Granny - those look fabulous! Ever thought about being a 4-H volunteer leader? I wish that I had a nail gun, I always have to use more primitive tools, to make things like....the link below!

Here is a link that might be useful:

Awesome! Love 'em granny! :)
Do you buy the wood precut or do it all yourself?

Y'all are an inspiration! The boy keeps asking for a bat box....I just may have to take a go at it.

Oh, EG...that turned out gorgeous! Absolutely gorgeous!

Oh, I just love my little nailer. I had a Sears Craftsman that was a piece of junk, so last year I bought this for me for Christmas. It's an Arrow ET200 Nailmaster 2. Today was the first time I ever had it jam, but less than two minutes with a screwdriver and the instructions, and it was working great again. It sure came in handy when I had to install new baseboards in the kitchen and bedroom of the AZ house last winter. I'm not real great with a hammer!

Never a 4-H leader, but several years with Cub/Boy Scouts as a leader.

Granny

Here is a link that might be useful: Annie's Kitchen Garden

Granny - What's the largest nail you can drive with that? I know the ones used to drive 16 penny nails are expensive!!! I'm very good with a hammer, but when I was building the house - I got a real bad case of tennis elbow. Man, that hurt like crap! It's good that you helped out with the cub/boy scouts! I'm making a sfg presentation to one of the local troops next Monday. Each one is gonna have his own little 1-1/2 quart container to plant lettuce seeds in - then take home to nurture. Woo Hoo!
BTW - I've been thinking....after seeing your garden photos, i'd like to trade gardens! But, I'm not moving to Washington! No way, Jose!

EG

My little guy is a cub scout and I was thinking about trying to have each kid make one of those homemade earthboxes next year. I'll volunteer to grow a seedling for each of them, but they have to buy the mats for the boxes. What do you think? EG, what did you teach with the sq ft garden?
BTW: green beans and peas are already coming in on the fall garden (YIKES!!) So, you think I should plant another batch? Also, my lettuces are getting eaten by something (tiny little holes in everything) and I haven't figured out what it is. I don't want to use chemicals if I can help it. Any homemade solutions?

Carolyn - the presentation is next Monday, and i'm gonna have a 177 picture slideshow for them to watch. Of course, they're pictures I took this year, and there's tons of bug and spider pictures for them to say "COOL!" about. lol. The slideshow takes 15 minutes to sit through, then i'm taking them outside to play in the dirt. I went to Lowes and found these 1-1/2 quart plastic containers in the garden center - that are $1.27 each. The containers, along with a couple of 40 lb. bags of soil amendments and a packet of lettuce seed - should provide a pretty good experience for them. Each one gets to take his own little container home, and nurture his lettuce to maturity.
I have made a couple of seperate plantings of peas and lettuce - to stagger the harvest. If it were me, i'd plant another batch of whatever you like the most.
As far as the bugs on the fall crop - i'm also quite organic, but - if it doesn't require pollination from bees, i'm throwing the chemicals to them!

EG

Crystabel, I bought the wood. I just bought 4' sections of 1x6, (sides & bottoms) 1x8, (fronts and backs) and 1x10 (roofs) because I didn't know how much it was going to take. As it turned out, it was just enough to do those two birdhouses, with enough 1x10 left for another roof or maybe a platform. If I decide to make more (and I think I will, they really are fun to make) I'll buy 8-foot lengths, they cost a lot less. I have about $15 in those 3 boards!

I found a pattern on line, just tweaked it for what I wanted. I made the tall one 14" high and the smaller one 11". The pattern was for a 9" high house.

EG the nailer uses 5/8", 3/4", 1" or 1-1/4" 18 gauge brads. That's fine for most of my projects, but I do wish I had a pneumatic nailing gun to fit Mr. H's air compressor. Sometimes I just need bigger nails...so wherever possible, I just use screws.

Granny

Here is a link that might be useful: Annie's Kitchen Garden

granny and eg those are just gorgeous!! i have a staple/nail gun, worked great last year, now i have to get a good one!! LOL
note, if it looks new, and it looks backwards, don't get it, hubs will think that it's ok to use it like the old ones!! and staple his hand, all wife thinks about is getting the camera to show all her gw friends!! LOL BIG DUMMY!!! LOL
yes i'm that dingy!! i thought it was soooo cool!! LOL
we made a bat house, it looks really funky, no bats yet though, they only like the clothes,
{{gwi:1285965}}
there's actually a blueprint or whatever you call it online for it, thats what we used, but then tabor couldn't get the nails in straight, LOL but he did a great job!! he used the circular saw and all, so i was proud of him!! LOL ~Medo

Heck EG, between our four families that share tools, we've got 5 nail guns and three compressors. And I couldn't build my way out of a paper bag! Look what you do with your two hands!!!

