before, after and some in between

the frightening before...

disgusting! i only show you so you can truly appreciate the after with me...

up comes the floor...

down come the walls...

gutted!

a lot of plumbing and "behind the scenes work went on before these walls went up...

and the floor went down...

the tub and the toilet went in...

the shower tile went up...

notice, i have 6 corner shelves-i LOVE them!

the lights and mirror are up and the vanity is in...

and the walls are painted!

we still need to paint and reinstall the trim and install the closet door (which is on order)-a little each weekend...

i'm so thrilled to have my bathroom done.

Thanks to my mom and dad

for putting their lives on hold

so they could "help" (really do it all) us.

my niece has arrived

a few days early, but her mom isn't complaining.

i've been working on this receiving blanket for her

the fabric has grown on me.

i liked it when i bought it but it wasn't what i had in mind,

so i left the store a bit disappointed.

i sent it off to be hem stitched and was pleasantly surprised when i saw it again-

i liked it.

now as i've crocheted around the edges i've really come to like the pattern and colors and am quite pleased with it.

i hope mom and baby like it too.

these two fabrics i found while shopping for the other.

i really liked these.

i thought it would fun with the bugs on one side and the stripes on the other.

i don't have any plans for it yet.

i'll save it for whoever is next.

i'm dreaming...

of bathroom renovations.

the dad wants a jet tub

with sandstone color marble tile shower surround
a vanity like this maybe

a nice clean medicine cabinet like this

and antique bronze fixtures like these
and a toilet!

can you see it coming together!

unfinished projects

remember those chairs i found on the side of the road last summer? well they're done!


we had finished stripping them last summer and they were ready for paint but i couldn't find the color paint i wanted in a spray, so, frustrated we stacked them out of the way for the winter and ignored them. wanting them done this summer, and knowing that the dad was getting irritated at my growing stack of unfinished projects, i told the dad to just finish spraying them the red and put them together. i like the red but i was really hoping for a coral. i'm still surprised at how limited spray paint colors are.












now i need a new project for the dad to complete for me!! -don't worry i have one!

spirit jugs

i'm saving my milk cartons for this cute halloween decoration!

spirit jugs

butterflies

we had a visitor!

stripped

the chairs are stripped and primed!

along the way i found some great things to make the work, less work!

this paint remover is the BEST!
we used a different one on the first chair and went through the entire can and a lot of scraping and steal wooling. we used this one on the 2nd chair and only used probably 1/4 of the can and no scraping or steal wooling! it was pretty toxic! don't forget your chemical gloves but it was fun to watch. the paint just bubbled up in pretty little ripples-looked like smocking on a dress! then just wipe it off! i'll never use another!

then we came across this gadget in the paint isle.
i've never seen it before but i'm sure it has been around. you just attach it to the top of your spray paint can and it makes it so easy! no sore finger! and it was only a couple bucks! double great deal!-i would pay more!

now we need to decide on color. we have been considering everyone's ideas-thanks for them-the dad added his color idea-yellow. a creamy yellow i think. so i will take all of my ideas to the paint store and see what they have available and then decide! can't wait to see how the chairs turn out!

our garden

our butterfly garden is starting to bloom some more. i think the spot i picked is more shade than i expected so they may be blooming a bit later than they are expected to but i am excited to see the flowers coming in.

this is our butterfly bush. you can see on the right where it is starting to bloom.
i think it will be beautiful once all the shoots have bloomed!

this is another one of my favorites-called lantana the red is the tiddley winks red and the pink is the patriot classic passion. they were tiny little plants when i bought them but i love how they have spread and how large the leaves have gotten. i also like the variation in colors in the flowers. this is an annual so i hope it leaves plenty of seeds so they come back next year on their own.

this is our baptisia. it seems to be doing really well except that it is supposed to get some really pretty purple flower shoots on it. i'm still waiting for signs of those but the plant looks strong and healthy! this is the white swan cone flower or a strand of echinacea. it doesn't seem to look so good. it blooms but they seem to die really quickly so it never really looks pretty! it's dropping it's seeds though so hopefully next year i'll have more and they will look better.
this is one of our yarrow's. it gets little yellow flowers on it but this too seems to come and go quickly. they keep coming but dying quickly. we will see!
these were thing 1's pick. they didn't have a tag so i'm not sure what they are but i like them. they continue to bloom and i like the greenery.

this is our toad habitat. it is just a pot turned on it's side and dug into the ground half way. they are supposed to be good for the garden so we wanted to invite them to stay. plus the boys would have a ball finding them. i read about the toad abode here.

summer projects

first project completed! we installed this new front door this spring. it was raw wood so we needed to paint it. finally with baseball season over i found some time and got it painted. I love it! the door that was there had a dated diamond in the middle of it and it was so warped we couldn't use it.

next project to be done-I found these planter boxes at the christmas tree shop for a steal!(love that store!) they were on clearance! I want to use them as window boxes on the front of my house. I need to find just the right brace for them so if you know a good place to get any i would love to hear about it. i have asked lainakay too because she is a shopper and can find anything for a great price-i'm not so good at internet shopping!

i found these chairs next to someones trash-that's how we do it out here, we put our stuff we don't want out to the street and whoever wants it takes it! i love these chairs. i'm going to strip and sand them and then paint them. any ideas for colors? my house is green with white trim. (color sample below)

i was just planning on painting them white but am open for ideas!

the next project will require much more of my husbands help and a bit of my fathers-he has all the tools! i found these in the sturbridge yankee workshop catalog the other day.

i have been looking for some kind of system for backpacks and jackets and all the junk that comes in. i think these would work but for $250 EACH i think i can build them. then i can adjust the measurements too. i want them wide enough so a backpack fits easily inside without being jammed or sticking out! and looking at them they are very simple construction. my husband should be able to do most of the work and then i can paint them.

i think i will be pretty busy for a while!

butterflies!

while i was finishing the last post i saw a butterfly fluttering outside my window!

this is exciting because this past spring the things and i started a butterfly garden in our back yard.

it is growing and has filled in quite a bit since this photo (sorry about the shadows)and we plan on adding to it each year till it fills the space. we have been hoping for some butterflies. hopefully this is the first of many!