The Blue Chairs

Before

I used oilcloth that I bought on-line.  It’s pretty reasonably priced and there’s a much larger selection than in stores.

I bought a yard of each print and have tons left over.

I have two benches in the kitchen that might get a bit of a makeover as well.

I used oilcloth because these chairs are going to live outside.

Hopefully on the ends of white picnic tables.

With a drink buffet and some homemade beverage dispensers.

I’ll keep you updated on the dispensers.

I’m overly optimistic that it will work out exactly like I have it pictured in my head,

despite the fact that my life is never like that.

They’re pretty darn cheerful, if I do say so myself.

This wall is going to be getting an update as well.

I’m planning on doing a ‘gallery’ with large, empty, wooden frames.

Have a great week.

Katie

Sometimes Projects Are Lame….

but necessary.

The hearth had a brick facing that was crumbling and falling apart.

I was a bit hesitant to remove it because one of the bricks was stamped 1924.

Old, right?

I house was 50 years old by that time…..

Anyway, I decided to tackle the project.

Fortunately, the original bricks were underneath.

During.

A lot of chiseling, my friends.

After.

Don’t feel embarrassed if you didn’t notice a difference, that you failed to recognize the hours of scraping and sanding I put in, at the neglect of my children, only to reveal a layer of rough, mediocre brick.

My feelings aren’t hurt.

It’s fine.

But now Spencer can’t find random pieces of brick coming off the hearth to hurl at one of his sisters.

Everyone’s a winner.

My table’s spring bouquet.

And another wood sign.

I have couple of other projects in the works.

^{Which probably stopped sounding tantalizing 100 posts ago.}

Katie

An Interaction with Meg

Yesterday I was vacuuming the mud room.

Spencer was dragging the vacuum all over the place making it extremely difficult to maneuver helping.

I came into the kitchen and noticed that a substantial amount of the candy we had from the Pear Blossom Parade was…..

missing.

And then I saw Meg.

“Mom, can you leave the kitchen?”

“Why?”

“I’m not getting a treat.”

“O.K.”

I slowly walk out of the room as she reaches for a piece of candy.

“Meg.”

“Mom, don’t go upstairs.”

“Why not?”

“We didn’t put treats in our room.”

“You didn’t?”

“No.  Don’t look in our beds…..or under our covers, or under our pillows.”

Of course, her and Adeline had shoved a couple handfuls of candy under their sheets right by their pillows, and then tactfully re-made their beds.

Of Meg’s many talents, deception is not one of them.

It was an awesome Monday.

Katie

Porch Swing Repeat

Bryce made this porch swing last year.
And then the entire family sat on it.
And it broke.
Well, it didn’t exactly break,
but it was demoted from a porch swing to a porch bench.
But now it is back to full swinging capacity and also sporting a new cushion and some pillows.
I recovered the cushion from our old couch and used the old pillows as stuffing for the new ones.
I used indoor/outdoor fabric from Joanns.
It is wonderfully comfortable now.
Why, yes, that is the grass seed that we planted coming up in the back.
Thanks for noticing.

And then there’s these chairs.
I have four of them.
I picked them up last summer for a buck each.
They’re pretty sturdy.  But the veneer is coming off.  Which I was slightly overwhelmed with the prospect of fixing.
But then I decided I’d just take the veneer off.
I’m planning on painting them a light blue and reupholstering them with red and white gingham.
Bryce is making me two picnic tables with benches for my birthday and I want to put these chairs at the end.


And this is what I’ve been spending a lot of mental and physical preparation on.
Getting ready for bees.
These hives are just primed.
I might be getting bees this weekend if everything goes according to plan…..
And I sound like a hippie.

Hope you’re all doing well and surviving the ever changing spring weather.
Katie
P.S. One time I posted about a white bunny on the couch.  There has been some confusion about that, it was a real bunny.

Ahem….

It has come to my attention, through various means, that some are you are less than satisfied with my sporadic, infrequent blog posts….

And, because I have always been driven by a healthy dose of guilt, I am obliging.

And some of you, in no uncertain terms, have threatened my life.

Spencer walks the ‘property’ with Bryce.

This is Adeline’s spot.  She sits her in the morning to warm up.

