Renaissance Dad

My dad has entered the blogosphere!

Writing yesterday's post about the gate my dad built and the memories I had surrounding the times I spent watching my dad create things made me wonder if my dad knew how I felt about those time.  How very special those times were to me.  So I called my parents and told my dad he needed to log on to his computer and take a peek at my blog.

Naturally his answer was, "Look at what?"  And the next thing my dad knew he had entered the blogoshpere.  So here is a post dedicated to my dad. 

My dad knows exactly where to place things in the yard.  He is the vingette master, and he probably has no idea what a vignette is, he does it with just natural talent.

He was re-purposing things long before it was the fashionable-green thing to do. The gate is made of salvaged lengths of pipe in various sizes and the hinges for this one of a kind gate were fashioned from the climbing spikes on telephone poles.

He is the only man I know with his own Backyard Redwood Grove. Look closely and you will see the quaint black metal park bench hidden beneath these giant trees.

He created realistic water features long before HGTV had entire shows revolve around the subject.

My dad started using raised bed to grow food crops over 30 years ago.  If you look closely you can see the wire he uses to keep out the likes of Peter Rabbit.

Early on he found that he was truly interested in fruit trees and started graphing different types of apples on to the same tree.  He still has what he calls the "fruit cocktail tree" named for all the different types of citrus fruit that had been graphed on to a single tree.

My dad has always had the talent to natural pair plants that compliment each other and their position in the yard.  Just like this grouping of Hen and Chick growing around the beautiful base of a white birch tree trunk.

His sunflower plants are stunning year after year.

And they are a a particular favorite of my mom not to mention more than a few lucky birds.

 And this is Tippie, Dad's new rat control project and all around good companion.

Dad is doing is his part to reduce unwanted animals in his area by adopting Tippie from the local animal shelter.

My dad is truly a Renaissance Man.

I will try to show more pictures of my dad's yard next time I visit the folks.  And maybe I can snap a few shots of the wonderful food my stepmother can cook up and dedicate a post to her as well.

I Want to Share My Inheritance with You!

Unfortunately for all of us I probably do not stand to inherit any money.

But according to my dad I will be inheriting this beautiful gate.

I was probably about 10 or 11 years old when my dad made this gate for his side yard.  When I was a kid I loved to sit and watch my dad work on things in the garage.  When I was very little I used to sit on my stool while my dad worked on his race car and he would make up beautiful stories just for me.  My dad made up the stories as he went along and he would continue the storyline each time I joined him in the garage.  Not only are these some of my first memories but they are some of my most precious ones. 

But the race cars are long gone which might not be a bad thing because I am not to sure how good a race car would look in my dad's yard or mine someday.  This is my dad sitting on the patio he laid himself and in front of the pond he created, surrounded by the yard he landscaped.  I would not want you to think his creativity stopped at the gate. 

So back to my inheritance, about a year ago I mentioned to my dad that I have always loved this gate.

After all what is not to love.  My dad made this gorgeous gate himself, and sometimes I was able to join him in the garage to watch and occasion help by handing a tool or offering my opinion.  I was too old for stories about horses and I don't even remember what we actually talked about but I know we talked about something and when you are a ten year old girl it is just important that you talked with your dad.  So I watched as he cut each piece of metal pipe individually. The pipe was of many different sizes and each was cut to a random length and then was placed according to how it looked in the over all design.  Then the pieces were then  laid out on the garage floor until he was happy with the look he had created. The pieces of that pattern was then spot welded together and then he used straight metal to create the frame and welded the frame to the piece made of the pipe sections.  It ended up being rather heavy and so my dad had to build a metal post for the gate to swing from,  As a result of the sound of metal on metal the gate makes a lovely sound when it is opened. And that sound never fails to remind me of talking with my dad in the garage while working on one of his projects.

And while I love to take pictures of the gate and its one of a kind style I am not in any hurry to have the gate in my yard.  I would rather have my dad hang around a little longer.

 

And if while he is still hanging out it would be great to talk about some old projects and possibly make some new projects with my dad.

Thanks for reading,

I won the Duck Challenge!

I frequently say that I never win anything but my luck may have changed because I won the "Duck Challenge" over at Cheap Chic Home.  The "Duck Challenge" was a wonderfully silly contest to see what bloggers could do with a $1 garage find.

If I could figure out how to place a picture of the duck plaque that was featured I would, but since I can't you will have to check out Kim's post to see him and while you are there you just have to read all the great suggestions.  Kim came up with her own duck make over project and posted it along with the announcement of the winner, ME!

If you have not been to Kim's site, Cheap Chic Home, wander over to see it.  It is one of my favorite sites.  And not just because she choose me as the winner.  Thanks Kim.
Thanks for reading,

Home Depot Discount

I was at my local Home Depot today picking up some touch up paint when I learned something new.

The clerk asked the man in line in front of me if he was a veteran.  She then told him that Home Depot is giving veterans and their immediate families a 10% discount.  Not just for the 4th of July holiday but all the time.  When it was my turn at the register I asked her a few questions about the discount and she told me that Home Depot used to honor our military and veterans with a 10% discount on holidays but now it was year round. 

I googled the info as soon as I hit the door to see if it was true and according to previously published reports it is correct.  And Lowe's offers the same discount.

What a great way to honor the sacrifices both our past and present military and their families make!

Thanks for reading,