Today I am taking the pieces out of the molds for an additional section to my ‘coliseum’. Naturally, I can’t spend the entire day on the project … trip to the transfer station, eating, walking the dogs … little things like that can sometimes not be avoided and can tend to slow the progress. However, I am taking pictures as I go … and, so will be posting them … more than likely tomorrow … Sunday.

Delicate Arch

Another icon in the realm of nature photography, Delicate Arch is a favorite of visitors to Arches National Park. The well worn trail meanders across an upthrust ridge of slickrock for nearly two miles. The last couple hundred yards of the trail hugs a cliff face before you suddenly arrive at the edge of a huge natural amphitheater, and there before you stands this seemingly impossible structure of red sandstone.

The experience is well worth the effort, but you have to be patient if you want to make an image that doesn’t include twenty or thirty other visitors. I was wishing for some dramatic clouds to take some of the edge off the deep cerulean sky, but had to settle for the snowcapped La Sal mountains. I am planning another trip to Arches soon. Maybe I’ll have better luck with the atmospheric conditions.

Equipment: Nikon D200, Nikon 17–35 mm f–2.8 zoom lens, circular polarizer.

Processing: Contrast, vibrance, and saturation adjustment in Lightroom, curves adjustment in Photoshop.

As you know by now, Badec Bros Deco also specializes in steel dustbins. These designer dustbins are ideal to add stunning focal points to your home or for use in a trendy shopping centre or mall. We really love a creative challenge and excel at designing and creating customized exterior or interior décor pieces for your home, office or garden, such as innovative mild steel pots, trendy garden benches, artistic trellises, arches and pergolas, as well as, imaginative sculptures. Our creative team can dream up and manufacture any type of décor that your heart desires and customize it to your specifications – size, shape and colour. We use a wide variety of mediums to create our master pieces, including mild steel, stainless steel, wood, sandstone, plexiglas, mosaic tiling and the like. We manufacture our steel dustbins from mild steel and can add intricate detail to the surface to beautify it. There are three finishes to choose from. We can powder coat your contemporary steel dustbin in any colour imaginable, or we can apply a mild steel finish or a rusted finish. It is possible to manufacture your unique steel dustbin according to the exact dimensions you require.

Our powder coating is SABS approved.

Should you wish to have your very own signature Cubedec steel dustbin, interactive sculpture, Cubedec shelving, Cubedec miniature Zen garden box, 2010 Soccer World Cup décor, mild steel lamp shade, mild steel screen, Cubedec laser-cut logo, gabion counter, narration stand, gabion light cage, gabion bollard, gabion water feature, sculptured living wall, sculptured flagpoles, unique pot and drip tray, customized sculpture, Cubedec bench, trendy steel décor with your company logo emblazoned on it, mild steel inspirational slogan, steel laser-cut signage, mild steel mould, Cubedec Pot, hanging sculpture, gabion pot, gabion wall or gabion terrace, wooden or steel feature poles, bar code trellis, Cubedec water feature, pergola, arch, sculpture or trellis, please feel free to contact our energetic and knowledgeable sales representative, Mareleen van Zijl, on her cell phone at 078 800 5112, the office number at 012 460 7990, or via e-mail at mareleen@badecbros.com 

She will gladly arrange an appointment with you to listen to your ideas and to stun you with our own creative ideas! You dream it, we manufacture it!

Badec Bros Deco will create a 3 dimensional render and calculate a quotation FREE OF CHARGE for you! We can deliver your unique Badec Bros Deco product(s) within 10 to 15 working days, upon acceptance of the design and quotation and the required 50% deposit. These services come standard and will not cost you a cent extra! We offer a 1 year guarantee on all our products.

I have completed almost another full section to ‘The Coliseum’ and have plans to add at least one more before the cold really sets in. The November weather here in NH has been simply amazing, otherwise I would not even be thinking of doing another ‘pour’. I have also done more ‘adjusting’ to the mold for the engaged column. Since I am going to have to lift it into place for the second tier I have built in a ‘hollow’ to reduce weight and lessen the amount of cement needed. I’ll post a picture of it next time … promise !

