Quirky with a capital Q!!!

Over the years, I've noticed on gardening shows and in magazines, articles on repurposing everyday items as planters. These days, Pinterest has lots of recycling items and planting them up with plants...like this little selection.

Here are some of my very modest efforts at using everyday items as planters...
Unused latte mugs...

Op shop and garage sale buys turned into planters...

And hidden by all that undergrowth is a set of old concrete wash tubs that I planted with bromeliads...


But in April when we went on a day trip to Litchfield National Park, I saw some recycling on a grand scale; which was delightful and quirky. The bus made a stop   at the Bunyan Caravan Park Kiosk on the journey to the park. It was rather rustic 😉

This is a banyan tree after which the caravan park is named...

Many of the passengers ordered food for breakfast, but I wandered the grounds. Beside the path that led to the restroom block were these...

A closer look at Miss Snow White and her little friends...

But out the front was this!!

Yep! An old car planted with a variety of colored foliage plants...

And reclining  in a deckchair...

Lots of fun! 

Pizza boxes??

The previous state election (in 2012) I wrote a few posts about what happens behind the scenes in the pre poll centres. I thought that I might repost some of those photos that I took to illustrate that old post.

Firstly though, a photo from last Saturday night after all the Supervisors from the 16 polling booths in this electoral district brought into the office all the resources and equipment that had been used that election day...
Our office got a rather cluttered look...

Note those cardboard boxes that look like rather large pizza boxes??? Let's have a another look at them...

Ta dah! Look what they unfold to make...

Voting screens for the polling booths! In the next photo you can see/glimpse the diagrams that help people unfold them and construct the screen... 
Another 'cardboard' pile in the office on Saturday night! 

There would be some readers who would remember the old wooden voting screens and the old wooden ballot boxes...nowadays it's all cardboard!
On Tuesday afternoon the 'cardboard dump' in our office will be heading off to the recycle section at our local tip...
(Generation Gap! One day during pre poll, I directed a young voter to the 'voting screens' (the correct term for that little private place people go to to fill out their ballot papers) to fill out the ballot paper I had issued to her...she went looking for computer terminals. Oh dear...maybe one day?) 

Some more of 'sometimes it's the little things, that mean a lot...'

On Monday, I decided to use the sprinkler, attached to the tap on our water tank, to water parts of our garden that were suffering from the dry period we have been experiencing here lately. A magpie was checking out the lawn and garden beds looking for grubs...I thought that he would fly away when I turned on the sprinkler as he was standing just near it...

But no...he stood there enjoying a 'shower'. I realise that birds can't smile but this magpie sure looked really happy. He/she stood there and then when the feathers were all drenched, he/she puffed out the chest and then then flicked the water off by raising his/her wings. 

Then my magpie friend flew up on to the fence where the spray still reached...

And then a turn to face the other way to 'wash' the feathers on the back!

The magpies that visit our yard are delightful visitors with their personalities.

Another little thing that happened to me concerned some plants; in particular some succulents that I planted in some latte type mugs as they were surplus (the mugs not the plants, lol) to requirements but  I could see their potential as plant containers. Earlier this year I planted little pieces of succulents that I have in our garden...

DsD2 agreed to take the plants to her place while we were away and give them a fine mist of water every now and then,and generally look after them.She brought them back last Sunday...

As you can see, they are thriving! And I think DsD2 and her husband might be fans of succulents now too!