#[ yesterday i bought so many new plants for my outdoor area ]

[despairforme]

[sussex-nature-lover]

Saturday 18 February 2023

The Ups and Downs When Spring Stalls

My week’s been like these hyacinths. Good in parts and let down in others.

All my bulbs were bought and potted up at the same time, but look at the difference. One is so far behind it’s just tiny and no sign of any colour. I like hyacinths and I like all the individual little flowers combining to make a glorious flower head, but I tie the tall ones up at least twice a day as they’re so heavy they’re leaning again in no time. We were in the supermarket yesterday and I noticed their offerings had exactly the same problem, so it’s not just mine. 

The distinct fragrance perfumes a whole room

Actually I mention the perfume, but I’ve had to move the pots into more open areas, as it’s started to give me a headache, it’s so intense, like lilies. I shall put them outdoors directly into the soil after they’ve finished and next year pot up something less heady - in both senses of the word - for the house

Beautiful bark

I went to do my regular inspection in the woods and again, so very disappointing - a litter pick

What on earth is wrong with people that they think open ground is a suitable resting place for their trash. I could rant on but I’ve done it all before and I very much doubt anyone who cares to read this would think any differently

I’d love to put up a sign saying TAKE IT HOME, but fear it’ll only encourage rebellion from the kind of idiot who can’t work that out as a given

On a much brighter note, this year I’ve noticed just how many hazel trees we have both in the garden and the woods. The growth is vigorous but we’ve been having such grey weather that the catkins aren’t glowing as well as below. I hope the ancient legend’s true. We could do with a bit more inspiration and wisdom coming our way, but never-the-less we should see plenty of nuts. The tree above, which is on show through our side window is more of a green-lemon shade

Hazel (Corylus avellana) Hazel shrubs are monoecious, which means they have male and female flowers on the same plant.  The catkins, droop from branch twigs and can be seen from January to March. Catkins are the male flowers of the Hazel tree and, if you look very close, you should can see the tiny red filaments of the female flowers sticking out from a small bud.

The catkins in the woods are much more golden than in the garden, but the camera still isn’t capturing the glow. It’s slightly easier to tell from this pic, below, where I’m watching the birds, whilst I’m under observation too. You need to imagine the glow when the sun comes out

I’ll make a list. Since I sat to write this, I’ve seen robins, house sparrows, great spotted woodpeckers, starlings, nuthatch, long tailed tits, blue tits, great tits, marsh tits, blackbirds, Inspector Pritchard, Anton the pheasant and a pesky squirrel after the suet. For a very short while, judging on shape and posture, I hoped I’d spotted a song thrush, but when she emerged from the bushes, it was a female blackbird after all. That was pretty much a full house of our regulars though

The birds are going to be scouting new homes and because we need a big tidy up, they’re being a little bit displaced. The garden next door was suffering from some heavy growth that was hanging over our side of the fence too. It was blocking light out from our corner sitting room windows, but also over shadowing other plants, drying out the soil and causing a lot of mossy growth on paths. Now they’ve taken an awful lot of it down it’s really opened both gardens and later this week the willow is going to get its second or third ‘haircut’ in the time we’ve lived here. We’ve never forgotten the shock of the first one, the tree looked absolutely annihilated, but of course, it was incredible how it came back through the season

To be honest I’m planning on getting out with the shears and the hedge cutter and giving our big shrubs another hacking back so everything can hopefully strengthen and flourish nicely too. I’m still getting my head around how much heavy work we did all last summer and early autumn and what a toll the winter has taken on the garden. We’ve lost several shrubs and for the first time, pots have bitten the dust too. There’s an awful lot to do out there, but the birds still have a thriving and hospitable habitat 

‘Inspector’ inspecting

First out of the blocks for meeting the new season is his lordship. Just look how his feathers have grown and he’s displaying now several times a day

Sadly, Anton isn’t at all impressed, but their friendship is ongoing. This morning they were waiting together again like buddies, eager for Crow to go out and stock up the seed trays.

Anton did have three ladies with him earlier in the week, but we only saw them the one time. I’m in no doubt that he’s in poll position for the girlfriend derby. Oh well, at least Prichard has plenty of company here and we do talk to him and provide a healthy, varied diet - his life could be worse

Don’t forget to check out my other link on Tumblr CLICK THIS

[mwcowan]

Georgia and Mark’s Big Trip

Chapter Four – Daily Routine

We’ve gotten into sort of a daily routine comprised of many to-do’s, overseeing workers, shopping, taking deliveries, “auditioning” caretakers. Neither exciting nor relaxing. So far I’ve been in the pool once and we haven’t gone down to the beach yet, but we’re not complaining as we’re very much enjoying the new house in spite of the busy days. And there is some point to the hurry as we have our first visitors from the Bay Area arriving next weekend so want to have at least the basic furnishings and amenities in the house, plus more than bare dirt around it. So lacking an exotic tale, today a few elaborations on daily life at the moment, Filipino-style.