I particularly like this next view. It seems to show more of how the whole structure curves.

I have also been musing on how to add some embellishments to the underside of the arch pieces. Hmmm…..

© Chasiti Moore

At first glance, this building would seem familiar to you, like you have already seen it somewhere, somehow. And that’s because you actually have!! The Durham cathedral was transformed into the “Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry” in the Harry Potter series with magnificent technological alterations. And we think that they could not have made a better choice!!

The structure has a magical essence to it due to its grandeur and the time spent building it. The new architectural methods brought with the Normans to the English culture contributed in the making of such an immense structure with a feel of simplicity and serenity. A feeling of solitude engulfs you when you say something and know that it will echo throughout the whole structure because of the high arched rooms. As it is a cathedral, you would probably feel at whole with yourself walking through the endless halls and entering its colossal rooms. Its massive structure is to show the domination of the church and Christianity at the time and the river Wear as a siege. It was built with such grandeur that standing in front of it makes you feel safe as if you were in a world of your own that no one can invade. This is due to the calming waters of the river surrounding it. All aspects mentioned above are what makes us think that it is the most breathtaking Romanesque cathedral in England. But, what do you think?!

Here’s a little background information about the Durham Cathedral:

Analysis and purpose:

The Durham Cathedral situated in the city of Durham, York, England is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Durham and is an example of English Romanesque architecture. The cathedral had religious and later military functions. It served as a cathedral, the seat of the bishop, the church of the Benedictine monks (the administrators of the cathedral), and the house of the shrine of the most important saint of northern England, St. Cuthbert, Additionally, in 1093, it served as a site of pilgrimage for the cult of St. Cuthbert. It took 40 years to be completed (excluding the upper sections of the western towers) and this gave the builders enough time to alter the designs. Some alterations introduced were the wall passage at the clerestory level, the stone vaults throughout the entire church, the chevron ornaments in the nave, the ribbed vaults, and the simplification of the cylindrical piers. Due to the massive structure, the large amount of stones were organized and designed prior to their assembly at the construction scene.

Construction and material:

The cathedrals’ construction began at the east end and extended to the first to arches of the nave. The distribution of the chevron ornament confirmed that the first two arches and one bay of the gallery were completed before the rest of the nave and this is to serve the buttress for the west side of the crossing. Also, the cathedral was the first building in England to completely be covered with ribbed vaults. The construction material used was mainly sturdy Coal Measure sandstone. This brown sandstone is fine to medium grained and was produced locally, thus saving the monks money on its transportation.

Location vs. function:

The cathedral is surrounded by the river Wear, which kept it protected from enemies. Also, its only free side was protected by a castle of the bishop of Durham. The cathedral had a revolutionary impact on English society and the English church, which led to the reorganization of the dioceses and the moving of some sites of bishops to centers of Norman power.

Since your opinion matters most to us and to this project, we would like to know what element strikes your eye the most? What do you think is the most important architectural aspect of the Durham Cathedral??Also, in what aspects do you think the Cathedral affected its surrounding?

Sources

- Kevin Matthews, “Durham Cathedral” (GreatBuildings; http://www.GreatBuildings.com/buildings/Durham_Cathedral.html; 2008)

- Richard Hilton, “Welcome to the Durham Cathedral” (The Chapter of Durham; http://www.durhamcathedral.co.uk/; 2006-2009)

Airport-style security detectors are being used to scan revellers at Wakefield’s railway stations to help cut knife crime…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: fashions. For a different topic see bra types. The blog is also related to: fashion dress.

Airport-style security detectors are being used to scan revellers at Wakefield’s railway stations to help cut knife crime…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: texas cities. For a different topic see cornbread recipes. The blog is also related to: roanoke city.

Badec Bros Deco also specializes in dustbins. These designer dustbins are ideal to add stunning focal points to your home or for use in a trendy shopping centre or mall, while being practical.

We really love a creative challenge and excel at designing and creating customized exterior or interior décor pieces for your home, office or garden, such as innovative mild steel pots, trendy garden benches, artistic trellises, arches and pergolas, as well as, imaginative sculptures.

