Bodging

Gratuitous cat photo- he is in the Chicken yard!

Today I decided to finally remove a knackered old chest of drawers from the boys room. The poor thing had been in situ when we moved into our previous house and had been repaired several times by us. It was a pretty cheap bit of pine furniture to start with.

Not being one to throw things away I started to imagine a chicken shelter and with the able assistance of my lovely husband and a couple of other spare drawers we turned it on it's side, popped a perch at the top, a platform to catch droppings and a drawer at the bottom as a nesting box. Oh don't forget the *ahem* beautifully rustic ramp we have made.

mmm Scrappy, but useable!

 It goes well with the nest made from a TV cabinet the boys were too rough with. An egg has already been laid! The shelter is made from some pieces of cut down water tank we found behind a shed at our place. It's perhaps not the most elegant of chicken houses but we bodged it for free and it will keep them warm and dry. It remains to be seen if the perch will ever get used though!

Don't they look lovely now they have feathers!

Re-purposing Running Riot...

I have been having fun finding "non traditional" objects to grow plants in. 

I found a perfectly good galvanised bucket on the side of the road- well, it wasn't so good as a bucket because it had holes punched in the bottom but it started me on a rampage of repurposing. It has basil growing well now and was quickly joined by  an olive oil tin with mint and an old mixing bowl which had a crack in the glaze which has had some drainage holes drilled and is supposed to be growing chillies but seems to have silverbeet instead(!?).

Having our regular "lunch out" we spotted some giant olive tins behind a patisserie so lovely husband popped his head into the kitchen window and asked if we could have them- they are now either side of the door with pansies and marigolds growing in them.  

I have also planted a lemon tree in the drum from an old tumble dryer- I think it is a lovely thing, all stainless steel and shiny and even had holes at the bottom already. I have already turned a couple of wide tyres inside out and made successful little gardens in them. 

I can't wait to find some more things to repurpose- at the moment nothing is safe as long as I can figure out how to get reasonable drainage there could be a plant in almost anything! Special mention must go to my long suffering husband who is very supportive of my mad ideas and pulls apart tumble dryers, drills very difficult holes in bowls and asks for tins for me!

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