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3 Little Garden Chairs | Refinishing

July 2, 2012 By Laura 9 Comments

There’s been these 3 little chairs, sitting in our basement for years now. One of my husband Michael’s clients offered them to him, knowing we had triplets, and thinking maybe we could use them. They are about toddler size. So he brought them home, and they’ve been in the basement ever since. I’ve never been a primary-colors kind of girl. I thought maybe I would repaint them or do something with them at some point, for the kids, or maybe as available props for my photography studio. But, I was just never inspired to ‘have-at’ them.

Until of course, I was.

001 I know these are ugly. Please don’t leave! I promise you, it gets much better! We were hauling out all kinds of things out of our basement that needed to GO, for our yard sale. Michael put these chairs out there, and when I saw them I said, “Hey! We’re not selling these! I could make them into cute little garden chairs!” Well then….there was my inspiration. The idea hit me for the first time, and flew out of my mouth. (As most thoughts do, if you must know. But I’m getting better.) As so as it was, I was finally inspired to do something with these 3 little chairs.

The challenge was the primary colors of paint that was already on them. Yes, I was going to paint them anyway, but I was NOT going to NOT distress them. And I sure as heck was NOT going to strip them. They didn’t mean enough to me, to work that hard. I mean, I love to paint, and to sand, and even to wax. But stripping off paint? Not so much. So the primary colors underneath were staying, and I was starting to imagine, they were going to look pretty cool when I was done!

I’ll say right here, that I didn’t take photos of every step of the process. But I think you all know what painting and sanding looks like. I DID take a whole bunch of photos of the chairs all done though! Lots. Those are the more fun photos you all like to see most, right. Because there was no special complicated process. I will tell you just how I did it right now, which was easy as 1-2-3, and then you can see so many photos I had so much fun taking as well, simply to show you.

Since I had 3 chairs, I thought it would be perfect to use the cans of the 3 colors of Annie Sloan chalk paints that I still had: Provence, Versailles, and Paris Grey. So, 1) I painted each one those colors. It was actually very scattered painting sessions over a period of a few weeks, and my girls helped some too when they wanted to. 2) Then I distressed them to my liking. (That means, a lot of sanding. ; )

3) Lastly, I waxed them with my Annie Sloan waxes. It was especially important for them to be waxed, because I knew they were going to be left outside in all kinds of weather. So they needed some kind of protection, to preserve all of my efforts, of making them into cute little garden chairs around our homestead. I did wax each chair one at a time, from start to finish. First I did the clear wax all over a chair, let it set up a bit, but before it was completely dry, I worked in some dark wax where I wanted it, to give them a more antiqued, aged look. It kind of has to be done that way, because the dark wax is potent stuff. It only takes a little bit, and if the clear wax is too dried, it is hard to rub off – or even rub around, the dark wax. So that is always the little bit tricky part, as well as wicked messy and sticky and stinky. But I’ll tell you what, this point in my project process really proved even to me, how much I love furniture refinishing! Because it was also sunny and hot this day. But I was out on our deck working away in the sun, sweating my a*# off (but wouldn’t you know it, it’s still all there!), but singing and rocking out to the music, with that nasty sock on my busy hands, and having a ball!

Or I might of been high on wax fumes. Hard to say. But it was fun! That much I’m sure of.

Not much chatting left. Just a ton of photos, and some tidbits I think you might like to know.

Here you can see a couple of things, that really make these chairs beautiful to me. Knowing the primary colors underneath were going to show, I was careful in deciding which paint color was going on which chair. So here is the (Annie Sloan) Provence, on the dark blue. You can also best see in this photo, the dark wax work, that helps make the chair look more aged.

And a bunch of photos, where I have this one right now . . . . . .

Do you love it? I do!! I love the color, and I love where it is, with the daisies and the white picket fence there. What I don’t love, is our yard. You may have noticed the lack of real grass. We pretty much just have crabgrass, and fine sand. I don’t much like the cement steps either. But, we have decided to hold off a bit and not invest in our grounds anymore, until we make some other pretty big decisions. So, we make due, with making ugly . . . pretty, best we can for now.

