Totally Turquoise Garden Bench (and a Garden Update)

Remember my turquoise garden swing that I painted three years ago?  Well, last year we dismantled the swing support so the swing went to live with my mother who never throws anything away.  Since we have been designing new flower beds in the lower yard, we’ve been discussing seating options.  My mother had the brilliant idea to reinvent the swing as a bench!  Take swing, add legs.  The end.  See?  It’s so simple that I didn’t even take pictures of the process, which was an oversight because I actually did some designing, measuring, drilling and cutting on this project.  Woot!  Granted, everyone else helped, too.  Thanks Mama, Papa and John!
So basically, we took the swing and figured out where legs would go.  We nixed the existing short arm support in the front and cut a new piece that continued to the ground.  Then we added a leg on the side in the back.  In hindsight, we should have made that back leg go all the way to the arm, too, but that slipped our minds.  Oh well, don’t look at it!

Then after it was all put together, me and my handy assistant neice, Abby, set to work repainting it turquoise! It was looking a little… ahem… weathered. ;)

Then Mama and I argued over where it should live in the new garden.  Here’s where it ended up, joined by a potted begonia and a turquoise puppy dog planter. :)

It’s located right next to the gate into the lower yard, so hopefully it will get a lot of use when we are down there working this summer! 
Thanks old garden swing for lending your life to the new bench!

Now you know what to do with that old swing you just can’t throw away… or maybe that’s just me with old swing problems. :)

While we are down here in the garden, how about an update?

Mama came last weekend and tilled between all the garden rows as well as all the area where we will plant grass.  It was becoming a weed fest, so that took care of those for a while!  While she was hard at work tilling, I planted some more lilies, purple speedwell, and bee balm in the sun bed.

I also finally finished stringing the bean supports.  The beans are reaching up and twining around the strings!

The corn is getting up there, too!  And we have our first pumpkin:

The last thing we did on Saturday was build this little rock wall in front of our big tree.  It’s only about halfway finished, but we ran out of rocks and had to quit. :)  It’s going to be quite cute when it’s filled in behind with plants!

Still needs more raking, root pulling, and rock picking.  :)  Oh, and mulch…

Stay tuned!

A New Old Kitchen Table

In my 2014 To-Do List, I told you I was going to refinish a secondhand table for the kitchen.  I actually completed the refinishing back in January.  And I had a couple chairs that we had previously picked up to go with it.  But, it just didn’t feel finished… so I put off blogging about it.  Well, clearly I am not motivated to sort out the chair situation (since there are only two of us and we really don’t sit in the kitchen that often) so I have decided to go ahead and show you the new table!

I had been looking for a pedestal table for the kitchen for some time, when I spied this one hanging out in my sister’s in-law’s shed.  Not good for table.  So I offered to take it off their hands... how nice am I? It was formerly painted yellow with a walnut stained top.   It’s a round table that extends to a large oval with a leaf added.  We brought it home and took it all apart so I could clean it and paint it.

This was my vision—two tone with white base and trim and a cherry top.  Like this one:

After sanding and cleaning all the parts, I primed and painted the yellow parts with semi-gloss white.  Then I darkened the stain on top with a couple coats of my favorite Bombay Mahogany polyshade.  Then I put two layers of polyurethane on the table top to finish it off.  After everything was nice and dry, we carried it upstairs and reassembled all the parts.

I pulled up my two cute chairs that I got at a discontinued chair store and that was that! 

I had some strawberries and this cute berry basket, so of course I had to set the table for a little snack. :)

I am still looking for two more chairs in a similar style so we can have a full set around the table.  But I don’t know if I want them all to have rush seats or not… they are very comfy, but I worry that 1) they don’t match the top, 2) they will get stained, or 3) the cat will destroy them.  I’ll keep you posted…

So, that’s the new old table for the kitchen… I love it!  The old one was just ugly and we bought it from a consignment store when we moved into our first apartment.  It was time for an upgrade!  The old one went to live with my brother who had a perfect spot for it in his kitchen.

Here’s your side by side before and after comparison:

   

Ah, so much nicer!  :)  What do you think?  Okay, I’m off to eat some of those berries!

A Guthrie Garden Spectacular (Summer Edition)

I was visiting my parent’s on Monday and I brought along my camera to capture some of the summer abundance in my mother’s flower beds.  Here’s a look at what’s blooming at the Guthries’:

Peach lilies are juxtaposed with a barn wood birdhouse that my Papa built.

Mama’s potted plants put mine to shame every year.  She’s keeping the nonstop begonias in the greenhouse and that decision has paid off… they’re gorgeous!  Mine are nearly dead. :(  Might have to steal. hehe

This is the top tier of an oval plant stand.  We filled it with a coconut liner and potting soil before planting hot pink geraniums, coleus, creeping jenny and sweet potato vine.  I love the combo of raspberry and chartreuse!

Here’s another planter with impatiens, coleus, begonia and creeping jenny.

Petunias, coleus, and livingstone daisy trailing over the front.

Lovely pink lilies.

Yellow lantana topiary.  Mama has two of these, they are so cool! :)

Another potted arrangement, this one is in an old egg basket.  It’s got two tone pink geraniums, coleus and verbena.

Geraniums, petunias, vinca, coleus and sweet potato vine!

I think she has a thing for coleus.  Here’s a dark pink variety.

The zinnias are sprouting from the sidewalk! ;)

Purple veronica and red geraniums.

A cozy fern corner.

Bee balm.

Purple butterfly bush.

Mama’s lower garden.

The upper garden.

The first pumpkin!

That’s what’s blooming around these parts.  I’ll be back with updates from my own garden.  We spied our first pumpkin yesterday! Whoo hoo! :) 

Happy Summer Friends!

 

P.S.  For more Guthrie floral abundance, see the Guthrie Garden Spectacular (Spring Edition 2011) here.