Stolen Planters!

Well, Steel actually, not stolen nor is is likely they ever will be!  I made five of these with some help over the weekend and they will look beautiful when they are at their "forever home".  These are not painted but encouraged to rust with a misting of muriatic acid, giving them a rust patina the color of raw leather.  18" deep and 24" wide, they are from 5' to almost 8' long and bolted together on the job site.  Yes, more expensive than wood but they will outlast a series of five wooden planters.  They don't rot and they don't attract slugs and snails.

Travertine

I  decided not to stain and seal my concrete picnic table.  I bought some 18" square Travertine and had the design elements I put between them, clearly and comfortably marking the eight seating areas, if I had benches, of course!  I think I will need a barbecue!
This is a "forever" table, steel framed and reinforced with rebar poured concrete top, and now slated.
It weighs a total of close to 600 pounds and the two legs supporting this  mass are buried two feet in the ground, surrounded with concrete.  It is cheaper than hamburger and will last a lot longer.

Picnic Table

It has been a long time since there was a picnic table on my little third acre.  Oh,  there are plenty of inviting benches and places to rest, opportunities to just sit and be and there are tables I have made all over the place, spots for freshly picked vegetables.  But for some strange reason it has been decades since I have had a picnic table, a purposeful place that invites the sitting down and sharing a meal.
I have built them for customers, big ones, solid plank tables, round ones.  I have thought of the future gatherings around these creations of mine, the food shared and conversations both whispered and shouted.  Music, laughter, outside happiness.

Two legs!  Table waiting for concrete top.

   My retirement is not exactly as I would have predicted it and I have been far too busy.  The off and on rainy and sunny days of Spring are giving the garden a jump start and it is calling me outside with things to pick already, flowers blooming and scent of life filling the air.  Yesterday I found the perfect place to plant a picnic bench and as I was building it imagined sitting there with invited guests.  This is a "forever table", about 3' x 7' and supported by two pedestal legs buried two feet in the ground and surrounded with concrete.  It has a 2" channel iron surround and a base of 1/2" concrete board inset to contain the concrete I will pour on a nice sunny day.  I will etch the concrete once cured with green and olive and brown stains and seal it, making a smooth table top that could support about a hundred people and comfortably seat 8 to 10.  Soon I will make the benches using the same construction techniques.  It will be here for awhile.

 1/2" rebar to make it even stronger!