Next up, is the one that was yellow chair, which I painted Versailles. It’s out front with the garden beds, next to the covered bench and potting bench . . . . . .

Again, you can really see the paint underneath, where I excessively sanded, just the right amount. : ) You can also see the dark wax work, which only adds some character to it, to me. And do you see where the paint dripped? Some may think that is some imperfection. But I see it, and it makes me smile and feel happy. Because it reminds me of the memory, that my little girl was helping me paint this chair.

And lastly, is the red chair, that I painted Paris Grey! I really wasn’t sure where I was going to put this one. So I just stuck it under the apple tree, and it seemed to look like it was at home there. Funny thing is . . . . . . it’s not at our home. (Yikes!)

The apple tree is not actually ours, nor on our property of course. Just over the line, but we pretend it’s ours. The owner is not usually around at all, and Michael does manage the property. (My excuse to take such liberties.) But she’s coming tomorrow for a week, so we’ll see if I get my hand slapped, or she kicks it back to our side, along with the birdhouse. And if I get arrested or anything, I’ll surely let you know. Because we’ll need to collect some bail! (You all would help me get out. Right?! Say yes.)

Care to sit for a spell, in the cool shade of the apple tree?

See? I really go to town, with my sand paper! This one even has a little broken piece. Again = love.

I always say . . . . . . it’s the little things, that make me so happy.

Thanks for taking a stroll around my gardens with me. (We literally, walked around the garden beds.) I always love when you visit us here, so please come again. We invite you to join us on Facebook too.

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Lessons Learned with Growing Strawberries

June 27, 2012 By Laura 23 Comments

Here at our bitty homestead, we’re in our fourth year of gardening in the raised beds that Michael built. This includes growing strawberries, which has come with a few surprises and lessons learned, some quite by accident! I thought I would tell you a little bit about that today. Especially because lately, we’ve had more strawberries than we’ve known what to do with, and it was the last thing we expected.

The first thing we learned, the very next morning after planting our very first strawberry starter plants 4 years ago, was that we needed to find a way to protect them from the birds and small animals, if we ever wanted to have any berries to pick. There were squirrels feasting on our new plantings in our bed, and that put Michael in high gear. By the end of the day, he had built this ‘cover’ for the strawberry bed, that has protected it 100% ever since. It is just made of chicken wire and strapping, but it has been the perfect solution. It lets all of the light and rain/water in, the hungry critters out, and lifts right off for picking time.

Initially, we had planted both Ever Bearing, as well as June Bearing plants. But after 2 years and not being so happy with the June Bearing plants, we ripped them out at the beginning of last season, and let the Ever Bearing take over. They were just too small, and not as good as the Ever Bearing. We weren’t sure we’d get any more Ever Bearing berries out of it that late in the game, but at least the June Bearing were out of the way.

In the first couple seasons of production, we got some consistent berries to pick. There were some every day. But rarely enough all at once, to really do anything with. So we just ate them snack-style all within the day we picked them. Year/Season 3 (last year) was better in the overall crop, with the Ever bearing having taken over the bed, and producing after all. We actually had enough at once to have dessert a few times. I also saved the berries picked a few(0ther) days in a row, vacuum sealed them in a freezer bad, labeled and dated the bag, and put them in the freezer.

BTW, the vacuum sealer machine was a brand called ME. ; ) I sealed the bag tightly with a drinking straw stuck in the bag, put my hot lips up to it, and sucked all of the air out myself! Until it was pretty shrunk-wrapped looking, and I was blue.

Now here are two things to take note of, in our new strawberry growing experience:

1) In the beginning, we had researched a lot on strawberries, and read that strawberry plants tend to only produce for about 3 years, before you really need to start again, because they won’t produce much anymore. The first season is also expected to be somewhat of a slimmer crop, because the roots are really just trying to get established in the soil. In fact, it’s recommended that you pluck off the first flowers that produce (indications that a strawberry is about to form there), to give those roots more time to establish well.

