Gardening Heaven!

I'm in gardening heaven. I'm probably the only person in the world that loves doing spring garden chores. It's just so dang hopeful! Plus, great prep in the spring means almost no work in the summer when it is hot.

But some springs are harder than others. This spring is one of those. 

There were 14 plants that needed dividing and replanted in 28 new places. 

Four bushes to be dug up, cut up, and removed. Two trees that needed to be bought and planted. 

Two large (bigger than me) bushes dug up and moved. 

One retaining wall removed. One planter built with the recycled stones. 

Peonies from the farm to transplant. And a driveway side garden that had to have the nasty black plastic edging removed and a "use what you have" brick paver edging put in. 

This included removing many many many pounds of dirt and moving into other garden spots. 

And oh yea, a HUGE willow tree cut up and dug out. And oh oh, yea yea, we turned over twenty or thirty square feet of grass to create extra garden space.

And if that wasn't enough we had 6 yards of compost delivered on Saturday that had to be spread over the lawn and into the gardens. Fortunately Mr. Quirky and I did that together - 16 combined hours of labor. Thought I would DIE!

Thank goodness for spring blossoms! Although their beauty is fleeting I can at least enjoy them for a couple of weeks!

The only thing left is planting a bunch of irises (from the farm) that I'm not sure where to put and finding just the perfect bush to replace the red twig dogwood from the front of the house. It got some sort of blight last year and couldn't recover in the extra heat we had last summer. I also need to fill the big planter we made and figure out what to plant in it.

Then I get to start on the porch and touching up all the outdoor furniture and maybe making some new cushions and cushion covers. And I need a potting bench. And the paint is peeling off of my Hoosier cabinet and I will have to do something about that.

It's almost peony time...and then hydrangeas!!!! I can't wait!

Make something wonderful today!

Karen

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A Short Story About A Trip

I went on another trip this week. Anyone out there familiar with Atwood, Illinois? That's where I went.

You see, I had some wood stacked away in a metal barn there and I needed to pick it up. This wood is my future dining room table. Far future probably, but future.

The farm belongs to a friend's parents. They have retired and are in the process of cleaning out the barns - determining what will go (to their current home) and what will stay. Being the junk collector that I am, I was hoping they had some junk that they weren't interested in keeping for themselves. 

 

See this storage bin? I want this in a bad way. A big, bad way. But it's really big. And has a lot of stuff in it.  I would gladly empty it out and clean it up, but I don't have a vehicle big enough to get it home. I want to use it as part of a potting bench. I think it rocks. But alas, I will probably never be mine.

The day we had set aside for picking started out just fne and dandy. We picked the barn at the house and drove down the road to the barns on the farm.  We went through a couple of barns and then set the wood out to load. We were going to bring my car back over and load it up....

But even the best laid plans...

There was a bit of a storm. Storm as in tornadoes forming. Winds blowing like crazy. And water water everywhere. And then hail. One hour and one almond croissant later we were ready to brave the rain.

We adorned ourselves in the world's most flattering raincoats and headed back over to the barn to pick up the wood. 

Oops, there was a little water on the ground...

Like 6 inches of it. It was very squishy inside those shoes!

We brought the wood back to the house and began packing.

And packing.

And packing.

And packing.

See that curvy piece of wood? I've got plans. Lots of plans.

Then we left. And I took a bath. And washed my shoes.

It wasn't very fun for the person sitting in the passenger seat.

But all in all, it was a fun day.

I drove home the next morning. 

Mr. Quirky and I unloaded the car and I spent the next two days working in the yard.

I'm tired. 

Too tired to make this post interesting.

And I've got projects waiting.

I'll be back soon with more interesting stuff.

Make something wonderful today!

Karen


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Green Willow Pond

Dressing the Mantle for Spring

Spring finally arrived. And I am one happy chick.

That means that I have been outdoors filling paper yard bags with spent hydrangea blooms, leftover leaves, and of course, a weed or two. And it means I wander aimlessly through the garden examining all signs of life in eager anticipation of all that is to come.

It also means that it is spring mantle time. 

I know that at least 75% of blogland has already loaded up their mantles with moss, wreaths, birds, eggs, and all things spring. I'm always conflicted as you guys do this. I mean my inner honest goddess just doesn't feel right about decorating a spring mantle when it is still snowing and 30 degrees outside.

But eventually, about 4 weeks ago, I got tired of my winter mantle and cleared it off.

And waited to get inspired. 

And waited.

And waited.

But inspiration never came.

