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Archives for July 2013

Summer on my Back Deck

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You’ve probably noticed that a lot of my posts have been done about the outside spaces around my house lately.  I guess that’s because I’m taking full advantage of the amazing weather while we have it. 
A few days ago I gave you a look at my front porch, which used to be my back porch, but is now my front porch because everyone else calls it the front porch and I’ve succumbed to peer pressure.  You see, living on a lake most of the houses look to me like their fronts are lakeside and their backs are roadside. Does that make sense?  Perfect, then we can proceed. 
 
So now that we’ve agreed that this is the back porch I’m actually going to change my mind again and call it a deck . . . because that’s what it is . . . a deck.

This portion of the deck is just off the kitchen and it’s where Mr. OTN does a fabulous BBQ!
 This corner of the deck gets both eastern and southern exposure as it wraps around a small portion of the house. Last year I added a couple of large galvanized feed troughs for herbs and vegetables and they do really well here. You can see the lounge chairs are also placed here for the dogs to soak up some sun.
The portion of the deck below gets the morning sun and a lot of cool afternoon shade, along with a breeze off the lake.
  In the picture below you’ll notice the never rarely working hot tub to the left. We have big plans for this area as soon as we can figure out how to get it off the deck!
 I love my hanging baskets.
 I don’t love deadheading my hanging baskets but they really need it about now.
 This shot is of our dock and pontoon boat waiting for us to come and enjoy a little relaxation time on the lake.  I think we need to put that on our list of things to do.
 Finally, this is my little spot on the deck for painting furniture, my outdoor “studio” if you will.  Yesterday, Mr. OTN handed me a can of Goof Off and asked me if I thought the paint spots were permanent?  Yeah . . . I guess that was a hint!
 During the summer this is my absolute dream place to live.  Do I feel lucky?  More than that, I feel extremely blessed.  Different circumstances can destroy or mar our lives and it wasn’t all that many years ago that I wasn’t sure what the future was going to hold.  God redeems and restores our lives. Ya just gotta believe!

     Blessings to you,
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A Solar Garden Chandy

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We’re in organizing mode this week.  After helping my in-laws move and dispose of decades of “stuff”, we’re itching to get rid of a lot of stuff ourselves!  This chandelier for instance.  This has been sitting in our garage ever since we moved into our house.  I couldn’t GIVE it away!  I’m not quite sure why it didn’t end up at Goodwill sooner, but after coming across so many amazing Garden Chandys on Pinterest I’m glad that I hung on to it!

 Oh . . . my . . . goodness . . . have you SEEN the creative things people have done with old chandeliers?  All that amazing inspiration is what made me decide to turn this old light fixture into my very own garden chandy (hey, at least it’s out of the garage).
 As you can see, I didn’t even bother to paint it.  Though I’ve seen garden chandeliers painted in every color imaginable, I liked the dark bronze color, with a touch of rust . . . for now anyway.
 We were originally going to wire the chandelier to the already existing outdoor lighting but when we went to the hardware store and saw these crackled glass solar lights we decided to go in an easier direction.  After removing all of the electrical wiring I cut down the metal tubes that the solar lights sat down into to make them sit lower into the light fixture. Then I used a waterproof glue to cement them in place.
Then I wired on some crystals taken off a couple of old candle holders.

 Hung from our old apple tree along the pathway to our front door I think this chandy adds a bit of cottage elegance to the front yard.  When the sun catches the crystals by day they reflect tiny prisms of light all around . . .
 . . . and by night the solar lights cast a gentle upward glow.
The colors are ever changing.

I could stand for hours minutes, watching the beautiful light show that my rusty little chandy puts forth each night!

Lesson learned here – This was the first night we hung out the chandy.  Each subsequent night there has been less and less light.  Solar lights require a lot of DIRECT daily sunlight to work properly. 


Addition to MR. OTN’s “HONEY-DO” LIST:
* Move garden chandy to a sunnier spot in the tree.

Thanks for stopping by!

Blessings to you,
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Summer Porch Decor

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Welcome to my front porch in summer. The weather has been glorious, cool in the mornings and warm in the afternoons.  Perfect for “setting a spell”.  Walk on down the pathway to our front door     . . . under the apple tree, through the bird feeders, and past the bubbling fountain. 
This is the porch swing that Mr. OTN and a friend hung for me last summer.  I purchased the seat cushion from World Market and made pillows out of outdoor fabrics.