Our creative team can dream up and manufacture any type of décor that your heart desires and customize it to your specifications – size, shape and colour. We use a wide variety of mediums to create our master pieces, including mild steel, stainless steel, wood, sandstone, plexiglas, mosaic tiling and the like.

We manufacture our steel dustbins from mild steel and can add intricate detail to the surface to beautify it. There are three finishes to choose from. We can powder coat your contemporary steel dustbin in any colour imaginable, or we can apply a mild steel finish or a rusted finish. It is possible to manufacture your unique steel dustbin according to the exact dimensions you require.

We were recently commissioned to manufacture a large amount of dustbins for a client. The body of the dustbin was manufactured out of mild steel, which was folded and welded along one seam, and then finished in a rusted effect. After that was done, we clad the dustbin with teak planks and added a stainless steel lid to finish off the product.

Should you wish to have your very own signature Cubedec dustbin, interactive sculpture, Cubedec shelving, Cubedec miniature Zen garden box, 2010 Soccer World Cup décor, mild steel lamp shade, mild steel screen, Cubedec laser-cut logo, gabion counter, narration stand, gabion light cage, gabion bollard, gabion water feature, sculptured living wall, sculptured flagpoles, unique pot and drip tray, customized sculpture, Cubedec bench, trendy steel décor with your company logo emblazoned on it, mild steel inspirational slogan, steel laser-cut signage, mild steel mould, Cubedec Pot, hanging sculpture, gabion pot, gabion wall or gabion terrace, wooden or steel feature poles, bar code trellis, Cubedec water feature, pergola, arch, sculpture or trellis, please feel free to contact our energetic and knowledgeable sales representative, Mareleen van Zijl, on her cell phone at 078 800 5112, the office number at 012 460 7990, or via e-mail at mareleen@badecbros.com  

She will gladly arrange an appointment with you to listen to your ideas and to stun you with our own creative ideas! You dream it, we manufacture it! Badec Bros Deco will create a 3 dimensional render and calculate a quotation FREE OF CHARGE for you!

We can deliver your unique Badec Bros Deco product(s) within 10 to 15 working days, upon acceptance of the design and quotation and the required 50% deposit. These services come standard and will not cost you a cent extra! We offer a 1 year guarantee on all our products.

New image in the repetitive patterns photography contest

…
Line of arches photography picture

Mansa Devi temple is a very famous temple in Haryana. More than a pilgrim centre it is also a treat for eyes. The temple contains thirty eight panels of wall paintings apart from the floral designs pained all over the ceilings and the arches. It is located in the Bilaspur village in Panchkula. There are two temples here both dedicated to the goddess. The older one is built by the ruler Mani Majra in 1815. The second temple was built by Maharaja Karam Singh in 1861. A famous fair is held twice the year one in March to April and another in September to October. Lots of devotees and tourists reach here to experience the culture and tradition of Panchkula.

Chandigarh is the nearest airport so is the railway station. The city is well connected to other states by road through national highways. There are several hotels and resorts in Panchkula for tourists to stay.

The funny thing about vacations is that you anxiously await them, spend your time fixating and agonizing over the minutest of details, then wish they would never end. Once you’ve done that, seen that, been there and bought the post cards, you look forward to getting back home. Two weeks later it seems like your last vacation was last year, or something like that.

My wife and I took a 10 day trip out to the high desert Southwest. We flew to Vegas, ( hey it was a vacation right? ), spent a day and left a town I didn’t recognize, even though I was there only three years ago.
The first stop on our 1500+ mile roadtrip was Springdale, UT and Zion National Park, we took our rental ( Hyundai Accent – no power anything, but great gas mileage ) and made the two hour trip. We planned on spending about a day and a half sightseeing at each stop and a half day driving to the next location.
The weather in Zion was so so, certainly better than what we had left back home in Minnesota ( snow in early October ), but not great for photography. We rode the shuttle, after purchasing our annual pass for all of the National Parks in the US ( $ 80 is a great deal ), all the way to the Temple of Sinawava and a nice trail which leads back to the Narrows where you actually hike in the Virgin River.

