Why Go Organic?

One of my dearest friends sent me this video this morning -- a nice visual of what's in the grocery store.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=exBEFCiWyW0

And because Google makes it so easy -- a link from Cornell about chlorpropham:

http://pmep.cce.cornell.edu/profiles/extoxnet/carbaryl-dicrotophos/chlorpropham-ext.html

Rain Barrel Details...

As my rain barrels empty I am trying to take advantage of the ability to move them (Fact:  50 gallons of water weighs approximately 417 pounds.  Lesson?  Put your barrels where you want them!) and get the proper footings under them.

I have custom steel tables under two of my barrels, courtesy of the steel company who built my back steps.   Oh how I wish I had asked for more!  (Those little yellow Blackfoot Daisies at the base?  They are 4 feet tall now!)

My other 3 barrels I have up on concrete blocks, and the blocks are just sitting on the ground; i.e. they aren't exactly level.  So, on my list of things to do is to pour a concrete pad for each of them to get them to sit level (and look better.) 

For the one that is on blocks that faces my neighbors' driveway, I'd also plan to build a wooden box (beadboard?) to hide the concrete blocks which are nothing pretty to look at, regardless of shrubs to hide them... but that's another day.

Looks precarious, doesn't it?  Considering the weight...

Yesterday I got one pad poured:

This is for the barrel that is on my garage, back by the alley.  I framed in a 24" x 24" square, leveled it, place 2 sticks of rebar in it, and poured concrete over the whole thing.  The leveling took me the longest... and then it took 3 - 60 pound bags of concrete!   That surprised me -- I was sure that I had done the math wrong on how much I would need, but indeed -- 3 bags.  Just the mixing of it made me glad that I had mentally committed to only doing one pad per day -- uff da.

I was going to stamp in the year like I did on the footings for my steps --

or some other funky design, but in the end I didn't.  Frankly it was really hot out and I got lazy.  And, only the little corners will show anyway -- the pad will mostly be covered up by the concrete blocks.  (Queen of Rationalization still reigns.)

I figure I'll let it set up for a few days and then I'll put it all back and snap another photo for your viewing pleasure.

I also plan to paint the barrels.  They are old food storage barrels, and being plastic I was told there is a special type of paint that they will take.  Of course the name escapes me... but I still have my paperwork from the rain barrel workshop so I'll look it up.  Bright blue isn't exactly in my backyard color wheel.  I mean, it could be... my gazing ball is that color, but ... it's a lot of bright blue.

On a totally unrelated note -- I was hand watering out front this morning, and eye-spied a fat and happy caterpillar on my 5 foot parsley plant.  Surprised I looked closer... and found another one.  And, another one.  And... yes another one!  Four.  Fat.  Happy.  Clearly I haven't been paying attention because they have to have been there for days.

Living Simply

Here's a sampling of what's been tumbling around in my mind the last several weeks:


http://www.tinyhousedesign.com/

http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/

http://tinyhouseblog.com/

For more eye candy, Google "tiny houses" and then click on "images"  and scroll, and dream. Hmmmm.

Side Two

A neighbor around the corner wants to learn how to use power tools, and has offered multiple times to come and help with projects in exchange for learning.  She came over on Friday and we built the second frame for my back steps.  Having a second set of hands for the corners really made a difference -- it turned out much better than the first one!  She was a quick learner.

I'm leaning towards not putting anything in the middle -- I like them plain and clean I think.  It won't give me the privacy block I was hoping for, but even with the middle empty it gives me more of a visual break than I bargained for -- bonus.  What do you think?  (I need to relocate that little blue grill....)

I may want to try this in the middle...

We also began retro-fitting one of the benches for the dining table.  I hope we can work on those again this week, schedules permitting.

Visual Separation

When I had my back steps designed and built, I asked for 2 hooks to be installed at each end.  I didn't know what I would use them for, but I figured I'd want to hang something from there at some point. 

As I step out my backdoor and look to the right, because my house is uphill from the neighbors house I can see right over the 6 foot fence and into their backyard.  Likewise, I am in full view of them when I step out.  They are very nice, and it's not as though I spend a ton of time hanging out on the landing outside my door, but nonetheless, I want a bit of a visual barrier there.

I saw this photo in a book some time back and liked it...I saved it in my Outdoor Project Idea file....

And when thinking about what to hang in the landing opening I decided to modify it from a table light to just a hanging design:

I am also going to build a second frame to hang on the other side -- you can see the hooks on the end on the right.

And here's the other side - bonus that it matches the brick...

This is again lumber re-purposed from my neighbor's deck -- (ironically the deck that I used to look over the fence and see; now they've built a new one.  They recently finished demolition and had more lumber, but oddly they didn't offer it to me -- I think because I showed them the potting table I built from the first batch they realized the potential of re-purposed lumber.  Drat.)  Anyway I digress... so the side of the lumber that was under the deck isn't weathered, so it's still a light color shown here.

What remains?  Well, first I need to take the price tags off the silver hooks, and I plan to spray paint the hooks brown to blend in.  And then I am scheming on what, if anything, to put inside the frame.  I have several ideas churning around in my head... so I'll take a few days and let them simmer and see what feels right.