The fullness of June

Poppies and white sage
Butterfly garden looking south east across the back lawn

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking through the doorway
Roses welcome the sunrise
Day lilies!
Rosa rugosa at the edge of the Safari Garden
Vegetables!
Lonely Cherub
The Story Pole
Butterfly garden
Butterfly garden

Bottle Wall project

I’ve been saving wine bottles for a year.  Storing them by color in large plastic pots on the side of the house.  The neighbors must think we really drink a lot around here.  But every time we have a Sabbat I collects 3 or more bottles.  Pagans love to drink!  I saw a wine bottle project online and just had to do one.  It really creates a nice delineation of space between the vegetable garden and the main sacred space/Dragon Garden.

Footer for the bottle wall
Footer for the bottle wall

Brian and I dug out the ground, made the frames and laid the concrete.  Then we pounded in 16 5′ sections of rebar per side, 4″ through the concrete and another 6″ into the ground below.

 

Next, my friends Glenn, AzureIris, Persephone, Lupin and James helped me wash bottles and organize them in a wave pattern on the rebar.  We used three different sizes of plumbing washers and clear silicone to place spacers between the bottles.

Bottles installed on the east foundation

This will keep them from chinking together and also from coming out of alignment.  Then we had 2 weeks of heavy rain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Bottles installed on the east foundation 

 

Finally, Brian and I were able to get the top rail on.  It’s just another 10′ piece of 5/8″ rebar.  We used a bar bender to carefully shape the rebar to fit the curve of the design.  (pain in the ass).  Meanwhile, while it was raining, I ordered some metal finials to go on top of each row of bottles, above the top bar, to finish it all off.  The finials are rusting nicely now.

Bottle wall, east side, close up detail
Bottle wall, east side, close up detail

I think it turned out beautifully.

Finished wall looking east towards the back of the house