Yep, I'm jealous!

The bird houses look great.

But Grannie be very careful! If your DH was complaining about a few boards, get full blown into woodworking and he better watch out!

I am a reformed woodworking addict! It is very addicting. Over the years I have accumulated a full blown woodworking shop right down to the chainsaw mill to cut your own wood.

Here it is after I moved and set it up again. It currently looks like a hurricane went through it.

You have started down a very slippery slope indeed!

Granny - The brad nail guns are perfect for making all kinds of things, but - it would be pretty sweet to have a bigger one to put that air compressor to work!

Sinfonian - I do the best, with what I have to work with. I do everything free-hand, with only basic tools. When I go to cut a board, I usually clamp it to something rigid - then measure and cut. The planter bench was constructed with 72 individual boards, and were attached by pre-drilling all holes, then installing coated deck screws. I have put several photos on my blog.

Medo - you should be proud of the little one. I think it's great when children like to do something constructive. Who knows? You may have another Norm Abrams in the making. (From the New Yankee Workshop). Reckon Tabor would wanna be in my 4-H club?

Mike - If you're finished with that shop, just send it to me! I have to build everything outdoors, and that miter saw would open up all kinds of possibilities!

EG

Here is a link that might be useful: EG's blog

When I grow up, I want to marry Norm Abrams. Or maybe Mike in Paradise. If EG had a big nailing gun, I might even consider him!

I was all primed to start painting my birdhouses last night, and found I was out of primer. So back to Lowe's today. I think building the garden was cheaper than the "cute" accessories! All of my art supplies are in Arizona, so I had to buy new brushes...and I bought cheap ones, 'cause I have good ones down south, and I hate working with cheap brushes. I'm going to just stick with sunflowers so I don't have to buy a bunch of paint colors (I have those in AZ, too).

What a small world...EG's wife was born in the town where I live!

Granny

Here is a link that might be useful: Annie's Kitchen Garden

Whoa! Granny....you been drinkin them ritas again? lol . Yep, that's where she was born! I'll tell her tonight.

EG

Damn, I loved wood shop in Jr. High.....

These birdhouses are probably going to cost me about $75 each :-( I started painting them last night, and the cheap art supplies just didn't do it for me. Off to Michael's today for $98 worth of new paints, brushes, etc. Just bit the bullet and did it, so now I'll HAVE to either build more birdhouses or go back to canvas painting.

Here I go....down Mike's slippery slope. WHEEEEEEEE!!!

Granny

Here is a link that might be useful: Annie's Kitchen Garden

ohhh boy how is the mr gonna like that?? 98 worth of paint??
at least they'll be the prettiest on the block!! :') ~Medo

Medo, he'd better not say anything...it came out of MY bank account! I'll just feed him beans for the rest of the month *g*.

Granny

Here is a link that might be useful: Annie's Kitchen Garden

LOL i sure do like your spunk!!! :') yep!! i think i'd be the same way!! Hee Hee **big grinn** i can't wait to see your finished product!! i'm thinking about getting the kiddo's into painting. LOL we got onto that back room!! its now almost finished cleaned!! LOL we are gonna make it into the school room!! we have to put sheet rock up on the ceiling, and fix the wall where the closet used to be. we totally took it out to make the room bigger. i had to take the part of the ceiling out so i could find the black mold,, found it and killed it with bleach. i sprayed it several times let it dry and sprayed it again. LOL i wanted it totally dead. he has asthma and well everyone does but me, funny thing is, now that the stuff is gone, so has most of the asthma stuff. HMMMMM.......
now these guys are just running around and getting all better. talla has seasonal. i think its just a thing to call it. cuz they didn't know what to say. but since i took them off of the vitamins also and made them eat right, well, things are better too!! taking them out of school helped trememdously, school was out for 2 days i think they said last year for that flu, then for the "crud" no one knew how to get rid of it. they just kept getting it. it'd "go away" then in a few days' have a flare up. so it made me wonder if it wasn't allergy based? if they'd have a flare up. i knw in the winter i used to have MAJR allergy problems. all because of mice. but then i found the ecolab. works like a charm. i have to buy another bucket of "mice food" as i tell talla, she knows its for mice ONLY. she thinks i'm so nice to buy them food so they'll leave ours alone, but that it's so sad that they die. but that its nice they don't die in the walls. she knows, when they do, i will sniff on the floor till i find the spot, LOL then apart comes the boarding to get the dead mouse. bleach the spot, (after its removed) then back goes the board. she thinks i'm a dork, but i can't handle the smell. even though they can't really smell the thing, i have one of them snouzers!! LOL gas leak, i know right off the bat!! and when the city guy found it, he said it barely read on the meter. LOL
tomarow i get to watch lucy marie, my neice!! i am so anxious!!! WOOO HOOO!!! Hugs !~Medo

Medo, I'm still fighting the painting. I don't really like working with acrylic paints to begin with (but it's necessary), and you wouldn't think one would forget how to paint after just a few years of not doing it...but I'm struggling. I need to not be such a perfectionist. These will be way out there in the garden, after all, not sitting on my coffee table in the living room! I'll get back into the swing of it before too long, in the meantime these will just have to be practice pieces. I have decided both of them are too big for the garden posts, so they will sit atop those brightly painted ladders I will be using for vine supports.

