Made Me Want To Paint Something!

Just when I was going to take it easy, I saw this post and loved the finish on these chairs over at The Purple Hydrangea's blog.

The Purple Hydrangea's Chippy Chairs

I decided I have to try this paint technique as I have several different colors of Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint that I've hoarded, but never used. 

I think the likely victim is the dark wood bench in the hallway, but rest assured...someone here is getting painted and distressed!

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The Garden: What Came Back This Year

Outside in the front, the pots are starting to come to life. Several plants from last year even sprouted up on their own...

Bless my little brown thumb...I'm as shocked as you are!

For instance, this Hydrangea died out early last summer, but look...here it is again.

I was just a few days away from buying a new Hydrangea plant when I realized this one was coming back on its own.

I'll bet this happens to you all the time, but it's a first for me.

Wild Bill's little fig tree popped right up again and already has figs coming out. 

It's a 3rd-generation-cutting tree (cutting from his grandparent's tree became his mother's tree, and a cutting from mom's tree became ours) that wilts and dies down some in late fall each year, but as soon as it gets some sun the leaves start popping out again. It's a hardy one!

It's long past time to put the little fig tree in the ground, but we're trying to keep it in a pot so it's movable.  That way, if we sell the house this year we can still take it with us.

Rosemary, Mint, and Boxwood are three more plants that came back this year along with a few more that I have no idea what they are!

Boxwood And Rosemary From Last Year

I read last year that Mint is one plant that can get away from you if you're not careful where you plant it. Lesson learned! 

This is one of the Mint plants after I pulled half of it out...

Mint Gone Wild

Why plant Mint? I read that Mint will keep vermin away so I had to try it. Don't know if that's true, but it sure smells good as does the Rosemary.

There's even a few Ruellia plants that popped up by themselves in the rock bed...

Here's what Ruellia looks like once the flowers bloom. 

Source

Ruellia's nickname is Mexican Petunia, and this plant loves the heat and takes very little water to grow. It also spreads like crazy and will come back each year, filling in your empty spaces by spreading itself as far as you'll let it go.

I bought several new plants in pairs to plant in the pots on either side of the entryway.

Doesn't it always seem like you bought a lot of plants until you plant them? I'll have to make another trip to the nursery soon to buy a few more to fill up the empty spaces in the pots.

I'm thankful today for all the rain we've been having and all the plants that came back this year without any effort, especially that Hydrangea. 

How about you? Do you have any tips on what you plant that returns to your garden each year?

Thanks for dropping by!

Frontiersmen And Lewis And Clark Expedition

How do you decide what to watch on TV or online? There's just so many interesting programs and variety, it actually makes it hard to decide.

We happened upon a new series on the History Channel, The Men Who Built America: Frontiersmen, which has completely captured our attention! 

Fort Boonesborough Kentucky

The first episode was about the Revolutionary War,  Daniel Boone, and the early Frontier fort of Boonesborough Kentucky.

The second episode focused on the Lewis and Clark Expedition with Sacajawea, and this was my favorite episode so far.

If you're looking for an interesting series, this just might be one you'll enjoy too. 

Wikipedia: Lewis and Clark Expedition

Now here's a funny story: A distant family member and spouse took a long and expensive group trip, which followed the Lewis and Clark Expedition's trail. They loved every part of the trip, and when the couple returned home they attended a small dinner party where they excitedly talked about the Lewis and Clark Expedition most of the night. 

Wikipedia

As one older lady was leaving the dinner party, she thanked the host for having her. Then she turned to the other couple and told them how much she enjoyed hearing all about their friends Lois and Clark's travel trip!

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Throwback 70's And Love Never Dies

A good many years back, I happened upon a photo of these curtains. I wasn't crazy about them, but there was something about these curtains that was so familiar!

Source Unknown

I  rummage around in my mind a bit, and then I rummaged through an old box of photos. 

OK...I have to admit this. I once had some brown and white bell bottom pants in 1971 very similar to those curtains! 

Do you remember bell bottoms and pinball?

So sorry for the bad photo here!  It's an old black and white instant photo from 1971. I had just returned from Clark AF Base in the Philippines after a year and a half overseas. I couldn't wait to get back and buy some stylish clothes! WooHoo.

That's my mother on the left and my little brother and sister playing pinball. Do you remember pinball? When I was a little kid, I was a pinball wizard along with my cousins and next older brother. 

My cousin Doug and I were fanatics. Later in life, Doug's older brother Dale (nickname: Einstein, one of the first computer professors) wanted to surprise Doug with a refurbished copy of Doug's favorite pinball machine. 

