Washtub Project

I learned how to fish on my grandparents' farm in northwest Missouri.  My grandma taught me how to catch catfish by sinking worms to the bottom of farm ponds...and then waiting.  She would always catch more fish than me because she had the patience of a saint and I had the attention span of a gnat.  She would always let me reel them in after she hooked them and then we would bring our fish back to the house for my grandpa to clean.  We ALWAYS put them in this washtub until my grandpa got around to cleaning them and those memories are etched into my mind.  The washtub became a source of wonder and pride.  I remember another occasion where my grandpa sewed all of the holes of a fishing net closed so we could catch tadpoles.  We put them in the washtub and over the course of a week, I watched tadpoles develop into frogs.

At some point, it wound up in my hands after my grandparents passed away.  It has been used to house various items but never given the proper respect that I thought it deserved.  With social distancing becoming what it has, I finally had a little time to devote to making the old washtub a distinguished and still-useful feature.  The geometry was a little difficult to figure with all of the curves and angles and it is FAR from perfect, but that's usually how my projects turn out.  I'm happy with it and glad that it will be prominently displayed an purposefully used.

I decided I wanted to hang the washtub on the wall to display it.

It seemed to me that shelves seemed appropriate to place inside the washtub so it could house more items.

Holy cow it came out level and square!

Time for stain...and bare feet.  Oops!

Almost done.

The tacklebox on the right actually belonged to my grandparents as well.  The sand in the jar came from a creek bed on their property.  The tacklebox on the left belongs to my son.