Repurposing and edibles

This past week was a short one as I went up to Longview to visit my parents for an early Father's Day. We then spent Sunday and Monday with Jennie's family with some good bbq and a nice kayak on Townlake.   

Spent yesterday at Barton Springs because it was just to hot to work outside.  I think everyone else had the same idea. It was the most crowded I have ever seen.  

So this week I only had a few days to work on my woodworking skills.  One easy project I did was this giant star for the outside of the house.   

I also finished a project that I had started last week, my tree stump side table.   I plained it level, sanded, stained, sealed, and added some castor wheels on the bottom.  I think it turned out pretty well. I'm working on another one that I will remove the bark on.   

I was able to pick up four more stumps in Longview before heading back.  They are pine, so it will give me a chance to work with some soft wood.   

On our way to Longview, we stopped at a brewery in Athens, TX.   They had some local artwork on the walls and one caught our eyes, so I thought I would do my best to replicate it.  So here it is using just scrap pieces I had from other projects.  

Just fence picket pieces and a little spray paint.   

After the rain settled down this morning, I helped out my neighbor with a project of his. He wanted to build an enclosure for his garden to keep out the birds and squirrels.  I came across a similar idea online where a guy used the metal poles from a trampoline to frame a greenhouse. My neighbor had one and with some fence pickets, we got a lot of it built so far.   

 We just need to secure the poles to the wood and ziptie the netting over the top. 

Oh yeah, I also built an outdoor table for my neighbors out of pickets and some table legs I found by the curb in the neighborhood a few months ago.  Now we can take turns for our Saturday morning coffee and fellowship.  

A few weeks ago, the local HEB grocery store had fruit trees on sale for $10 each.  I picked up two peach trees and an apple.   I have planted them in a 4x3 grid pattern in the backyard.  This fall, my plan is to remove my vegetable beds to the front yard and create a small fruit tree orchard in the backyard.  

Yes, the fence is now about 50% still standing.   That will be a project in the near future.  Not as fun to do, but necessary, especially when we get our chickens.   

I finally got to eat my first fig from my fig tree.  

The rest of the garden has been mediocre this year, a handful of cherry tomatoes and some basil.  The basil has been good in my kombucha.   A little basil and slices of cucumber makes a nice refreshing summer kombucha.   I experimented and made a batch with ginger, turmeric, jalapeño, lemon, and just a drip of some local Round Rock honey.   Mighty tasty and healthy to boot.  

That's it for now, so until next time...

Go outside and get dirty!

Summer fence picket projects

My neighbor had a lot of pickets that she wanted to get rid of that were still in good shape.   After I built my storage shed using fence pickets a few years ago, I decided to do some research into other projects/ideas using fence pickets.   My goal is to maintain each project to be at least 90% fence pickets and/or materials I already have around the house.  

My first of many is a couple of cornhole boards.   (100% pickets) Jennie wanted to contribute, so she sewed the cornhole bags, filled with dried corn.  It took about a day to complete the boards.   Added a score board on the back using golf tees and my wood burning tool.   

My next project was a small one, two frames for some west Texas prints my sister-in-law gave us, and a frame for a long mirror (cheap find at thrift store).  

My third project was my attempt to build an adirondack chair.  This one was the hardest thus far.   Trying to get the angles and the slant of the back was tedious and frustrating at times.    Not a winner in design, but it's functional.  

My current project is a 4x4x4 chicken coop.  I did use a 4x4 post for the legs that I salvaged from my neighbors trash.  So far the only costs has been two boxes of screws.   So far I have worked on the coop for two days and I would say I'm more than half way done with it.  I looked at many coops online, but this one is my own design, hence why it's taking a little longer to build.  I am designing as I go. 

Go outside and get dirty!