Soon after he secretly ordered the pinball machine, Dale died unexpectedly right after surgery, due to a blood clot. A while after the funeral, Doug got a call out of the blue that someone named Einstein had ordered a refurbished pinball machine for him, and it was ready to be delivered. Love Never Dies!

Notice the cigarette machines to the left of the pinball machines? Anyone could buy cigarettes back then! 

I remember going to the liquor store by myself when I was 8 or 10 and buying Tiparillo Cigars for my father for a "surprise" birthday or Christmas present instead of the usual socks. No one batted an eye back then. 

Geesh, in re-reading this I don't know what was worse...that a child would be completely fine walking into a liquor store alone, or that they would sell a child a pack of "Ciggies" or cigars without a moments hesitation! Trust me, life was much simpler back then.

And, P.S. I've never smoked, but I still love the smell of cigars. Whenever I smell someone smoking a cigar outside, I try to get as close as I can to them without looking like a stalker.

How about you? Have you got any 70's or 80's pictures and stories you're brave enough to share?

Thanks for dropping by!

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Finish It Up Friday

We managed to stay home all week with only one or two quick trips out. 

That really helped with "Low-Spend January" for us! Surprising how much money you don't spend when you don't go out, right?

The coffee table, my favorite victim, has been in the garage (in the repair pile) for over a year. 

I had a "fail" a while back when I tried to put a shelf on the bottom cross bars, and the weight of the shelf broke one of the bars off. 

Bar Front Bottom Broke So I Removed It...Well It Removed Itself

I plan to add the shelf back to the bottom, but this time I'll remake the shelf as a platform with wheels and then set the coffee table on it.

I got that idea from walking past this coffee table at Weir's Furniture a while back... 

I'm Going To Copy The Bottom Shelf

So for now, I repainted the coffee table with fusion paint, which is a mineral paint that is similar to chalk paint, but leaves a slight coat of protection on the furniture. 

I used the color Casement, which is a whiter white than the Limestone color that I've been using since seeing it used by Linda over at "Q is for Quandie". 

If you want to improve your DIY skills, Linda's blog is a great place to hangout and learn!

You don't have to wax or protect furniture painted with Fusion Paint, but I do plan to add a layer of a protective coating to the top once I'm completely finished with the re-do.

Here's some "action" shots! I painted a few other small pieces while I was painting the coffee table. I'll show you those another day.

Started Painting The Bottom First - Suggested By DIYers

I plan to use a product called Tough Coat on the top of the coffee table for a harder finish. 

Limestone On Left, Tough Coat, Casement On Right

For now I've got my coffee table back in the house, and one less project on the Fixing To Do list. Best of all, I didn't have to spend a penny on it since I already had the paint and Tough Coat sitting on my shelf.

If you want to see some great projects over at Q is for Quandie ... just click HERE. 

Thanks for dropping by!

Rustic Decor

Are you smitten with rustic decor? I've been gathering up rustic home decor ever since I first laid eyes on Ralph Lauren's Home Fashions. 

I'll buy anything plaid or with animals when I see it. This Pottery Barn plaid throw and dog pillow were on sale this past weekend.

PotteryBarn Fall Decor 2017

I've realized lately that a lot of my rustic stuff is hidden away because I never found the right place for it. 

Here's a rusty sign when I saw it in a shop in 2011 and had to have it! I still haven't found the right spot for it, but I'm still looking.

With all the rustic decor I've collected up, I guess I'm hoping for a cabin in the mountains someday. I think North Carolina would suit me well.

I often pretend to visit a shop in Greenville NC called "We Took To The Woods" by staying on their blog and Facebook page way too long! 

I borrowed a couple of their photos to show you why I'm hooked.

We Took To The Woods on Facebook

I wouldn't even have to go into the shop (that's a lie, but pretend with me) if I could just sit outside on their lawn and stare at all their rustic curb appeal.

We Took To The Woods on Facebook

A blogging friend who lives in North Carolina has a log cabin in the woods not far from Greenville. I envy her. Last week she showed her followers her wonderful living room with a couple of deer heads up high on the wall. I was in love! 

Of course I had to give her an idea or two...remember, rustic is my thing! 

I said if that was my room, that large deer head would be on the brick fireplace, front and center! How was I to know it would cause them so much trouble? 

Seems her husband liked the idea as much as she and I did, so off to town he went (the first of many trips) for masonry screws and such. She emailed about the all day fiasco my little suggestion caused and, while I should've felt bad, my tears were from laughing, not crying.

Seems the wall got gouged, hubs might've cursed me a time or two, and at the end of the day, the deer head still didn't get hung! I've asked her to please share the story with her readers and, when she does, I'll provide you a link.

