Around Home --Current Projects & Creative Endeavors
Every so often I post an updated page about what else I have been doing besides hiking and outdoors. I have been working on other artistic, creative pursuits and enjoying those in any free time I have.
I am far from a clutter bug. Kenny loves tupperware, keeps everything, and often he repurposes the stuff he keeps. I give my tupperware away to whomever wants it with food in it. I don't worry about ever getting it back. I figure I'll go buy more if I need it. He bosses folks around including ME. I don't boss folks around because it isn't in my nature and because I can barely keep myself between the ditches day to day.
I get rid of stuff left and right. I sometimes wish I hadn't thrown something out.
We offset one another's tendencies and extremes. He is more like a woman in some ways. I am more like a dude in some ways. We are a good match.
Furniture Makeovers--the Hutch Swap
I had to have a china hutch and got it several years back from a local couple. Once we got it we found it did not fit the space. It ended up in a corner of the living room. It was the only spot we could find for it. I never liked the way it looked there, but it was handy. Crystal and Adam moved and remodeled a home. She wanted a hutch to redo to place in the perfect spot in their kitchen. Kenny and I put our heads together and came up with the solution. We'd give her our too big hutch. We'd help her redo it to suit the look she wanted. We'd get ourselves another one that was smaller to fit the spot better. One of our favorite things we both love is hunting a bargain on Facebook marketplace! Yeah boy!
We talked it over with Crystal and she readily agreed. We got on marketplace and spent hours searching for a good match. I wanted a hutch that was the right basic look and size. I wanted a great deal on one. I also wanted one that was more of a project piece. A beautiful piece of furniture made of pecan, walnut, mahogany or chestnut wood I could not touch with any intent to paint or mess with. That would be a sin!
I found one for sale by a couple in Rocky Top that was just the right size and shape. The wood was lustrous and the grain perfection. It was lovely, but a tad dated having 1980s rose glass doors. That was the only thing about it that needed changing really.
We made a nice set of friends into the bargain in Taunya and Jamie Miller.
My only regret was that they had a table and chairs set that broke my heart not to buy it! It was so cute! I had no place to put it. I wanted to buy it for Crystal and Adam, but they really did not have a place for it either. I can't always have all the furniture I fall in love with. sigh.
I set the new hutch in the garage and took the doors off and found hardware for the pulls. I already had chicken wire for the door faces. I removed the rose glass panels.
I originally thought I would do a combination of paint/ gel stain for a certain look. Once I got the top stripped and sanded on the counter surface I thought better of it.
It was so lovely Kenny talked me into just sanding and staining the entire piece.
I am glad I listened to him. It turned out really pretty and much easier to do than all that painting and distressing.
Below are a couple photos of the way the hutch looked before!
Gardening 2023 Projects
I love to garden. It is different here in Tennessee in many ways. Back in Virginia I had two gardens and two flower beds. I grew our veggies and froze or canned them or put taters in cold storage for the coming Winter. I don't get into all that here, but I still grow tomatoes, herbs and flowers. Mostly container gardening.
My mom bought me grow bags and a patio planter for Christmas. It is my first season trying those out. I have the kids growing things as well from seed.
I have been out to some of my favorite garden centers. Ginger's Flowers.
Horn of Plenty Market. Erin's Meadow. Rural King. All Good Things in Townsend.
My herb garden had to be totally redone this year. I pulled everything up and started from scratch with the exception of my chives which are thriving.
Below: ferns at sunrise on my front porch. I water them with magnesium and sulfur water... epsom salt.
Above: strawberry jar I bought in Cherokee filled with begonias and purslane.
Below: a newly planted hanging basket with old fashioned orange dahlia, and multi colored rose moss
Below: Newly planted basket of orange celosia, Durango red marigolds, salsa verde coleus, and lemon thyme.
Above: Hot pink geranium
Below: back patio with bird feeders and herb garden. Pergola covered in Jessamine.
The patio planter is a gift for Christmas from Mom. Peppers of red and green. Tomatoes. Red pearl and cherry. I have grow bags with tomatoes and potatoes and onions.