2) Another thing we had read to do, was to cut or mow the plants down to an inch or 2 at the end of the season, and cover the whole bed with hay, or some other non-seed producing mulch, for the frost season. Then in the spring after any risk of frost had passed, you could remove the top layer or so if there was a lot of it, but that generally the plants would grow right up through it – and then prior to breaking ground, the plants down in the soil would be protected from cold temperatures. So that’s what we did, and we found all of that to be true.In the meantime, my friend Paula told me that some woman Ann…or Annie Something….(I gathered from the way I was told, that I should know who this woman was…), highly recommends not covering your beds with any extra mulch of any kind.

However, come the end of Season/Year 3, we figured those plants were DONE anyway. We had gotten 3 years out of them, and planned on plating new starters the following spring. So did not bother covering the bed with hay. We just let all of the abundance of plants, with stems, runner, leaves and all, just die there in the bed. By autumn, it was looking as neglected and ugly as could be, in that cage. And early spring was not looking much better.

Until, new green plants broke through the broken down decay all around it. We still figured they would develop much, and that we’d need to plant new at the end of May or so. But they just kept growing, and then they were flowering and producing like (not yet mature) berries, all through May. By June, we were picking!

Our very first picking, was a pretty healthy bunch! But there were SO many more than these, that we would have picked as well. We just wanted to give them one more day. From then on, there were many strawberries that needed to be picked, every day or 2! So we had to gather, that Ann(ie) Something was right. There is no need to go through the extra efforts, or expense, of covering the beds with any other form of mulch, to protect them plants from the cold. The plants all dying down at the end of their season, establish themselves as their own bedding cover. In fact, it seems allowing that, by intended means of giving up these old plants, somehow reaped a supposed extra year of production, and our overall best and largest season of strawberries ever!

So as you have probably gathered by now, we’ve been learning along the way here, and it’s been delicious and rewarding! Who knows. Maybe we’ll get a 5th year out of these plants, next year? Yeah…..likely not. But we all feel like we know more now, to be more successful in growing strawberries, than ever. That’s really part of the fun of gardening: learning! The kids have labored and learned right along with us, and it’s been so wonderful.

You might be wondering, what we did with having such a constant flow of incoming fresh strawberries on our hands. Well……we ate some as we washed them. Some were fresh berries on top of our cereal in the morning. There was Strawberry Shortcake to be had, a few times. And lastly, some more went into the freezer for the plan of making jam, and others were made into a new and creative snack dessert. The last two mentioned, are new strawberry-themed posts, coming up soon. So stay with us!

Do you grow strawberries? In beds or out of the ground? How do you keep the birds and critters from eating them?
Tell us about your strawberry-growing experiences, or hopes.

. . . . . .

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Flower Photography, and History Repeating

June 3, 2012 By Laura 6 Comments

I don’t know where time has gone, but I sure wish it would slow down some. I’ve done the best I can all along, to cherish every moment of watching all of my children grow up, knowing it will all happen too fast. It’s yet another reason I school my kids myself. I don’t want to miss any of their fleeting childhood. Still, it seems like yesterday that my first baby girl, Alexis Grace, was born. She grew up in the blink of an eye. Next thing I knew, she was in high school, and taller than me! She’s athletic and strong, and it blows me away.

And now she has a real job! She’s been trying to figure out how to get one sooner for awhile now. She has worked with both Michael and I in our businesses quite a bit, in the past few years, weeding and prepping truck lettering with Michael, and as my photographer’s assistant when I was doing a lot more portrait work. We’ve paid her of course. Also, she’s actually been pretty creative at finding safe ways to make a little cash of her own, in the meantime, too. I’d venture to say she chooses to spend her time differently than typical girls her age. She’s a determined soul, who loves to research, earn her own way, and make things happen. If anyone is interested for their own young teen kids, I can share those ideas at another time. She’s always been diligent with every dollar she’s gotten. Since she was little, she’s been strict with her own budget for spending and saving. And now, she’ll be making a real pay check from someone else, other than us. There was a lot to consider, knowing she has a lot on her schedule, especially with schooling, and more upcoming heavy sport seasons. Not to mention of course, being such a young age still, at 14. But she gets excellent grades, is self-disciplined with her daily responsibilities like clockwork, and has been really wise with her money. There was really no reason to not let her. She was hired in a heart beat. We just had to get some extra paperwork signed off here and there, because of her age.