Labor

At any given moment over the last week we’ve had 10-20 workers in the house or yard. The biggest single project is the landscaping which is employing roughly half, the rest are various mechanics, carpenters, painters, electricians, cleaners, at various odd jobs fixing the many little problems you notice in a brand-new house after you’ve lived there for a bit. Nothing major, just busy with all the workers.

While materials, whether it’s a brick or paint or a landscape plant cost about the same as in the U.S., labor is very cheap with the average worker getting paid on the order of 60 cents an hour. I’ve seen very few, if any, of the modern construction and maintenance tools we’re used to, such as power drills and saws, leaf blowers or mowers, paint sprayers, etc., everything is just done by hand here. I have friends who wouldn’t touch a landscaping job like ours without their trusty Bobcat tractor. Well, we’ve got Bob and Cat, plus Mel and John and Anthony and Neri and ten or so others. Why invest in expensive tools and equipment if you can get the job done with massive and cheap manpower?

Delivery trike

No I didn’t mis-spell delivery truck. I’ve had my say about road-hogging trikes in previous blogs, but along with being a very cheap form of transportation for folks they’re used to deliver most anything imaginable, anything that can be fit into or tied onto. Or maybe more. On one of yesterday’s successful shopping trips we bought a double-size bed and mattress, a bunk bed with two mattresses, and a dining table with four chairs, to furnish our caretaker’s apartment. All delivered in the afternoon, all on one trike. By the time I was able to grab my camera they’d already unloaded the dining table and chairs and one of the mattresses.

Rain gutter

The landscaper noted the drip line in the dirt around our house from the roof, and was worried that during the rainy season the brand-new landscaping would be eroded and washed away. To fix this they’re building a rain gutter that will be topped off with an iron grate. The gutter connects with an existing drain at the corner where the gutter at the side of the house comes down. Is it just my imagination, or do you agree that it looks like it runs downhill from the corner? Georgia and I dumped a bucket of water into it last night and sure enough water still runs downhill over here, and yup, straight away from the drain connection. Looks like we need to have a talk with the landscape manager.

Barbecue

In keeping with our “live outdoors even when we’re indoors” house design, we envisioned doing a lot of outdoor cooking on a barbecue. I’m wanting to get a charcoal grill, a Weber kettle would be just fine. Although Weber products are distributed here, the biggest thing I’ve found so far is a small “Smokey Joe” model that would hold maybe 4 burgers or half a chicken. Many other charcoal grills, though even smaller, are available. And then the opposite extreme exists – huge propane fueled models; seems like CharBroil is a popular brand. Not what I want so I’m holding out until I find my Weber.

But this isn’t a deterrent for a Filipino. Or Filipina in this case. All you need are 4 rocks, a square of hog wire, and some charcoal. I know, I’m soft, but I’m too old to squat when I barbecue. Plus it’s hard for me to hold the cell phone and the San Mig at the same time.

Wala

The Tagalog word which frustrates me the most, especially when related to shopping. How many times I’ve been to the local Ace Hardware or the building supply store, looking for what I consider a basic tool or supply, to hear “Wala (I/We have none)��. Yesterday we went to the building supply, where they display a good selection of quality European bath hardware (towel racks, hooks, TP holders and all that). With four bathrooms to equip we had a long list. After strolling around with our sales person for some time, saying we want 2 of these, 8 of those, etc., he gave the list to someone else who would check inventory. Wala. We found a hanging light fixture that we thought would be good over the kitchen island, except that we’d need two. Do you have another? Wala. At the Globe Store today (Globe is one of the two cellphone/internet providers here) I was pursuing a cellular router so that we can have real WiFi, rather than using the mobile hotspots on our phones. I was told we need a good cell signal for their system to work. We should be OK, but if I buy this router and it doesn’t work at our house, can I bring it back? Wala. Then can you send a technician to check out our signal before I buy? Wala. Do I have a picture to go with this subject? Wala.

[anneedmonsonus]

Make Your Home Beautiful with Bambury (and WIN a $500 Gift Voucher!)

If you are after one of the quickest, most affordable and also easiest ways to freshen up a bedroom or living space, I always think new cushions are a fail-proof way to go. Nothing brightens and lifts a space quite as easily! Add in a fresh new plant and you’ve treated your room or outdoor area to a speedy, mini facelift that will lift you up as you walk into it.

I keep cushion covers in our linen closet, and rotate them through the year. I buy what I love, and although I try to declutter our things often I find I rarely get rid of cushions. Yesterday a friend visited my house for the first time and commented on how pretty a cushion in our lounge room was – I told her I’d bought it about eight years ago! Although I LOVE following interiors trends (so much so I even write a weekly interiors trends and looks column for STM in The Weekend West) I still go by the ‘buy what you love’ rule. Trends will come and go, but if you buy what you really love, you’ll never go wrong, and you can usually find new ways to rework an ‘old’ trend into a new look. (I may make a small exclusion here for chevron… however, if you still love it, that’s the important thing!)

