First Thing in the Morning
First thing in the morning…
“First thing in the morning, before you meet or greet anyone, remember to greet all of nature, all visible and invisible creatures. Say to them: “I am grateful for your work, I love you and want to be in harmony with you!” At this very moment, in response to your greeting, all of nature will open to you and send you energy for the entire day.”
~ Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov
I think you can probably tell by how looooooong my shadow is in the pic that this is at sunrise. This was taken recently on a beautiful morning out on the walking trail while I was telling nature how much I appreciate it! …and exercising! 🙂
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Amplify a Phone’s Speakers
Amplify a Phone’s Speakers
While outside today doing yard-work I wanted to play some music from my phone. Now, my phone has a pretty good built in speaker, but out in the yard that speaker can be over-powered by the road, neighbors, and distance.Â
So I found a cute flower pot I had sitting around empty. After knocking out the remaining dirt I placed my phone inside the flower pot. I should probably note that the speakers should be facing the base of the flower pot. This allows the music to bounce off the pottery sides of the pot and exit the pot amplified. Easy peasy!
My flower pot has 2 drainage holes in the bottom. I’m sure I was losing some of my ability to amplify thru those holes, and maybe next time I’ll consider covering them, but it still worked well!
Bat Box
Bat Box
Our backyard has such a bad mosquito problem. People have said that it’s because we have lots of mature trees back there. I’ve often blamed our neighbors to the back for letting water stand in large puddles in the low spots in their yard. We’ve even gone back there several times over the years to maintain little drainage channels we had dug for them. Nothing seems to help. I hate to use DEET on us, but I know it’s the only thing that REALLY works.
I, personally, skip the poison and the backyard opting to suffer any mosquito bites I will get while in the front yard. I worked as a scorekeeper at our local ballpark for years as a teenager. So I learned early on that if I could avoid scratching them, the itch would dissipate within 5-10 mins of being bitten. Not only that, there wouldn’t be a welt or bump from the bite.
However, I want to enjoy our backyard without being coated in poison or worrying about getting bit a million and twelve times. Did you know that bats eat a lot of mosquitoes each night?! I didn’t realize either! So I looked up plans for homemade bat boxes, but being impatient and wanting to get going on a potential solution immediately I also bought one. It’s pretty basic, but if bats house in it that will be fantastic!
There’s an old power pole on our property line next to the backyard that was just begging to have a bat box. The instructions say it could take up to a year and a half for bats to make a home in it. I’m taking the “build it and they will come” approach. 🙂
So it won’t be immediate gratification, and may not even be helpful for this summer, but hopefully we’ll be enjoying our backyard more by the end of next summer.
I’m thinking I need to add a couple more…just in case.
Bike Maintenance
Bike Maintenance
In our family we have a tendency to repair rather than replace our things. Which leads others to offer us their old and or broken things. Since we don’t like to waste and have repair skills, we usually accept their old and broken things. (which is part of why I have too little space in my house and sheds, yes, more than one shed.)
A friend who has 3 sons all within a year of each other (twins and a singleton) passed down their 3 most recently outgrown bikes. Being the former bikes of 9-10 yr old boys you can imagine they’ve seen their days of wear and tear.
We have this thing we do called frankensteining where we take the good/working parts from like items and put them all together to make one item that’s as best as it can be with the parts available. The bikes were no exception. First find the best frame with the best brakes attached. Then swap out parts so that it has the best seat, tires, chain, and handle grips from the three bikes.
And after you’ve fixed what the kids did when they were “helping” you do the repairs, it’s ready to ride! A freshly rehabbed bike!
Build a Cedar Sandbox
Build a Cedar Sandbox
I ran across the plans for a really cool sandbox that had this great lid that when closed made a neat roof for the sandbox and when it’s open it makes a bench for the kids to sit on.
Spring-boarding off of that design I sat down with my pencil, paper, ruler, and big ideas. Soon I had drawn up the design for our sandbox complete with measurements and supplies list.
We chose to use 1″ cedar as the box and pressure treated 2×4’s for the foundation. I know that pressure treated wood would have worked for the whole thing, but I don’t like the idea of my kiddos getting those pressure treated chemicals all over them. So that leaves the moisture tolerant cedar. It’s not a cheap wood, but it’s not THAT outrageous.
Cutting the pieces and placing them into their general locations.
More wood cutting and assembling. The base is done in the one below.
Finished and ready for sand! We added the ropes to the base just in case we ever decided we needed to move it. It won’t go far filled with sand, but it will probably go a little bit….with a lot of muscle.
Kiddos having tons of fun!
Since it has no lid, we lay some spare wooden fence pickets across the top to keep it from being a giant litter box. LOL!
Garden Gnome Fun
Garden Gnome Fun
Alright, I know that garden gnomes have a bad wrap and are considered lame or for old ladies. BUT we watched the kids movie Gnomeo and Juliet. It was pretty cute and put a new spin on my point of view for gnomes.
So I became a gnome fan! LOL! Who would’ve guessed?! Although I like the small, not very noticeable ones vs the big ones you could see from the street. The family has had some good fun placing the gnomes in our garden. They have plant, dirt, and rock areas to set up house in. So hopefully the gnomes won’t be bored with just one type of terrain. 🙂
The family thoughtfully places the gnomes in their new homes.
Finding just the right home for a gnome can be serious business.
Earthworm Living 