops a piece of junk though. Been in for repair 4 times and the already repaired mousepad is goofy again. Oh well, once again I guess you get what you pay for...

 

[trumpeting_angel]

My laptop (Vaio) was a gift from a very sweet person, who got it for me a couple of Christmases ago when my work (which involves HOURS of writing down everything someone says) was creating some sort of awful repetitive motion terrorism in my left hand and wrist (and it was creeping up my arm). Sometimes I couldn't hold a pen the next day.

No complaints about the Vaio. I'm sure it was expensive (isn't that a GREAT friend?) and it's a little workhorse.

Just me, my screenhouse, and my burbling koi-free "pond" out here with the Vaio. But I still don't know what a lanai is. (I could look it up on google with a keystroke or two, but as a member of this list, I dare not violate the laziness rule.)

Anne
cool after a hot day

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I cant believe you could even summon up the willpower to THINK about googling. Especially this late.

 

[yelnad]

My Vaio was great. I've had it for about 2 years now...my sweet hubby bought it for me as a gift since I was traveling to conferences and about to start my dissertation (which has since gone by the wayside). Last week, my sweet hubby spilled a glass of water on the Vaio, and it's not working yet. I took a deep breath and decided to withhold my anger for a couple of weeks, at least until we see if it's fixable. Damn things was expensive.

 

[Sheryl]

I LOVE my Vaio. It was worth every penny. No more shoulder pain from lugging a ton of bricks through the airport. Light enough to actually sit on top of a lap without causing numbness, wireless modem, perfect for hours of free internet in the local coffeeshop or anywhere else I can scam (did I say that?) off other networks...

I did go against personal policy and purchase the extended warantee from Circuit City just for disasters like you decribe Yelnad.

 

[panhead]

Ummmm, I'm gonna try to one-up everybody on the frugal side of things here. I have a nice laptop, but only because I'm still working and they give it to me thinking I use it for work ! My own home computer, get this, 200MHz Pentium Pro ! Yes, it was free, of course. It works great for surfing and putting stuff on ebay which is about all I use it for, and doing banking and stuff, since it's wired, while my laptop is hooked to my 802-11b wireless router that when all said and done I paid about $10 for a year ago. You can probably get this technology for that easy now. the 'b' is fast enough for me ! So, occasionally I do sit on my little farmers porch and answer emails, surf, etc. Yeah, that is pretty cool, but without the job, unless I found a free laptop I'd stick with the old Pentium Pro !!

-pan

 

[John Galt]

I'll see if I can top you. On Monday, I am taking a 3/4 ton truckload of furniture and household stuff to the
local auction barn (cleaning out the place). I figure
my total investment at around $25.00 for everything
as it was bought at flea markets/garage sales and/or
scrounged for free. Of course, I have no idea what
it will bring, but I have no risk as it is worth $25 just to
have it out of the house. I could make a lot of money
just buying and selling "stuff", and I enjoy it. Guess I
enjoy loafing more

JOhn Galt

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Overstock has a number of reconditioned laptops for $399-550 that are perfect for wireless web surfing in the backyard...

 

[yelnad]

My husband routinely buys "old" office equipement from the university salvage center and from ebay, fixes them, and sells them for about 10x what he has into them. He makes money off junk!

 

[haha]

My husband routinely buys "old" office equipement from the university salvage center and from ebay, fixes them, and sells them for about 10x what he has into them.  He makes money off junk!

Yelnad, where / how does he market the stuff?

Thanks, Mikey

 

[Sheryl]

My husband routinely buys "old" office equipement from the university salvage center and from ebay, fixes them, and sells them for about 10x what he has into them.  He makes money off junk!

I had the same question as Mikey - where does he sell his stuff? E-bay is great for shippable things, but I'm really curious about the furniture.