Granny

Here is a link that might be useful: Annie's Kitchen Garden

Granny would marry me in instead; I have a pneumatic nail gun and a pneumatic staple gun or am I too old for you? :) Mike is correct though it is a very slippery slope. I have been a wood worker almost as long as a gardener.

John

Here is a link that might be useful: My slippery slope

Wow, John! Now that's quite an accomplishment. I know you've got some very cool tools to work with! Thanks for supplying the link to the pictures.

EG

OMG, John. If I didn't have Mr. H, I'd grab you in a minute! No, I'd grab you in a second! You made all that beautiful furniture? C'mon, tell us...you really are Norm Abrams, aren't you?

And you have a Nordic Flex, too!

Granny

Here is a link that might be useful: Annie's Kitchen Garden

Granny, if I could get both of my feet off the ground at the same time I would click my heels. You didnÂt notice the bongo drums, did you?

John

Here is a link that might be useful: Johns Journal

John, why do you have a picture of me on that Civil War desk (Photo#6 of 13)? You say it's not me? Then why is that woman wearing my clothes? *g*

{{gwi:1285952}}

Granny

Here is a link that might be useful: John's Picture

boy i guess so!! granny.....you have something ya want to tell us?? **eyebrows raised** (onery grinn) pretty soon the dang fall is gonna be here, next weekend is our "fair" if that's what ya can call it. LOL its dwindled down alot! i can't wait til one day it gets bigger again. LOL someone new has taken over it, so i hope that makes a difference!! that would be awesome!! ~Medo who's supposed to be finishing cleaning out the back room for the kids work room. LOL

Ok. I think I'm in love. My husband can build a 7 second race car from scratch but can't do anything else. He tried hanging trim at our old house.......it didn't go so well. ROFL.

EG when you're done with my bench let me know and I'll give you my address to ship it too ;)

Jeni - that's funny....7 second cars, huh? Man, you can build all kinds of outdoor structures with the money that it takes to do that. I've been a drag racing fan my whole life, and personally know alot of big name racers. Anyway, I guess I need to get to building more benches. Welcome back to the forum!

EG

hey eg, you wouldn't need to build mine!! just teach my boy to!! LOL **big grinn** LOL i think we will start doing some of these things later!! it will be interesting to see how he does!! he does have his grandpa's interest and their handyman in him. i want to tap into that!! i've got to get hubs to not dampen that, he came from a family that always had the negativity side, i don't want tabor to believe that no is in his vocabulary. LOL i like to think that where there's a will there's a way. my mom kinda sometimes hates that about me, hubs DEFINATLY hates that about me, i'm very persistant. LOL he may think i've given up on an idea, but i'm buying time till i figure my way!! LOL Hee Hee **big grinn** ~Medo who can't wait to go garage saling to day!!! WOO HOO!! LOL

Jeni, I don't think EG can afford to send your bench. The shipping charges on the one (or two) he's sending me will break the bank!

Don't feel badly about your husband, I won't let mine even near my tool box! The only time he's allowed to "build" is if I need some muscle behind a hammer or screwdriver.

Granny

Here is a link that might be useful: Annie's Kitchen Garden

Granny, That is excellent! I love them, and am inspired by your little project! If you use EG's bench planter along with your bird houses, will you be providing room and board for all the bird's? LOL, those are some lucky lil birds, they will love it. You need to post pics of them finished and painted too.

EG, my husband was impressed with your planter bench, soooo maybe I'll get one too!! Thanks for posting the pics!

-Susan

Susan, I really don't think I could talk EG into sending me his bench planter, but I figure if I can build a birdhouse, I should be able to build a bench *g*. If it can be cut with a chop saw, nailed with a brad nailer, or screwed together with deck screws I can handle it. Before I can tackle that project, I have to build and paint about 100 more bird houses to use up all the tubes of paint I had to buy.

Granny

Here is a link that might be useful: Annie's Kitchen Garden

Sigh...looks like I've got my work cut out for me!

Medo - I wish that I did have someone to teach about the various things that I do, and build. My boys only want to play gameboy and GAY stuff like that. Oh God....they drive me insane....They are useless.