Front Porch Makeover
I decided our front porch needed something different. The whole front of the house needed some attention. Kenny has taken down a boxwood that was dying along with a damaged Italian pine tree. I planted flowers and ferns. I put out whiskey barrels of flowers in place of the shrubs. I cleaned it real good and put out some comfy furniture and a lamp with a yellow bug light in it so it doesn't attract flying pests!
I waterproofed an end table and put it outdoors. I had it in the play room and it really didn't look right. Kenny and I had fun again looking on Facebook market place for bargains on furniture! I met another nice lady buying a chair from her. We found a very cool furniture store in Waynesville, NC. Scallywags! It was awesome! Got an outdoor loveseat that was exactly what I wanted for $225. Got the table to match it for $40. Bought a new cushion for the porch swing from Amazon. Bought my lamp from FB marketplace for $10. Bought a candle holder in the KARM store for $4. I paid $75 for the Pier 1 Chair. Total cost around $409 for all of it. Lowes wanted $285 dollars just for an outdoor loveseat and it was basic beige! The next stages of redoing the house will be to replace our shutters with wooden ones we build and install. I am going to get the glass panels in the door replaced with frosted glass... no design. I am also going to paint the door to look like wood along with the side panels. The white trim will be painted a darker color. Getting rid of the Spanish tile red. My windchimes got beaten up by the storm we had. I fixed that and repainted them and stained the wooden part cherry colored.
Below: a look at the front porch from one end. New to me Malabar chair. Very comfy! $75 as opposed to $384. I need to rub some dark wax on it or some gel stain, but otherwise it is super comfy and sturdy! The Santa Fe table I bought many years ago and love it. I cannot find another to match it or it would be in my living room!
Below: I also recovered and cleaned all the back porch furniture. I repainted and stained the tables and weather proofed them. The bigger one.. will make it through this season, but probably by next year I'll be getting Andy to make me another one. This one is not one he built. It is a project piece out of Jared & Lydia's garage supply!
The only porch left to work on is the back deck outside the bedroom. I need to clean it well. Put out the hammock and paint and do cushions for the chairs. Put out the fountain. It has been so cool we haven't been in the mood to lay in the hammock.
Our house is made for living and all about comfort and family and enjoying life. It is a home. It is pretty, comfy, fun and welcoming. It is not a museum of expensive things. That is just not us.
Paintings
I love to paint and draw. I have been wanting for some time to turn one of my friend Paul Gamble's masterful photos into a a painting. It can be intimidating to let others see your work especially when you are a rank amateur like me. I finally got the thing started. I had a painting after the living room redo that had no place to hang. It was a resin framed, lithograph print from Hobby Lobby. A Tuscan scene of flowers. Very boring and very cookie cutter. I tried to sell it. I couldn't give it away. I talked it over with my daughter-in-law Lydia. The frame and canvas alone in a work that size would be expensive. I decided to take a big risk. This would be my Paul Gamble photo to painting piece. I painted the frame to look like wood. It turned out great and what was better? Kenny loved it and it proved that I could do this to our metal doors!
I got done and sketched in the basics of the painting. I did it in acrylics since I am so impatient. Oils take forever and are not so forgiving. I have learned what to mix acrylics with for body and luster. I added conditioners and thickeners so I'd end up with the look of oil paint without the expense and the wait time. I got started and showed what I had so far to Paul and others. It was looking pretty good for a beginner! It is still a work in progress. I am taking my time with it. I quit and rest when I am tired so I don't make mistakes and mess it up.
Below is the photo taken by Paul Gamble of an old homeplace.. my favorite.. in Ballplay, Tennessee
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Below are several Dollar Store canvas and acrylic works I tinkered with while on my wildflower trip. I binged watched Longmire and painted at night.
Cooking and New Recipes!
I whipped out a recipe I hadn't made in a long time... Pineapple Upside down cake in the iron skillet! It was delicious! I love a dish that can be made in a cooking pan which can double as a deadly weapon!
Below: finished pineapple upside down cake.
I got to one of those spells where I was bored with all my cooking. I felt like I was in a rut.
I tried some new recipes and we had us a Tex Mex night!
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Chili lime grilled chicken breast on the smoker! Juicy goodness!
I also made the best spaghetti and meatballs I have ever made, but I forgot to take any photos. I'll do it over and post the recipe.
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Dana 🐝