Bravo Nick! It looks great. Love the look.

Pagan I have one of these in my back yard. What do you call it?

It's a pergola. We never use it because there is a deck already. I'm guessing the previous owners used this for barbecues (notice the firepit). But since there is a deck, it's kind of redundant and even if it isn't redundant, I don't care. I want it screened for my haworthias. So there.

There are workmen in the yard today too. They are taking the above-ground pool (also came with the house and a royal pain). It's taken two years to reach the point where there are only two big indoor jobs remaining and we can start looking at the yard. It's...well. Yikes!

That is a really cool little area Pagan. It will be perfect when it's screened. Are you going to put a fairly high % shade cloth on top? or is the top not open?

The table would like kind of odd in the house if we didn't have a house full of random 1800 and early 1900's stuff. Can't wait to get a protective coating on it and bring it in the house. May use an old bucket with some nice patina on it as a center piece

Would love to seem some others' projects as well if anyone has pictures. This is off topic after all so have fun with it!

Pagan I love the idea of screening it in. Looking forward to seeing your future Haw garden. Wish I had a workshop how very cool it would be to have all that stuff in one place!
Nick here is my weekend project, just finished minutes ago. Expanding my ghetto bench from a single tier to 3. I know how unattractive it is. But once it's filled with the rest of my collection I won't really care.
Tracy

lol@ghetto bench. Jeez, this forum is just a bag of laughs today!

The rest of your plants will cover up whatever it is you find unattractive, Tracy. If they don't, well, you just need to get more!

Nick, it will be screened on all sides as well as the top. I've made two panels for the top screen and they are hinged on one side. Not very sturdy but it will let me pull it down in autumn so the leaves can be brushed off. I will also install a medium shade cloth that you can either roll up to one side or hook on to the other side.

Your furniture sound interesting.

Pagan

Love the ghetto bench. I have one outside that is made of paver and plywood. If the bench serves it's purpose then who cares what it looks like.

Pagan, I was considering making a little greenhouse area that is screened on the sides and shade cloth on top. Then in winter I could add a plastic I could roll down if the nights get "cold".

Speaking of crafty, I didn't make this but found it for a dollar at a second hand store. I think it's supposed to be a flower but it looks like an Echeveria to me.

Can you drill a hole in that thing and plant an echevariia in it?

That's a great idea. It has a hole partially through it from where I think someone had it on a small metal rod, probably as a lawn ornament.

Just wanted to give a quick update now that it's in the house. Can see what I mean by random antiques as shown by the 1920's milk jug in the background (please ignore the kids' chore chart on the fridge).

Very nice, Nick. You can put car keys in it too! As well as scissors, box cutters, tape measures, sunglasses lol We call that the CORT in our house (container of random things). In our case it's a copper bucket that someone gave to us as a housewarming present.

I love that milk jug! And someday the kids will be 16 and then you can make them install nagware on their phones that will blast off an alarm when it's time to take the trash out.

We have a CORT in our house as well. It's a bamboo bowl that is right about where I'm standing for that photo :) we just refer to it as the "catch all" and the cats think it's their personal toy basket.

I'd be happy if by 16 the kids would just exit their room and stop taking selfies for 3 or more minutes out of the day. Lol

Then at 19, they'd learn to hit "snooze" and the trash does not go out. They have to be nagged manually. Hmp.

BTW, people of winter experience: does treated wood need to be protected with some kind of finish or can I just leave it bare? This is a single-piece 2x6x10 shelf that will be outdoors.

Lol as someone who has had to strip paint, I'd never paint any wooden furniture. Good match with the patio wooden thingy tho

Stripping anything is a royal pain. And I agree, it's a good match for my pergola lol

Here's what the chairs look like. They were originally the same color as the original table with black leather seats. Ignore the rude fuzzy plant on the table, it never stays in its pot.

Wow, Nick. You've really made it work. The fuzzy explains the color scheme too. Perfect match!

Pagan

Pagan, here's my painted pergola pictures for you......it's nice to see what others are craftily doing isn't it, not that there's much skill in slapping a coat of paint on, but it helps to keep things neat and tidy! Lol! Hope to see some other entries in this vein......

edit, sorry forgot to congratulate you Nicholas, I do like the look of the table, even your cat is colour co-ordinated!!

Oh hogwash, Gill. Painting anything does require skill. And if you're only 5 feet tall, it also needs some rudimentary acrobatics. I agree with your choice of color too, given the surroundings.

I wish I had that hedge you have. And I mean now, not twenty years from now lol In fact, I want those Norman hedgerows in Normandy that date back to the Roman times.

My pergola project is getting slightly out of hand.

Pagan

Looks great Gill. I like the little one in the background with the vines too. Beautiful outdoor area.

Clematis 'Multi Blue' Nicholas and thank you :) The concrete oblong was originally part of the base of two greenhouses.....that got blown away :(

Gill

Oh no, was it a bad storm that blew it away? Was going to ask if was a hurricane, but I'm not sure if you get them over there.

Had to look up that species of flower. They're really pretty, are they one of the quick growers like maypops?

I just looked that up. Clematis is that annoying thing I am having to yank out all over the yard! It's even in the New Jersey "Do Not Plant" List. I'll save one and see what kind it is.

I'm about half-way through.

Gill, what is that tree?

Nicholas, yes it was a storm several years ago, we don't get hurricanes thank goodness. Our clematis hybrids come on a huge range of colours and types, they're perennial climbers that can put on a lot of growth in one season so they're cut down low each year. Never heard of maypops, it's our passion flower, I have grown a potted one a while back, the blooms are really interesting.

Pagan, yours may be the wild form we call Old mans beard! It scrambles through hedges in the UK, these garden hybrids are spectacular with flowers easily 6inches in diameter in every colour imaginable. The tree is an English oak which has been pollarded to keep it under control. I have a large garden as you can see but it would take over and cut out so much light. It gets the chop every 10years to keep it within bounds. The plant house is coming on a treat btw, good for you!

Gill

Really awesome do-it-yourself talent, Nick! Pagan the Haw garden project looks great. Looking forward to seeing everyone outside.

Tracy

It seems to be coming along really well Pagan! Can't wait to see it finished.

Thank you Tracy :) I just do what I'm told lol

All done! (well, ish. Need to install the cat door tomorrow).

Turned out awesome! I am loving the wood design work.

Tracy

Beautiful looking project. Excellent work Pagan