Wine Barrel Chair by Whit Mcleod

I came across this wine barrel chair while flipping through a copy of Dwell Magazine. A garden seemed the perfect setting for a chair made of recycled wine barrels. You often see barrels used as planters out here in California and many wineries sell them right outside their tasting rooms. Why not make a few bucks off of something that is worthless to them.

From their web site...

"Welcome to Whit McLeod Chairs. We make furniture from reclaimed and salvaged materials. Our Wine Barrel Folding Chair is 100% white oak, salvaged from wine barrels discarded by California wineries."

For more information, visit their web site at Mcleod Chair's

What I'm Reading...

Waiting for Aphrodite by Sue Hubbell

Make your own luck by Peter Morgan Kash

How to mow the lawn (and more!)

As if to prove that you can be geeky about anything, the linked site takes the "simple" task of mowing the lawn, and almost everything else to new heights. TradeTricks.com offers "Professional secrets from those in the know." Let's hope for more gardening-related posts in the future.

How to mow the lawn

The Tricks of the Trade weblog has advice for lawn-mowers looking for satisfying lines of green freshly-cut goodness:

When mowing your lawn, look into the distance beyond the edge of the area. Pick a point and walk toward it, and you'll start to get straight, purty lines. If your grass isn't too tall, you should overlap your passes only by the width of the wheels, which will cut the grass that was pushed over on the previous pass and give you nice pinstripes. Mow at a different angle each time to avoid creating ruts.

Greenskeeper [Tricks of the Trade]

(Via Lifehacker.)

Making a lavender wand - Garden Gate Magazine

We are visiting my sister, Denise, in Indio, California this weekend. It is hot, but we are headed to the mountains tomorrow for an small town 4th of July parade.

Denise had a copy of Garden Gate Magazine, which I have never seen before. It has a ton of great ideas and they also offer some free tips and hints on their web site.

Here is a photo essay on making a lavender wand.

Issue 62 - Make a Lavender Wand

After it is dried, the heads and buds of lavender can be used in soothing sachets, potpourris and bath bags. Or you can save the entire stem and use it in flower arrangements or as a fragrant fire starter for your woodburning stove.

Lavender is also an effective moth repellent. Here's how to create charming lavender "wands" that will keep your closet or drawer moth-free and smelling wonderful.