What Nice Jugz You Have!!!

OMG...I feel like I have been run over by a wheel barrel and a ton of mulch! Wait a minute...I ((have)) been run over by a wheel-barrel and a ton of mulch! More on that later, but for now I will have to say that I have been working my butt off (not that I had much of a butt, to begin with) for the last four days! Just so you know, I am still working on my project calendar from the previous post titled "This Old House"...I have plans for posting the calendar soon. Yeah right! *wink* We have had this wonderful "spurt" of warm weather here lately and I have soooo been out in it! I must take advantage of the warm days while I can, so the calendar is going to have to wait for a little while! This years spring weather has been crazy-unpredictable? It will be 70 degrees one second, then snowing the next?! Overall, it has been too damn cold for me! Remember, our house has remained (on average) around 56 degrees (outside of the hot rooms) ever since we disconnected our gas utilities the first of this month. Anything above 60 degrees is amazing! Today was in the '70s!!! Talk about amazing! Heck yayeh! So needless to say, outdoor work has become my first priority for now! Despite what my "muscles and bones" may be screaming, I have to keep on working!!

Anyway, enough moaning and groaning...and more rejoicing...WhooHoo...it is time for some details!

So...jugz!!! Yes! Milk Jugs! I have been collecting milk jugs for several months now...the idea was to make landscaping bricks out of concrete while using the jugs as molds! I basically cut the jugs in half, mixed the concrete...and HeyHey...bricks! I averaged about four bricks per bag of Quickcrete (40lb bag)! Each brick cost just under a dollar to make! A whooooole lot cheaper than buying prefabbed landscaping bricks! Much more interesting too!

Depending on how you place the bricks, depends on the overall "look" of them! I chose to place each brick facing down so that you can see the impression of the milk jugs (the bottoms look funny--more of a conversation piece placed this way and the kids love it)! Now, if I needed a deeper bed I would stack the bricks on top of each other (flat side facing up) so that they would stack better! Either way, they are fun and very effective...as well as cost-efficient! Below is what the bricks look like when faced flat side down!

Pretty awesome, aye? They look like molars...you know, teeth!? Don't they? Teeth...hmmm...that actually gives me another idea that I might have to experiment with later...

Speaking of cost-effective, how does (((free))) sound to you...? Can't get much better than that! The above picture is of a very large pile of rough cut mulch! My local power company has been recently trimming tree branches away from the power lines! Soooooo, I asked if they would be interested in a closer location for dumping their load...pause...that sounded weird ..(?)...anyway, I offered my front yard...um... that's beginning to sound even weirder!!! Uh hum, anyway...since they are presently trimming my neighborhood trees, what better location for them to dump the mulch than in my front yard? Can't get any closer than that! They agreed and I now have mulch...free mulch! Worked out for both of us: They save gas and time and I save money! Beautiful!

Needless to say, I have a ton of work ahead of me hauling mulch back and forth with a wheel barrel, but I would be doing the same thing if I were hauling bags of mulch (bought from a retailer) from out of the back of my truck!? Right? The same amount of effort except without the plastic bags and, of course, without the paper involved (the green kind called money)...! Love it! I have great plans for this mulch and have been working non-stop distributing it to it's designated areas! I will use this much like a filler and for landscaping (paths, beds, etc.)...! I am definitely getting a workout during the process, hence, aching bones/muscles...you know, the wheel barrel and mulch incident? Well, not literally...but it sure does feel like it! Overall, everything is working out nicely!

The below picture shows what the mulch looks like up close and personal! Oh yeah...I like it that way! Cheap and intimate!

The below picture is just a pretty picture! My pansies look beautimus, don't they! Happy plants indeed! I thought I would share! I will also share that the copper, butterfly candle-holders were a find! These beauties were buried under some leaves at an abandoned trailer site I scavenged with a friend a while back! Aren't they pretty? Again, free...! Who said being "broke" wasn't fun!?

