Pergola, Sicario, and Festive Lights

Funny how you can get inspired from the strangest of places or circumstance, like after watching a very violent film...

Last year after watching the film Sicario, I took note how lovely the pergola was that was featured on the film festooned with garland lights but with big round bulbs, rather than tiny fairy lights usually seen on Christmas trees. I won't go into much detail on what happened under that pergola in the film for the benefit of those who haven't seen it but suffice to say it was very memorable. Anyhow, I jotted it down as a garden idea for 2016.

Fast forward to June and in the midst of searching online for something similar to what we have seen on the film, we have received an email from Festive Lights giving us an opportunity to review one of their products. Lo and behold, there it was in amongst their products are the lights very similar to the one I was looking for, how lucky was that!

So I immediately requested for them and they sent them straight away for us to install and try.

They sent us a 15 meter bundle of the 5 meter festoon warm globe lights, interconnected with an outdoor battery pack as its power source. The length was perfect for our existing pergola on the bottom patio, to arrange them in a similar fashion as to how it was on the film (with a bit of slack on the wires as they hang randomly across the pergola).

We would have preferred lights that were mains connected as they tend to be brighter but this turned out to be fine and sufficiently bright running on size D batteries. Plus, with no wiring involved on to mains electricity, connecting and installation is much easier and convenient to place practically anywhere.

We are pleased with how they look installed on the pergola and how they illuminate the area when it gets dark. Makes hanging out at the bottom patio a tad bit nicer during the night.

Unlike the film, no violent endings on our pergola please! Or anywhere else for that matter!

Mark :-)

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The Table is Set

I didn't get to finish the planting of the succulent table the other evening so the following evening I finally managed to and here it is now...

And it was oiled too! Until I saw again what it looked like last year did I realise how much the wood has aged to grey. Nothing wrong with that and such a finish is nice in its own right too but I much prefer it in a deeper sheen like how it was before. Two coats of Danish oil later and that deep sheen was restored.

Before

After

If you notice on the background that the area by the fence is still in disarray. The pot display on the patio is as good as finished already but both areas where the fences are still needed some extra attention, which it got this weekend...

Mark :-)

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Come Dine With Me?

Mark set me a two part challenge at the weekend, to build him a table with a planting area. Ok, so far so good, the second part was to recycle timber we had in the garden.

Hmmm well I know I do hang onto off cuts or useful buts of wood from projects long gone but do we have enough useful pieces of wood to build a table.

The table top was the easy part, we had several off cuts left over from the decking by the pond, fortunately we had 5 pieces roughly 4 feet long (about 140cm each) and several smaller bits. Ok so thats the table top, but it wouldnt be very impressive if it was just placed on the ground. A hunt in the shed and there was a decent sized bit of 2x4". Ok thats one leg....

Then I remembered we still had quite a lot of wood left from the old deck that is now home to the conservatory - result! enough for the rest of the construction.

A basic frame built from the old deck base.

Using a counter sink on the deck boards so the screws will be flush to the table.

Boards fastened on, its starting to look like a table.

Taking the rough edges off the old timbers.

A shelf was added under the table to support a planting area. This is lined with weed membrane to hold the compost in place. A free draining mix was used. A coat of decking oil was added to help preserve the colour of the wood.

Getting planted up and removing the excess membrane.

And ta-da! the finished table, all set for some enjoyable meals on the patio this summer. Both parts of Marks challenge were completed, 100% of the materials used for the table we already had in the garden or shed, all we had to do was add plants.

Gaz

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