If you know me, you might know about my obsession with baking the perfect sourdough boule or about the pizzas I make with wafer thin crust. I use my 1940s Occidental Range that has a wonderfully unlimited thermostat to good effect, but I would love to practice with the inconsistent and more exciting high heat of a wood fired oven. I have had an obsession with the homemade adobe oven pictured at right since the early 90s. Every once in a while I run across a home where someone followed the directions originally published in Sunset Magazine in the 1970s and I am so jealous. I am determined that *someday* I will have a backyard big enough to accommodate one of these just so I can play with it.
Yesterday, reading the SF Gate, I came across an article listing 20 of Sunset Magazine’s best backyard projects from their archives. My other favorites were the built in patio scrabble game and the swing for two.
In these challenging times, it’s a great idea to look around and see what you can do yourself to make your home a nicer place to be. Sometimes all it takes is a small improvement to make a previously uninviting corner of your city yard feel like home.