We just can't seem to stop building things

We have about 2 acres of pasture. Or what will be pasture once we get it bush-hogged down to manageable length.

The plan is to use the electronet fence to rotate the sheep on those 2 acres, giving them fresh feed and us mowed fields.

The biggest problem (other than the bush-hogging and the fact that the sheep aren't trained to move where we want them to go) is that these pastures have no shade. None. Nothing on the sunny side. So we needed to make something that would provide relief from the sun and be easily movable.

Our glorious contraption pictured above is made from 4 old fence rails that we gleaned from a neighbor's wood stash, 3 lengths of pvc (we had to buy these), the unripped part of an old tarp, all tied together with baling twine.

It should be sturdy enough to stand up to sheep curiousity and it's light enough that the two of us can pick it up and relocate it.

Of course, it may also be light enough for the wind to toss about but I'm working on that.

The sheep have given it their baaa of approval.

We made our bed but didn't lie in it.

I want to raise meat rabbits. So, I built some cages*. We decided the north side of the garage would be a perfect place for our rabbitry but we needed to build a stand with a roof to hold the cages and protect them from the weather.

We perused our pile of leftover and scavenged wood; surely there was enough material here for a cage stand.

Nope, no matter how many designs we came up with, nothing was working.

Then we looked up. In the garage rafters was a day bed frame left by the former owners. Maybe this would work and wouldn't it be classy, in a funky kind of way, to have our rabbit cages lounging on a day bed?

In an act of supreme daring-do, Tom climbed up on the stepladder and finagled the pieces down to me. We assembled the ugly thing, only to find it was too small to hold both cages.

We didn't want to take it apart after all that work, but what do you do with a bed frame if you don't want another bed?

I've been thinking that what we need around the property are stands or benches, something to put your tools on while you work or to rest your weary bones. Part of that wood pile in the garage are slabs of beadboard that our neighbor had long ago retrieved from a church being torn down. We'd hoped to use it in the house but it is too brittle and worn to fully disassemble so we've kept it attached to the framing boards. The top piece on the pile just happened to fit onto the bed frame, and, shazam...

...a fancy garden stand.

The rabbit cages are still in the garage but now we have a bed at the head of our garden bed. And we've given the neighbors something else to wonder about. A win win.

* "I built some cages". That phrase doesn't remotely begin to describe what I went through. When I get over the trauma, I may write about it.

What's Old is New



Table made from recycled teak, from www.exbali.com

 Recycling is the rage.

Bloggers boast about turning old dog chains into jewelry, vintage oars into scarf racks. Glossy magazine articles feature crafters who repurpose bed frames into benches, plastic framed mirrors into chalkboards. The end products always take your breath away with the artistry.

I needed a plant table. Tom took 6 pieces of 2'x4' and a ratty, wormy piece leftover from the doghouse we demolished, and voila!, a work table.



We've been reusing and recycling our entire lives but this creation, although functional, is never going to make the cover of Dumpster Delights*. I'm betting it will hold plants just as well as teak, though.



Tom showing pride in his work.



*There MUST be a magazine by that name!