So I have a small library of cushion covers filed Marie-Kondo style in our linen closet, and I love pulling them out and using them again and again. When I first bought a couple of cushions from Bambury recently, I was blown away by their gorgeous – and very expansive – range of cushions and textiles. I was blown away a second time when I realised they are local – I’d never actually realised they a Perth-based company, I’d thought they were in Melbourne.

In fact, Bambury is one of Perth’s oldest – and most successful – textile companies. They have beautiful wares, and they’re run by a really nice group of people too. It’s probably quite obvious by now that I’ve always loved learning the stories behind start-ups (since I was a teenager, I used to cut clippings about businesses and business people that inspired me and saved them all in a folder). Well, Bambury began in 1994 in a Fremantle garage – just like many businesses do when they are starting out. It was a small wholesale business founded by now-managing director Andrew Lodge. Andrew was working in the sales within the textile industry. He saw a gap in the market for beautiful and individual wholesale products, and decided to manufacture his own.

It wasn’t long though before his product range of sheets and towels expanded and Bambury needed to find new premises – this time a warehouse in North Fremantle. Now 25 years later, Bambury have a vast range of products stocked across Australia and New Zealand – and amazingly, they’re still local! Their design team consists of Design Director, Amy Clarke, Textile Designer, Anne Campbell, and Graphics and Marketing Stephanie Harrison. “We are very proud to be a West Australian company,” Amy tells me. “There aren’t many textile businesses based here in WA and a lot of the industry and customers are located on the East Coast, however we have overcome all geographical challenges and have kept Bambury’s head office here in Perth.

“From very early on Andrew knew that design was going to play a key role in the business, it was to become Bambury’s strength and point of difference, and it still is today. All of our designing happens in our studio in Bibra Lake, in Perth’s south, not too far away from Fremantle.”

Recently Bambury experienced a big change as the company went from a wholesale-only business to an online retailer as well, delving into the world of social media too – which is how I actually stumbled upon them online, through their Instagram.

I couldn’t take my eyes off their beautiful images and brand photography, but what I liked too was that while they have so many on-trend cushions and throws (with their newest palettes featuring the latest hottest colour trends of dusty pinks, ochres, terracottas, burnt umbers, bracken, tinged mustards and army greens) they are still the kinds of pieces you can keep and style with for ages. And they’re easy to style with too – their feed alone gives you so many ideas for colour combinations and textures that work together. Their products range from cushions and throws to bed sheets, towels, bathroom products, rugs, ottomans, beach towels and bags, wall hangings, teatowels, pieces for outdoor living, exercise and things for kids.

It’s not a complete surprise that everything Bambury creates looks as complementary as it does – the design team have been working as a tight-knit team for almost eight years now. “Anna and I develop the prints and product ranges, while Stephanie works on photography, catalogues and marketing,” says Amy. “We have quite similar tastes, so we all work really well together.”

Styling and photography by @villastyling. Assistance from @rmcbuilderswife

The whole team is West Australian-born – Steph was born in Perth, Anna is from Fremantle and Amy grew up in Carnarvon and Bunbury. “We have all travelled a little over the years and lived in other places, but our families are here in WA – Perth (and Fremantle) is home,” says Amy. Each of the girls has a new home that they are all busy decorating and styling.

They design two main ranges a year. “When we first come together to discuss the next range, we usually have a few ideas that we have bookmarked to bring to the table,” says Amy. “These ideas might be as simple as a colour, a fabric we have collected from a trade show or a motif that we think will work; quite often it is an extension of the previous range. Like most creative people, your work never stops, you are always taking things in and on the constant lookout for exciting new ideas, trends and products. We sometimes attend overseas trade shows, and we make sure we keep on top of the latest design and interior trends.” After collating and editing ideas, they play with colour and drawings until they are happy that they have a good range.

“It’s hard to explain, but I do think gut instinct pays a big role too – if we all start noticing or loving something, there’s a good chance our customers will pick up on that soon too,” says Amy.

So what colours and textures are they predicting will be big in 2020? “Trends have been moving to warmer tones for a while now, beautiful terracotta and nude tones – this will continue for a while longer,” says Amy.

“It’s less about the grey and white Scandi look, and moving towards a colour palette with warm greys and natural earthy tones – think soft taupe rather than silvery grey. There’s also a really fun play with unexpected colour combinations such as terracotta and lilac, or ochre and blush pink.

Andy and Deb from The Block styled this gorgeous living room with a Miimi and Jinda painting and cushions from Bambury.