This is from second day, we had a few breaks in the clouds and repeated the shuttle ride of the day before, getting off at the Temple stop and hiking back to where the Narrows trail starts. Make sure to eat at Oscar’s Cafe in Springdale – the food is awesome, especially the Garlic Burger and sweet potato fries.
The third day was overcast to start and saw us off to Monument Valley Tribal Park on the Arizona / Utah Border in southwestern Utah. To get out of Zion heading east, you must drive up several switchbacks and head through a tunnel that is amazing since they had to build it back in the 1920’s. The tunnel is small by today’s standards and is sometimes closed to two way traffic, so that a taller vehicle ( RV ) can come through by driving down the center where the roof is taller. After passing through the tunnel the drive was amazing, the scenery had changed from that of being at the bottom of a canyon several thousand feet deep to something that looked more like the Badlands of South Dakota.

The colors were just starting to change and we happened across several patches of trees where the colors ranged from green to yellow to orange or red.

While on our way to Monument Valley, we made a side trip to the Antelope Slot Canyons just outside of Page, AZ. They are not well marked but definitely worth the stop. Because they are on tribal land, you pay your entrance fee ( $ 5 per person ), pull into the parking lot and walk over to another building to pay for your tour ( $ 25 per person ) and wait until your tour time. They take you back to the Upper Canyon entrance in the back of tricked out pickups ( safari seating in the rear bed ) with seat belts to keep you from bouncing out.
It takes about fifteen minutes to go the two and a half miles, because they are driving through loose sand the entire time, but it is definitely worth it. We were to late in the season to see the light beams that happen during mid day, but it was impressive none the less. Here are a couple of my attempts to capture the canyon’s twists and turns.


We made the rest of the dash over to Monument Valley in the afternoon and arrived just in time to see the sunset on some of the rock formations around the park. We had originally planned on staying at Goulding’s Lodge just outside of the park, for two nights but opted to stay for only one ( my recommendation is to try the new lodge in the park, The View or stay about 15 miles south in Kayenta, AZ ). We spent the next day hiking and driving around the park and torturing our rental car. We made the 17 mile drive twice, once around mid day and the second time at about 4 pm. I don’t think we violated our rental contract by “off roading” since we were on the “road”, if you chose to call it that. But, let’s just say that we might have left a little metal on a couple of rocks in Monument Valley and came to think of our rental car as “the little Hyundai that could”, even chanting “I think I can, I think I can” in a couple of places.

If you want to see some of the more remote and private spots you must sign up for one of the tours that Goulding’s offers. I managed to get a few good pics, here they are.


As we wandered over to the new Visitor’s Center and The View, I ran across this sign and it got me thinking about how long it had been up or more appropriately how long it should have been up. It wasn’t up twenty years ago when we last visited, but in the geological sense coud have been up for at least the last 65 million years.

We managed to catch the sunset from the other side of the mesas before we headed north to our next and as yet undetermined stop. Let me just say that when it gets dark out there it gets DARK. You know the kind of dark where you need two hands AND a flashlight. I know that there is a cow near the little town of Mexican Hat, UT that must have very good karma, because it was so dark that I missed it by less than six inches on the passenger side of the car.

I was doing at least 40 mph, and it was just walking along the side of the road. We came up on it so fast that I never even saw it, until it was right next to the car, just a big dark blob. If it had been a cat it would probably have one fewer life left.

WIth no moon out, it did afford us the ability to see lots of stars, once the sun had fully set. We pulled over so that I could show my wife the Milky Way, I don’t remember ever seeing it so vividly and it left her in awe. We finally made it to Blanding, UT, which was about halfway to our next destination, Moab, UT. I was surprised that at almost every stop, the number of tour buses. With the exception of Moab and St George, UT, every place we stayed had a tour of some sort or another staying there as well.

The next day we proceeded north on our way to Moab, taking a side trip into the southern section of Canyonlands National Park. It was about 30 miles back in to the park entrance but a drive that was well worth the time. We stopped at a Petroglyph display called Newspaper Rock and grabbed a few snapshots and resumed our drive back to the park entrance. Most of the drive after our stop followed a small stream, and because of the stream, lots of Cottonwood trees had sprung up in an otherwise barren area. We caught them as they were turning a vibrant yellow. Take a look.

