Recycling garden bench ends

Yes, I know. It’s cheaper to buy new garden benches than buy the wood to restore them, but at least I can beef them up with sturdier wood and get what I want, which is the reason I never bought one of the kind in the first place.

John repaints the bench ends with dark green paint until they look lovely again

But recycling is not so much about personal cost and saving money but stopping unnecessary waste. A perfectly good cast iron bench end doesn’t really degrade even when it goes rusty. A wire brush and some paint restores to to better than its factory condition with a bit of sweat equity thrown in. I bought these bench ends for an average of £5 per pair at a car boot sale some months back. They were ugly and had no wood to speak of and while I was in Las Vegas at the AWFS Fair John removed the loose paint and rust and repainted them.

Today we cut and fitted the rails and bolted them together to make four new benches. This weekend we have my son Joseph’s wedding. The reception is in a marquee in the garden so I wanted the benches to be finished to seat some of the 80 or so guests who will be here.

This has been a special week of recovery for me. Recovering my family and being with my friends. Watching the plans come together and enjoying. Work still goes on and we continue pushing toward the big release date for the DVDs and book, but my part is pretty much done so I can enjoy digging and hoeing, making benches and, well, just enjoy being a dad and a husband before a wonderful wedding day.