She’ll be working at a nursery here in town, watering all of the flowers, helping customers, etc. It’s a job we’re comfortable with as her parents, because we’ve known the owner for years. He’s a good client of Michael’s, so we trust him to watch out for her, and he has a good staff. Also, it’s all outdoors, where Alexis loves to be. It’ll be real hot some days this summer, when the humidity kicks in. But it’s still pretty ideal work for her. I’m excited for her!

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The funny thing is, I used to work at a nursery and greenhouse for a couple of years in high school, right around the same age as she is. I have to admit, I was not all that interested in plants and flowers at that time. But I was working with my friend, so it wasn’t all that bad. I learned what I had to know, to take care of the plants and flowers, and help customers. But it was just a job to me. My second job, actually, working with a lot of plants and flowers. I started working when I was 9 years old, cleaning an older couple’s home and maintaining their impeccable landscaped yard on Saturdays, until I was about 14. I got paid well too! But I was well into my married years, before I honestly took an interest in real gardening and such. However, when I fell in love with it all, I fell hard! I really love working in my gardens.

The funny thing is, my daughter is as passive as I was about gardening right now, as I was at her age. She’s not as into it as my younger daughter is. To her credit, she’ll volunteer to water the gardens on summer nights, which I always appreciate. But I have wished she would love gardening as much as I do. So this job of hers, gives me hope. Already, she jumped in and helped plant some flowers the other night with me. It could very well be that all she learns at her job, will serve her well, years down the road. I think it’s a wonderful education to have. I know I was happy to have some agricultural knowledge and experience to draw on, once I decided to start gardens of my own. I believe she’ll be a valued employee, because she is definitely a people-person, always smiling, loves to help people, takes pride in her work, and despite her supposed lack of interest, she really remembers the names of flower varieties! I’m just so excited she’ll be working in this environment, in particular. I mean, what a great first job on her own.

Well enough chatting. Yes? I’ve been having fun taking photos of the beautiful blooms around our home. Some are on the edge of neighbor’s property. I am always so happy with my camera in my hand. So I thought I’d share with you some of my photos.

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An Iris.
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004_geranium-flowers Geraniums.

005_chrysanthemum-flowers A Chrysanthemum.

006_azaleias-flowering-bush
Azaleias.

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Azaleias.

Foxglove.

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And more Foxglove.

I think this last shot is my favorite, tied with the Iris. What’s yours?

Also, I’d love to know how old you or your teens were when you got your first job, and what you did. Scroll down and tell us about it.

So glad you came by. : )

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On Faith, Gardening, and Digging Deep.

May 2, 2012 By Laura 9 Comments

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Our family really loves Sundays. It’s just a feel-good-family day, all the way around.

This past Sunday after Mass, we all came home, and changed into our old clothes, so that we could get working in our garden beds. Oh, the butterflies I get this time of year! It’s almost time for planting, so we needed to get all of the winter rye that we had growing in the beds, chopped down, and turned into the soil. There is much to do, to create soil rich enough to produce well for us.

cultivating-faith-gardening Whenever I’m working in the gardens, especially in the planting season, my thoughts most always turn to my faith in God. In my mind, there are many parallels, between the process of gardening, and one’s day to day faith.

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The Dirt on Gardening

With gardening, we put so much into all we hope for. We cultivate the soil, nourish it, and plant our tiny seeds or little starters, where they will receive the proper amount of light. We water them daily, if nature does not send us sufficient rain. We wait and keep watch daily, with great anticipation. Our eyes seek for a sprout. Some sign of growth. For the fruits of our labor, to reveal itself. Although we may enjoy all we put into our gardens along the way, the reward is the great surplus each plant provides for us, whether it be beauty or food, from the little seed we began with.

