Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Mom's Patio Furniture~

Love this...
My mom just repainted her patio furniture, and the colors are phenomenal!
She sent me photos this morning and I just had to share with you. Mom lives in PA, and I am in WA, so I will not be sitting in these chairs this summer.
Most of these items are heirloom pieces!

Mom sits on these rockers each morning. LOVE the new colors, hot pink and turquoise!

This chair sat on my great-great grandfather's porch and mom used to play on it as a child.
Used to be white... here it is after scraping...

After, with a vibrant coat of turquoise! love.

 In it's new habitat, on her front porch, with awesome pink and chartreuse tables.

This table was a rough bench, made for a workshop by my grandfather. 
Mom painted it bright colors and put it next to the grill.

I remember playing on this bench at my Memaw's when I was little. 
It used to be a boring white. 
Not any more!

A sitting area on her patio. cute.

Inspired to paint everything BRIGHT COLORS... 
Paul will be so thrilled! (note heavy sarcasm)

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Quick Kitschy Kitchen Curtain~

We have a window in our kitchen that needs replaced.  It is functional, but u.g.l.y.
Since we are still deciding the design of the kitchen (before remodeling), this window is in ugly limbo land, hanging there and irritating me daily. 
It is west facing, so in the evening, the sun blinds us during our evening meal. 

My solution? A tacky, kitschy curtain.... to hide the window, and block the sun.

The floral fabric is from a thrifted, vintage twin fitted sheet.
The bird fabric was about a foot short of the needed length, so I decided to add a panel at the top. 
It extended my length and added some whimsey (whimsey is a classier word for tacky. grin)

  The bird fabric I scored at Ikea several years ago because I loved it.

  I made the curtain short so it easily cleared the shelf below it.

  The panels are minimally sewed and hemmed so I can repurpose the fabric in the future if I choose.
The ring clips eliminate the need for a rod pocket and make the curtain easier to open and close.

  I am in love. Tacky, thrifted, colorful and whimsical. 
Perfection.

Sunday, June 3, 2012

June-uary

brrrr.
It's been a chilly June so far... highest so far was 70 something, and I still had jeans and a sweater on.
But that is typical weather here in the PNW, where they say summer weather does not begin until July 4th.
Spending a ton of time working outdoors and knit, knit, knitting.
Oh, and taking photos.

 Garden is in full swing this year... but I have had nothing to do with it. 
Paul and Eve have been working hard... 

Here is the greenhouse with the chicken coop on the left.
(Click on any photo to see a larger version)

 Paul mowing between rows... shown is our 4 rows of garlic! yum.
LOTs of garlic this year.

  This is a shot of some of the garden with the hoop house. 
Plants are still babies and hard to see in the photo.

 The Rhododendrons are amazing this year. Pinks and purples...
 This shot was taken from the deck. I realized the lupine and Rhodies were the same colors.

 Here are the Rhodies from the other side of the pond. 
I love how the colors reflected in the water.

 The giant walnut tree by the house almost has it's full leaves. 
The Yellow Flag iris are blooming around the pond. 
It looks like a Matisse painting.


 Paul and I spent a lot of time last evening sitting on the dock and absorbing the evening energy.
I am always enthralled with the reflections in the water. So I took a few shots.


The clouds were a smokey, dusky blue, even more so with the pond colors underneath.


Hope everyone had a fantastic weekend.
XO