Never throw anything away?

That is MOH's motto - you never know when you might need it, which is fine for a lot of things but not everything!

Anyway this weekend he proved there was truth in his thinking.

About 10 years ago we were given a large amount of bamboo that one of our neighbours was clearing from their garden. The thickest bits were about the width of scaffolding poles right down to skinny canes, but they were all long, on average about 7 or 8 ft high.

Over the years this has been stored and used for various things - when the boys were much younger, MOH made a bamboo bed frame on stilts with a bamboo ladder for our eldest. This lasted for about a year before it was deemed to be too hot that close to the ceiling!! so the bamboo went back into storage.
Anyway, this weekend MOH decided it was time to do something about the clematis plants. Last year I bought two plants that do not shed their leaves and smell divine. They are both in large pots and are now spreading themselves all over the patio. So out came the bamboo. 7 bits, thick and thin and here is the result - without the plant attached

and here it is with the branches attached.

This one took about an hour to make. Now we just have to do the other one.