Post #591468 by ashman_atl on Tue, May 31, 2011 9:41 AM

Wow! Thanks to all for the kind encouragements. It's definitely motivating me to push the envelope and come up with some stuff to make the space even better! In no time, I made a list of about a dozen small projects to work on over the next week or two. Time is at a premium now, though, as my lease will run out in July of 2012. Summer is at hand and plenty of opportunities for cocktail socials, so I should be able to get plenty more enjoyment out of this escape before it's time to take it all down...

But, I'm also starting to think about the new and improved Pao Pao Hut... This weekend, a neighbor announced that "free" bamboo was available and I quickly stacked up a load in the boot and hauled it back to the house.

Here it is stacked up outdoors:

Any advice as to drying/curing is appreciated! I've heard that drying outdoors is too wet (high humidity here) and indoors too dry... Bending, twisting, splitting also seem to be issues to overcome and I have no experience with the fresh stuff. This is black bamboo, but most of it is too young to have changed color yet; don't know how it will look when dried...

Gotta get back to work!

Cheers!