Other days, she puts her bunny in the dump truck and drives around the house all harry-karri.

And then feeds her carrots.

Or forgets about her bunny on the couch, or in her room.

This is the best shot I could get of Spencer holding a chicken.

He thinks it’s more fun to catch them than to hold them.

This is our biggest, fattest chicken Lucy.

He’s the best chicken catcher since Adeline.

Some at home face ‘painting’.

Some day indoor swimming will be an Olympic sport, and Meg will sweep it, until then…

couch diving will have to suffice.

Spencer turned two.

 

And Grandma brought him a ‘tac-tor’.

Which if you ask Spencer, anything large, noisy or otherwise unidentifiable, is a ‘tac-tor’.

First ever at home outdoor Easter egg hunt.

And, of course, some new baby chicks.

Spencer sneaks onto the table, grabs a chick, and puts it on his lap.

Other than that, I’ve been:

listening to Adeline read and Elizabeth play the piano

Meg crying and Spencer talking

sitting on the porch swing reading

planting my garden

waiting for the grass to grow

cleaning the house

fighting the ants

inwardly vomiting as Bryce tells me about another dead rat

washing windows

pruning my trees

watching the flowers grow

receiving dandelion bouquets

dating Bryce

drawing closer to age 30

hosting friends and sisters

finishing projects

thinking about digging a fire pit

and occasionally napping.

Katie

It’s a New Week…

and thank goodness.

Last week was a wreck.

I’m pretty sure I cried more than I have in a while.

I was tempted to move.

I hate rats.

One of our chickens just up and died.

Meg broke a window pane.

Which I had to replace.

And if you’ve ever replaced a window pane on a house built in 1875, you’ll know my pain, which means that only about 5% of the population in the U.S. knows what I’m talking about. 

Not helpful.

Not even a real statistic.

We had some sort of ant infestation in three rooms in our house.

The floor is constantly sticky.

(And yes, I did try to convince myself that it was perhaps just my socks, but…no.)

If Bryce would have asked me if I wanted to move I would have cried tears of joy and Googled a realtor.

Spencer is almost two, and if you didn’t already know that, you’d have to only spend 3 seconds with him to confirm your suspicions.

Meg didn’t nap a single day last week.

Which an outside observer would assume that’s because she is past the point of needing one.

Not so, not so.

Adeline went to bed and completely forgot that she left her white bunny ON MY NEW COUCH! which I didn’t realize was there until after sitting there for a while and getting up and the bunny popped out from behind the pillows.

Worst magic trick ever.

I’m working on two projects that I’m pretty sure are a complete waste of my time and yet I’m bound to see them through.

And I’m convinced that every.single.driver on the road last week insisted on driving 20 mph.

But,

it’s a new week and I’m confident it will be better.

At least, I’m determined to have a better attitude.

Or just smile and nod.

Katie

What I’m Not Posting About

• The new, but boring white curtains in the girl’s room I picked up at IKEA at around Christmas time for $11.
• Trying to swear off taking naps.  For me, personally.
• Having three new chicks in my kitchen, which were free.
• Yes, it does say ‘sucker’ across my forehead.
• They may not survive Spencer.
• The free buffet that I got last fall and am finally getting around to putting some love into.
• The 36 yards of dirt, 50# of fertilizer, 100# of seed, 3 bales of straw, 7 hours of combined labor it took to put in our side yard.
• My life being super boring right now.
• Having read Cloud Atlas, which was a bit underwhelming.
• Elizabeth seriously driving me crazy.  Crazy, people.  Padded walls crazy.
• It might snow tomorrow….
• Lying.  Remember that “make-up giveaway”?  Me, too….vaguely.
• Adeline racing her bunny around the house in Spencer’s plastic, toy dump truck.
• Have I mentioned that Elizabeth and Adeline have bunnies?

• I’ve painted Spencer’s toenails on more than one occasion.
• I’m giving Elizabeth piano lessons.
• I’d like to hire someone specifically to vacuum my floors once a week.
• I’m planning on being an awesome mom today.
• I think that everyday and usually fall mostly short.

Hope you’re having a good week and are surviving the fickle weather that is March.

Katie