“There’s definitely a move to being more nature inspired, which is where olive greens come into play, as well as products that are more textural and artisan looking, a more hand-made look, like our macramé products.

“The 70s vibe is well and truly here for 2020, so lots of floral patterns with mustards and straw yellow tones – look out for our next range in March, it will feature some 70s-inspired brown velvet and corduroy!”

If you love interior design but have ever felt nervous about styling your own home, I completely understand – sometimes I take a while to choose things for my own home and like to play around with mini moodboards or Pinterest boards (like below!) other times I can make a decision in a snap (it gets easier the more you do it!)

And a common piece of feedback I get from House Nerd readers is that it’s easy to feel overwhelmed when it comes to choosing things for our own homes. So how can you confidently choose pieces that you’ll really love in your own place?

“I think a room definitely needs to show the owner’s personality,” advises Amy. “Go with a colour palette that feels natural to you, don’t overwhelm yourself with colours you aren’t comfortable with. You don’t have to follow the latest trend, just keep it simple. If navy is what feels natural to you, go with it and pair it with a neutral tone like white or taupe or keep it really tonal, and create interest with different textures and fabrics.

“The other way to do it would be to start with something you already have, something that you love whether that’s a vase, or a cushion or a painting, use it as a starting point and add pieces that match it, but also items that just make you happy.” Maya x

  The perils of styling with children about….

WIN! A $500 BAMBURY GIFT VOUCHER

The team at Bambury are really kindly giving me an epic competition prize for one lucky House Nerd, who’ll score a $500 Bambury gift card!

Think of all the gorgeous goodies you could get with this! Would you give your bedroomor guest room a stunning new look? Replace all your old bathroom towels? Refresh your living room with some beautiful new cushions or throws? Get kitted out with colourful new beach towels and beach bags for this scorching summer? Or maybe your kids rooms could do with some fun new cushions and bedsheets? The choice is totally up to you.

There are four ways you can gain entries into the draw:

Visit the Bambury website and leave a comment below telling me which piece you love from their range (1 entry).

Visit the Bambury website and sign up for their email newsletter (worth 5 entries).

If you’re on Facebook, follow both Bambury @BamburyPtyLtd and House Nerd @Housenerd (1 entry). Tag a friend on the Facebook competition post for an additional draw entry. One friend, one additional entry, five friends, five entries and so on.

If you’re on Instagram, follow both Bambury @bambury and House Nerd @housenerd (1 entry). Tag a friend on the Instagam competition post for an additional draw entry. One friend, one additional entry, five friends, five entries and so on.

COMPETITION RULES:

Winner will be drawn Jan 10th, 2019. There is a complete release of Instagram and Facebook by each entrant. Promotion in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by or associated with Instagram or Facebook. Competition open only to people living in Australia or New Zealand.

Good luck!

The post Make Your Home Beautiful with Bambury (and WIN a $500 Gift Voucher!) appeared first on House Nerd.

from Home Improvement https://house-nerd.com/2019/12/15/bambury-win-a-500-gift-voucher/

[mykatesingh-blog]

We entered this summer with a goal to maximize savings and reduce spending to zilch outside of the monthly bills and mortgage. We had a dream and it inspired us to great heights of tightening the purse strings. And we did very well with it. The garden blessed us with onions, potatoes, zucchini, eggplant, and tomatoes. The neighbors’ nectarine tree hung over our fence to share plenty of the sweetest fruit it has yet to produce, and a kind and unknown soul sent us a Winco card for a large sum. We were truly blessed. We also walked everywhere and did everything at home. I mended worn-out yoga pants, we spent our days doing free activities such as art on scratch paper and reading our library books. We even ordered CD’s for the truck when the rose bush ripped my radio antenna off the truck hood. I make fancy lattes at home with a stovetop espresso maker and handheld milk frother and cook from scratch. I am proud of all this.

Then our dream was dashed and I went into a deep depression. Thank goodness I was quick about it as who has time for lengthy depressions, right? Ah, but it was a dark and wilty one with brooding and crying during certain songs and such.

Oh my but I sure do know how to recover even quicker. Nothing like a shopping spree…but with purpose of course. Yes, there was some spending that was about to happen.

Now, the first thing to happen was a new fence in the front yard. I have my second kitchen garden out there and lately, I feel like I’m right on the street (which I am, it’s the front of the house). I want privacy and a secluded sanctuary all around me these days. I feel vulnerable and weird, what can I say. After some shopping around we found that reed fencing is the cheapest and if you double it, it gives the illusion of somewhat privacy. We still don’t want to spend too much money on this house as the dream of moving is still floating about in the ether.

