Ode to a Denim Chair

Way back in September I told you we were getting a new chair for the office.  Well, it is now June and I finally have possession of said chair.  The new chair is a bona fide antique that belonged to my grandfather and he gave it to my Mama since she loved it.  I, being the greedy daughter that I am, managed to talk Mama out of her fancy antique chair.  She was happy (okay maybe not happy, but willing) to give it to me since it was going to be soooo perfect in my office, and since I agreed to trade back her beloved denim chair which currently resides in the corner of our office. :) 

The denim chair is famous.  Many people have tried to steal/buy it from us over the years.  It was a secondhand chair that my mom upholstered with old blue jeans back when I was a sophomore in college.  It has knee stains and worn denim in places and over the past 11 years it has acquired a few more stains and worn places.  The backrest is long pieces of denim in different colors and the seat cushion is patchwork.  The back and sides are pieced strips and there are three jean pockets on each side.  :)  Most of the denim and all of the pockets are from Levi’s!  I had this chair in three of my dorm rooms and then it came with us to our apartment and of course onto our first house.  The back is curved and slopes down to the arm rest and kind of envelopes you, which makes it a perfect spot to snuggle in, tuck up your feet, and read.  We’ve lounged in, piled on, snuggled into and loved this chair for 11 years. Now it is time to say goodbye and pass the chair back to my mom or my sister to love for a while.

Though famous locally, the denim chair has never been featured on the blog.  Tragedy.  There is only a tiny corner of it depicted in our House Tour.  Probably because I thought it “didn’t go” with the rest of the office.  That’s why I am making the inexplicable decision to replace it with a fancier chair.  I am a strange one, I know it! 

So today let me introduce you to the famous chair, apparently also known as “Bandit’s chair”.  Okay we know that ALL the chairs in the house are Bandit’s chairs, but this one he took a particular liking to.  Even as a kitten he enjoyed sitting in the denim chair in front of the window at our apartment.

Our kitten grew up but he found that he could still fit in the denim chair…

And when we moved, he still made the chair his favorite perch.  It was situated between our desks in the office where he could keep a good eye on his humans.

Even when Bandit stretched out, he could still fit (just barely).

And after a while (once she was legitimately too big) Riley discovered that if she curled up just right, she could fit in the denim chair.  It truly is a magical chair and a special spot for a cat (or puppy) nap. :)

So it is with a heavy heart that I say goodbye to our beloved denim chair and make a space for the new antique chair.  Don’t worry, Bandit has already found a comfy spot to sleep on the new chair, too.  And if Riley decides that she’d like to try it out, well let’s just say she better keep her paws off my new velvet chair!! :) 

I’ll be back tomorrow (after a suitable mourning period) to introduce the new, fabulous chair! :)

Green Green Grass!

As you may have noticed from some of my blog photos, I have been in a fight with my backyard since we moved into this house.  For a while, it seemed we had okay grass in the backyard.  And perhaps I should have paid more attention to it while it was “okay” and before it slipped into a non-resuscitative state. :)  Ooops.

Last fall was the last straw, and after many bad photoshopping jobs, I was just fed up with our backyard “grass” and we decided to start from scratch.  First things first, I got my trusty Round-up sprayer out and went to town killing all the bad stuff—weeds, moss, “grass” and all.  I am really good at killing grass, it seems.  By the end of the week, it was dead, dead, dead.

Enter my best yard-working buddy, Mama.  We rented a tiller from Home Depot and she and Michael tilled the yard over and over and over again.  It was really hard packed and it took forever to till it up.

And we raked all the thatch, weeds, rocks, and everything else but the dirt until it was looking pretty.  Then it started to rain and Mama and I raked the whole thing level in the mud.  That was fun and no one took any pictures!  Darn!  Even though it was hard, messy work I am so glad we did not skip this step.  You can definitely tell the difference in the levelness this year.  It was so much easier to set up tables and chairs without all the dips and valleys in the yard.  Hooray!

Then we spread starter fertilizer and shade-loving grass seed.  Straw on the whole thing and regular watering… then onto waiting, waiting.

I’m sure the grass sprouted and grew and looked okay for the end of Fall last year, but I got distracted with beautiful new floors, and decorating for parties and forgot to take any more pictures of the Great Grass Project until this Spring, when we remembered that our grass was sort of still new… and whatever happened with that?! 

I was psyched when it came up all green in April:

It was still a little patchy and I was worried that it needed more seed!  We raked off some more of the remaining straw and a couple of weeks later, it had really filled in and was sooo green!  Yay grass!  Go grass, go!