 I was planning on sewing cord covers for the chains until I saw what Laurie over at Heaven’s Walk did with her porch swing.  Her “whimsical gypsy swing” is gorgeous.  I think she did a lot more wrapping of the chains on hers, and she has wonderful flowy curtains on her porch and . . . well . . . you really should just go over there and take a look.  Don’t forget to come back though . . . her blog is addicting!
 This was so easy to do. I simply tore strips of leftover fabric and started tying them onto the chains.
 Aren’t they pretty when they blow in the breeze?
My Rosette Wreath is still hanging on the porch but I’ve added a wild grapevine wreath behind it for more layering.
 If you haven’t seen the tutorial for this wreath you can link up HERE.
 Next to my swing is a 3-tiered succulent planter made from a Goodwill find.  Directions for this are also on a previous post that you can find it right HERE.
I’ve added just a few coastal touches to my summer porch.  Fossils we’ve collected on past vacations,
A sign pointing the way down to the lake,
 some curly branches I found while beach combing,
a lantern and a driftwood wreath.

No tutorial needed for this wreath.  I simply made it by glue gunning pieces of gathered driftwood onto a purchased grapevine wreath.
 I won’t say it was hard to do but I did tear it apart a few times to get the driftwood to look like it had collected naturally into a pile rather than being perfectly placed.  Perfection is my enemy!
 Here is a look at the other end of our porch,

with one of our Beagles, Cozy, contemplating escape, and our porch guard dog, Beauregard.  He is often relegated to holding the collections I bring home until they dry out and the bugs crawl away.

 I’m so happy you came by for a visit and I really hope you’ll come back  soon.  There is always something new happening at our place!
Blessings to you,
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Help! I’m Stuck in my Spanx . . . or . . . The Weirdest Post I’ve Ever Done!

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This is not a typical post for me.  I usually write about my thrift store exploits, re-purposing old items or painting old furniture.  This post is about me trying to take this upper-side-of-fifty body of mine and turn back the cruel hands of time. Old Things New, right?
So, here’s the story.  I was out shopping with a friend the other day and I tried on this really cute green, loose weave summer sweater.  
The color was perfect, the fit not so much!  You see, along with the ageing process has come this stuff around my middle section that is beginning to make me look just like my mother.  Not that looking like my mother is a bad thing . . . just a little astonishing!  I’ve always been fortunate enough to be able to keep my weight down (good genes) and have had a “highest allowable weight” that I’ve kept myself too.  In recent months, the “highest allowable” has been exceeded.  Not by a lot mind you, but enough that my clothes aren’t fitting so well.  I  must now squeeze myself into my jeans . . . hold my breath while I zip them up and then stand in wonder at the inner tube rolling over the top!  Where in the world did that thing come from?  Since I really DO NOT want to start buying a bigger pant size I really need to do something about this problem.  So far I’ve just been wearing shirts with little sweaters that hide the roll, but summer has arrived and it’s getting warmer every day so that isn’t going to cut it for much longer.
So, I said to my shopping buddy, after trying on the sweater, “I love this sweater, even though it does kinda show off the rolls around my middle.”  
To which she responded, “You can always wear Spanx.”
Spanx!  That could be just the answer I was looking for!
  Dieting hasn’t been working too well (all the eating out while moving my in-laws), exercise hasn’t been too regular (I injured my heel during the move and it isn’t healing well), life has been really stressful (I NEED comfort food)!  Hmmm . . . does that sound a bit like I’m making excuses?
This just so happens to be my comfort food of choice.
Not only are they yummy but they have these nice little sayings inside.
 Give myself permission to do what? Continue out of control? Continue making excuses? Ugh!!!
So off I went to Target today to find some body slimming undergarments.  Before going any further I should tell you that this isn’t an ad for anyone’s slimwear.  If it was it would be pretty poor advertising as you’ll see by the time I’m finished.
Now Target didn’t actually have the Spanx brand of slimwear but they had a whole wall full of choices.  Upper body slimming, lower body slimming, whole body slimming, slimwear with and without bras . . .
I chose this little Maidenform number . . . obviously because of the picture of what I would look like when I put it on.
 I headed off to the dressing rooms and this is where my shopping trip went awry!  Have you ever tried on body slimming underwear?  OH  . . .MY  . . .GOODNESS!  I brought a small and a medium into the dressing room with me.  According to the tag I was a small but I quickly learned that a small was impossible to even get over head!  I didn’t THINK my head was that big!  Next I went with the medium.  After slipping each arm through the straps (by now I was beginning to sweat) I tried pulling the thing down over my body but it became all balled up and stuck across the top of by chest at the top of my armpits.  It had me in a vise grip!  I tried pulling it down.  I tried pulling it up.  It didn’t budge.  As the sweat began to pour down my body and make things slicker I happened to glance down at my toes and notice that they looked a bit purple.  Was it possible that this thing was cutting off my circulation?  
Okay, I told myself, “Just breathe.”  What were my options?  I could call 911 from the dressing room, I could call to the salesperson to  come in and scan the tag on my body so that I could pay for this thing, put my shirt on and go home (where I would cut it off ).  But since neither of those options would leave me with a shred of dignity (and I really don’t like to be embarrassed) I decided to take a deep breath and start over.  Instructions! Where were the instructions for getting into this garment?  Nope . . . no instructions!  Reaching my fingers beneath the tightly rolled up mess I began to tug down one little edge of fabric at a time and little by little, bit by bit it began to descend over my body, until finally, I was FREE!
Sooo . . . while in this new position of freedom I might as well put my shirt back on to see if these slimming things really work, right?  
My oh my . . . was I surprised! 
Not a bit of Pillsbury Doughboy, inner tubey, cinnamon rolly stuff hanging over the wasteband of my jeans!
Yureka! These things are great!
I bought two, one in black and one in beige.  On the way to the checkstand I did take the time to send off a quick text chastising my shopping buddy for not letting me know that this type of shopping trip is not meant to be a solo endeavor.  She sent me back a big LOL!
When Mr. OTN came home from work I asked him to take my picture in this little dress (one of my most unforgiving pieces of clothing).  Without asking any questions he obediently followed me out to the deck for a photo shoot.  I told him to make me look skinny and giggled.  No comment from Mr. OTN. Obviously he was too tired to notice my new svelte figure.
 Okay, so I may not be like the model on the Maidenform card but I find it incredible how much my tummy has shrunk!  Will I wear this every day?  Absolutely NOT!  “Why not?”,  you ask?
1.  It is exhausting to get on.
2.  It has to be unhooked and rehooked when you use the bathroom.
3.  It is giving me a little bit of a backache.  I wonder if corsets felt like this?
4.  I really DO need to get back on a healthy eating and exercise regimen.
5.  I’m not looking forward to going upstairs to get my jammies on because I have to find a way to get out of this thing. Oyyyy!
I will however enjoy wearing this for special occasions and to reign my tummy in (until I lose some of the excess around the middle) so that I can wear my cute new green sweater.
Blessed is he who has learned to laugh at himself,  for he shall never cease to be entertained ~ John Powell
    Blessings,
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French Inspired Flea Market