Then I decided to take some things to the thrift store. I went through my closet and dresser and got rid of everything that was frumpy or had been waiting for years for this grand weight loss I kept swearing was about to happen. I went through the boys’ clothes and rid their drawers of small and stained, ugly and short clothes. It’s almost time for them to start school. They are doing Independent study through a charter and one day a week they have enrichment classes and kindergarten for Sammy all day and one day I take them to a forest outdoor school. We have been blessed for almost 5 years with nice hand me downs but I’ve used up the last box and they needed clothes. Nice and sturdy clothes.

I’ve got this very keen sixth sense about the thrift shopping. Some people know what horses to bet on and some know when the “right time” is to invest in certain stocks. I can feel when the thrifting will be profitable and all our clothing and toy dreams will be actualized. I can even sense what store we should go to.

I woke up the next day and had a vision. I knew where to go and that we would be very lucky.

The place was Savers in Vacaville where the wealthy from the bay area drop off all their clothes and toys. It’s an hour away but the drive is through lovely farmland filled with orchards, tomatoes, and sunflowers.

Savers is a great experience. Clean and well lit, large store, good music to tap your toes while you sift through well-organized clothing. Everything is sorted in sizes which saves hours. My only complaint is that the prices have gone up quite a bit since my last visit a year or two ago, kids clothing is way too pricy now, and the candles were a rip-off. They wanted $3 for a half-used candle!

Thrifting has become so popular over the years that these places are jacking up the prices, but when they start competing with Walmart, that doesn’t sit well.

Now, there are many items that may be $50 or more in their prime and are still in great shape, so $10 isn’t asking much. I bought a Pyrex glass casserole dish for $4.99 and many name brand, high-quality clothing pieces that would have total some high prices so the $5.99 wasn’t a big deal.

Since we shop there once a year…or two years, I stocked up on clothing for us all and purchased clothes a couple sizes up for the boys. I passed on the overpriced candles and the boys chose some fun toys. Arjan is very into dinosaur collectibles from Papo or Schleich, and CollectA. Most of these cost $10 to $20 something each but he found a bag of these collectibles for $5.99.

You just need to know the cost of goods and clothing and then go to the thrift store with this knowledge. There are wonderful deals there and then some items will have you shaking your head.

I will be buying candles from Walmart and hitting more garage sales for better deals. Another tip is to find out when the big half off days are. Some Goodwills have a half off day once a month and that is the time to go, but go early as everyone else will have the same idea.

We spent a pile at Savers, I won’t lie. But I have a new wardrobe, Bali has somewhat of a new wardrobe, the boys have huge new wardrobes to last a couple years, then there are new toys, Pyrex casserole dish, some towels…I feel great about it. It’s been a looong time since we actually bought anything outside groceries or gas.

We then had lunch. The boys wanted Panda Express and although the glossy food filled with sugar and oil called to us we chose a less nauseating fare of Poyo Loco. We felt full and happy minus the sickness and exhaustion that comes with eating fast food after ordering the family dinner of chicken, beans, rice, tortillas, and quesadillas. The family dinner meal is the cheapest way to go when eating at these types of chains.

But we didn’t stop the party there. Somewhere near Davis or Dixon, I never know, there is a wonderful produce farm store. I love going there and loading up on produce and snacks. We filled a big box and snacked our way home.

Normally I get a bit uptight about spending money. I love going places and doing things, going out to eat, thrifting, and playing tourist, but we have been frugal for so long and always saving for something so I tend to have this worrying in the back of my mind around opening the wallet.

Yesterday was different. I just feel there is a time to go have some fun and spend some money and very often it is for things we use and need.

I have also spent a pretty penny stocking up my garden pantry so to speak, with seeds, artichoke plants, banana trees, foods and oils for nourishment and remedies. But this will pay off with months of free and organic food.

Now what? Well, today I wash all the thrift clothes and get our closets and drawers organized and ready for school and winter. I start my seedlings and simmer my tomatoes I harvested to make more spaghetti sauce. I will sit down and figure out the budget and how to do a quick recovery on the spending. It’s amazing how much one can spend in a matter of days, but then you must keep in mind that it takes months to replace it.

What is my point besides just sharing a shopping spree? Us thrifty, frugal folk need to go on shopping sprees now and then. We need to enjoy the money we have and not just focus on hoarding it away. I tell this more to myself. I actually have to talk myself through spending. But when you have no debt, a small mortgage, no car payments, and a nice savings…it’s ok to splurge occasionally.

However, I will admit that the best way to do it is to save for these moments. Have an envelope and put a certain amount in the envelope monthly and when it’s packed with green bills, go do something fun like a road trip, a huge thrift shop buying spree to redo the wardrobes and decorate the home a bit, or use it monthly for a dinner out or movie at a real movie house.

Life is short and if we just work and save it becomes gray and bleak.

So, yes, I did some retail therapy and it felt oh so good. Partly because there wasn’t that emptiness and guilt after just blowing money on nothing but instant gratification. We actually have fantastic clothes and a new fence in the front yard and I have enough gardening goodies to keep me busy for weeks.

