Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

After I recovered my old couch - here's another picture of her with me and Bobbie McGee in 1996 - I had an empty(ish) spot in the sunroom and a drop cloth that had been covering said couch.

I sure do miss my little Bobbie McGee!

Recovery (Part 3)

My original couch had 2 cushions with removable covers but I decided to make 1 ginormous cushion and forego the option of removal. I kludged together a couch cushion with the foam that I had left over, and wrapped it in cotton batting before starting the process of hand sewing the seams. 

Hippie Entry

In trying to pretty up this neglected area of our property (back drive), we cleared out the volunteer weed trees and added some English Ivy cuttings. I looked for a "Hippie Entrance" metal sign for the gate but I could not find one to purchase.

This gate needs a sign for the hippies!

Recovery (Part 1)

When my mom was in town in February for my nephew's wedding, we found a rich plum upholstery fabric on sale at the fabric store and I vowed to finally recover my college couch that has taken up residence in the sun room for the past few years. I bought that couch in 1992 and it's been through 6 moves. I took countless naps on that sweet striped couch, see?

Caught napping in 1995...

I got the couch because it was so functional - it has a twin bed and a cedar storage area under the removable ottoman.  This is why I've never let her go!

Snow Day

After work on Friday, we went to the bookstore to get a Latte Macchiato and a half price calendar. We ended up with the World's Best Father calendar. Love it! Then we hit the grocery store so I could camp out in my pajamas all day Saturday; being domesticated.

Recovery Period

A few years back we invested in a lovely red sectional to fill up our Living Room. Life was GOOD!

Fast forward 5 years and 2 more kids, our couch has seen better days...

Wood Shop

Saturday, when we went in search of project and cleaning supplies at Home Depot, we wandered into the middle of a kidlet wood shop. We were looking for cedar closet liner planks (for my musty English dresser).

How serendipitous!

Dirty Job

Cleaning out the pond had to be one of the grossest projects we've ever done. Shoveling muck and tadpoles and fully grown bullfrogs that Miss Kay would be happy to fry up was so disgusting at times. Especially when I'd clear out some reeds or hyacinth roots and see some slimy eyes looking at me.  

But the results were mostly worth it. 

Taming the Jungle

Right Before

Right After

On Saturday, I filled up 3 lawn bags and bundled 2 large piles of voluntary treelings and vines in the process of cleaning up this neglected area of the yard. As per usual, I am not finished, but it's a good start.

Earlier in the morning, in an effort to use up the paint that I got to paint my yard sale table and refinish up that yard sale cafe set I got last year, I painted the stools.  This happened as a result of my looking in the sun room for something else when I happened upon the ziploc bag containing my paint brush from last month's painting...my Mother-in-Law taught me that trick in case I needed to stop painting and wanted to resume painting soon without cleaning out the brush. I can't believe the paint hadn't dried out from last month. Good tip! 

I think I will paint the base of the table, then go over the paint with a glaze or sealant of some sort. I would like to cover the table top with some sort of clear coat over mementos from our past adventures.

This table is my inspiration...

I had to call it a day on the projects after a few hours because it was getting too hot (so we cooled down with some watermelon and some of us jumped in the pool) and we had to get a birthday party for a friend's son.

Table Time

Back in November I really wanted to paint that table in my sun room.  Many things have happened in the past 6 months (new job, travel for new job, random kidlet activities) so I finally got around to it on Friday night.

I didn't spend a lot of time on it. I just sanded off most of the paint/finish/residue and then I wiped off the top and applied tung oil.

Smoothing the top a bit (and removing some art project residue)

After the tung oil soaked in a bit, we hauled the table back into the sun room where I painted the base a pretty Jamaican Sea Blue. While I like the progress I've made, I don't feel that the table is complete.

Not Quite Done

I think the base needs to be distressed a bit and the top needs another coat of tung oil...

This was sort of what I was going for...

Maybe I should let the kids knock around a bit with it before I try my hand at distressing it?

Works in Progress

Table Envy

Well, sort of..more like table makeover envy. After Melissa posted that she might refinish a table recently, and then went ahead and did it, I felt like a bit of a slacker with my coffee table.

Emi and I got this table for $15 at a yard sale up the street....SIX years ago!

