Something made me smile today...even though it has been bright and sunny out, the chill winter winds are still coming from the East off the Russian Steppes, and I have been itching this last few weeks to get some of the summer flowers and veg seeds into their trays, and steal a march on the growing season. My large apartment is built at an odd angle to the nurturing sun, with the main windows and balcony facing nearly east and west, with only a section of the front porch and the rear balcony getting the warm south sun in the mid morning and the mid afternoon of the day.
With the balcony, still being subject to the winds, it meant that a small corner of the porch lobby was the only place free to place seeds (other years I have started later and placed them outside)....and I had plans, in my mind to contrive some sort of tall thin shelved structure that I could place in the porch and set some seeds going.
So there I am, out and about in the van in the Cotswold countryside this morning... and I pass a rural house gateway...and stood out by the trash bin....was an old 1940's ~ 50s hat/coat/umbrella stand!!!!!!! I turned the van round...and slowed passed it...and a big note on it said...'Free to Good Home....Please Take'
Wow...lol...I couldn't believe it!!..but it was in the van in a trice and now is stood in my dining room, awaiting lifting up into my studio to re-stain and varnish.
It is six foot tall...and the base is 16 inches square...ideal for that lobby corner. At first I thought I'd chop it into two items...one for the lobby, another for the balcony...but looking at it long and hard....I am now thinking keep it whole for a three stage plant feature.
On the base I could have a big square pot...and maybe grow a Climbing plant like a Honeysuckle or Clematis or Passion Flower up each stem..... (I have also thought...i might actually plant veg on it.....i.e.: Runner Beans or Haricot Vert, that go up the struts for this year as an edible experiment and they have nice red flowers.)
On the middle stage...grow seeds and later a nice pot of cascading blooms....and on the top.....fill in the gap inside at the *summit* and hang a basket of flowers down inside.....
Indeed the ideas are reforming as I stand and mull over my good fortune and new possibilities of actually making another one myself.
So lets raise a beer to that age old universal truth, that if you are lost for ideas...if you start looking, something always turns up.
Sir D (today a Sage tomorrow Onions) of O
Very cool! I love it when things like that happen. We have put things in the front "for free" many times, and I'm always happy to see what we no longer need or want find a new home!
ReplyDeleteLately, we take everything down to Mother's Teresa's Treasures, a thrift shop ran by our church, St. John. The proceeds fund the local food pantry.
I once found two red velvet 1950's chairs, which looked like they came out of the Jetsons Cartoon Set, while driving down the road. I picked them up for my office at my old company as chairs for my guests and clients to sit in. Lovely compliments all around, except for my old partner. Yet another reason, why I am no longer there!
Now, my beloved chairs are in "Get Wet", a local skate board, snowboard and fashion shop, where teenagers set in them while they spend their parents money on stuff the parents hate.
Nice to see the digs! As the only KMSA USA member to grace your hallowed halls, I think the plant stand will be an excellent touch in your flat.
Sir Hook Who Has Many Layers Like an Onion Soaked in Sage of Warrick
Cool coat rack. Might have to borrow that design.
ReplyDeleteThe last killing frost is around April 15 in our zone, but I always ignored that Farmer's Almanac table when a few warm days hit in mid-March.
Inevitably, I would rush to put out a beautiful garden only to have it visited heavily by Jack Frost -- or even snow.
Sir Bowie of Greenbriar
Bowie:... Yes it is a classic design for a hat, coat and umbrella hallway stand. It is in my Studio, and hs had its first coat of walnut stain varnish on it. and is looking good. I will photo some close up shots of the jointing for you and send them over with some measurements.
ReplyDeleteLate Springs : we suffer from cold winds off the sea...this is why Greenhouses are so popular here for bringing on seeds, as we get plenty of sunlight, but the windchill confuses the plants...most of which originated in warmer climes.
Sir D ( who really just loves the anticipation of the possibilities the summer and spring and wishes the months didn't then have to gallop away over the hills like wild horses, to the end of the year and stuff hasn't been done.) of O