My point is…not all retail therapy shopping sprees are bad.

A big spend after a no spend. We entered this summer with a goal to maximize savings and reduce spending to zilch outside of the monthly bills and mortgage.

[endlessarchite]

Mini Garden Deck | Scrap Deck Boards Made Useful

This “mini garden deck” made from scrap deck boards has already made a huge difference in keeping my feet dry around the new vegetable garden.

Hey everyone! As you saw from yesterday’s deck update, I’ve been spending a lot of time outside. Between that, the new vegetable garden, and the new shed build, I’ve been in a summer state of mind for quite some time. I’ve also kind of HAD IT with walking on muddy dirt patches (Georgia’s spring rains this year have been nuts!). With summer officially starting today, and with plenty of scrap deck boards around, I decided to hop in with the #scrapwoodchallenge and created my own solution for better garden maintenance. I’m calling it my “mini garden deck” !

My new vegetable garden bed has been a learning process. One part of that has been realizing that this area is going to get a lot of upkeep-related foot traffic.

So, as proud as I am of how well things are going, I have noticed a major drawback: frequent visits have made the inner triangle of the L-shaped garden bed a little dirt-rich… and grass-poor. I put down some landscaping fabric intending on eventually covering it with gravel, but then realized how well the leftover deck boards could solve the problem… without an additional materials purchase!

Recommended Tools and Materials

may contain affiliate links

scrap pressure-treated deck boards

stair balusters (other strips of scrap wood is fine, I just used what I had available)

miter saw

drill

speed square

pencil

exterior screws

plastic spacers (optional – see below)

landscaping fabric

The deck boards I used are designated for Ground Contact, which is recommended for wood projects that sit within six inches of the ground. You can find more about that here.

How to make a mini garden deck from scrap wood

Start in the middle

Keeping in mind that this was scrap, I basically took the materials available. I bought stair balusters and wound up not needing them, and I’m kind of terrible about returning leftover materials. I used these as stringers for fastening the deck boards together. Many had been cut already to fit the floating deck (and therefore could not be returned), but some were long enough pieces where they could be reused.

Since I was kind of winging it, I placed the stair balusters on the ground, on top of the landscaping fabric and spread them out, fanning in a sort of triangle shape. These would be what I would screw the deck boards to. If you’ve ever seen a wooden sign and looked on the back, it’s a pretty similar concept (such as here and here).

I began where I thought would be the middle (ish) of the L-shaped area, and cut my deck board at 45-degree angles on both ends.

From this, I cut more pieces to help form a triangle shape until the space was filled. I dry fit each board into place and then began fastening them to the strips underneath.

Spacing

For spacing, I used some old plastic spacers I bought a long time ago for installing the laminate flooring in my house (just held onto them, because I just knew they’d be useful again ). If you don’t have something like this, insert a few nails between the boards — anything that will serve as a temporary wedge to provide a small gap. You’re mainly looking for spacing to allow the wood to expand and contract with moisture fluctuations.

Screw together and fan out

I screwed in the first board on both ends where it met the stringers from the top down (2 screws on each end of the board, 2 screws down the middle). When the board was attached and spacing set, I moved the spacers to the next gap and fastened the next board. So on, and so on, until the entire triangle was complete.

If you were to look at the back, it would look like a hot mess — the stringers (the stair balusters) that attach to the deck boards are practically random in their placement.

But since you’ll never see them, all that really matters is that they are enough material to hold the entire thing together. Since the ground was soft from the frequent rain, I merely needed to stand on it the new platform to sort squish into the ground and hold in place. The corner was kind of an awkward spot with how narrow it got, so working an extra piece of the baluster (vertically) into the corner was a perfect fit.

And boom: no more muddy feet when maintaining the garden. It actually kind of finishes the area nicely, too.

There’s still a little more work to be done to make the widest end look more finished, but since I still have the shed build left to complete, I’ll wait to use up the remaining full-length deck boards before re-purposing one for the garden bed. This whole area is going to look so great!

I just love scrap wood projects… so feel free to do a little looking around at the links on this list. Jen from House of Wood asked a bunch of us to share some scrap ideas, and there’s LOTS more below!

Check out these other awesome Scrap Wood projects:

The House of Wood – DIY Bunk Buddy

3×3 Custom – Scrap Wood Trivets

Ugly Duckling House – Mini Garden Deck — that’s HERE! —

The Created Home – Animal Coin Banks

Her Toolbelt – 3D Pixel Art

The Kim Six Fix – Outdoor Drink Stakes

DIY Huntress – Scrap Wood Coasters

Mr. Build It & Mrs. Style It – Bent Plywood Headphone Stand

At Charlotte’s House – Buffalo Check Tray

Sawdust 2 Stitches – Scrap Wood Wall Decor

Bower Power – Pallet Baseball Hat Rack

Pneumatic Addict – Table with Epoxy Resin

Anika’s DIY Life – DIY Spice Rack

100 Things 2 Do – DIY Can Crusher

Hazel + Gold Designs – Patio Table Drink Holder

Reality Daydream – Scrap Wood Shoe Cabinet

House Becoming Home – Modern DIY Clock

Chatfield Court – Wooden Garden Obelisk

The post Mini Garden Deck | Scrap Deck Boards Made Useful appeared first on Ugly Duckling House.