After stopping in Moab, for lunch and to find a room for two nights ( not easy if they are having a half marathon that weekend ) we drove over to Deadhorse Point State Park to see the famous gooseneck river formation. I have to admit that it was the only real dissapointment of the trip, I had seen pictures of it and could not for the life of me figure out where they had been taken from ( try Page, AZ ). We hiked around looking for the magic spot and could not find it, the light also happened to be coming from the wrong direction, so I just got frustrated. In retrospect, this shot did manage to convey the feeling of the land and the way the river winds around on itself.

After stopping at Deadhorse State Park, we drove over to the northern part of Canyonlands National Park to see the photographically famous Mesa Arch. It is amazing that after all that I have seen and done in this business of smoke and mirrors, that this arch was not nearly what I had expected. First of all, being an arch, I would have expected it to be across the road in Arches National Park and secondly, it was much smaller than I expected. Smaller meant that I might be elbow to elbow with other photographers, while trying to get my own “magical” shot of it, when we went back – before sunrise – two days later.

Oh well, not everything is as it seems. Compare that Mickey D’s ad to the burger you get from the drive through, next time. Here are a couple of my “magical” shots, and yes I was elbow to elbow.


Back in Moab, we ended up staying at the Redstone Inn, which touts itself as being the “Best Deal in Moab”, for $ 79 it wasn’t to bad. It caters mostly to the adventure crowds that seek out Moab in the spring and fall. It offers a hot tub, laundry facilities and even a gas grill if you want to cook your own steak, not five stars, but hey we were on a roadtrip. The next day we went up to Arches National Park and did some hiking that we missed the last time we were there ( the trail around Park Avenue, okay only part of it was trail, the other part was the road ).

The weather and temperatures were much more conducive to hiking this time around. The last time it was the 4th of July and 115 degrees, but the elevation was still tough to get used to. We skipped Delicate Arch because of the crowds and opted to go see Landscape Arch instead. It’s a longer trail, but was less crowded and in my opinion more magnificent. This was shot on the trail going back to Landscape Arch.

Our last stop in the park was the Double Arch, it is truly amazing that this is still standing or that it even got the chance to form in the first place.

Dinner that night was a real treat, we ate at Eddie McStiff’s, where we had stopped for lunch the day before. We both had salads ( try their Miso dressing ) and split the best pizza that I have tasted in a long time. It was the Dosie Doe, with big cloves of roasted garlic and boy was it good.

The next day, after doing the pre-sunrise thing at Mesa Arch, we took another quick drive through Arches and then headed north to pick up Interstate 70 West for a little while. This would take us over to Highway 128 South and back into Canyonlands, Escalante National Monument, Dixie National Forest and finally, we hoped, down to Bryce National Park. My wife called it a long roller coaster ride, normally she’s a fan of them, but not this time. We drove up and down and round and round, topping out at over 10,000 feet several times in Dixie before working our way back down to the 6500 foot mark near Bryce.

Along the way we stopped to see another set of Petroglyphs in the Freemont National Monument area and to check out the displays in the visitor’s center. It seems that we weren’t the first to consider a roadtrip through the area, the Freemont people had settled here or traveled through here some thousand years ago.

We finally made it down to the Bryce area and decided to stay at Ruby’s Inn, which I had seen listed online. Hey it was a Best Western motel and they offered the AAA discount. Ruby’s isn’t just a motel, it’s a whole complex. They have two hotels with something like 600 rooms ( spread out in over 8 buildings ). Shopping for food, souvenirs, art and camping gear. Gas and car repair facilities as well as a fantastic restaurant. Don’t even think of skipping the buffet, the Pot Roast alone will make you want to keep coming back. OK, I think I’ve put in a pretty good plug for Ruby’s. There are two or three other places to stay close by, but do yourself a favor and stay at Ruby’s.

Bryce National Park was probably the smallest of the parks we visited and easy to see in half a day. We took the ranger’s advice and drove to the south end and highest point, and then worked our way back, stopping along the way for pictures like these.