The below picture shows the early stages of my "potted garden"...! I planted seeds, so give it a week or so and future yummies will eventually appear! Sweet! Also, every single pot photographed was...take a wild guess...FREE! Yes, these pots were all "rejects" tossed away...unwanted!

"It is okay little pots, Mama found you a home!"
(I don't just talk to my plants, I talk to my pots as well...)

Okay, so I agree...they are ugly as hell, but I have plans of beautifying them! I told you I have a lot to do! Baby steps...baby steps!

Alrighty, now...another project I have been working on is a soon to be fort/tree house! My 8 y/o son is very excited about this project! Funny, he actually believes that I am building this for him??? Ha! Why would he think a thing like that? Because I AM, silly!!! Of course, I am building this for him...his very own "manhole"...! How adorable! 

FYI: I have been informed that I will be the ((only))) girl allowed to enter the fort/tree-house! I am quite honored, to say the least! When I asked my son why (((I))) was the only girl allowed to enter, I of course expected to hear the words, "because you are cool, special and I love you more than anything, Mom"...but his response was, "so you can give my friends and I snacks and drinks!" Imagine that...? Hmmmm...oh well, at least he's honest! Ya know!?

Nah, the truth is he is very excited to have his own space where I can hang with him! He is a sweetheart! Now, I just need to get it built!

My son pitched in and started painting the outside! He did a fine job indeed! All materials used to build this fort/tree house were found in different dumpsters! Including the yellow slide! The only supplies that I have had to buy so far have been nails, screws, and paint! Everything else was free...

Tires, tires and MORE tires! Yes...free (of course)! The blue slide was found at the very same location the pretty, little, copper candle-holders (mentioned above) were found! I have other plans for these tires and the blue slide, but for now, we have grouped the two together to create a fun way to climb and slide! It works for now, but you ((will)) see these materials again...in a different post...used in different structural forms while serving even greater purposes!

See...told ya you would see them again! *smile*

 It is amazing what can be found if our eyes are open! We are completely surrounded by beautiful unwanted (un-seen) treasures! Mounds of unlimited resources right at our fingertips screaming, "take me home"...! Gosh...what a waste, ya know? Hey...it saves (me) a ton of money, but I can't take home everything I see tossed away! I simply don't have the room, or I would...trust me! I love scavenging! It's my "crack"...!

Sometimes, though...even ((I)) have to "close my eyes"...! Saying "no" is very hard for me to do, especially when it involves me pretending something isn't there when it is! Nope...don't like it! Very, very hard...such a waste! Sigh...! But does it have to be...?

Ah-ha! Wait a minute! A solution! How could I have forgotten?

One word: Pinterest!

Yes! Check it out...You'll love it! You won't throw ((anything)) away once you join Pinterest, truuuuuust meeeeee! Here, I will even post the link for ya! Go crazy! I dare you! I will warn you beforehand, Pinterest can be potentially dangerous! Once you're hooked, you're hooked!

http://pinterest.com/

Okay, off my "trip" and back on my..."trip"...? So everything pictured below is the materials I have found on the side of the road! My treasures! It feels fantastic (to me) knowing that I am making use of what would otherwise be dumped in a landfill...wasted! Just look all of it! Free and amazing! I can't wait to build things with all this beautiful "garbage"...!

WOW!

OMG! No way! Aren't they beautiful!

Seriously, who doesn't like wood???  

I (((love))) wood!  

Wood makes me happy! 

The more the wood I can get my hands on, the better!

I can't get enough wood, actually!

More and more...

wood...
Yes! There it is...
Right there...
No, there...
Seriously, right down here!
Wood!
See...?

Why do I have this sudden urge to smoke a cigarette...? 

Welp, there it is...my surplus! I have worked hard collecting and organizing it all...now all that is left to do is build! For now, though...it is time to go to bed! I am tired...

Until next time...

Goodnight! ZZZzzzzzZZZZzzzzzzZZZZzzzzzzz.....