Re-Purposed Shovel Head

The end of Summer is the time for yard projects here in Austin, Texas. Recently, my Dad visited and helped me accomplish some goals in the yard. When you are completing projects you are bound to run into problems.

Our dilemma occurred early on, literally the first dig of dirt delayed any further progress because the handle on the flat head shovel busted under the pressure. We laughed over the ironic nature of the problem. How could we proceed to dig out gnarly roots and accomplish our plan without the correct tool?

We had a razorback shovel hiding in the garage to keep the project moving forward and mid way through the day the neck bent due to those darn, gnarly Nandina roots. We took that as our cue to take a break and succumb to buying brand new shovels.

Instead of chucking the old broken shovels in the trash bin, my creative Dad hatched a brilliant idea. See the fun yard art he came up with involving the flat head shovel below. This new piece of Texas art now hangs on my back fence gate. I can see it from my kitchen window and it looks fabulous!

I have some quirky ideas for the razorback shovel, it definitely has an Austin feel to it. The bent neck gives way to the famous city slogan, "Keep Austin Weird". I have a bunch of bottle caps saved up for a craft project, maybe I'll meld the two together and see if I can make it weird enough to pass the Austin standards.

"Use it up

Wear it out

Make it Do

Or Do without"