Cultivating Our Hearts

Isn’t that much like how our faith begins? At some point in our lives, a seed of faith in God, was planted within many of us. Whether we were aware of that exact moment happening, or not. For many of us, that may have been as babies, and nourished throughout our upbringing, from our parents. For others, it may have come much later in life. Perhaps it began with circumstances in life, or one’s own seeking for something they felt was missing. But for all of us, our spirituality can only grow and bloom, when we have given our time to cultivate that most important relationship in our lives. When we have turned to Him, in times of thanksgiving and praise, and in times of need and despair, as well. When we have spent time daily, in communion with our Savior, Jesus Christ – in thought, in prayer, in praise, in a way that keeps our heart open to Him.

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To Know God, is to Better Revel in Life

Our faith in God, and our relationship with Christ, we believe is what enables us to experience a more elevated state of joy in our days here on earth. Our eyes are open to the abundant blessings that rains down on us, and all around us. We know that all good things come to us, by the grace of His loving hand. Our hearts rejoice, for the love He shows us. Likewise, we have learned, we are wise to give thanksgiving, even for the most difficult trials and tribulations in our lives. Even they have great purpose, and bring forth blessings of their own. It is easy to question God, isn’t it? We want to know why, for each one of our sufferings. But we know deep down inside, God’s love for us is pure, and beyond measure. He is there to comfort us, He does only want what is best for us, and only He knows the big picture of ours lives.

God is good. God is always good!

Even on the Darkest of Days

Oh, we know friends, the devastation life can bring. Unexpected tragedies, life-threatening or terminal illnesses, lost lives of people we love, unemployment and financial hardships, betrayals and broken hearts….the list is endless. We know….it is touching the lives of people we know and love, all around us, too. Our family too, is not untouched by the hardships and disappointments of our own, that can roll in like the tide, leaving a mess on our seashore of life, that was so clean and beautiful yesterday. The memory of what was, leaves us longing, and we wonder if we appreciated it enough, while we had it. We wonder when the tide will ever come in again, to sweep the mess away.

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Inclement Elements

Despite the time and attention we have invested in our gardens, or our daily spirituality, there is always the threat of damaging elements, that can come along on any given day, to deal with for a time. In both the daily lives we live, as well as the weather, there are storms. They must be faced with courage. We must persevere. We must stand on the greatest asset we have, which is our faith, in the most difficult of times, and believe that God will help bring us through our trials, to the other side of the storm.

His love for us is filled with many promises, that are grace….

Sticky Note This

It is easy to forget, for we get wrapped up in this physical life. But we would be wise to remember, and take comfort in knowing, that ultimately, we are not meant for this world. The greatest gifts of all, a life free of any and suffering, are promised to us eternally, beyond our earthly days.

It is the mustard seed of faith, from within our hearts, that we know as truth, that always offers the light of hope.

“The Light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it” – John 1:5

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Pass It On, to the Littles

By our side, our children learn about the complexities of life. From the day they are born, they experience all of the happiness, wonders, and beautiful gifts of life, as well as the realization that the world is not a perfect place, and that bad and sad things can happen, even to good people. And the value of our faith, through it all!

Parenting is our beautiful opportunity, to build up in them character to live a life pleasing to God! Thankfully, as homeschoolers, we have that ability to navigate when and how our children awake to the challenges of life, and realities of this world. I can tell you that there are many raw, honest, and deep discussions that take place, with our children. It’s a beautiful time of connection, between us all. But as a parent, to see the revelations unfold within them, is such a heart-wrenching honor. We cannot shield them from all of the hurts and truths that life can bring. Doesn’t a piece of every parent’s heart, want to? But no, it would be a great dis-service to them, to keep them ignorant to the harsh realities of life, for long.

What we can do, is arm them well, with the tools of our never-failing faith, and a strong faith in our God, who never leaves us.

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Expect a Mixed Forecast, But Take Heart

Life can bring the greatest moments of laughter and happiness. We cannot count the ways in which we have been blessed! Our days can be filled with such sunshine, contentment and peace. But when the dark storms of life circumstances descend upon us, our faith can feel diminished, to the size of a mustard seed. It can be very difficult to find solace in our faith, so small and buried.

