Work This Weekend

Once again, we've been busy with yard work. Here are some pics of our porch and pavilion that we've been working on. I can say that we're done except for picking up the supplies and moving them to the barn.

Revamped Porch

Here's the porch we've updated a bit. Made new steps and made them wider. New handrails. New top rail on the bannisters around the deck. Used Restore on the deck. Added solar lights to the stairs. One more thing about Restore: the white stuff is sand on the kick plate. If Restore clumps, the sand will wash off with the color. What's left is white sand sticking to the porch. I'll have to knock it off and repaint that area again.

Solar Lights on Stairs

We bought some solar lights from Lowe's. A two-pack is $11 bucks. These throw off a lot of light and is well worth the money. Also, I'm glad we didn't have to run a wire. I LOVE solar powered stuff!

Picket Underpinning

Instead of cheap lattice or plastic stuff, we went with fence pickets for around the base of the deck. It was very inexpensive. Took little work and went up fast. We got three 24" slats out of each board. I repainted all of this today. It was two different shades of Canyon Brown stain. Now it's closer.

Picket Privacy Fencing

We put this on one side of the picnic pavilion to keep the setting sun from getting in our eyes. Works great! Cheap fix! If you look to the left, I've scrubbed the eaves on this pavilion. If you enlarge the photo, then you'll see the mold I was removing from the eaves. One side is white and the other is blackish. Mold grows everywhere down here.

Picnic Table Revamp

Hubby worked hard on this one. A couple of years ago, he made this picnic table. It only weighs about a hundred pounds. No joke! He cut off part of the legs and added wheels this week. He sanded the top and added the white apron. I put four coats of polyurethane on the top and stained the legs. Hubby is so handy with stuff!

Well, that's some of the stuff we did to prepare for our company in November.

I hope you had a productive day, too!

Take care.

More Work

We're getting some more work done to prep for the company coming in November. Hubby put the final touches on the deck. He painted the stair treads with Restore and I came home from work and stained the railing. The only problem we have is that the stain is 2 different colors even though it has the same name on the can. I HATE THAT! Our first 2 cans of Canyon Brown is a reddish brown. It looks really nice. The last can of Canyon Brown is really a dark brown. Totally different from the other cans. Must've been from a different lot or a different plant. Guess what I'll be doing this weekend? I can't stand all of the different shades on one project. I can handle 2 shades, but not three or more. Also, the wood we just bought (still from Lowe's) is taking the stain differently. How lovely is that?! If I restain the wood, all will be well.

A few years ago, I got Hubby into solar lighting. I love the fact that there's no wiring to it. We've bought a bunch of sets for the yard flower beds. I just bought 4 for the deck stair treads so we can see where we're going. It'll help our little one, too. She's supposed to be going blind, but she sure doesn't act like it. Her eyes are just starting to get milky. Also, the people coming in will need to see our steps to get in at night. They're supposed to arrive at midnight so we'll need this lighting for their safety.

Today I'm working on the curtains I wanted to make. I'm almost done with one set. I don't know whether to put this set in the one guest bedroom or the dining room. It's a brown/green/blue flowered print with a beige-y background. Whichever room I choose, they will brighten things up a bit. The bedroom has a crocheted yellow bedspread (thanks Yuri) and beige and white walls. The dining room has the same walls but the furniture is very dark brown and rustic. Either way, I'll blog about it later.

Next sewing project will be the curtains for our company bathroom. That is a medium dusty blue background with dark pink, blue and white/cream flowers. I'm hoping to have enough to make a cushion for the project I have in this bathroom. I can't wait to get it done so I can show you.

I'll have more projects going this weekend, I'm sure.

Take care.