Migration

The Back Yard

I am happy to announce that it takes approximately twenty minutes to mow my entire lawn! and that includes cranking the mower! I finally got around to hauling all the old piles of leaves and dead limbs out to the street. The city started their own pile of lawn debris across the street, so I figured good timing for clean up! The Blessing of the Fleet is this weekend so the city is getting things into shape for that! There is really no schedule for picking up yard debris...you just put it out and they take it away 'whenever'. Also filled in the "pit bull" holes left by the previous tenants!

Finished the outside work just in time for the storm to hit. Rain poured down, thunder crashed and the wind whipped the trees about...but the most wonderful thing happened during the storm. A migration of birds (don't know what kind but they were small) flew over the building and right into the wind and rain. Thousands beat their wings against the wind then glided a few seconds before carrying on with their flight. The path zigged and zagged but on they flew...regardless of the weather.

I kept thinking...why not just stop, wait out the storm in the treetops, then carry on! But it was obvious that they were following a path that I couldn't see, led by instinct instilled at birth and timing that could not be forsaken for safety sake.

I hope I can identify with their courage to face the storms that come, flying into the wind with perseverence and knowing when to rest for renewed strength. We can learn a lot from little birds...

Where Fireflies Gather

I've always wanted to design rooms around paintings....instead of buying the painting to match the room like so many folks do...and I'm not naming names here!

Where Fireflies Gather is one of my favorite abstract landscapes and I thought it would be perfect for one of the twin bedrooms. First, here's the pepto pink room as it was in the beginning!


But after a "white makeover" to the walls and ceiling and a "black makeover" to the old linoleum floor, it looked rather spiffy!

And now for the fun part! An old post cut in half makes a perfect "headboard" look. The twin bed is up on risers to add some height. Don't you love crawling up to get on a bed...makes you feel like a kid again! The windows have bamboo shades for a natural feel and white sheers to let in a lot of light. Notice the greenery...just pick whatever is growing outside and pop in a glass jar. This is a palmetto and ivy arrangement. But of course the center of attraction is the painting on the wall!

The Sitting Room

I called it the sitting room until last week when the TV cable was installed...now it's the living room! Seems no one is worried that I won't survive the boredom any longer since "the black box" has been hooked up. Interesting how one doesn't miss TV until it's back on...lol!



...and here's the black box. Looks rather blurry to me!

I spray painted another tall table with the Krylon white. Fits nicely in the corner where the "door to nowhere" is hanging.

And for those of you who are tired of my indoors...here's a couple of pics from my favorite time of day...sunset! Both of these shots were taken within a block of my house!




Every day it's a painting in the sky!

Day to Day

For the past two months I've taken things day to day. Today, it seems like I'm taking more giant steps forward. Not sure what the difference is...maybe I've just toughened up some and get more accomplished each day...lol! At least I'm not in bed by 7 pm anymore!

One of the first rooms I worked to get in order was the kitchen. That doesn't mean that I've become a great cook or anything...don't get your hopes up when you visit! But I do know where to get the best ever crab stew!!

Here's some before and after pics of the kitchen. One tip! I used a countertop paint around the sink. It's expensive...a small can for about $20 but well worth the cost. Made the old fake wood counter look like pewter! And so far it's showing no signs of wear! I have a couple more projects to use it on too. Make sure you have good venting...it does smell until it's completely dry. And don't sit things on it for several days! It will look sort of shiny even when it dries.

The counter top and the sink area...before...


...and after...


Here's a couple of before pics....the old flooring has all been removed, and some day when it's more of a priority, I'll put down a plywood floor and paint it black. I've gotten so used to all the black floors that I've grown to love them! The cabinets were an awful maroon color and had to have Kilz painted all over everything! Kilz is the "new white"!



And now it looks more like this!! The table and the coffee server table were both spray painted! I used a primer and then white on both...Krylon (my fav!)





...and here's the view from the back porch door!

Back To Business

The business, that is, of tearing down, throwing out, rebuilding, painting, scraping, cleaning and more cleaning! This past month has been a whirlwind of all of the above and of course, without the computer, I couldn't keep up to date with all of the progress reports that I had planned to make along the way. So today, I'll begin to let everyone see more of what's been accomplished in the past two months!

Remember the screened porch from my first post...well, it's changed quite a bit with just a few additions. My Home Depot chairs fit right in with the Lowe's outdoor rug on the floor and the addition of a few outdoor plants really made the porch become home. It really is my favorite place to sit in the mornings with coffee and breakfast tray. I hung some bird feeders on the tree limbs right outside and watch the birds fight over who gets the first taste of sunflower seeds each day. So far I've seen two red-headed woodpeckers, a pair of cardinals, some lovely little finches, and the more commonplace sparrows. Two doves come each evening but they seem to prefer the seeds that fall on the ground.

And one of the neighborhood cats, Bootsy, seems to know just when to appear, watching all the action.