In the meantime... I began to use it as a place to store things. I even forced some forsythia in hopes of inspiration. But it dried up like my inspiration did.

So today I cleared everything off and shopped the house and garage and at least got something up there.

I've been growing some moss I collected from outdoors in anticipation of using it for the mantle. I just added that to my usual birds and nests, and grabbed a window leftover when I built this.  

See those cute little pots with the succulents? I found tucked up in the foundation of the house when I cleaned my basement! See, good things CAN happen when you vacuum your basement ceiling. I filled them up with some single succulent blooms. They're kind of cute don't you think?




















I think it's going to grow on me. Even if it doesn't, I've been dreaming about my summer mantle since last year, when I was too lazy to change out my spring mantle!

Could I just mention that I have a little twinge of ambivalence every time I write about my mantle. For some reason it doesn't bother me at all to write about shelves, or painting furniture, or how much I like cake. 

But every time I write about mantles, I feel frivolous.

And superficial. 

And shallow 

And foolish.

So please forgive me. And trust that I know that I've got no third-world problem here.

But I really like my moss.

Make something wonderful today!

Karen

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Total Couture - Karen Style

I used to buy a lot of shoes. I used to buy a few clothes. When I quit working 4 years ago I basically quit buying clothes or shoes. Yes I have purchased a few things since then but relatively little that would keep me up with styles or in fashion. 

The truth is I don't really care. Over the past 30 years I have evolved into this person that hates shopping. Hates it. I went to a mall with a friend a couple of weeks ago. We were to buy some make-up at Macy's and some furniture knobs at Anthropologie. She decided she wanted to look through the Eileen Fisher section. It seemed like this wasn't too much to handle so I said sure and started looking around and admiring a few things. She found a few things to try on and took them to the changing room. I went to the shoe department (what used to be my favorite section of any store) to look around.

I found rack after rack of pink, yellow, blue and animal print shoes with 4 inch heels. I just don't have anywhere to wear pink, yellow, blue and animal print shoes. When I was working I had to dress up and we had to wear closed toe shoes. Try finding some of those that don't look like great-grandmother shoes.

I'm digressing again. While I was looking at these shoes I was overwhelmed by everything in society that suggests we even NEED pink, yellow, blue and/or animal print shoes. And I thought a lot of things that I won't repeat here. I began to wonder how long it was going to take my friend to finish and we could get out of here. I waited and waited and waited and waited. And texted her "hurry!" I thought I would die. Anyway, that horrible experience finally ended and she promised never to ask me to shop with her again. 

And I'm digressing even more. I haven't even explained why I'm even writing about clothes. My friend Kirby hosts a party occasionally called Tongue in Cheek Tuesday. I've made excuses for the last several, and it's getting embarrassing to ask for rain checks. The subject of today's party is Total Couture. Wow! What a great week for me to join in. I say this tongue in cheek. 

I really can't speak about my wardrobe with anything other than tongue in cheek.

I'm going to show you what I mean. Please enjoy the fab photography and editing (or lack thereof).

When I get up in the morning I put on something like this:

Or if I'm feeling really festive I put on something like this:

Notice the paint on those 7 year old exercise tights?

Over that I put on something like this:

If I want some variety I look deeper in a drawer like this one:

or this one:

or this one:

Once the top is covered I have to make a decision about the bottom.

If it is a cold day I put these on instead:

 My artistic photography may have caused you to miss the holes and the paint on this 6 year old pair of yoga pants.

If it is chilly I wear one of these too:

I wear this outfit until I have worked out. Don't you wish I worked out beside you? You would look like a fashion fantasy!

Then I come home from the gym and take off my wet clothes. Usually at some point after I get home I bathe. 

Then I wear this:

I've been known to wear this for the rest of the day, until bedtime.

If I break down and get dressed again I wear this:

and this:

If it gets really warm I wear this:

Do you see the trend?

Oh, I forgot to show you my shoes. 

Please don't laugh.

If I haven't worked out yet I wear this:

If I have already worked out I wear this:

Yes my toes do bend twice and backward. Except my big toes. They just bend once backwards or forwards.

Yes that is drops of blood. I did that when I was busting out the glass from the windows that I used to build my recycled window pergola.

Yes these are ugly slippers. They are the remaining pair of 5 pairs I had at one time. They were always my last choice to wear. Thus they are the only ones that haven't worn out. My luck they will last another 4 years.

I do actually have clothes that I wear out in public. They are much a lot a little better than what I showed you above. Some of them are even less than 3 years old. Not many of them. But some.

