"Don't wish me happiness I don't expect to be happy all the time....It's gotten beyond that somehow. Wish me courage and strength and a sense of humor. I will need them all." Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Tuesday 3 February 2015

DIY rustic garden bench

In reality I never really thought about having a bench in the garden until my daughter suggested it. "Sit in garden mommy," she said last summer as we headed outside with our homemade popsicles and so the idea was planted. It was reinforced when I had to sit on rock edging. Still it was late summer and the maple leaves were showing the first tinges of sun yellow before I got around to the project. I looked at some bench plans on google but I never found anything built with the scrap lumber I had on hand but it did give me an idea of how I was going to build it. The uprights are scrap, pressure treated boards and the seat was cedar siding pulled of a shed that was torn down and burnt. I built the bench lowish since I wanted my daughter to be able to climb up onto it easily. It can be built whatever height one wants by cutting both uprights the same. Since I am quite proud of the fact that I can cut straight with a handsaw I cut all the boards with it. It helps to keep your eyes on the blade where it's cutting and not on the tip of the saw. As there were very few screws to be put in and since it was soft wood I just used a screwdriver. If your scared of the wood splitting- predrill. I took my chances and it worked out. This relaxed pace gave me plenty of time to talk to my toddler and interact with her. Over the winter it's been stored on my back deck. I saw it the other day and my daughter had lined up a row of moon shells on it and I thought of summer and I smiled as I thought of the homemade icecream I'm going to make with her this summer.
Sent from my iPhone

4 comments:

  1. My, you are an accomplished woman! I think I've read through most of your archived blogs but still don't get the story of how you ended up on that little island. It might make an interesting additon. Blessings on you both, Ann

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  2. Thank you Ann and Thank you for reading the blog. I actually think of myself as an ordinary woman. Thank you for your suggestion. I will include it in an upcoming post.

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  3. I second Ann's suggestion! Would love to hear again how you came to live on the island. And - you certainly are quite an industrious lady, love your workbench!

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  4. Thank you! And thank you for reading!

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