The (Scrap-happy) Engineer

I don’t often join in the ScrapHappiness blogging, mostly because all my posts would look like this:

Not only do I almost exclusively make ScrapHappy afghans following one pattern, if you look closely, you’ll also see some repetition of color because, well, they’re made from scraps. In fact, most of these photos were taken from the exact same spot on our couch where I while away the evenings watching mostly English, mostly mystery, series with The Engineer.

The only ones taken in a different setting were the first two set in my mom’s hospital room where my crochet projects helped keep me sane as we dealt with the challenges of having an elderly parent go through the pain of a broken hip and the ensuing surgery.

This month, however, at the recommendation of Kate from Tall Tales of Chiconia, I have another ScrapHappy project to share courtesy of The Engineer.

He’s a genius about repurposing items — upcycling them as they call it these days — taking a broken foundation frame from one of our hives and making new handles for my more-than-40-year-old-grill and many similar projects. (It’s now our grill rather than just mine, but since I acquired it before The Engineer, I’ll admit to sometimes claiming singular ownership.)

But today, I’m going to show you his latest weasel.

That’s our term for those flashes of inspiration one sometimes gets. It comes from a Blackadder episode, and if you’ve not watched the series, you really must. The first season isn’t the best, but the following ones rise to a level of humor that is sure to raise a giggle, guffaw, or at least a grin if you have the even the tiniest sense of humor.

But I digress. “Weasel” is used to describe one of Blackadder and his helpmate Baldrick’s many “cunning plans.” In that particular episode, Blackadder tells Baldrick, “I have a plan so cunning, you could put a tale on it and call it a weasel.”

Okay, it’s a little silly, but don’t most families/couples/friends usually share silly expressions?

This particular weasel involves the top of a metal grill we found on a hike earlier this year.

This is not as odd as it sounds. We pick up trash and recyclables whenever we hike or kayak and find a lot of strange things — a Crocs shoe, an unopened can of selzer, a pumpkin floating down the river — and this time we happened upon the grill lid.

No idea where the rest of it went, but The Engineer and Darling Daughter duly carried it for the mile or so back to the car, my hands being already full of cans and bottles.

In truth, I’d forgotten all about the thing until a few weeks ago when my husband called me outside to show me what he’d done.

Yes, it is now a lid for our compost barrel, which is itself a repurposed garbage can with the bottom cut out and side holes for aeration.

If you look at the picture below, you’ll see he was even able to use the hinges.

Now, you may think it unlovely, but I would have to disagree. I’m sure the lid will last at least a few years before it falls apart, and that means when we do finally have to recycle the metal, it will require less energy to do so.

Meanwhile, it’s serving a purpose in our garden.

I call that a ScrapHappy win.