Now I realize this is not the most esthetically pleasing thing one could have in the garden, but hey, I'm trying to help save the planet here! Cut me some slack!
I had a bunch of bricks that I dug up from the previous owners very straight and very boring flower beds and until now they've been in a big pile on my raggedy patio taking up space and looking very ugly. So, I piled them up on the torture deck. Not only did this help me re-use the bricks, it was perfect to raise the barrel up so that I can get containers under it.
After placing the barrel, I removed the downspout from the side of the garage and headed to my friendly neighborhood Ace Hardware to get a curved piece that would make it around the corner to the barrel. After the helpful hardware guy pieced together a bunch of short sections I saw this big ugly green flexible thingy over in the corner. This seemed so much easier! I can't decide which would be uglier, this ugly green dryer vent looking thing, or an ugly brown downspout.
So, there it is. My beloved rain barrel. Oh how I have longed for one for what seemed like months (I realize that's not very long but you just don't know how impatient I am). Now I just need to catch some soaker hoses on sale or figure out how to transform my old so-cheap-and-so-thin-I-couldn't-water-without-it-kinking-to-the-point-I-wanted-to-kill-somebody retired garden hose into a soaker hose. I'm so excited! Hey, if this works, maybe I could add a barrel every year for the next 3 years and collect enough water for everything!
But, it's still sooooooo ugly! I was thinking I should paint it. Here are a few of the ideas that came to mind.
- Give GB Junior some paint the next time they come over and let her go to town on it.
- Paint it with colorful flowers and make it look very hippie flower power'ish.
- Paint words all over it like "Create", "Simplify" etc...
- Make it like a graffiti wall and let anybody who visits make their mark on it.
- Leave it black. (this is what the boyfriend wants. he loves the color black.)
- Paint it a solid color like green
What do you think? What's your vote?