I also have some clothes that are not black. Or white. Not many. But some.

But not this:

It's snowing today, so this is my sweatshirt for the day. I think maybe I've worn it too many days in a row...

I wore it while I built my shelves.  See the caulk? 

I think there is some cake on there too.

Sometimes my sweatshirts miss the wash because I am wearing them.

I better go now. My tongue and cheek are tired.

Make something wonderful today!

Karen

If you want to check out some other tongues and cheeks, click here.

Vintage Metal Crown Molding Shelving - The Tutorial

This isn't a pretty picture day (you can see those here). This is an ugly picture day. But when you finish looking at the ugly pictures you will know how to make your own shelving out of vintage metal crown molding. Technically you will know one method for making shelving with any crown molding. But a non-metal crown will be easier to build.

Here is what you need:

Strip of metal crown molding - my piece was 4 feet long (a full section)

The equivalent amount of 1x8 lumber - the width of the board will depend on the size of your molding

The equivalent amount of 3/4 inch trim molding.

The equivalent amount plus several feet of 1x2 lumber

Section of 1/8 inch plywood - could be thicker which might be much easier but I had the 1/8 inch and it was free.  I like free.

Jig Saw

Chop Saw - I had my boards cut at the store but ended up needing to take some off of each piece.

Heavy Duty construction adhesive

Tin snips

Hammer

Lineman's pliers

Wood Glue

Wood Screws

Finish Nails

Nail Set 

Clamps

Sandpaper

Paintable caulk

Paint

Wax - clear and dark

Divide the molding into the sizes you want. Mark with sharpie.

If you haven't already, clean the metal - remove loose paint and rust.

 Cut along marked line with tin snips.

I painted them prior to building. I just wanted to get a feel for what they would look like.

Do a dry fit with your shelf, the side pieces,and the molding to determine the length of the side braces. Mark the cut line on the side braces.

Cut the side braces to fit and attach them to the top shelf with wood glue and screws. I just screwed through the top of the shelf into the side brace. This wouldn't work if you needed maximum stability.

Use Lineman's pliers or another heavy duty pliers to flatten the top edge of the molding. Then make a 1/4 fold along the edge of the molding.

Lay the molding over the frame and hammer along top front edge to make an impression into the wood. You want to try to get the front of the shelf as flat as possible.

Attach crown molding to the wooden frame with appropriate nails. Your shelf will  look like this:

Measure, cut and attach the wooden molding to the front of the shelves.

Now the hard part.

The crown molding is old and bent up so each side is shaped differently.  Each side needs to be traced onto the plywood to try to assure the best fit along the side of the shelf.

Label each shelf with a number and label the right side and left side. 

Trace each side and label it with the corresponding side/shelf.

Use a jigsaw to cut each side piece out. My jigsaw sucks and it really roughed the edges. It was OK because the shelves were supposed to be rugged, but if they had needed to be smooth I would have been in trouble.

Fit the cut out sides to the side frame and nail down the back edge. A little wood glue would be good here as well.

Now the even harder part. How closely the metal matches up to the wood depends on two things: how good you were at marking and cutting, and most importantly whether you actually cut the molding perfectly initially (it is easy to mess this up)

Clamp the edges, clamping the metal to the edge of the plywood. It will not match up everywhere, but you get it as close as possible. It will take several clamps.

Run a THICK bead of construction adhesive along the INSIDE corners where the metal meets the wood. Let it dry for a LONG time. The metal should not pull away from the wood when you remove the clamps.

One of my edges just didn't match up because it was actually too narrow at the top so I had to build it up with adhesive. 

Caulk along the edges to fill any gaps and smooth the transition between the metal and wood.

Let dry some more.

Sorry I don't have pictures of this but my hands were either too wet, gluey, or caulky to use the camera during this phase.

This shelf (above) was the one where I had to do some remodeling of the edge. It doesn't look as good as the others, but it's acceptable in my imperfect home.

Paint the top and sides of the shelf and touch up any spots on the molding. Painting over raw wood will take two coats. I used CeCe Caldwell's Simply White.

Wax with clear wax. If you want to use dark/antiquing wax do it now. I used CCC medium antiquing wax and Annie Sloan's dark wax.

The shelves are pretty light so I just mounted some cheap shelf brackets (6" deep and 8" long) and fit the shelves over the brackets. They are very stable but if I notice that they don't stay stable I will use some stick-on Velcro between the bracket and the shelf.

I like them. I really like them.

Make something wonderful today! 

Karen

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