A Play Week

My goal for this week was to have the studio deck completely finished. Apparently, that was too ambitious unless we look at it literally. The deck is finished. The "room" of which the deck is the floor is not and that's really what I was aiming for. The planter and stairs to the right need finishing as does the rock wall to the left, and the house and trim need painting so... okay... it was too ambitious however...

... significant progress has been made and the space is a whole lot cleaner. I'm waiting for the stair risers to arrive in order to move ahead with several jobs where I need to know the level of the land... and that's good... because I also have three jobs to put finishing touches on. One of them is to...

... re-lay the landscaping cloth and rake the gravel back over on the side of the house where I moved these larger rocks from. That's how all three jobs happened, by moving something from here to there.  I needed the rocks to create the garden in the back and at the same time eliminated the one on the side by moving the rocks and the plants. I only want the front and back yards to maintain and not the side yards. All the rocks you see in this photo, and MANY more, were here when I bought the house. I've been using what I have.

These two wicker chairs have been natural and then blue and then burgundy and I was planning to paint them white for my studio porch only...

... when I sprayed it, the colour was more yellow than white and since I had three cans, plus one of black, one of antique bronze, and one of copper, I layered the colours. I'm not sure what I think. Once they are on the porch with the cushions and other decor items, I'll decide if the colour is staying or changing again. They are starting to fall apart so this may be the last time I repaint them. I prefer natural wicker over resin and I think it may actually last longer. I have two different tables that have resin wicker elements and on both of them the strands are breaking much faster than this natural wicker has. These two chairs are close to thirty years old.

After I washed these pants, it was time to cut them up and put them into stash to be refashioned. They were made from a lightweight denim with lots of seams and topstitching and I wore them frequently until they started to look too faded and frayed and then I used them for gardening and yard work. Now, they're too worn out even for that but perfect for refashioning. I love the fade lines along the waistband where the elastic was. DEFINITELY worth saving.

 

The weather this week is supposed to be less than best and I am tired from working in the yard and could really use some energizing studio time so I've decided it's a play week. I'm still knitting the throw for my porch swing and have a wire weaving project in mind. I want to sew something but haven't decided what yet so I guess it'll be a surprise for both of us. Have a great week.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - a finished deck