More Where That Came From

How to Build a Concrete Form for an Outdoor Pad

The Gardenia Garden Beds Are Thriving!

Growing Seedlings for My First Veggie Garden

Simple DIY Tricks for Covered Porch Plants

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[lilynoellerogers]

Cuba, Libre

From the moment the plane hovered overhead, fought back by warm sweeping winds, I could tell we had entered a different world. Already the 5am wakeup, the disorientation of being alone on a voyage I had envisioned for two, and a five hour flight had left my head a bit spun out. But landing in Havana, and all that followed that day, gave me a sense of being suspended in time and place. It was pure magic. In the final miles that the plane descended on the lush tropical landscape of Cuba, small scenes caught my eye: a group crossing a green plain on horseback to check the crops, exuberantly bright old cars barreling along a highway going about 50 but looking like they were pushing themselves to the brink, pockets of dense jungle scattered within a mile or two of Habana Centro. The plane landed smoothly, despite the strong gales of wind,  and a ramshackle faded yellow airport building appeared. We were bussed over to it and were ushered in, where numbered cubicles that looked like small wooden phone booths were the vessels we would pass through to a land that felt like the Wild Un-West. A few quick questions from an immigration officer and then a mystery door, opening up to Cuba. An immediate rush of people appeared, some well intentioned, some not as much. In the bathroom a cleaning lady hoped to do an unofficial currency exchange with me. I navigated through the crowd to get a taxi, which ended up being a new vehicle with AC rather than the 51 Chevy convertible of my dreams. But those pushed along the road with us, some looking as though they had been worked to the bone and others as though they hadn’t exited a garage since whatever year in the 1950’s they had been made. An occasional pink Cadillac would sidle up alongside us. Men selling mangos rushed to do a quick exchange with a car in front of us on the highway - “only in Cuba,” my driver said with a chuckle. Cuba by and large felt safer than many places with a similar demographic, though some opportunists were emboldened by the recent rush of tourism. My driver began to tell me about trips I could take to the countryside, and I started to prepare a kind but firm defense, knowing that the pitch for his services was forthcoming. Instead, he surprised me by suggesting that I take the bus for a couple CUC, or to walk through Habana Centro rather than taking a taxicab. He really wanted me to have a good time, and that made me smile. Somehow it felt like everywhere else we had slipped into the era of young capitalists seeing the chance for a quick buck rather than the simplicity of people who loved their country and wanted others to experience it’s beauty too. Walking down the streets also felt safe. The only frustrations were people begging for money and men hitting on me in Spanish (for which I didn't have a full enough Spanish vocabulary to adequately warn them off). I arrived to the building where my homestay was located, and a man smoking a cigar lingered in the doorway. He grunted a bit and directed me where to go. Another ancient looking man with a bulbous nose was slumped on the stairs, and his eyes smiled at me. I found my host, Magalys, who I exchanged excited noises of greeting with in lieu of a common language. My mind flashed to google translate - but there’s truly no service anywhere in Cuba. Not even easy wifi. It’s complicated. So with no raft to save us, she rattled on in Spanish, I caught every fourth word and the general gist, and smiled inside at how much I appreciated the simplicity of it all. This was a different world. The lack of technology and virtually no internet was one of the most striking things I first experienced in Cuba. I used a paper map to navigate and made educated guesses. I gestured a lot with my hands and employed a broad smile. I seemed to over-rely on the word “perfecto” for everything. Low-tech seemed to change the nature of everything. Even the fact that I pushed through a writer’s block the minute I arrived was telling. When I first found Magalys I walked past apartment doors, all mostly open but some with a barred door just to stop people from walking in. Small windows into small worlds, and again a different era. Ancient TV sets and photos of granddaughters alongside renderings of Jesus were the pretty vignettes through the bars. Beams of golden light, brightly colored walls, overgrown plants, and indoor/outdoor living abounded. I was loving Cuba. My apartment was clean, bright, and perfect. Twin balconies overlooked the streets of Havana. The capital shone in one direction and Plaza Vieja in the other. An old cherry apple red Ford convertible idled below while a group of men chatted. Stray kittens mewed and meandered across the street while street puppies play fought beside them. I ventured out in the world after unpacking a bit. I ended up At El Del Frente, a place I could tell would be my new home base. Fresh juice and a welcoming environment, as well as some young English speaking Cuban guys who told me I was their “favorite customer ever.” I’m a sucker for feeling special. I had baked plantain chips, a sweet potato puree, and some incredibly fresh cold lobster tacos. I met an English couple from Yorkshire who were incredulous I was alone, and the woman in particular seemed to feel a bit of motherly responsibility for me. As we ate on a small terrace one floor up, able to somewhat invisibly observe the happenings down below, a Michael Jackson impersonator very enthusiastically (but not too adeptly) performed some renditions of “Black or White” and “Thriller,” complete with sparkly glove. I became lost in my own imaginings of this man as a young boy, watching the only VHS tape in the house of a Michael Jackson concert, drilling himself on the moves and sounds so that someday he could voyage out with a very particular set of skills. My new friends from the UK, Shelley and Rick, took me afterwards to a bar they had been to before dinner, where there was live music. A group of women ran through songs that seemed every Cuban person in the room knew, and brayed along drunkenly. People were salsa dancing, smoking, imbibing in the crowded but pulsing space. This felt like Cuba. “Stand by Me” was also thrown into the mix and we had a chance to sing along. My usual judgments or self-consciousness in this was nowhere to be found. A city, colorful and alive, was allowing me to feel like me.

