Wood Bin

One project around this house I have wished to tackle for a long while is our wood bin.  This galvanized tub was painted Dark Bronze, and at first I liked it but in the darkness of winter it just absorbed the light.  It is so bad I can’t take even a decent photo inside.



So I set it outside on my potting bench to photograph.





I wanted it to look like Enamelware so I purchased some White Gloss and Black Gloss spray paint.  Not only will gloss make it resemble Enamelware but it is great for diminishing the dents and dings this bin has acquired over the last few years. 

Even though it went thru a rain storm unexpectedly after the first coat…



It turned out even better than I had hoped and it reflects light very well.  I painted the majority of it white with the top rim being the gloss back. 



My mom painted me the Turtle rock. 



The bin cleaned up nice.  I have been busy, busy, painting signs, working in the garden (getting ready for winter and planting perennials for next year) and I have been listing items in my website, while trying to update it. I have also been playing around with my blog graphics.

I am making the most of the fine weather we have been enjoying the past week.  You can’t get any better than the low 70’s and pure sunshine in October!
I will check in again soon.

Enjoy!

Cramming too much into a day.

I have a bad habit..putting too much on my daily list of “to do’s”.  I have failed to get into a routine, a schedule that helps me keep my brain straight though I keep telling myself that is exactly what I need.  But in my own defense I can’t really have a schedule as I never know what tomorrow will bring.



I could get a call to go to work cleaning or someone needs me to come pick their garden clean (that reminds me I had a friend call me that needed me to get a bunch of veggies out of her garden for her…see…slipped my mind).  With a garden it does not wait until you have time, it is now. 

Plus the shorter days do not help.  During the summer I would go out to work in the garden after dinner and enjoy a good couple of hours doing what was needed.  Now it is dark after dinner. Boo, Hiss!

(a rose that I started from a cutting, photo taken with my iPhone)

Monday morning I woke up with my mind whirling with what I wanted to get done and what I needed too.  Monday is supposed to be my cleaning and housework day, get the week started right.  But the weather was so fine and that will not last long so I decided I needed to get my garden ready for winter.  I transplanted strawberries that have cropped up all over the place, shoveled chicken litter from the pen and poured it into flower beds, managed to do laundry, paint our woodbin, did the grocery shopping and worked on a few signs.  And in between I did clean on the house. 

Sometimes I have to stop and think about what I have accomplished instead of what I have not (being that half the time the things accomplished were not on the list that day).  That being said I have finally gotten one of the chairs painted I started back in July.  Nope, I just went and looked, it was the end of June. 
Here is what we started with.  Some vintage chairs needing some TLC.



I did a post on comparing a couple paints on them..

A comparison…chalk paint and Rustoleum heirloom white.

And to the finished product…for some reason the pink of the roses washed out. I need to take some different ones.



I am not quite sure I like the rose climbing up the back…I may have to paint over that and leave it white.   I do use these chairs in my sewing room.  Despite the paint making the material stiff it is not bad to sit on.



Now to get to the next one.   One project started long ago that is finally done. 
Today I have worked in the garden, making the most of the 70 degree days to prep the garden for next Spring.  I got many of my English Delphiniums planted.  Photos next post.

Until next time, I wish you warm sunny days!

A Wet Surprise

Our Saturday was wonderful, warm mild temps and beautiful sunshine.  Perfect weather for getting firewood.  My hubby split while I stacked or tossed in the truck.  Teamwork made it go fast.   Our haul we just brought home and left in the back of the truck.  No rain is predicted, not even hinted at so no need to cover it…

But in the mountains you can never tell..we woke up to this:

A nice soaking rain…I had left my laundry hanging on the back deck on the drying rack and some washable burlap I want to make some hand painted table runners with:

I guess a rain rinse will be special…fortunately my metal tub painting project will not be hurt by this unexpected change in weather.  We use this as our wood bin next to the woodstove, it needed some purdifying.

I have a few shots taken a few mornings ago after a soaking rain.  The mist was rather lovely.  I am still going thru my D40's for Dummies book, I am dying to get to the Manual mode but I am forcing myself to learn everything up to that point in the book. 

The neighbors house under remodel..

Our house in the mist.

Deeper in the woods. What you are missing is the scent, there is nothing as refreshing as the scent of a rain washed forest.

My favorite shot of the morning, my studio framed by the trees.

I hope to see what color this sweet pea is before either the deer eat it or we get a hard freeze.  Lovely even with just water droplets. 

Good Sunday Morning to you, a wet one at that!

Painting a Bookcase

You first spotted my bookcase in this last post, Pottery Barn Knock off My Way,  I was using it as a work table at the moment in my overly crammed studio.



This was one of those pieces from an unfinished furniture store, I have had it forever and it is fairly beat up.  I am giving it a make over as I will need it for display in a local shop that has offered me some space for my art.  Taking decent photos of it was impossible since I could not get around it very well in the limited space.  Painting it was just as interesting, I get used to contorting myself. 



I base painted it in the creamy white, used some Elmer’s white glue for a crackle then painted the sky blue over it.  The inside of the shelves are the creamy white.
I had to step outside the studio for this shot, you cannot see the crackle finish but trust me it did turn out nice.

 

I had just started on the back today with some oops paint, in a nasty slimy yellow shade.  I will go over it with the cream in case the back will be used for some display as well.



It was a gorgeously warm and sunny day for October.  I am soaking up all the warmth I can before real winter hits. 

I will be sure to get photos of my stuff in the shop once I take it there.