Bench Two

After our work on the old bench earlier this year, we started to look at the metal bench which is sited in the kitchen courtyard, and which is also looking a little the worse for wear as the powder coating is now peeling off.  

On balance we decided that we'd let that process continue, and repaint it in due course - especially as we'd also had some thoughts about getting a longer bench for outside the back of the house.

So here we go - one new hardwood teak bench 'Indonesian Legal Wood', ready to be assembled.

And here it is in situ.

This one is long enough (just) for Martin to lie down on it.  It's not quite as hefty as the old bench, but still solid enough, and will hopefully give us many years of good service!

Project Bench

April has seen us looking at various jobs around the garden, and this is the first (hopefully of many) 'retirement projects' to get finished 😀

Back in 2010 we invested in a hardwood garden bench, which has done sterling service ever since, providing seating every summer in the suntrap out the back of the house.

Of late it has however been looking a little the worse for wear - while the 'greying' of the wood is attractive enough, it has gotten very patchy (especially where the wasps help themselves every year), with lots of splits and splinters.

In order to get another 10+ years out of it, we decided we'd better do some refurbishment - starting with a thorough sanding - which took it back to something close to how it looked when it first arrived with us.

It wasn't the easiest of jobs, but between the belt sander, Dremmel, and multi-tool sanding attachments, we got there in the end.

It was tempting to leave it as it was, but we decided that an oil treatment might help its long term survival.  So here we are, after a couple of good coats of teak oil.

Fingers crossed for many more happy years sitting on the bench in the sunshine!

Outdoor Living

Hoping for a good summer this year - with a new gas barbecue, and a bistro set (to join the bench we bought last year), we're ready for some outside dining.

Fingers crossed for the sunshine to go with it!
                                                      

For Sitting in the Sun . . .

We'd been pondering garden furniture (at the end of summer naturally!) for the yard area outside the kitchen, as it's quite a sun-trap in the later afternoon / evening.

Having wanted something we could leave outside over winter, we fixed on cast aluminium, and eventually agreed on a bench rather than a chair and table set (since we've got a wooden one of those already - when we haul it out of the garage!).


So here it is - arrived today - and duly assembled - that'll do the job . . .