Projects, Projects, Projects...

 

I think I might be filling up my space with projects to keep from feeling the loss of my old life.  Sometimes I don’t feel like a whole. What was WE is now just me. 

I guess that’s where all the projects come in.

This is a cabinet I'm working on for the entry by the garage. It started out as unpainted wood. Kind of blah. 

I used half a jar of expensive chalk paint on it before I realized it was just soaking it up like a sponge. 

I switched to a quart of regular paint from Home Depot in a creamy white, Behr's Swiss Coffee. I added Calcium Carbonate to it, making a cheep version of homemade chalk paint. 

I have an obsession for putting wheels on large pieces of furniture, but this is so heavy I'm going to buy a piece of MDF just a little larger than the base and put wheels on that. I'll paint it same as the cabinet and slide the cabinet onto it.  

Here's my table right in the middle of the chaos.  It's very heavy too because the top is a thick piece of wood. The guys who recently delivered my guest room mattress and box spring turned the table upside down for me. 

I painted the table's trestle legs white and then started adding wheels. I got three of them on with my small battery operated screwdriver, but the going was tough! 

My two middle fingers are still hurting from being fractured during the carpet installation, which made using the screwdriver difficult. 

I gave in and bought a larger, plug-in electrical drill to attach the rest of the wheels as soon as I get back to it.

In the garage is this large green cabinet I bought for the sunroom. I'm seriously putting a ban on buying anymore large items! 

The garage is full of them, and I've even had to develop a system to take them out of my pickup truck myself.

See the bins on rollers the cabinet is laying on? I wheeled them up to the back of the truck and slide the cabinet onto them and wheeled it out of the way.

The garage is also holding a corner cabinet, a vanity that's going to become a potting bench, and this desk with carved drawers...

As you can see, there's plenty to do. Almost too much actually. I've made a list and vow to complete an item before I start the next. And no more new projects until the ones I have are done.

Thanks for dropping by!

House, Health, Happiness Of Letting Go

We've been gone awhile. Wild Bill and I took a trip up to the chilly north to see Middle Daughter and family, then we went down to Tennessee and looked around a bit.

It felt good to get away for a little while. Chemo starts again this week for Bill, and we will be putting the house up for sale soon. 

Our House In Winter

We had planned to put it up for sale sooner but then the house next door, AND the house across the street, AND the house down the street all went up for sale at the same time! 

We decided to wait a bit until at least one of the three other houses sold. Thankfully, two of them have sales pending, so we feel better about putting ours on the market now.

Our House In Summer

It seemed heartless to add another house to the mix so we spent the time boxing up what we wanted to keep and donating/giving away the stuff that no longer brings us joy.

Hopefully waiting will benefit us too. I think our house is much more attractive in the summer with the grass all green and the planters with flowering plants to liven it up. 

How about you? Does your house have a season it seems to favor?

The flagstone patio we put in the front, on the east side of the house, comes alive when the potted fig tree bursts out in green and the sun beats down on Texas. 

The patio is a great place for a cup of tea in the early morning or a cool drink in the afternoon when the sun goes over the house and it's shady all the rest of the day.

We'll miss the house, but we're ready to move on. I personally dread the process of selling the house. Maybe that's another reason why we've put it off until now...

Tell me...Do you remove everything but the absolute necessities? Do you live in the house while it's up for sale or do you move out? 

If you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them please. 

Thanks for dropping by!

Friday Finds

Oh how I wish I had an old piano to paint a bright color like this...

Piano At The Fogue Abode

I love the idea of a great big yellow prop for fall decorating. Of course that won't happen here! 

Wild Bill (who spent 5 or 6 years of his childhood taking lessons) goes crazy when he hears about people painting pianos and other musical instruments. The lecture goes...paint can block the pores in the wood and change the tone...yada, yada, yada.

But the point Wild Bill misses is that most old pianos aren't kept anymore for playing unless it's an expensive one that's been well cared for. Usually old pianos have long past their prime and may have missing parts and are seldom played. Why not repurpose one for another use?

I found the yellow piano, and lots of other wonderful ideas at the Grace At Home party over at the blog IMPARTING GRACE

Thanks for dropping by!

The Continuing Birds Saga...

Would you believe the birds are at it again? Yep.

I started noticing my clothes dryer was steaming up inside...like a sauna! Our dryer vent goes up the inside of the wall and out the roof. 

When I looked at the vent coming out of our roof, I could see a nest up against the vent keeping it from opening.

This is not our vent, but it's an example of how birds can clog up vents...

For quite some time, I've been trying to find a company that cleans out dryer vents. Now it was time to get serious and find someone.

We were discussing our nest problems with some friends at a restaurant and a friendly older lady told us "Try a Chimney Sweep!"

Polar Bear Chimney Sweep

A local chimney sweep company came out the next day and took care of the dryer vent problems. The chimney sweeper also climbed right up on top of a ladder and plucked down the nest the birds built in the outside chandelier. 

Polar Bear Chimney Sweep Took This 16-foot High Nest Right Down!

Happily we are "nest free" once again...for now. 

So if you find yourself in need of a dryer vent cleaning, or the removal of anything up high, try calling a chimney sweep for the job.

Thanks for dropping by!