There was a funny little quirk in the day, today. You'll see it buried in the following blah blah about gardening and such...It stopped raining late last week. We're still soggy, though, and moss is growing on--pretty much everything. Besides that, it's been warmer than is usual for this time of year--up into the low 60s a couple of days. Storms will resume this evening, however, we're told. I hope so.
In the sunny gap, I got all "spring"-loaded (sorry) and decided to work outside in the yard while I could. So much to do! A few weeks ago, I had bought my seeds at Peaceful Valley, but hadn't yet put them into their little peat-y wombs. Last year, my early starts didn't do as well as they could have because, since there wasn't enough light indoors, I kept them outside on the deck during the days. Too cold.
I needed a "cold frame", which , if you don't already know, is a mini greenhouse, basically. It's usually a little low wooden enclosure (say, 2' x 4') with a glass or plastic lid. It can keep the little seedlings warmer while allowing enough light. It also keeps them nice and moist, which they like.
On Monday, Presidents Day, I celebrated by planting my seeds in their little pots (as you can see). So full of hope and promise! I love this part! Then I began to study up on good cold-frame design. There are so many options. We have a lot of scrap lumber, so I went out to our shop area to size it up.
That's when I saw it.
The folks from whom we bought our house nearly three years ago, left a few things behind. We being us, it's mostly still piled up out by the shop with a tarp over it. Most of it is just old wooden furniture they might have used in the garage or something. But there are also a few other things, like a plastic snow sled and a little youth-sized bed frame.
I had planned to give it away, but after two winters under a tarp, now, the little bed frame is not so lovely anymore. As a bed, that is. So, suddenly, it became clear! That bed frame, plus a little wood and some clear plastic (also left behind) would make a nice, if unconventional-looking, little cold frame.
The one thing I had to go buy was a package of clips. They're in the fourth picture. They snap the plastic on to the frame, which is, conveniently, the diameter of common PVC, for which they are made. I had seen them at a local hardware store. So I went and bought some. That was Wednesday, and my little pots have been outside ever since, cozy in their little bed. I open it up in the daytime and close it at night.
Now, the twist (oh, you thought that WAS the twist?).
This morning--a day our house was SO due for a cleaning, which was my plan for the day--Tom received a phone call from the former owner of our house, whose name is Mark (do you know a plethora of Marks? We do). He wondered if he might drop by with his kids in an hour or so because they were in the area and the kids really wanted to come by and see their old house and yard. Well, of course.
After a flurried hour, or so, of general tidying and a few critical deeper clean-ups, they arrived. The three children, in the 8-12 year range, hadn't lived here since '05 (we bought it in April of 07) and they immediately took off in all directions looking for their favorite trees (who knew we had a "ladybug tree", or a manzanita that hangs you up by your underwear if you're not careful? Forewarned) and frog-hunting places. They, in fact, still have two of the little Pacific Chorus Frogs that they had caught about 7 years before. The boys, the youngest and the oldest, were running about like, well, boys. Olivia, aged 10, made her way out to the back deck and discovered--yes, her old bed. She came running out front to tell her dad, so we went back to show him.
Ha! So funny, that timing. Too bad not even once did I think to take a picture of them all, but especially of Olivia standing by her repurposed bed. She seemed rather pleased about it.
They live in Mill Valley, which is where they were before their three years in Grass Valley. The mom wasn't so in love with the area, so they only lived here a short while. But I'm pretty sure we'll see Mark and the kids again, sometime. Who knows what other ways I can think of to use a little white bed frame by then?
