Swing Swang Swung

Recently, the rickety swing set at the cottage clutched at its throat and fell to the ground. Specifically, one of the wooden swings broke!

Is there anything sadder than the sight of a broken swing!?

OK. Maybe a sad puppy. That would be sadder. But the broken swing is a close second!! *wags finger for emphasis*

This swing set is a tetanus shot waiting to happen as far as I'm concerned: rusty chains, rusty supports, concussion-inducing wooden seats.  And naturally, the kids love it! So when we were reduced to a single swing, the battle for possession of the lone remaining swing commenced. We needed a replacement and F A S T.

I had planned to buy a whole new swing (two, actually, so there wouldn't be fights over who got to use the 'new' swing. Oi, my kids...), but there aren't a lot of options out there for pre-fab swings, and they're not cheap! They start at a minimum of $20/ea. Youch.

Then I remembered that we have an old hunk of 2x10 pressure-treated left over from when we built the kids' sandbox at the house (yes, yes, pressure-treated play equipment=bad... blah, blah, move along). We brought that up to the cottage and Dad and the captain went to work making some lovely sawdust.

The biggest spade-bit we had in the shed was a half-inch, so the boys had a hard time reinserting the rusty chain through the holes (they drilled two holes side-by-each and chiseled out the middle, but it was still snug). It needed to be encouraged with a hammer. I'm surprised the chain didn't just shatter upon being hit! It's 95% rust. You can tell they're working hard because Dad's tongue is poking out. My theory is that it makes more room inside his head for all the thinking he needs to do. Heh.

With the chain reinstalled, it was time to give the refurbished swings a test-drive.

Wait! I meant the kids! Not you two!! Get down from there!

Yeesh. Some people's kids.

I guess the swing set isn't as rickety as I thought.