As I read the email to Wild Bill, with a look of astonishment all he could say was..."You're giving decorating advice???" 

Well now, see...I guess he doesn't like rustic decor.

Thanks for dropping by!

Thrift Shopped Rabbits

These two small rabbit pictures came home with me from a local thrift shop the other day. I paid a whopping $10 for each one!

I was awed by the form of their pretty frames, thinking I would add some dark wax to them to tone down the gold a little.

The lone rabbit in the left picture I thought was particularly cute. 

Of course for $10 I accepted the fact the value was in the frames and not what I thought were reproduction prints.

The two check-out ladies were admiring the pieces of art and expressed sadness they hadn't seen them first since they were so cheap!

I didn't bother to tell them the trick is to look high and low when you're out thrift shopping. If I have time, I even walk the shop left to right and then turn around and walk it right to left. Wait...What?Obsessive? Probably so!

When I got home, I noticed a slight chip on one of the frames. I'm sure it happened after I bought it due to carelessness on my part...

I was careless because I wasn't too concerned about how the pictures were wrapped since I was planning on making the frames my next paint/wax victims. 

Wild Bill hates thrift shopping so he sits in the pickup outside and reads a book. On this hot day, he was parked up the street, and when he saw me he drove down to pick me up in a kind of Bonnie and Clyde escape.

I barely had time to throw my purchase in the back seat and jump in the truck before he was on his way!

Imagine my surprise when I got the pictures home and turned to the backs and read the tags that said they were Hand Painted by Robert Grace: 

I went on the internet to look up the artist, Robert Grace. It dawned on me I already have a larger print copy of a different one of his rabbit paintings, but that's for another day.

One of the exact rabbit paintings, with same frame, is currently for sale with a bid of $70.  Man...I done good on these two!!!

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Hand-Scraped Wood Floors, 5 Years Later

Reading today about another blogger's dilemma over replacing her old wood floors (here) reminded me of when we were in the same situation back in November 2012. 

On New Year's Eve Day 2010, we bought a brand new house that wasn't quite finished. The builder had decided not to put the wood floors in that he had planned, but dropped the price by $30,000 That's when we said sold!

We lived with ugly, half-assed stained cement floors for almost 2 years before we found exactly the wood floors we wanted. Here's what the ugly concrete floors looked like...

Our wood floors are hand-scraped and stained a medium dark color,  a sort of chestnut, but has a lot of variation in it. It took 5 days for 4 guys to complete the job from start to finish. 

The bare wood sat in our house for a few days to acclimate to the house conditions. This stack was in our breakfast room.

The bare wood was laid down in the great room (where I'm standing taking the photo), dining room (the room to the right), office nook (the hallway to the left leads down to it), entryway and other hallways before being hand-finished...

The wood guys did a sample for us. They hand-scraped the wood in two variations. The left is lightly scraped, the right is scraped a lot more. We chose the right, highly scraped one. The stain, on both samples, is exactly the same...

Next the hand-scraping started and went on and on...

The wood guys covered all the granite and vacuumed a lot to keep any dust down. We had already put travertine tiles in the kitchen, bathrooms, and laundry room. 

Sorry for the awful pictures. I took these back in 2012 with a point and shoot camera and all the lights were blaring to provide light for the work going on.

Stain went on in several different layers--stain, sand, stain, sand. This was probably taken about halfway through the staining as the finished stain is a lot darker.

This picture shows off the hand-scraping, but the color is a lot redder looking than it actually is...

Here's a more accurate depiction of the floor colors. I love the variation of the wood and stain...

We absolutely love the rough hand-scraping and would do it all over again! The only thing we would change is that we would have continued the wood floors into the master bedroom instead of putting carpeting in there.

In fact, we plan to replace the bedroom carpet with the same wood flooring as soon as that carpeting wears out. 

The wood floors were really reasonably priced. The price difference between putting in the hand-scraped wood floors in the master bedroom, or the high-quality rug padding and carpeting we did put in, was only about $400. We should have gone for the wood in the bedroom!

We took our sweet time moving all our furniture back into the house. We really loved the expansive look of the house without the furniture hiding our new floors...

My biggest concern was cleaning wood floors. I had never had wood floors and knew that carpeting was easy...just vacuum it. But how do you clean wood floors? 

Well, after almost 5 years of wood floors, I can tell you we just vacuum them! We use the vacuum hose to go into the corners and along the baseboards. If something spills, we wipe it up. Unlike the carpets, spills don't stain our wood floors. 

If you're considering replacing your floors with wood in the future, I hope this post helps with your dilemma.

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