( Yep that’s me and my wife almost getting blown away. Our son-in-law, Nick, does this self portrait thing much better than I can )

It was the windiest it had been during our whole trip and we felt very exposed up on the ridgeline, which is where the road is, as well as some of the paths out to the lookouts ( almost watched my wife get blown off, at one of the lookouts ).
Bryce suffered a forest fire earlier in the summer that claimed about a two mile portion of the drive. All that was left in the swath where the winds had whipped up the fire, were these charred tree trunks and gray ash on the ground, it was still to soon for any new plant life to have started growing.

The park service had however put picnic tables and garbage cans back out for people to use, just a little erie dining amongst the ashes.

On the way out we stopped to watch a small group of antelope grazing in one of the meadows along side the road. The wildlife quotient for the trip was a small herd of antelope, two deer and a bunch of chipmunks, oh well at least the deer and antelope got to play.
Once we were out of the Bryce area, we meandered back into the Dixie National Forest and it’s roller coaster roads, after stopping to watch a couple of camera shy guys working on a new power transmission sub-station. Here’s a quick shot minus the guys of course.

Time to start thinking about heading back to civilization, we had a flight to catch the next day, as well as dropping off our messy little rental car. The Vegas airport warned us to be at least two hours early “because”. So we’re heading down Interstate 215 towards Vegas, with my wife searching the internet for Vegas accomodations on my Iphone 3GS at 80 MPH. Ah, welcome back to reality.

No really reasonable rooms in Vegas, so we opted for the LaQuinta in St George right off the freeway ( if you don’t count the roundabouts ). If you need a very nice place to stay with reasonable rates, you can’t beat this LaQuinta. It was less than two years old and still smelled new, had all of the ameneties that any business traveler could ask for and probably a few more. We could have stayed there a few more days, you know just to unwind from our vacation.

The drive back to Vegas was only two hours and we got back in plenty of time for the mid morning traffic congestion. We got off the freeway at Sahara and drove down the strip to the rental car center, traffic was moving better on the strip than it was on the freeway, go figure.
The airport was a breeze, we got to our gate almost two hours prior to departure and watched as the flight before ours deplaned because of air traffic congestion back home. Their flight was delayed for over an hour, but at least Northwest / Delta let them get off of the plane. We weren’t that hopeful that our plane would leave on time either, so much for being there two hours early. We actually left close to “on time”, turns out that they were down a runway back home, first we’d heard about it.

Oh well, back to reality. At least we weren’t scheduled for the next day, when the pilots overflew into Wisconsin.

I know some of you have wanted to see what the molds for the individual pieces of this project look like. So, here they are.

If you look closely you’ll see that there are two molds that are duplicates of one another that make the base / capitol parts… one to place the engaged column section on .. the other for the top to act as a capitol. They are situated on the top right and left of the picture.
The mold leaning on the column section is also sitting on the piece that came from it. Not too noticeable is the angle built into it this mold … when the piece is situated next to the column section it tells me right where to put the next column section making it easy to assemble the arch without too much trouble. It’s mate that covers the arch, and goes between two capitols, is sitting on the piece made from it. The only real difference is that this one does not have the small ramp built into it. The next two pictures give you a bit more detail of these and one of the arch sections.

This next picture gives you an idea of how the mold for the columnn section was assembled. Unfortunately it can’t show how the smaller engaged columns for the arch are carved. maybe on a later post.

So, that’s pretty much it. This is the most complex project I have worked on since building ‘The Aquaduct’ several years ago. Hopefully there will be two more complete sections for the lower tier. I think it will fit where I intend to erect the whole thing … we’ll see ! And, I couldn’t resist one final shot with all the pieces that are done so far.

Does anyone know how to build a small chariot ?

Progress is being made on my version of The Coliseum. I finished the other two molds that were needed … have done a small pour and am fairly pleased with the results. I believe you may get a better idea of how it will look with the two pictures accompanying this post. And, remember, this is going to be a facade only, although, I have been mulling how difficult it would be to build some small scale ballistas or chariots as an added touch.

