A Rustic Fence

Last year Ben was puzzled by the mysterious lack of fruitfulness amongst his cucumber plants... a small cucumber would begin to grow and one day would be gone! What was going on? Some detective-work later, we discovered that the otherwise delightful Raja, Son 1's Cocker Spaniel, had a bit of a penchant for cucumbers, and was also not above taking tomatoes or other goodies...

Ben was upset. Very upset. His relationship with the dog suffered...

(That's one way of putting it.)

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So this year I suggested to him that we might build a Raja-proof fence, which would have the added advantage of giving me somewhere to grow sunflowers, sweet peas and other climbers. He went off for a while and came back with a design that went diagonally from our hedge to his nearly-finished shed, and used mainly 'found' or 'recycled' items. Once again, I am really impressed! The fencing is some very cheap trellis which we bought, and I sprayed green. The posts are from various saplings he cut down last year and the rustic branches across the top are just pieces he couldn't quite bear to throw away when he cut up firewood or garden trees!

The gate itself is made from pieces of pallet - Ben found this one which had been treated with wood-preserver along with the wood that was on it, so this gate should last well! My mum once commented dryly: 'I see Ben still can't say no to a pallet,' and whilst that's true, they really are very handy things! You may have noticed that all his raised beds are made from broken up pallets, too.

The gate pulls itself closed due to the log-weight - the boys love this and have been testing it out.

So, this is what's being protected...I think it's going to be worth it!

Accro'...

When Sharon gave me my award, I was way too hot to list five current obsessions, but it's cooled down (hurray!) and had a chance to think about a few of the things on which I'm 'accro', which means 'hooked' in French! (See the link to the word crochet, there?) The only problem now is the order to put them in!

1. Charity Shopping and other second hand shopping. I love the thrill of never knowing what you're going to find, I love the good value, I love the character and quality of older, local things and I love the fact that I'm not contibuting to modern problems such as sweatshop labour and environmental degredation...2. Mother of Pearl buttons and hand made lace. You'd never have guessed that one, would you? 3. Nature - these hoopoes are a good example, but really, all of it... I just think that the entire of creation is so incredible, and fascinating, and makes me feel warm and fuzzy! The hoopoes came to mind because we have them here in springtime and summer, and some people are totally unmoved by these incredible birds. We drop everything to watch them, and we just feel so grateful to be able to share our garden and our area with such incredible wildlife.
4. People - the same way that thinking about nature makes me feel connected with the whole world, I think a lot about how what I'm buying has been made by people, making links: across time if I'm brocante shopping, and around the world, if I'm in the supermarket. I find myself thanking God for the people who made the stuff I get to buy - am I sounding too Pollyanna yet? Probably. So that's why I like Fairly Traded stuff, anyway.
5. There's a link here. Avoiding the Pollyanna preaching, as a family we're somewhat obsessed with looking after the world. If you love nature and people, and you love your family, then how can you not care that the world where they all live is getting into more and more of a mess? Oops, didn't avoid the preaching. I'll shut up and leave you with a quote from my boys' favourite, Sir David Attenborough; "How could I look my grandchildren in the eye and say I knew about this and did nothing?"
Ooh, a serious note... I think the most important thing is to realise that if we dwell on how hard it is to protect our planet, we'll do nothing, but if we enjoy every little attempt we make to improve things (like shopping second hand, he-he!) then we can protect our children's future and love the life we lead at the same time!

TW3

So, over the course of the week I've been inspired to take photos of some of my most lovely vintage and vintage-inspired jewellery. This first installment is a fantastic recycled piece of willowpattern pottery which I bought at Edinburgh Treefest with birthday money given by my parents.
This is not our car! I just took the photo because I saw this car in a ditch the day after we'd been having a conversation about cars in ditches!

Dear Penny and Matthew have given us three shelves which are ripe for a makeover. Watch this space...

Later in the week Penny gave me a bag of clothes - I LOVE bags of clothes! This cute cardi is far too dark for me, and the sleeves were too long. I say 'were' because it doesn't look like this anymore. It's now part-way through its very own 'relooking'.

It's bright, it's 3.45 in the afternoon, it's 20 degrees C outside, but we're in the dark, wearing shades...

The boys were off school yesterday due to the 'General' Strike (well, WE all went to work...) but after my lesson we went to Cite de l'Espace and enjoyed both the indoor and outdoor exhibits. We saw both the planetarium show and the 3D IMAX film 'Walking on the Moon'. It was a great afternoon out.
Have a lovely weekend!