A comparison…chalk paint and Rustoleum heirloom white.

Here is my before….two chairs I purchased with a beat up old table and they have been needing some TLC since.  The table has been painted for a long time and I have used it in my studio while these poor things have been neglected.



I started on one with Chalk Paint and spent about half an hour getting a first coat on, not completely but enough for now.

Then I took the other and sprayed on Rustoleums Heirloom white…it took me maybe 10 minutes if that…

Here are the results.



The one to the left is the chalk paint chair and the other is the Rustoleum…they both need some more but you get the drift.  For this project I am leaning towards the Rustoleum, mostly for ease of application and I like the finish.  I won’t have to wax or varathane it, it will be done and it will go much faster and with my crazy schedule of late that means I can get these done by fitting them in when I have a spare 10 minutes.  You can see the table they go with on the other side of them.  I will be sure to show them again when they are totally done, new seat covers and all.

Other than working on these I was able to paint two special order signs and unpack about 10 boxes.  I sorted, tossed and put away and my living room still looks like this



and I want it back like this..with the correct furniture in place..



I know I will get there, I have all weekend to do it.

I will share one bloom today..Scentimental Rose



good night for now, time to kick back and get some rest, tomorrow is another big unpacking and shifting furniture day.

Home again.

We are back from our trek to empty our former home in Idaho.  We lived there a short 9 months and when we packed up to leave last summer we left behind a TON of stuff. 

I know there is a saying if you haven’t used it in a year then chuck it and basically it has been a year since all of this “stuff” has resided outside of my home, but there is a LOT of it I missed.  Things like my large wool rug that goes in my living room, my larger couch (I have another we have been using for the past year), my queen sized guest bedroom set and several items for my kitchen. 

There is a ton I need to get rid of as well…here it is all shoved into my living room until I can go thru it and get rid of what needs dumping and putting away the rest. 



There is only a narrow walkway to the kitchen then down the hall to the office and downstairs bath.  Both are equally jammed with stuff and look similar to this.  

To say this is overwhelming for me is an understatement and I will have to piece meal it all, I have orders to fill and a contract to review and negotiate so I cannot give sorting and organizing this mess much time.

On to brighter things…before we left I had a rush order for 2 signs and I managed to whip them out…the customer loved them, I rather enjoyed painting them as well so I thought I would share them. 

She is opening a new shop in North Carolina this weekend and I hope all goes well for her. The first one is the name of her shop and the second is a verse from a song. 





Our trip was hectic and the weather was pleasant until we were headed home with a trailer load of furniture.  It never rains here in summer, at least not anything to bother with and what do we get to drive thru…pouring, drenching rain from just about Colfax.  Thankfully my husband had the foresight to stop just before this and to re-tarp the trailer, the first had ripped open just outside of Winnemucca and some of the tie downs came loose.  We lost a ladder and had to retrieve it and wasn’t that tricky on a busy freeway.  We were just thankful we were basically alone on the road the moment it flew off and no disaster occurred.

This morning I was greeted by numerous new blooms, they were heavy with rain drops but a glorious sight for this weary soul.

My favorite iris “Sultan”


Golden Celebration rose



The poppies looked a little overwhelmed with the weight of the water droplets but there is to be warm sunshine tomorrow so I am sure they shall recover. 



I am much too tired to share them all but maybe I can send a few more shots this week.

My husband leaves in the morning to make another run to get more stuff, this time business equipment.  I don’t like him going alone but I have much to take care of here at home. 

Good night to all.. I hope to catch up on sleep so I can tackle the gargantuan task of setting to right my house while trying to keep up with painting. 

First thing in the morning though I will walk the garden sipping my coffee and enjoying any fresh blooms. 

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Tootsie Time

Face Painting Practice and My Willing Victims!

Just a quick note, we are on our way to Idaho to empty the house we had lived in there.  We had left a bunch of stuff we did not need right away and now the house may sell so we have to get all our belongings. 
Here is a link to my sister’s blog and she posted about my face painting practice on her boys!  My willing victims…
Face Painting Practice

Ta…

This Morning’s Blooms

To say I am enjoying the weather this past week or so is an understatement!  Mild morning temps around 50 degrees with highs no greater than the mid-80’s.

Perfect!

As most know I am a summer gal, love the heat and getting outside in it but I think I love the mornings the most.  I take my coffee to the garden and see what fresh bloom is awaiting me.  My garden is a “free for all” grow where the seed drops, cottage, chaotic paradise so I never know what will crop up or where.

I have certain perennials in specific locations but the biennials and reseeding annuals are allowed to have their way.  I let seed heads remain in the fall on certain varieties like my Echinacea and rudbeckia so the birds can feast on them.  They are easy enough to yank out if they sprout in areas I don’t want them.  

I also love the quiet, it is relatively peaceful at 5:30 to 6 in the morning and the scent of the morning air is so refreshing.  I saunter along the garden paths with the morning birds serenading me.  Yep, heaven for me!

And this is what I saw this morning.

Some new iris have opened up..

My Lupine is such a gorgeous fuchsia!

I absolutely love this Firewitch Dianthus, the foliage is more finely cut than other Dianthus.

My Pear tree has little pears on it!  I am surprised as I figured the late freezes had zapped any chance of getting fruit this year. 

The Dream Weaver climbing rose has buds.  Woo hoo! 

They are a little ravaged, I have these little needle nose beetles that like to munch on them.  I need to start taking a cup of soapy water out with me in the morning and knock the beetles into it.  No mercy here if you damage my flowers!

