Junky, but effective…

Remember my pretend business, Goofy But Effective Designs? Well, the latest “improvements” I’ve made to our segment of Westridge Drive have been a tad more junky than goofy. I always thought that once we had our own house, we’d be done with the so-called “ghetto” repairs and quick fixes of apartments past. Like some magic twinkle would occur and suddenly solve all the household problems in a smooth, classy fashion. But one thing our first year of home ownership has taught me is that having a house does not automatically guarantee smooth or classy. If anything, having a house makes it even harder to scrape together $$ for non-essentials! Annnnnd another Shaina-myth has been blasted to smithereens.

Question: where is the line between provident living and JUNKY living? Or the line between clever and weird? Check this awesomeness out:

 

Space blankets have served us very well numerous times in the past. They make amazing, economical, sun-shielding window insulation! Our porch doors face full east here. That creates a greenhouse effect on our main living area all morning long. SO, I busted out the wrinkled ole jagged-edged space blankets that we saved from the last windows we hung them in. They were cut to the size of the first windows they covered, so…can you tell the shape of our old windows? It turns out that the gap at the top of the space blankets is perfect because then we can still use the window to spy on those evil rabbits intent on devouring our garden. And once the sun reaches a certain height, the overhang from the roof shades that uncovered top segment, keeping us cool.

Ugh! Masking tape and ill-fitted space blanket! At least I can hide the metallic-y-ness behind the curtains. If they weren’t so darn effective, I’d never leave `em up. But our house is several degrees cooler thanks to these crinkly boys.

When we were planting the garden, I realized that we had no labels for the seeds. So I got out a permanent marker and gathered a handful of rocks from the pile and made some veggie labels.

It’s growing! But I never bought any tomato plants! The main reason I wanted a garden was for the tomatoes. I hope someone’s still selling them.

Soaker hose overload—our 50 foot soaker hose was a tad too long for our wee slim garden, even though we looped it around the garden 3 times. So the watermelon and pumpkins will get extra drippage. And the tomatoes, if I ever plant some.

And I thought I was all alone with my garden. Isn’t that the creepiest EYE? As I was tending the garden one day, I happened to look to my left and about jumped out of my skin. The tree was WATCHING me. If only Mr. Eyeball Tree would scare away some rabbits! Those furry rodents ate all my carrots right when the first little leaves poked up.

Eyes everywhere. eeek!

Ahh, yes. That brings me to my final junky item: the peas needed something to climb. So we sawed up an old PVC pipe that we excavated from the yard, stabbed it in, and tied some twine across it. It’s pretty wobbly though. Hopefully it can hold all those climbers long enough for us to get some crunchy peas. Doesn’t that garden look so lush? Minus that left-front corner where the carrots USED to be.

Jay and Rose don’t care if I use junk and trash to fix up our home. Hey, I use junk and trash to make them toys, so what’s the difference?