Weaving loom, and a beach-toy library

I have been adding more features to the “porous property” edge of my yard.

One of my projects the other day was to set up a makeshift loom on the south sidewalk-edge of my front yard. By attaching two skinny lengths of bamboo to two of the fence posts.

And I started weaving a little rug using various scraps of fabric (accreted over time from my waste-stream diversion efforts) in bright pink/orange hues.

The first two photos show the start of the project, which I was able to do under the excessive street lights. The third photo shows today, this morning, weaving in the right-angled strands.

The beach toys you see in the third photo, I found on the beach, someone had left them by the trash for someone else to pick up and use, but sometimes they end up getting thrown away when that happens, so I am going to start a beach-toy toybox at the edge of my yard. People walking by on their way to the ocean can grab beach toys, and either bring them back or keep them.

It’s important because so many beach toys just get discarded after one use.

A few years back, someone tried to start a beach-toy toybox on the beach, and it was allowed to be there for a while but then it was removed, unfortunately.

Update:

  • I ended up using the bamboo poles as a hanging rod for my beach-toy lending library. The hooks (made of yellow-coated wire, from a massive roll — one of the many things left in my garage by the previous owners of this house) are easy to remove any time I want to use the bamboo poles as a loom again! 
  • The little rug is now on the floor of my back office, serving as cute bright decor and as a sand-stopper from when I walk into my office through the back door from outside.
  • All of the stuff mentioned in this piece was rescued from the waste stream.
  • Projects like this are what I see as low-stakes experiments aimed at helping to restore a more healthy level of trust in our society. Help repair the social fabric. Maybe even “build back better,” since some of this stuff is pretty fun and unusual and out-there.

You can see photos here, in this post on my Facebook page art & design by jenny nazak.

Update April 21: I made a three-part series on my YouTube channel about my “porous property” adventures. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3. Each video lasts about a minute.

Update April 28: This morning I heard someone talking in glowing terms about my yard. She was speaking into a phone. It turned out she was Instagramming my yard! How cool is that. Especially since my Instagram account is not active, if I even have one.

We introduced ourselves to each other and had a nice conversation, exchanged numbers. She is a relatively recent arrival and just bought a condo right nearby. I was thrilled to meet such a nice neighbor and in such a cool context.