Saturday, November 04, 2017

Fixed The Garden Bench

I guess close to eight years ago when we were looking to buy a house in Tucson we pulled up in front of what is now our current house. The front garden looked OK but the house was the ugliest coral color you have ever seen. BTW, I've kept the mailbox the same color just to remind me of what it looked like. I had to be talked into going inside. The inside wasn't much better, the owner had put a fresh coat of paint on the walls and it was clean but with 'popcorn ceilings and bad carpet throughout. The worst part was the cabinetry, all fiber board with pictures of wood on the outside from the early 70's. I almost walked out before going into the back garden.

The back garden was nice with a pool that was much like an infinity pool looking out over a large wash and with a view of the Tucsons to the West and the Catalinas to the North and with total privacy, Ok this is better but... Then MsBubba went down the stairs to the bottom of the property and there was a broken down garden bench for her to sit on. I followed a little later and when I saw her face I knew I was in for years of painting, removing popcorn, pulling out carpet, and making cabinets. Also repairing the broken down garden bench.

All of that has been done except repairing the broken down garden bench, in fact a couple of days ago we re-painted the back half of the first re-paint, the front half will be done this coming Spring.

Yesterday I finally got around to the garden bench. What I originally thought would be a couple hour project turned into a two day affair with several trips to Ace for hardware  and each slat was different and had to be fitted, the only common thing was the length.

Anyway here are some photos, first the repaired bench that started it all:


Looking up the stairs from the sitting area. If you click 'em to big 'em and you look carefully you may be able to see Sam looking down the stairs.



A couple of plastic chairs in the sitting area.


The view across the wash.


And the Tucsons to the West. We are less than five miles from downtown Tucson and two miles from I-10 yet at the bottom of the wash it is peaceful and quiet with birds, rabbits, deer, coyotes, bobcats, and javelina to keep us entertained plus the occasional rattlesnake and of course packrats .


Only eight or so years to finish what was the first known project, no one ever said I was fast.

ken


13 comments:

  1. Funny thing, I have a similar bench sitting in my yard. It was in my mom's back yard for about 20 years before I decided to "rescue" it and bring it home to rebuild it. Well, I've had it for about 4 years now and it hasn't made it to this year's list of winter projects or even any list for that matter. I basically have the metal legs and no wood left so I've got my work cut out for me when I do get around to rebuilding it. What species of wood did you use on your bench? It looks like a brand new bench. Nice work.

    Bob B.

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  2. Had to look up what a javelina was. I had never had of them before. Congrats on getting the bench done.

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  3. Bob,

    No need to get in a hurry :-). You still have another 4 years to go. BTW, thanks. The wood is Cypress. It holds up well outdoors here in the desert. I thought about White Oak, some was in the wood pile, but the WO would make the bench very heavy.

    ken

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  4. Ralph,

    We call them, the Javelinas, pigs. As in "The damn pigs turned the trash over last night". They are the hooligans of the desert. Thanks, it took awhile :-).

    ken

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    Replies
    1. You should eat them: https://honest-food.net/cooking-javelina/

      Hahaha.

      Delete
  5. Steve D10:24 AM

    I have a packrat infestation in my basement. He's made quite a mess of the place. My wife keeps threatening to exterminate him.

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  6. Andy,

    Some people will eat anything, I get close but thanks but no thanks :-).

    ken

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  7. Steve,

    They are good at making a mess. I call it "rat art". you can tell when they are around because of the "art". Usually installations of rocks, dog turds, and cholla stems but the worst is when they camp under your car's hood.

    Other than the mess and damage they are cute little suckers. I trap 'em and release 'em in another neighborhood and the cycle starts all over.

    ken

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  8. Trap and release...Tst Tst you are just recycling the same ones over and over :-)
    Nice view. Will definitively have to go over for a drink overlooking the vista one of these days...
    Bob, the traveller

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  9. ...and don't forget the scorpions...

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  10. Bob,

    Yep, but they gota work hard to get back.

    Anytime there is always room and a single malt at Casa Chaos. You may have to share with two big, hairy, smelly dogs that want to play tug and fetch.

    ken

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  11. Ted,

    I try to :-).

    When I wear shoes I bang 'em together before putting 'em on. My guess is it doesn't do much good but makes me feel better.

    I forgot to mention turning on the light in the kitchen and seeing a saucer sized Tarantula in the middle of the floor. It happened three times last spring. The good news it was me instead of MxBubba otherwise hilarity would have ensued.

    ken

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  12. Anonymous2:37 AM

    Look for "pecarry leather" on the web.
    Sylvain

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