There were a few spots from Miss Riley that I had to patch, but otherwise it was looking good!  And after reseeding those patches, I was left with a backyard to be proud of and just in time for our Summer party!  I am so happy to have grass that we can run around and play on.  I actually have to mow the backyard every week now instead of once a season!  :)

And now it’s time for my famous before and after comparison!  (I’ll admit, I’m a fanatic.  Sometimes, I read other blogs and I’m thinking, “where is the before and after comparison, people?!”)  So, here it is:

Ahh, it’s gorgeous!  Looks like it’s time for a picnic! :)

Paver Patio: Take Two

It has been almost a year since we installed our multi-leveled paver patio in the backyard.  Hindsight being 20/20 and all, we realized that the patio retaining wall needed a bit of reinforcement.  It was only one level of 6x6 timbers and really should have been taller.  The wall was slipping forward since the foundation was a bit less than ideal and the pavers above were falling down the hill.  It was making me (and my “professional” rock moving mother) mad.  So we decided to do something about it this Spring.

A few weeks ago my brother and father were here doing demo on the swing, so while they were available I had them dig out the space for the new retaining wall.  And since they were digging it out anyway, they just decided to rebuild it while they were at it and save Mama and me the trouble!  Hooray!  So I let them do all the hard parts while I took photos. :)  <--Good blogger!

First things first, I took up all the pavers and removed most of the filler gravel behind the existing wall.

Here’s a couple of shots that show the problem.  The end of the wall was supported by a rough mess of filler dirt, no stable foundation.

Enter manpower to remove old timbers and dig new deeper hole for the new ones.  We decided to replace the two short timbers that made up the “before wall” with one really long one which would be more stable.

They leveled the bottom timber first and drilled holes for rebar.  Then they pounded the rebar through the timber and into the ground.

And Papa removed the annoying little filler piece between the before wall and the step that was screwed and nailed into place.  He chiseled out a level spot for the top timber to rest on the angled border piece next to the stairs. 

Then the top timber was placed.  More holes were drilled through both layers of wall and more rebar hammered into the ground.  Finally!  A job I am qualified for!  Disclaimer:  Not the proper way to wield a sledgehammer. :)

Hopefully this new double layer wall, with no piecing of timbers and twice as many, extra-long rebar reinforcements will settle any drifting problems in the future and keep everything nice and solid.  Fingers crossed. :)  Here’s where we were at the end of day one. 

Mama came the next day to lay the pavers… thank you Mama!  I hate doing that part… so like a good blogger, I stood around and took pictures.  :)  I also did some other stuff, too, not just standing there watching Mama work. 

And after all the pavers were replaced, we stood back and admired our beautiful paver patio! :)  And then we promptly went on to moving plants and mulching.  The beds in front of the patio got an overhaul this Spring with a new arrangement of all the plants and fresh pine needles.  Here’s how it all came together:

We are really loving our paver patio and now it looks even more fabulous!  Hope you are getting outside to enjoy this beautiful late Spring weather!

A Relaxing Outdoor Room

I love our two story deck.  It’s pretty cool having a lower level deck out the back door of my sewing room/den.  And it makes a great spot to set up the buffet at our annual backyard party.  But for the rest of the year, it just sits there empty except for my potting bench and some random end tables.  :(  I have been longing for some outdoor furniture for this space.  I covet my sister’s wicker porch set and drool over the sectionals in the Pottery Barn catalog.  I have dreams of an “outdoor room” to rival most living rooms complete with a ceiling fan, twinkle lights, cushions and pillows, candles, a good book and a cold drink.  Ahhhh, I am getting carried away!

This dream has been on the back burner since our deck is in disrepair and needs to be rebuilt.  But recently my mother acquired an old metal couch frame.  It was rusty and the paint was chipping, but all she (and I) saw was potential! :)  She brought it home and we scrubbed it down and brushed all the old paint off and sprayed it black.  My go-to for spray painting most anything. :)

It wasn’t much to look at, huh?  But it has the same lines as my old table and chairs on the upper deck.  I knew with some new cushions and throw pillows this baby would shine. 

So we painted it and bought six outdoor cushions from Walmart.  It was ready just in time for our Summer party and I used it as extra seating in the yard.  And promptly at the end of the party I cleared the deck and put my new couch down there.  I grabbed my Kindle and a drink and set to enjoying my new “outdoor room”.  With the twinkle party lights still glowing I was having a vision from my dreams!  It was awesome!

So on Tuesday evening I decided to finish setting up my new outdoor room and stage it for some blog photos!  Yay!  I had such fun bringing all the elements together.  While I still don’t have matching chairs, an outdoor rug, a ceiling fan, or a cool old trunk for the coffee table, I think we are well on our way to my vision!

I assembled all the lovely potted plants leftover from the party and I brought out some cool lanterns that have been needing a home.  It is totally cute!  I love it!  And it looks even more relaxing (and beautiful) at night!

You know where to find me… now I need some company to join me out here.  :)  Come on over!