I actually like the table as-is and occasionally will pass an oiled rag over it to polish out the imperfections, I mean character...but I think it needs a little oomph! I want the treatment to be sturdy enough to survive the Sun Room (which is often used at the Play Room). I googled for "painted wooden table" images and got a few good options then I added "turquoise" (because I love that color and all variations of it) and I got a few more options that appealed to me (like below found here).

Actually, I got inspiration overload and had to walk away from my laptop for a minute and recalibrate myself. Good thing I am not on Pinterest!

I don't think I need to look further for my options....

We have some reorganization needs to take care of around the house in the next couple of weeks (musical beds for the kiddos) but I would like to paint the table legs before my mom gets here for Christmas....we'll see!

Time Out

This past weekend I was supposed to go on a family trip to visit Scott's grandparents but at the last minute, I decided to stay home and take a personal time out. I was stressed about the backlog of projects/chores around the house and I was growing annoyed with my lack of progress due to the almost constant interruptions from the kids and I occasionally need some solitude to recharge my batteries (or to keep me from going totally crazy). I missed my family the second they left and I thought about calling them to come back to get me, but I know I needed this time. It was just an overnight trip so I had about 34 hours to myself. I thought I'd catch up on some sleep but could only manage a brief nap on the couch before I got busy taking care of projects uninterrupted! Whee! I spent my time vacillating between a loafing teenager and Martha Stewart.

Some Productive Things I Did:

• Shampooed the carpets. This was long overdue after all of the gatherings we have had this summer. I was disgusted at the amount of dirt and dog hair that I removed from the floors...  After moving things around in the living room I decided to put the bamboo mat away for now (the dogs like to click around on this mat no matter that we are trying to hear the TV or sleep) and I also finally decided to get rid of my lovely overstuffed RED cottage rocker. I got this fabulously comfy chair 9 years ago when Emi was a baby. When we filled our living room with the red sectional pieces a couple of years ago, the red rocker was relegated to the library, but it never quite fit there. And it got more use as a catchall instead of seating. I moved it to the entry when shampooing the carpets and after seeing all of that space, decided it had to go (before I changed my mind). Scott's mom is coming to get it tonight so it won't be far and it will be loved. I plan to finally, finally get some big floor pillows for the library and hopefully add a nice hanging light in that area this fall...
• Laundered the couch pillow covers. (and almost ordered 3 more!) (I still might!). These faux-sheepskin pillow covers are the ones we have!  Soft, sturdy and washable.
• Washed bed linens and remade beds without the pressure of having to remake the beds in time for nap time...
• Mowed front lawn with REEL lawn mower.  This led me to dig up about 75% of the crab grass that was invading our front lawn (hard to mow crab grass with REEL mower).  Now our front lawn looks like it was attacked by moles when in fact it was attacked by Nols...
• Mowed 1/2 of the big back yard with REEL mower.  The chickens seemed to appreciate this quiet, gentle mowing...
• Began propagating (hopefully) forsythia and chaste berry plants.  Basically clipped some shoots off of each plant, dipped them into the rooting hormone, shoved them into planters and watered well. They are in a partial shaded area that is very close to the hose. I didn't cover them with plastic like I've heard is recommended but I've gotten lucky with this method in the past. *fingers crossed*
• Dehydrated my first pineapple (I prefer the hydrated version but I'd like to preserve some healthy snacks for my family when the cold, cold winter comes along). I dried out chunks of about half a pineapple and the yield was small. Might do pineapple rings in the near future. On the plus side, my sun room still smells like sweet, sweet pineapple...
• Cleaned the kitchen completely and laundered the tablecloth. This might not seem like a big deal but our dishwasher is on the fritz and with 3 kids, there are always dishes in the sink. I would wash a batch of dishes then go outside and play (mow, swim, rake, weed, move the sprinkler) and then repeat the process.
• Performed minor surgery on Emi's Rabbit Doll (she's been waiting patiently for months to have the hole in her back sewn up)
• Started work on a photo book of pictures from our recent visit. I got the photos uploaded to shutterfly, took the default book created and began editing it.
• Folded and put away 4 loads of laundry...uninterrupted...

