Projects and Flowers

This weekend's project was to stop procrastinating the repair and replacement of the passenger side running board on our truck. I had been putting it off for months, but there is rarely a passenger, so...

After removing what was left of it yesterday I threw the remains in the bed of the truck so I can toss it in the dumpster at work where no one will recognize it. Here are the remains.

It was long past safe and pieces were starting to dangle. Being "thrifty" on occasion and not caring if the new steps looked sleek and shiny I decided not to spend a couple of hundred dollars for new ones and bought instead a 10 foot treated 2x6 at my workplace (employee's discount, doncha know). I cut it and shaped it a bit and painted it black (because I'm a Rolling Stone's fan, maybe). I did have to add a few pieces of angled steel and bolt and screw them into place to make it sturdy.

While it is not a thing of beauty on a shiny clean truck it works well, it is stronger than the original, inexpensive, and didn't cause any unnecessary bleeding or swearing.

I apologize for the dirty condition of the truck and running board, but we live on a gravel and mud road. It's been raining a lot lately.

The one on the other side was done last summer and is holding up well.

They may not be beautiful, but they work well.

Now for some beauty. It is summer and the flowers are blooming and things are growing. The cooker had me pick up a free children's bed frame last year so I did and saved it over in the old house. She wanted me to put some cedar around it to make a planter which she got around to this weekend, also.

We now have a new flower bed. Here are some of the other blooms around the yard.

Happy Canada Day, Fourth of July, and whatever else you can think of to celebrate midsummer. I hope all is well in your part of the world, at least for a little while.