Save the Bamboo!

When we bought our first house last summer, there was only one way to sum it up.  It needed a LOT of work, and some of that, was re-doing what the previous owners had done to it.  As our lovely neighbor stated "Their tastes are much different than yours are."  Not that it's a bad thing.  ;)

For instance, I love roosters in my kitchen.  I was pleased to see that in addition to the oven that was left behind, there were burner covers left as well, with rooster designs on them.  I had some round ones for my old electric stove, but this gas stove has square burners of course, so mine wouldn't work here.

Then there's the awful white walls, fake ceramic tile-look PAINTED back-splash, and sunflower border in the kitchen.  Soooo not my style.  Someone had also painted over every single gorgeous piece of antique woodwork in the house.  EVERY.  SINGLE.  ONE.  I could cry!

Unfortunately, someone's love of roosters also prompted them to put a rustic wagon wheel style hanging light dead center in the dining room.  Rooster adorned.  I'd move it to the kitchen, but I like having a ceiling fan in there.  The rest of the dining room is modernized, so I'm really confused at what they were going for, there!

So there are a lot of projects for us.

They also left behind a leaky hot tub, that we may or may not sell.

In front of the hot tub, acting as a privacy screen, they planted some skinny bamboo.  It looked really nice the first year.  This year, not so much.  From day one, we have debated taking it out, too.

Then today, I finally got around to reading some of my Halloween prop pins, and decided that I needed to do something with all of the recyclables that I've been saving for projects.  I started with "Wind Hooters" made out of plastic bottles, single serve and 2 liter.

What I found was that these modern day "aero flutes" were actually a cheap and easy way to imitate a much older, and far less tacky outdoor decoration.  Natural flute stakes made from dried bamboo.

Supposedly the bamboo stakes make a much nicer sound than the plastic bottles do, and I am sure that is true.  Since our bamboo has already died off, I'm thinking it might be dry enough to make standing flutes.  I won't have the opportunity to do it today, but hopefully in the next few days, I will be able to get out there and carve some spots out, to see.  Our bamboo is so skinny that I'm not sure it will work.

How awesome would it be to have built-in flute music, though?  Eerie flute music, at that!  Hopefully it won't be a nuisance to us, or our neighbor, at bedtime!  If so, then it will have to go.  I'll just try a couple for now, and take them out if they do; and then make another specifically for Halloween night.