But those are the times we need our faith, more than ever! If we have allowed ourselves to be filled with bitterness and anger, it can be difficult to bring ourselves to reach. To be humble enough, to express such a need, in the face of feeling abandoned. We must find the seed though, that we alone have neglected, shriveling again in the questioning of God’s love for us. Maybe we turn away from God in anger, confused, but He never leaves us alone. We must get back to the seed of our faith, and begin again. Because it holds all of the promises, and all of the strength we need to carry us through. So that peace and contentment can be ours again. In time, if we turn our face upwards to Him again, and open our hearts, we will see He was always at work within us, through the storm. God heals hearts. Let Him!

“You will grieve, but your grief will turn into joy.” John 16:20

Light Into Darkness, and Back Again

Maybe that is part of His plan all along…..to bring us to the point where we realize, we actually need Him. To make us seek His grace. He wants us to know the comfort of His love. He wants to help us see His face…..the Light, in the darkness. To truly know Him and need Him, so that we always walk beside Him, and realize that He only wants to lead us to something greater. Don’t we always appreciate the light shining on all that is beautiful, the most after we have experienced such darkness?

Are you experiencing darkness, in this period of your life? Are you resistant, or wrestling, to sense the great faith you had on better days?

Your hope and solace, is in the mustard seed, friend. Sometimes, when we have neglected all we have built up in faith, we must begin again. In doing so, God promises our gardens can not only flourish again, but bring forth more fruit than we ever dreamed for ourselves. His love for us, is that great. That is what He wants for us, and what we truly want, for ourselves.

So we must. dig. deeper.

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Early August Gardens, at Our House.

August 11, 2011 By Laura 6 Comments

Just a quick update on how our gardens have grown. It’s August now.

The most exciting recent development, is we finally have some watermelons growing!

001_watermelon-patch They are still fairly small. I forget what variety we planted, so maybe they won’t get much bigger.

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I need to find the seed packet, and find out, because we’ve got a (passed due) deadline here!

We need to use the ‘Watermelon Patch’ as our ‘Pumpkin Patch’ soon! If not yesterday. If you were with us last year, you may recall we planted our pumpkins way too soon. We had to harvest them by early October, and so we didn’t have any WE grew, by Halloween. : ( But apparently, it takes 120 days to grow pumpkins!

That leaves us with…..83 days. Oh dear. This year we’re late!

I think we’ll just plant pumpkin seeds tomorrow, right in there with the watermelon vines. There’s room!

Are we blessed, with kids who LOVE to weed, or what?

I can answer that.

“Yes we are!”

Cherry Tomatoes, on the vine.

(The bigger kind.)

More Cherry Tomatoes.

And some other varieties too….

Soon, we’ll have Tomatoes to eat every day. (LOVE tomato sandwiches.) Right now, we are eating Cucumber spears every day, and we love it!! The kids eat tons. The kids dip in Ranch Dressing. I like just Salt & Pepper.

We’ve got just a few Green Bell Peppers growing. My mother-in-law was right. We should had started earlier, when we started with seed in the house.

Always learning as we grow.

Oh my favorite this year….

Our Sugar Snap Peas.

I just love even the SIGHT of them, growing up our trellis and twine.

It doesn’t seem we got as many as we should have?

But maybe that is because we can’t stop eating them! Never enough.

Can you believe we have not gotten as far as to even COOK some yet? They are simply sweet, crunchy, divine, and addicting, raw and right off the vines.

I love the sweet little flowers they put off, too.

018_hornet-on-wood1 There are constantly wasps collecting wood grain, to make nests somewhere. I’ve come not mind them around. It’s actually interesting to watch them work. So far, I still have a trellis so, it’s fine.

Lastly, we have some sunflowers, that the kids began to grow inside, and replanted in the gardens. They make me smile.

And so do your visits here to our blog. Thank you coming by. How are your gardens/flowers fairing? Please take a moment to say hi, and invite us over to your place, if you’d like. Most think we’re pleasant enough folks. : )

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