Very nice thread; what a great piece of furniture you've inherited. Lovely that it dovetails so well with your style. Nothing makes me happier than to use something from someone I love. As a kid and young adult, I remember regularly trying to replace my mom's 'old' things. She never said anything, and always thanked me for the new items, but as an adult, I can now much better understand why she may have been attached to the older ones. OT - What do you use for a camera? My brother, who's a timber framer by trade (and who photographs the amazing homes he builds) gave me some great advice - set your camera to AV and play with the F Stop. I have a Canon G12; also recommend the G11 highly. Also, get some sort of camera stand. You have a wonderful palette in your home, think you'd have a lot of fun getting the best shot (know I have!). Best, oldbat2be

Christine, well done!! Congratulations! And congratulations to everyone else, for doing one heck of a great job! I picked up quite a few ideas from all of you wonderful OBFERS! And thank you again Sheri, for a very fun and creative swap!!!!! Happy weekend to all! Annie

I had a cheap secretary office chair. Its back became useless and the back support failed, In preparation to discard it, I took the back off and inspiration hit. The low seat with casters was perfect as a roll around seat on the garage floor when servicing equipment such as lawn mowers, bicycles, and autos. It beats stooping over to get at low places like waxing the lower panels of a car. We recycle dozens of 64 fluid oz plastic bottles, but a few have been put to other uses. Using shears, I cut the bottom off and gave the end a scoop shape. The handle and lid was left in place. It made a good bird seed scoop. There were some scraps of lumber left over from building our house. Some measurements, a few hand saw cuts, and nailing the parts together gave me a nail carrier. I've been using that thing for 40 years. Other scraps were used to make 3 shelves for the back of the garage. Asphalt sealer comes in large plastic buckets. About every 5 to 7 years, my driveway gets a coat of sealer. Not all of the buckets were discarded. I kept about 10 of these and those come in handy for a variety of chores. If I need a ballast weight to hold me lawn mower handle down to tip the mower up for removing the blade, I grab a bucket, go out back and put in a few rocks from the rock pile and now I have a ballast weight to do the job. Other buckets can store sun flower seed after the sack has been opened. Setting the lid on the bucket makes a mouse and insect proof container.

Summercloud - We do give the climbers some help - about once a year my DH gets on a ladder (or two) and ties up errant canes. For the largest, heaviest ones, he uses hardware which is supposed to be for hitching horses. It is a metal plate with 4 holes for screws, and then a heavy round link is suspended from that - that is heavy duty enough to hold the weight of the heaviest ones. He is a contractor, and is very careful and knowledgeable about how to attach the plates to the shingles without damaging them. The roses don't damage the shingles, but at the very top of the wall of the house where it runs into the soffit, some have tried to grow up through the roof (banksia lutea did that, and the little cane which stuck through the roof bloomed, which is how we noticed it 3 1/2 stories up!). For your shed, I agree with everything BirdsLoveRosesSoCalCoast said, except that I think you should get LOCAL advice re smaller ramblers or climbers which would work best in your climate & damp & wet conditions. California is so dry and hot in the summer that I cannot give you any specific recommendations. Just remember to find out whether the roses you may consider are once blooming (like Vielchenblau), or repeat blooming, so you are not disappointed. Your local Rose Society is a good source of info. Or, walk around your neighborhood/town, and see if you can find roses eating small sheds like yours. Jackie