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Marcia's Mailbox

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I got Marcia’s mailbox finished Tuesday (Feb 2), using a half barrel (oaken, from a winery; I could smell the wine) as a base for a 4 x 4 upright post, braced with cross 2 x 4’s, and supporting a base of side-straddle 2 x 4 pieces to which the sides of the mail box itself is screwed. The whole thing is strong; nobody is going to easily knock it over.

Marcia contributed her bit by sluicing cuprinol wood preservative on the barrel, inside and out, and on the support post. This will delay the inevitable wood rot, hopefully for many years.

We plan to half-fill the base with rocks, then pack coarse bark mulch over that, and then embed a circle of planters with spring flowers. We’ll set it up tomorrow.

Just think: it took only three weeks of nagging to get me to do two hours work on that thing. I s’pose we’re both mellowing a bit in our old age.

Mailbox Flowers

Marcia went to Mount Vernon Wednesday with a friend. I took the opportunity to set the barrel up on a support base of bricks to hold it clear of the ground, and I filled the barrel half full of rocks and gravel. Over this I poured a bag of “bark nuggets” which is a euphemism for log bark peelings, and into this I set eight small flowerpots of blooming primroses which Marcia had picked up at the local “Wally World” store.

Color her tickled. It does look nice sitting out front. The fact that I surprised her? Priceless!

Graybyrd   ©   2015