Not So Productive Things I Did:

• Ate peach ice cream while watching parts of Marley & Me and Shawshank Redemption (I HAD to take frequent breaks from the work outside because it was once again 100+ degrees) and all of The Men Who Stare at Goats.
• Took a couple of dips in the pool (followed by a catnap on the floating lounger). I can report that my pool and backyard were thoroughly enjoyed this weekend. It was soooo quiet and peaceful...ahhhh! And my backyard sounds like a jungle or rain forest when there are no small children running around like banshees.
• Made the mistake of checking out an episode of Jersey Shore while folding laundry...I could not turn away. It was like a train wreck and I wish I could unknow the stuff I know about "Snooki" and "The Situation".
• Did not take pictures. Right after the family left I found myself in the back yard with so many things to photograph but Scott had the camera with him. I had to just enjoy what I saw: a mama bullfrog watching over her tadpole babies; an orange dragonfly flying over the pond of matching goldfish;  Chicken Run (the ladies kept walking towards the front gate to check on me while I was in the front yard or in the house); birds gathering around the sprinkler; sunset; sunrise...
• Thought about locating my mandolin...DID locate the mando-learning DVD and quickly put it away before it harshed my mellow.

Do I have any regrets? Not really except I wish I'd gotten a good solid nap in on Sunday. The catnap in the pool wasn't enough so I fell asleep during Breaking Bad.

Friends, this week is supposed to be the hottest so far!  Going to have to make salads and sandwiches and hang out in the pool until we get pruny in order to survive. I hope your week is filled with lots of cool things!

Peace Be With You

I've seen this garden the past few mornings and it's given me some ideas for my yard... Instead of the Peace Path that I have been envisioning for a few years now, I'm thinking a Meditation Garden might be better. When I was wondering what to do about my Vitex/Chasteberry Tree/Shrub recently, I did some research and found I could propagate the cuttings from this tree. That would be a great way to share the color purple and this fragrant shrub with friends and family. I've done this with Passion Flower and Forsythia before successfully and I've tried (and failed) with my Camelia plant recently too. It's worth a try to cultivate such a beautiful plant to share.

This season has been so terribly hot that I am focusing ahead to next year and getting some plants rooted and established for 2012. I transferred my mom's Butterfly Ginger into a planter and also into the bed with my banana plants. Some gardeners in Oklahoma dig up their banana plants to overwinter inside but we choose to leave them in the ground to fend for themselves. We have 2 types in our back yard that have thrived and multiplied even with the harsh winters and summers of the past few years. Of course we don't get blooms/fruit so maybe we should dig up a few this winter to keep inside. I am curious to see if the ginger will do the same.

I am thinking the Meditation Garden could tie together the space west of our garden pond (FILLED with tadpoles currently) and Emi's neglected "M" herb garden. I would want to include a nice archway with a gate (remember, we have chickens) that I would cover with some of the trumpet vine we have growing around the yard already.  The goal is to create the garden from plants that I already have in my yard (or may be available through trade with friends).  Oh, I've got ideas while I am inside with the A/C on but those ideas evaporate like the sweat on my brow when I am actually outside these days.  Luckily I have lots of indoors projects to do!

What about you? What's inspiring you today?

Therapeutic

This morning as I lay there with the electrodes and heat working their magic on my back I tried to figure out how I tweaked my back again. Then I remembered the past weekend (which seemed to fly by....I wonder why) and realized it wasn't ALL about The Walking Dead and catching up on other DVR'd shows.

In addition to that, we:

• Sorted through all 3 kids dressers and closets (and playroom/sunroom) for donables
• Bathed and blow dried both dogs (after bathing the kiddos)
• Vacuumed and dusted whole house (twice - before and after dogs were bathed because they are shedding fools)
• Painted chalk board on wall in kitchen (after loving what I saw on Nothing But Bonfires)
• Clipped, pruned trees and shrubs; dead headed roses; weeded, raked and bagged leaves in front yard
• Dragged portable radiator up from basement
• Wrestled and played with the kiddos
• Put up our Christmas tree
• Brought countless Christmas decorations up from the basement
• Carried countless loads of laundry up from the basement

So maybe I overdid it with the projects this weekend but the weather was gorgeous and we needed to take care of the dogs, editing down of the clothes/toys, cleaning up yard for winter and decorating for the holidays.

I love going to PT even though they make me exercise...or maybe it's because they make me exercise....no, it's the heat and those wonderful electrodes that put me in an alpha state. Actually, it's that they work with me on helping me to condition my body and tackle what life throws at me. It's like having a personal trainer, but one who is gentle with me, not barking at me to push myself harder. Although I do work up a sweat these days...

Winnowing

Trying to edit down the clutter and extraneous stuff in our house again (always...)...not helping that most of the household is comprised of unconscious hoarders...

Speaking of shiftless hobos...