The Junk Hose Birdhouse~

I’m literally hell on wheels on my Garden Tractor which is a fancy name for a riding mower.

At least any hose I have had longer than 6 months thinks so anyway… needless to say I have a few, or more, mowed hoses in my junk pile. Obviously, to me they aren't junk just because they are now more suitable as a soaker hose or sprinkler. 

I cannot say how many times JD has tried to haul them off to the dump and I have pulled them right back out kicking and holler’n!

Then I saw this birdhouse on Pinterest. A game changer it was! 

Photo credit unknown - Birdhouse believed to be on the grounds of http://www.mcmenamins.com/Gardens

You see, we needed to donate a handcrafted item to an event for a charity auction and soon. I told JD we are making a birdhouse out of one of those old hoses for the auction. I got the deer in headlights look. Never fear, PJ was here and soon we were building it! The best part to this junk collector is we didn’t spend a dime. It was all time and material found in my junk pile or lying around. Here is the one we made. 

Now JD still wasn't convinced even with my and PJ's oohing and ahhing. We decided it needed to be put on a post to better "show" at the event. It even had a built in perch!

The junk hose birdhouse sold for $150 at the silent auction and JD had a small serving of crow and an ice cold one to wash it down :)

May all your junk be treasure!

Anvil

More Junk Hoses in the Garden - Words with Hose~

The Junk Hose Birdhouse is my most viewed post to date. In honor of that here’s another fun thing to do with an old junk hose in the garden. Use them to write words on your raised beds!

Here I have used an old grey hose that I had butchered so badly with the mower I had to put the mower on jack stands and unwind its tattered-ness out of the blade housing where it was all wound up and sliced almost through in several places... what that means is there wasn't enough to do a large birdhouse. Or a small one for that matter. 

When I saw JD trying to bury it in the dump trailer under some real trash we had words, some of them were colorful. I have been known to cuss like a sailor and when my good junk is threatened it's all hands on deck! I got the "these pieces are to small to do anything with" argument. Right matey! Are you kidding me? 

Truth be told I didn't know what I was going to do with some of these smaller pieces but thank goodness I'm quick on my feet because I wasn't going to be the one walking the plank on this day. It just so happened the dump trailer was backed up the drive near the junk raised beds we had completed but had not yet finished decorating! Que the music from Jaws. Dawdumph, dawdumph dawdumph! Next thing you know I said you go get the drill and some screws and I'll meet you back here with scissors and a pencil.

I beat him back and started lightly sketching in pencil the word "Grow" on the wood. When he got back with the drill and wood screws I had already cut the G and was holding it in place to take the first screw. 

This is a simple, easy and fun project for the garden.

Ahoy! I mean happy gardening~

We Built Horse Jumps & It Was Fun~ Part 1

And I used some junk hose! 

JD is a carpenter by trade so this project was easy peasy for him. But some of these jumps could be built by anyone who has a skill saw, a staple gun and the desire. 

The Gate

The Gate was built 100% from 1 x 4 lumber, 12 ft. lengths. The lady we built the jumps for already had standards and 10" foot poles so these jumps are finished at 10'. Unfortunately I didn't start taking pictures until this one was completed. JD cut the 1 x 4's into 2' sections and stapled to a 10' board with 4" spacing. Then he sandwiched between a second 1 x 4 top and bottom. He allowed 6" on each end of the top board to accommodate the cups.

Brush with Flower Strip

For the Brush with Flower Strip we considered using pallets as that's what the customer suggested. We didn't have any pallets in the proper size and after walking around the property measuring every pallet JD declared "I could have made it by now"... so back to the garage. This jump is constructed similar to the gate but also uses 2 x 4 lumber for the 3 vertical boards to allow room to add "brush" to the middle. The top horizontal piece is also a 2 x 4 holes were drilled across the length for a flower strip. Small scrap 2 x 4 pieces were used in the bottom rail to add strength and stability.

Detail

Picket Fence Plank

The picket Fence Plank was built with 1 x 4 lumber and common landscaping stakes the customer supplied.

The pickets were cut to 1' and the customer will use poles above to create the height she needs for beginners to more advanced riders. 

Layout

JD spacing the pickets

Cutting more pickets

Part 2 will show the 3 other jumps we made. A wall, plain plank and a roll top. We delivered all of these unpainted per the customer but I'll also update later after she's painted them and set up the course!

Wishing you nothing but clear rounds~