But it’s funny how days can go. The last line of this, both poignantly true and utterly false on day two. The thing I thought would be tough about traveling as a single woman alone in Cuba, my (lack of) safety or being an easy target, was only partly true. I felt pretty safe, even on blocks that looked as torn apart as Aleppo, but I was constantly catcalled and targeted for the scam du jour. Every block I walked, multiple no’s. The interaction exhaustion I experienced after only one hour “out” forced me back to my apartment to recoup. It reminded me of parts of Asia or Istanbul, for slightly different reasons. Third world with a side of being hit on constantly made it tough. The language barrier was the cherry on top. There’s not many creative ways to couch “NO” when you don’t speak the language. And sometimes they don’t listen. Yesterday a guy followed me home for 30 minutes babbling drunkenly while I completely ignored him (full disclosure: I spoke to him for a couple sentences as “nice American”) before starting to completely ignore him. But that’s the problem with going full “feminist at a frat party” NO. I feel vulnerable here. This is not my country. A way I might feel safe communicating in LA, with a full grasp of the English language, a car in clicker shot, my complete bearings of where I am…that doesn’t apply here. So in a way, you put up with it. “Nice American” it is. It’s brought up a lot of internal questions about feminism here. Sometimes I think many of our male-dominant culture issues are American ones. But as I think about it, there’s really not a single place I’ve been, with the exception of maybe Australia and New Zealand, where that’s not an issue. For some reason, I imagine Tokyo might be the same. However, everywhere else I’ve been catcalled, treated as lesser than, touched without permission. Yesterday, even my well-meaning driver touched my leg an awful lot over my virgin Mojito and his Cuba Libre - and I was the one who felt like it would have been impolite to ask him to stop. It’s truly a global issue. And I’ll be honest, in the case of Havana, it’s making me want to jet to Cancun sooner than later, as much as I also love it here.  I think being a single woman traveling here is truly not an easy task. Despite all this, yesterday was still fun. I found an old flea market near the Plaza de Armas with loads of precious small things: pins, old books, sentimental trinkets. This was nothing like the tourists markets with maracas, cheap drums, and Club Havana t-shirts. I bought a pin that spoke to me - 1972 Blood Donor - as well as an old 1988 Dave Stewart baseball card. Funny to travel all this way for that! The rest of the day was spent wandering out of old Havana and into other areas on the outskirts. I got caught in a sudden tropical rainstorm and kids emerged from every door in underwear, dancing and yelping. I took refuge in a dark corner of Cafe Miglis and had some meatballs that seemed a million miles from Cuba. I took a wander after the rain died down to the nearby Ocean Wall, the Malecon, where young lovers canoodled and fisherman sat on the wall, kicking, looking for the catch of the day while simultaneously hissing at me with approval. I made my way up to the Hotel Malecon, a grand decaying old Hotel but well worth popping in to spend time in the rolling gardens with a drink or a cigar. I exited the hotel quickly and immediately met Michael, a driver with a pink Chevy who beckoned me to come on a city tour with him. I hadn’t planned on this, but why not. I was tired and could use to take a rest and see some sights. So out we went, past the old University with the broad stairs and broken windows, through Revolution Square, a bleak places with a couple outlined portraits of Che Guevara and Fidel Castro, and up to the somewhat mythical Bosque of Havana. The bosque is a forest right in Miramar, on the outskirts of Havana, and though I cringed a little at parts of it being trashed, it still felt like something out of Avatar. People were even bringing dead things down to the river for a Santeria ceremony. We rolled home through Miramar and after a mojito on the Malecon. I fell into a deep sleep at 8pm and slept for 13 hours, exhausted by the stimulation of it all.