Since my last post I have painted a few more signs (photos another day) and worked in my garden as much as I could fit in.  I have more tomatoes to plant, I need to replace my peppers that croaked in the cold spell we had at the beginning of the month and get my squash seeds planted.  We can hope for an Indian Summer so they have a chance to produce before cold weather strikes again but gardeners live in hope!

Yesterday we went to the Fathers Day Fly In at Columbia Airport.  My husband is a plane enthusiast and pilot so this was a treat for him.  I had my camera but accidentally left it in the car.  I wish I would’ve gotten it out but got lazy.  There were several vintage planes that were on display that were eye candy, the shape and colors of them cannot be matched by the sleeker modern versions, at least in my opinion. 

This afternoon we are to work together in the garden, getting the last of the veggies planted, maybe get my front porch bench put back together and some other chores accomplished. 

Enjoy your Sunday!

Garden Time!

You will find me here hit and miss during these toasty summer days!  I am so busy playing outside in the garden when I am not painting up signs or working that I find myself dropping in bed when darkness falls with nary a look at my computer. 
I am going to try to post a couple times a week at least so in the cold, dreary days of winter I can look back at my journal (blog) and remember the halcyon days of summer along with photos of what is blooming and when. 

My weekend was fun, I worked in a food booth at a Lumber Jubilee and had a grand time.  The weather was warm with a soft breeze that kept it comfy while we hustled around whipping up tantalizing goodies for folks to munch on as they enjoyed the various activities and events. I took my camera to photograph the booth and never even thought of doing it while there! 

The past couple days I have been getting back on track with painting special order signs.  Here are a couple I just finished..

I really like this strawberry one..  I may have to make one for my strawberry bed…(when I get it planted, right now the strawberries are still producing in there little pots in the greenhouse, we ate some last night with whipped cream, yum)



I have had several requests for signs with the ocean scene background..I have added the grass to the left corner since this photo was taken.



I never tire of painting roses…



I also whipped up another Potting Shed sign to post on my website….



Each morning I have sat on my front step with my coffee enjoying the bird’s morning song and smelling the sweet perfume of my wonderfully scented iris’ (reminds me of grape koolaid)





Despite the late freezes the lilac next door (empty house but I have spoken to the owner about taking cuttings from her lilac) has a few heavily scented blossoms on it, which I cut and brought in the house yesterday.  These few scent the entire downstairs and it smells wonderful.  This lilac is probably 50 years old, I am going to take cuttings this year and try to root them.

My neighbor said it was called a 49er lilac but she was not sure if that was a reference that it came to CA in the gold rush or if there is an actual lilac with that name.  In my internet search I have not found one named that so who knows. I just know it sure is perfumie!



Yesterday I planted about 18 Casablanca Lilies along my porch rails, once they are blooming the walk to my front and back doors will be sweet scented and the perfume will waft into the house thru the open windows.   The white of the lilies will be a fabulous contrast to the pink climbing roses planted beside them. 

Today I have more painting to do and I am going to plant my squash and cucumbers, it is finally warm enough!  We had a lovely 54 degrees at first light, that is warm for here at night.   It is to cool off some the next few days but not too much. 
Have a great warm sunny day! I know I will.


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I think we have SPRING! Finally.

What a fabulous couple of days we have enjoyed!  What a difference warmth and sunny skies can make in my demeanor! 

When the sun shines and the air is warm I have so much energy. Now channeling that energy efficiently is my challenge.  I want to get a bazillion things done at once so I have to make a list and prioritize or I end up going several different directions with little results by the end of the day. 

I started my morning with my coffee in the garden, it was the first morning it started at 50 degrees so it was quite pleasant.  I sit on these front steps facing into my garden.  That is my Burb parked there.

And this is the scene I face.

I sit, peruse my front garden and porch and plan on what I need to do to whip them into shape.  I need to power wash the front porch desperately, for some reason male cats have chosen it to mark their territory and it smells to high heaven. 

The flower bed to the left is my broccoli and the trees I need to find a good spot for.  I may pot them up into larger pots and put them on my back deck for now but we shall see.

The flower bed on the right is full of volunteer flowers and the ferns that grow wild here.  I have yet to decide what I wish to do there for a certainty, until then the volunteers reign supreme.

As I sat there, sipping my oh so delicious coffee I heard the oddest sound.  I thought one of my hens must be ill and wandered around back to check it out.  Lo and behold one of my young roosters is trying to crow and he sounds quite awful!

The moaning rooster.

I took the time while back there to fill their feeders and freshen the water, tossed in a flake of alfalfa hay and watched them start scratching and pecking thru it.  They love their alfalfa!  While in the greenhouse where I store their food I noted all the hanging flower pots waiting to be filled with trailing petunias, the windows boxes waiting for some cheery flowers to fill them as well. 

When it was wet and rainy I just had no desire to get out and get them all planted up but today was the day! But I had to fit it in with painting sign orders.  It is hard for me to paint when I want to be outside in the dirt!

But work prevailed so I made sure to run to the lumberyard, get the boards for the signs, cut them to size, sand them and got a good base paint slathered on.  Now I could play in the garden to my hearts content.  The signs have to dry so I leave them to it and go outside. 

Here is what I got done…

I potted up my planters and pots with petunias..I still need to scrub down the pots a bit.

I also messed around with my potting bench.

After I loaded this photo I noticed I missed painting the legs.  Funny how you spot things in photographs you totally miss seeing.  I am going to hang the rake head on the backboard and use it to hang tools.  I want to paint the yellow metal tub something different but am still debating on what color. 

The chalk paint held up very well on the potting bench, it had only maybe a day or two to dry before we were hit with a couple weeks worth of drenching rainstorms.  I am quite impressed.

I am off to work today…hope all are well and enjoy their weekend.

ta ta…