Granny - if I remember correctly, you've got a ford ranger to come and pick that bench up with. LOL . Hey! It would only take you about 4 days to get here, so - What seems to be the problem? Hee Hee

Jeni - You know...I may have to start building these things to sell. Reckon how much something like this is worth? Tell hubs to come to my house, and i'll show him how to build one! I don't know what part of Florida you're from, but it's about a 12-13 hour drive from orlando....

Susan - welcome! I'm glad you and hubs liked it! It's in three seperate pieces, and must be assembled in place. I don't know what the weight rating is...but it's gotta be at least 1000 lbs. The first time my wife sat on it, she only said, "man, this thing is stout, it has no give to it at all". Anyway, you can see all of the pictures of it on my blog. Just click on the "Building Projects" Category on the right, and it will take you to them.

Here is a link that might be useful: EG's blog

Granny - I want some of those birdhouses! How many birdhouses would you be willing to trade for one planter bench? Also, I know you could easily build a bench....you're Supergranny!

EG

Lessee, EG...My small birdhouse, minus the base (yet to be added), weighs just over 4-1/2 pounds. We'll round that off to 5 pounds. That means you get 200 birdhouses for one 1000 pound bench. Do you think I'm gonna live long enough to build 200 bird houses?

Granny

Here is a link that might be useful: Annie's Kitchen Garden

Sure, Granny - you just need to work faster! What's the hold up? LOL. You're supergranny...remember? BTW, the bench doesn't physically weigh 1000 lbs, it'll just support at least that much. The bench and planters combined probably weigh around 100 lbs.

EG

Then you only get 20 birdhouses. No problem with me and the bench, I don't weigh anywhere near 1000 pounds! I wondered about that 1000 weight of the bench. Thought you must have constructed it from ironwood or sumpthin' *g*.

Granny

Here is a link that might be useful: Annie's Kitchen Garden

ya, tabor at first was into them gameboy things at first, then he was into them too much, so i put a time limit on them, well that didn't work, so it was...hold on... just a minut mom... i'm a mom that's if i wanted it done in a minute i'da asked you to do it in a minute, kinda raised that way and it carried over. LOL so then i took it away then he threw a fit, so i made him give the thing away to his cousin he didn't have one and i wasn't gonna let him play it anymore. so that didn't go over really well at first. but OH WELL!! now i tell him if you want a game in this house it will be a wii. i won't make you fat and you have to use your mind. i refuse to have a fat lazy minded child. tabor say's to me lovingly "mom, your such a dork" and he smiles!! LOL but he likes that idea better. and he knows there's a time limit on it as well. LOL
we like the outdoors better! LOL
~Medo who can't think right today!! AHHHHH!!!! dang house!!! **onery grinn** when all else fails blame it on the house!!!! LOL

20....Ok, best be putting some gas in that truck then! I'd love to have a great big birdhouse for the pileated woodpeckers in my woods. I love to watch them.

EG

i love to watch the hummingbirds, have ya'll checked out the hummingbird forum?? there's a guy over there who made an awesome, really awesome hummingbird feeder!! and he's a farm boy!! LOL he posted a bunch of video's for talla to see, that was so sweet!! she had to see every single one of them!! no stinking kidding!! LOL i put the link here for ya all to look at!! i want one sooo bad!! now that, i can't do just yet!! i'm so involved in this fixing/cleaning up this contraption, LOL one room down, no two rooms down, 5 more to go.!!! yeeee HAWWWWW LOL
grant told me there is no way that my gh is level!!! he said what in the world makes me think its level?? i said the leveler does!! he said, there is no way its level!!!
i said, dude that leveler said it is, i did that level at every single "intersection" and it leveled out. on all 4 sides. it just looks funny because of the ground. errr!!
MEN!!! go and mess up my plan!! LOL it must be that dang thyroid. that's what i'm gonna lay it on!! i need to vent!! that's it!! LOL he's getting that thing radiated and gone- assuming it will take the dye?? something like that. LOL we have something like 5 more weeks to wait to find out. its going to be a long wait and fighting. i can feel it. ok, i'm don'e. we did find a pair of jeans for talla that she likes!! now lets see if she will actually wear them@! LOL
they do have butterfly's on them!! LOL we didn't find anything for him though he's pretty picky. i said well, honey, you are always working anyhow, so i guess, thats alright. LOL unless they made prison work clothes!! LOL

Here is a link that might be useful: hummingbird feeder!! LOL

Granny, just a little teaser, I bought a brandy new Bosch saber saw today. Is it a honey! No vibrations what so ever.

John

Here is a link that might be useful: Johns Journal

John, I'm not touching that last comment with a ten-foot pole ;-)

Granny

Here is a link that might be useful: Annie's Kitchen Garden