My Time Machine?

I did get all but one of the planks on the deck  the one where many cuts will be made to make it fit around all the posts where the steps and handrails will go...Im not in as much a hurry to get to step 2 of this project next week probably....here is where I am now..

I swear I did prune back these azaleas they grew back already...time to trim again! Once the planks are seasoned  I have some stain to put on.

the old horse pasture is my back yard...it's yearning to have hooves in it again! On my list of 40 things was adopt a mustang so stay tuned!

at least I can walk out the door and sit on the deck!! I even moved my little umbrella and table out.  I did see some of the large market umbrellas on sale---maybe gotta think that over.  I had one out here for years don't know where it went?

...meanwhile on the screen porch I added some more seating (do you recognize my famous camp chair) and a couple of storage footstools, found those at Goodwill.  I already have my little bottles of fertilizer, and some yard hand tools stashed inside! 

my avocado tree is getting BIG- it really wants a bigger pot so it can become a grandpa!

...the chartreuse on these boxes matches my fabric almost perfectly!  I have yet to stitch  up my cushions but it's on the list.  And in the center of the photo you can see Mom's house we are literally a stones toss from each other...

Along the fence I hung a nest box, it was higher up on a tree and not one bird was interested it hung there 3 yrs and  so I moved it last winter and LOOK,  a Carolina Wren is sitting!

the wrens have already fledged one batch of new wrens...so very happy to provide them with a home...NOW I just have to watch out for black snakes!

And in case you thought I was kidding about the "ball" art--

I wasn't!! I want more--I have one ball that has split in half, I'd like to make a couple of Lady Bugs outta that one--stay tuned.  I tossed out about 10 bowling balls...darn-wish I hadn't been in such a hurry to get rid of them just imagine the possibilities....

AND bad stuff news the van window had a  major malfunction...so I had to go on an exploratory adventure and found the cause...A plastic gear is turned by the window motor....a braided steel cord is what wraps itself around this plastic gear -not good-think rock, paper, scissors-- and then 15 yrs later your window won't go up....I ordered the entire window regulator and its on its way....I have plans to go on a long weekend  Friday I don't think the part will arrive on time, so I have shoved the window up in closed position and jammed it with old towels to keep it up there...I am not planning to camp its just too hot and every State Park I checked on my planned route had big R's across the board??? How can this be? Personally I think they just put the R's on there to discourage walk in's.... but I sure hate the idea of Motel sleeping--if it should turn cooler, I may reconsider.  I don't have to pack my kitchen I can eat take out--just I will miss my coffee so I may pack that-

currently watching on Antenna TV-- THE BLOB (1983) I have enjoyed watching TV shows that are older than my son... before that it was Seals n Croft Year of Sunday on the record player 1971, I have literally gone back in time-I am living in a house I lived in back in 1977, listening to music from my high school years, and watching TV from the days when I was raising my son, and wondering why a van window from 2001 went screwy?? 

PEACE

Eleanor Roosevelt: You must do the thing you think you can not.

out in the yard....

They say double digits by Saturday today was Wednesday...so I jumped out of bed to get started on my decking...if  you recall my son helped me rip the old decking off...and I've been doing a little here and there in bracing up the framing so it would be stronger but that's about it..this was taken a while back my "before" shot..

It is not just the decking that needs to be taken care of the awning has to be painted, and the light, and the storm door, I plan to remove that old brick plant bed on the far right under the window...eventually!!  And the azaleas are overgrown.

The deck posts were very weathered on the top 1/2 so I made the decision to paint them! (paint I had on hand) And these pricey little copper toppers will help to preserve the posts I hope. This is the only one I purchased I wanted to be sure I could use them and I like it. 

And here is a start on the decking...

I have to get to Lowes tomorrow for more boards!  Next spring maybe I will be concentrating on the lawn and getting the flower beds back up in the neglected yard... and getting the trees in shape..

I have planted a few annuals to at least make this one bed look some better...and look what I did with my sons old bowling balls..HAHA...I Like it! He said .........whaaaaattttttttttttttttt?

I recently found one of my X's golf balls in the edge of the woods Im gonna glue it on top of the short bowling ball,,,haha ModArt. whadda ya think??

Now it looks like pewter...something from outer space..I had some buckets in the barn that had holes in the bottom...so I made planters 

The fern is a 3rd generation of the fern shown below...... so this is a grandson...and this is WHY I have not reset this fern it has the potential to become a giant..and where would I put it then? It used to live in the porch sunroom, but it outgrew the sunroom, and it passed away in 2011....so happy I had started another one and my sister has a brother too!!

me with the grand daddy fern in 2005 

and finally I've been drying some Oregano from the garden...

Plan to send some to a friend who lives in CO she will like this little card Im sending along as she is a retired art teacher!

.... that's my week so far, I'll be sure to post some "After" photos of the deck when its complete, it may be a while!!

Time for a nice Lemonade

 

PEACE

Eleanor Roosevelt: You must do the thing you think you can not.

THE LOO REDO!

Since my last update post (10 days ago) I've been tiling around the shower/tub. It has been really hard...no lie--my arms have been aching with tiredness each night.  I bought a tile cutter at Lowes instead of renting one it was cheap like $19.  And then I had to buy a diamond tipped bit for my drill to cut the faucet holes...

live and learn, right? I just hope it will be water tight when its all done...some of my grout lines are off...it is what it is!

(Flickr lost my photos so these are only before and afters)

Before It was a almond color with pink wall paper...

 I got a pale grey color for the grout...and I painted the tub white, behind the tile is cement board and on the floor under the tub also..

After 

 The end of the tub had a short shelf, before 

I made a taller one with a storage cubby for cleaning supplies.

 After 

  The John area before

 After

                   

         

and the light fixture is up over where the mirror will go...its the oil rubbed bronze color I plan to tie it all together with the vanity so we'll see how that goes.  I built the vanity out of scrap material of the beadborad wall panel I put on the walls. 

  And I found some cool globes from Habitat store for it...it had some cute globes but one got broken in all the make-over-mayhem!

The floor before...Before 

 the entire floor had to be ripped out and the subfloor too...

After:

The wall canvas arrived....however I didn't like the size for the big wall in the living room area...that wall needs something longer and this is the longest canvas they make so I did a grouping of 3 canvases,  so I hung this one in the dining room, 

I ordered a 3 canvas grouping of  2) 18 x 24"s and one 32 x 24" of some of my original artwork, and I like this better...

Meanwhile today my son is here ripping the rest of the old wood off the deck out back...he has promised to help me with a few of the heavier projects...Im thrilled!

Progress, is in progress!

PEACE

Eleanor Roosevelt: You must do the thing you think you can not.