I am designing a better backyard garden, one that deals with a slope creating irratic water paths, and the dense shade of two maple trees.
The above design incorporates many of the plants that I already have, and doesn't try to change the existing landscape.
On this prototype you can see the land issues. I have a downward sloping yard that slopes in odd directions, as well as a mound garden around an old tree stump. The red and white straws sticking up are the plants in the raingarden, which are tall and deep rooted to aide drainage. I could just bulldoze the mound and level some of the ground, as the mound is giving me aesthetic issues as well as planting ones.
I would not be able to do several of these, so I wrote extras. I included the ones I wouldn't be able to do, only because they are important to me.
1.)When I put on the emergency brake in my car, I often forget to release it, and then the brakes get ruined when I drive with the emergency brakes set. I included this even though it isn't anything I can solve.
2.)It's getting more and more difficult for me to get in and out of the car. I have a compact car, and am tall, so it is very stressful on my knees. I have already thought of two solutions to this problem- design a compact car with larger wheels, so that the car is higher off the ground, or design one with a higher roof, so that the interior of the car could be raised higher. If I chose the second option, I could also have the seats be adjustable to whatever height I wanted.
3.)I need a better computer workstation. My workstation is built out of a couple of coffee tables of different heights, and I am seated on a large wooden cigar box with a pillow. I have an old monitor that is large and heavy, which means that my computer takes up a bit more space than it might otherwise, and I don't have much space.
4.) A shade garden in the backyard. My backyard slopes downward, and water drains to various areas of the yard. I've already planted a rain garden to help the water drain and so that I have several kinds of plants that don't mind soggy soil.
5.) Design a better looking compost bin.
6.) Curtains that let the light in but also provide privacy. Gauze? Netting? Inside the house it's very dark much of the time.
7.) Gardening clothes that keep me covered completely but are cool enough for very hot weather in the summer.
8.) Better gardening shoes, that allow one's feet to flex but also are tough enough to withstand things like pyracanthus thorns or rocky terrain. This is a very big important issue for me.
9.) A way to organize books and music more effectively.
10.) A way to organize pots and pans and kitchen items more effectively. As I have never before thought of chaos as a design problem, this may be a good one for me.
11.) I always poke holes in the fingertips of my gardening gloves. It doesn't seem to matter what they are made of- leather, vinyl, bamboo, cotton. Better gardening gloves that hold up to constant wear.
12.) A moveable greenhouse. I've seen homemade greenhouses made of recycled windows and doors, but I would need one that I could take apart and move easily.
13.) Just for kicks- here are a couple of business ideas. A Christmas card sending service. The customer sends in the names and addresses of the people on their list, and I provide the cards and the sending service. I would design three varieties of cards- Christmas, Seasons Greetings, and Hannukah, and the customer could tell me what kind of card to send each person.
14.) E-Cards with music for all occasions. Although this has been done, I would design my own cards and the music would be performed and recorded by me and friends of mine. So maybe the target customers would be musicians. As I am a bass player, the target customer could even be bassists.
15.) Audio books for the blind for specific customers using their book requests. I know a few blind people, and one of them mentioned to me that she cannot gets books on audio when they are first published. I would have to deal with copyright issues and royalties, but I would be producing audio tapes for individuals rather than mass marketing.
This is a wonderful pot that my mother gave me. I don't know what it's made of, but it's nonstick without having a coating. Instead it's a combinations of metals. The handles are what make it so useful, as when it's on the stove they don't heat up. And the main handle is designed in such a way that it supports the entire weight of the pot, even if you pick the pot up with one hand. The handle on the far side of the pot is very helpful when it is full! It can be used as a stovetop stewing pot, or as a dutch oven, or when you want to cook down a sauce. The handles do heat up if it's put in the oven, as they are metal. But as you can see, they are not over the stove element, and the handle on the lid stays rather cool to the touch when on the stove.
