Upcycling - a bit of fun for the garden

When we moved in here I found one of those metal cat garden ornaments with a nodding head tossed under some bushes. Sweet but not remarkable.

Then I saw some in the garden centre spray painted orange and turquoise and costing nearly £30! That was a challenge to any frugal/thrifty minded person! And not a chance of spending on car spray paint!

The "chalk" like paint I have been using in the conservatory said it was OK for metal as well as wood so I had a go. After a couple of coats I went to the shed and found an old pot of glossy brown and decorated the cat with spots! There was some hobby paints nearby left by the grand daughters and only the orange was any good - hence the scary eyes.  It now lurks in the bushes looking very smart.

We have enjoyed the Chelsea Flower show coverage (definitely no daft cats there!) and have picked up some ideas.  My husband wants to have a wicker woven enclosed seating area (but we have to find a cheaper source than the local garden centre for wicker as we noticed the prices recently were quite high).  We both fancied the idea of a water feature.  We liked the water dribbling down the fishing wire and forming a curtain in a wooden frame. Did you see it?  We discussed how and have worked out how to do it - using recycled wood, some spare watering tubing, fishing line and a darning needle to push the line through the tube!  We would power it using a solar watering kit and some tubs as a reservoir.  Now we have one of these kits we are "well impressed" with what they can do,
Will put this on our possible project list!

I was inspired by the lupin display - I want a bed just of these!

Oh gosh - it has just started hailing. What strange weather we are having.