A Real Dirt Bike

A miracle has occurred here at Chateau Inferno!

 The Minions cleaned the carport out.

 And it's funny the things you find when you undertake a task of

such monumental proportions-

 How about a bike no one has straddled since the early 90's?

I split my knee open playing women's rugby in college

(I was a hooker; feel free to amuse yourselves with that one),

and by my 30's, pedaling was off the activity menu.

So what do we do with a 30 year old unrideable bicycle that hasn't been maintained...ever?

 

Around here, we spray paint it!

Take that rusty mess out into the yard...

...and give it a good hosing and a scrub to remove loose debris.

And other unidentified weird stuff.

 Lay the bike on a tarp and give it light coats of Rustoleum Gloss Key Lime Green

all over until the whole thing is a uniform color.

This gives it more of a backdrop feel, which is what we want for 

this project.

Thom and I then took the bike out front and chose a small accent

garden to nestle it in.

 I then beat Thom thoroughly with a length of light duty chain.

 Okay, actually, we used the chain to secure the bike to the tree.

  Pad lock.

So the bike will be here tomorrow.

 Remove the excess chain.

Now let's start with the real fun.

 This looks kitschy enough, but what do you say we add...

 ...a hanging basket with sweet potato vine that matches the 

color spilling over it, and bright multicolored portulaca

to add pizzazz when they fill in?

Not enough, you say?

To The Dollar Tree!!!

Grab some containers of choice and drill drainage holes

in the bottom, then fill them with soil and blooms.

 We wired a locker bin to the handlebars, resting it on the front tire.

 Heavy wire will keep it stable and secure.

Unlike me.

 Is that enough for us?

Be serious.

 We had to go and add a tote to the back.

 This was wired through the holes in the side and again 

through the handle.

It's not going ANYWHERE.

 Now we have the effect we want!

This is facing Mom's window to give her a prettier view,

and since the whole shebang rang up at $10,

I'd say we salvaged an unsaveable bike in 

bright, tropical style.

Now go clean the garage.