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 “When you see someone putting on his Big Boots, you can be pretty sure that an adventure is going to happen.”  
A.A.Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh
Last weekend I went on a “great explore!”  I’ve mentioned in previous posts that I’ll be participating in my first ever French Flea Market in September, so when I heard that Haley’s Cottage in Kirkland was sponsoring a French Inspired Flea Market I was ready to put on my Big Boots (sandals actually) and hit the road. I grabbed my friend Linda, who will be sharing a booth with me, and our two hubbies, who may be helpful with set construction (fingers crossed) and off we went on our adventure!

Here is a peek at some of the pretties we saw!

 Isn’t this emerald green couch great? They were literally stepping in to cart it away while I was snapping it’s picture.

I did a little oohing and awing over these succulents in pewter pots!

While Mr. OTN was schmoozing (one of his favorite things to do) he ran into this sweet couple visiting all the way from Tennessee. A fellow blogger and photographer I had to have a picture! See the old film reels she’s holding? She found them for the wall of her studio at JenniferLawrencePhotography.

 Loved these old doorknobs used as picture holders,

 and these two chairs made over into a bench. A very OldThingsNew kinda thing to do!

 One booth had so much vintage jewelry that I didn’t know where to start. I got a little stuck here and ended up with a pretty broach to go on my ragged old jean jacket. 

 A few of the vendors kindly let me take their pictures displaying their wares. Thanks ladies.

 Adorable outfit, yes?

 This was my favorite piece of the day with all of it’s distressed wood, rusty parts and mismatched pulls. Beautiful!

 At the end of our shopping day Mr. OTN made me pose for a picture myself . . . a little distressed, rusty and mismatched also. Where were you Linda?

It was a good day and I came home super motivated to get to work on my own projects. If you are in our area be sure to mark your calendars for the Queen Bee French Flea in September!


 Blessings to you,

I’ve been known to link up to the following great parties!!!

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