DIY Solar Post Lights

Last year we added on to our deck and upgraded

the decking material and redid the railings.

Josh and crew of Koontz Construction

did a wonderful job for us.

This year I wanted to focus on lighting for the deck.

I had thought that solar post lights would

be a wonderful addition.

However,

I found that these can be difficult to find

and when found,

they are not cheap.*

I, though, am cheap.

*I recently found solar post lights

at Wally World (Wal Mart) for $30.

Each.

And I have 12 posts on my deck.

Time to rethink this.

Wally World did have these solar lights,

meant to be stuck in the ground with the

stake provided.

These lights only cost $5 each.

Now, how to make this work?

After measuring the hollow metal post for the light,

I determined that I needed a dowel that was 1-1/4 inch thick.

I had hoped that the dowel would be like dimensional lumber

in that a 2"x4" is actually 1-1/2"x3-1/2".

No such luck,

so I got busy sanding.

And sanding.

And sanding.

Then I had to cut the dowel into 1/2" thick disks.

I do have a circular saw and a jig saw,

but it seemed that a hand saw and the miter box

would be the better way to go here.

Hey, I said this was DIY,

not easy.

I located the center of the post and drilled a hole**

straight down.

I decided to place a washer between the top of the post

and the dowel so that water couldn't

wick up into the dowel.

I drilled a hole in the center of the disk

and then used a deck screw to fasten the dowel to the post.

The hollow metal post on the light slips over the dowel

and is held securely in place.

**Use a drill bit that is just smaller than the screw being used.

And the job is done.

Time to pat myself on the back.






And just think,
I saved my husband $300
by doing it myself.






Let there be light.






Looking good.

Next project, please.

An Honorary Dinner

This evening we found out that my dear husband has been nominated to receive the 33rd degree for Scottish Rite Free Masonry. This is a degree that only a select few masons earn. Please forgive me if I sound a bit proud of my husband, but he has worked hard to earn this honor.

So of course I had to have a special dinner in his honor (heh, it's a joke, get it?).

I literally spent half the day worrying what I was going to make for dinner even before I learned that today was a very special day. And then I spent more time on the Internet, looking up recipes, given what I had in my freezer since I am trying to be fiscally responsible and all.

I eventually settled on a recipe for Turkey Cutlets with Lemon and Wine Sauce.

Here I have salt

half and half (instead of skim milk - ick!)

an egg,

flour

Parmesan cheese

white pepper

nutmeg

turkey cutlets (without which all this would be impossible)

In the back are:

flour for dredging

white wine

Italian parsley

lemon

butter

The directions call for the 2 tablespoons flour, Parmesan cheese, salt, nutmeg and white pepper to be mixed together.

Then, the egg and half and half were added in.

The four tablespoons flour went into another container so that the turkey cutlets could first be dredged in that then be put in the wet mixture.

My dear husband tried to help out by taking off with the lemon.

Okay, obviously I will need to adjust the amount of lemon in the recipe.

Let me think on this.

At the last minute I decided to substitute 2 tablespoons butter for 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil.

The turkey cutlets take just a few minutes on each side.

Once they were cooked, the turkey cutlets were removed from the heat and the oil and butter was drained from the pan. Then the white wine was added to the pan and in deference to my husband, I changed the recipe by grating some of the lemon rind into the pan rather than adding the juice.

The White wine and lemon zest was poured over the turkey cutlets before some Italian parsley was chopped and sprinkled over the top.

My daughter's favorite side dish of roasted green beans with bacon was served with the turkey cutlets. A simple romaine salad rounded out the meal.

Now tell me you wouldn't want a piece of this? My husband declared that this was just perfect.

Of course the daughter loved the bacon-y green beans.

And dear husband, we're proud of you.

After dinner my husband and I retired to the deck.

The husband began answering congratulatory phone calls while I began blaaahhhhging.

Isn't it pretty?

Oh yeah, life is good. What more can you ask for from life?