Hi all , no matter from what part of the globe your from . ----------- Up cycling is the in thing . Just a few pic's showing a few ideas of mine using both non- treated recyclable timbers ( pallets and other timbers used for packing ) and some treated timbers "where required ", combining old kitchen sinks and laundry tubs and old semi ridged plastic signage signs sourced from tip shops and garage sales ,etc . Ideal for kids play ( mud) kitchens / planters and my latest upgraded design for a gardeners cleaning and potting work bench ( as well as for cleaning fish / BBQ 's food preb./ cleaning benches etc) . For those local here in Tasmania can contact me for further info and prices but those of you interstate or even overseas, can contact myself for one off designs for a kit form design. Anyone interested in seeing a TV programme produced on the subject of specialising in re - use / up cycling of what many coincided waste products ; I would like to get some feed back so i can approach the local TV stations to see if they would be interested in producing such a programme on the subject .

Thank you all for your suggestions and advice, there are some great ideas there, I particularly like the look of corrugated iron in keeping with the 'farm' theme. If we were to go down the path of applying mortar, could we then paint it all? I've attached an image of something that I think could work if we were to do that.. To give an idea of the style that we're hoping to achieve - the interior of the house is largely laminate timber walls which I'm in the process of painting white and we're pulling up the brown tiles (in the living/kitchen/dining area) and carpets (in the bedrooms) and replacing with floating floorboards and new carpet in a neutral colour. The attached image is the most similar I can find to our 'style'. We are very lucky to have such an amazing view that's for sure! OkLouise, thank you for providing a name for the bricks - I have had such a hard time researching what to do with them because I had no idea what they were! Thanks again everyone - I really appreciate you putting thought into our project!

m_mdimond; My constant whippet! Yes change is inevitable. Youth was great! Middle age more challenging, now the dread of what happens as the body slows, bu the mind still runs at top speed! Funny how we eventually become our parents and live with all the things they once complained about: eyesight less sharp, glasses, threading needles a challenge. Oh what we so easily dismissed or took for granted when we were young! Pain at bay to this point. Sad to hear of yours, but fantastic you are still managing to walk your Shepherd, despite it! Dogs keep us centred and motivated. They shower us in love and lack of judgement. My dad had his Jack Russell at his side into his nineties. He was his constant companion and often his sole company for days at a time, other than his twice weekly cleaner. Animals are so special. They deliver their own unique greetings and communicate in such different ways. My life would be so much the less without the animals who have been part of it. So lucky to have had two wonderful ponies and an incredible galloway. So lucky many of my friends had horses too. Horses, dogs and cats are always a point of connection into special human experience and also lead us to new human and animal connections. Nothing wrong with memories and sentiment. I think we feel it even more accutely as we age. Glad I kicked up my heels, as well as keeping those "heels down, legs close to my horses side and and elbows close to my own" for much of my fantastic and sometimes wild youth! I was a pretty good kid really, but do admit to having been a teen groupie, back in the day, wouldn't swap that either. Somewhere here, I believe is my scrapbook and definitely a few photos in the albums. Still like to kick up my heels, too! Yes. Gratitude is vital.

The norm is stainless steel decking screws, nails tend to pop up over time. We just extended our deck and used AnchorMark torx s/s screws about $100 per 500.