Of course, there is always a bit of filing to be done to make things fit together properly. This has yet to done with the ‘new’ pieces which are between the first two sections … lower (with small ramp) and on top of the arch.

Thanks for your patience since my last post. This is a busy time of year with winter coming on … so, not as much time as wanted can be expended on things like coliseums. Thanks again !!

New image in the chilled out photography contest

Nothing so peaceful as a walk in the rose garden…stopping to smell the flowers along the way! …
Garden Arches photography picture

The creative experts of Badec Bros Deco can manufacture trendy Cubedec B pots – troughs – which can be planted with an assortment of creeping plants, and place them beneath our stylish and functional diamond trellises, which will act as support for your growing creepers.

Our Cubedec B troughs are manufactured from 1,6mm mild steel sheets, which we fold and weld. All our pots are manufactured with a round inner steel bar to support plastic planters, which come standard with all our pots, unless otherwise specified.

Our diamond trellises are manufactured from mild steel and can be customized to your specifications: dimensions, materials and finishes.

You can choose between three finishes for your Cubedec pot and diamond trellis: rusted, mild steel finish, or powder coating in any colour you can dream of. Our powder coating is SABS approved. Once the chosen finish has been applied, we seal the pot to protect it from rusting.

The combination of Cubedec B troughs and diamond trellises is ideal, should you want an instant garden, without paying an arm and a leg. Fast-growing creepers are ideal to plant in your garden, where you would like to cover a drab wall, grow shade over a pergola, or decorate arches.

Fast-growing creepers include paper flower bougainvillea (bougainvillea glabra), star jasmine (jasminum multiflorum), passion flower (passiflora incarnate), and Rosa species, such as rambling roses.

Evergreen creepers include paper flower bougainvillea (bougainvillea glabra), star jasmine (jasminum multiflorum) and most other jasmine species, Cape honeysuckle (tecomaria capensis), Cape leadwort (plumbago capensis), plumbago (plumbago europaea), ivy (hedera) species and the tickey creeper (ficus pumila).

Fragrant creepers include star jasmine (jasminum multiflorum) and most other jasmine species, Rosa species, such as rambling roses, Wisteria species, and Chilean jasmine (mandevilla laxa).

Should you wish to have your very own signature Cubedec B trough and diamond trellis, Cubedec steel gate, Cubedec pot, green screens, man-hole grid, range of planters for a shopping centre, modern pergola, Cubedec steel dustbin, interactive sculpture, Cubedec shelving, Cubedec miniature Zen garden box, 2010 Soccer World Cup décor, mild steel lamp shade, mild steel screen, Cubedec laser-cut logo, gabion counter, narration stand, gabion light cage, gabion bollard, gabion water feature, sculptured living wall, sculptured flagpoles, unique pot and drip tray, customized sculpture, Cubedec bench, trendy steel décor with your company logo emblazoned on it, mild steel inspirational slogan, steel laser-cut signage, mild steel mould, hanging sculpture, gabion pot, gabion wall or gabion terrace, wooden or steel feature poles, bar code trellis, Cubedec water feature, arch or sculpture, please feel free to contact our energetic and knowledgeable sales representative, Mareleen van Zijl, on her cell phone at 078 800 5112, the office number at 012 460 7990, or via e-mail at mareleen@badecbros.com  

She will gladly arrange an appointment with you to listen to your ideas and to stun you with our own creative ideas! You dream it, we manufacture it!

Badec Bros Deco will create a 3 dimensional render and calculate a quotation FREE OF CHARGE for you! We can deliver your unique Badec Bros Deco product(s) within 10 to 15 working days, upon acceptance of the design and quotation and the required 50% deposit. These services come standard and will not cost you a cent extra! We offer a 1 year guarantee on all our products.

If training climbing roses up pillars, arches or pergolas, twist the main shoots gently around the uprights.

Having left the desert we drove North for what seemed like weeks, but was actually only 2 days, boring! To be fair there was some grass in Idaho which was a nice change of scenery even if it was all dead. Zoë had developed a sore throat but we assumed this was because she’d crammed so much food down it in Vegas. The sniffles soon followed though and then full on bird / pig / human Flu-like symptoms as we arrived in West Yellowstone. As it was also snowing when we arrived we shelved any ideas of camping and booked ourselves into a motel for a few days.

Zoë phoned in sick on our first day at the park so had a duvet day while I went exploring, free to spend hours taking pictures and getting too close to big animals!

The snow clouds had vanished and any remains were thin on the ground due to the under-floor heating spread all over the park. The west section of the park is mainly spitting geysers and bubbling hot springs, made colourful by the resident bacteria feeding off the dissolved minerals. You really get an idea of how massive the pool of fire below must be – for miles in every direction there’s steaming vents and pools of superheated water bubbling out of the ground! Unverified tourist fact of the day: The biggest Yellowstone eruption spat out about 545 cubic miles of lava and ash. In comparison Krakatoa, the largest eruption in the last couple of centuries, dished out around 12!

So anyway, I spent the day exploring the wilderness, getting off the tourist boardwalks where I could, sneaking up on massive Bison and getting stuck in boggy meadows, ending the day at Old Faithful as the sun went down.

Zoë had benefitted from her day in bed so joined me for a similar route the next day, more geysers and hot springs as well as a couple of very close encounters with 2-ton bison!

Having had our fill of Geysers we drove through the park to Mammoth hot springs at the North entrance. There was a brief moment of panic when Zoë thought she was having an altitude induced brain aneurysm – turned out to be a trapped sneeze though, phew.

It was even colder up here, minus 12°C at night! So no more hikes for us, our last day at Yellowstone was spent in the car, driving through the Lamar valley looking for animals. We managed to add something new to our spotters list – Pronghorn, 5 of the 250 in the park! There were lots of other black blobs in the distance too, probably herds of wolf, mountain lions and bears although they were too far away for us to prove it with photos unfortunately.

We left Yellowstone the next day and drove down to Jackson, a nice Ski town on the outskirts of neighbouring Grand Teton National Park. All ski towns seem pretty nice so far, good art and photo galleries, coffee and cake dealers, taxidermy shops etc.. this one had a polar bear for $35K but it wouldn’t have fit in the car. Zoë considered getting the Jackalope until I told her it wasn’t a real animal – they’d just stuck horns on a rabbit, mental.

The live animal of choice here was Moose, and we managed to spot 3 on our first day near the river.

We saw several more in the next couple of days, as well as Osprey, cartoon Bluebirds from Bambi, and the highlight for me – a Bear and two cubs while out on one of my pre-dawn rally drives / photo shoots!

Having tired of sub zero temperatures and nice scenery, we returned South in search of warmer climes and some nice desert. We popped into Salt Lake City en route as we wanted to check out the big Mormon temple we were shown pictures of when we were accosted in Hawaii a couple of years ago. However on finding it we were a bit disappointed, with Zoë exclaiming ‘is that it’ in front of all the disciples milling around! It was an educational experience for me too, I found out Mormons aren’t actually from Space, a fact Zoë claimed to know all along.

We continued South and arrived in Moab the next day and headed straight for Arches National Park.

Zoë joined me for the crowded hike up to Delicate arch in time for sunset, arriving to find about 60 other photographers all lined up with their tripods precariously balanced on the narrow ledge at the edge of the chasm. I found myself a perch and set up, glad of the company as our strength in numbers helped us heckle tourists out of the way! Inevitably several things got knocked down the 100ft cliff while we were sat there, bottles of water, lens caps and one guy’s iPhone! Hikers at the bottom retrieved it for him though and unbelievably it still worked!

We’ve done a little more hiking today after nearly 2 weeks off, a 6 mile trip through the desert in the midday heat to throw us back in the deep end! We saw a few more of the arches in the park and got some good views over the valleys with more of the same tomorrow in Canyonlands N.P.

Apologies for the delay in posting our news, the warm motels have developed a comfortable laziness in both of us!

To keep you thinking until our next edition consider a recent question Zoë posed:

Do English cats and Spanish cats speak the same cat language?

Who needs Karl Pilkington!