Projects Make My World Go 'Round!

Where would I be without projects to be working on? Probably in the looney bin! I don't know if these projects are making me old or keeping me young because I don't have time to notice. No, I'm not working too hard. I have plenty of down time whenever I want, but I love checking things off my lists. Somehow, though, the list is still getting longer because doing one thing results in adding 3 more things.

Some projects are at a standstill - like the back yard. We haven't had rain for weeks and the ground is as hard as a rock. If you succeed in digging, it comes up in clumps that refuse to break! The tree stumps and roots are all dug up except for 2 entertwined with the fence and 3 that we are killing with poison. Now the cable people have come and marked the lines, so as soon as we can we'll rent a tiller and get the back corner ready for the garden/landscaping. I have ordered 100 bulbs that will arrive for planting in October, so it's got to be ready by then.

Project #2: We got a patio set earlier this summer for $10. It's wrought iron and needed lots of work. I went over them using a wire brush pad on a drill to get them ready for painting and today got them primed and a first coat of paint on them. They are looking pretty good already even though they need at least another coat of paint. We found some cushions and an umbrella at another sale, so in no time we'll be sitting in the shade sipping lemonade! Well, we'd have to look at that awful back corner, so guess we'll have to wait a little longer to sit around.

"New" patio chairs

Project #3: New built-in bookcases. We've wanted to get some put in on each side of the fireplace since we bought the house (they had been removed), but that's an expensive undertaking. So. . . I've been on the lookout for something that would work and finally found a set of matching bookcases at a consignment store called Stuff. We had gone for a day out with Karen and Wayne who found something they wanted, too, so we all went back again with Wayne's trailor and brought them home. Here's what they looked like when we started, and here's how they looked after a day's work. Of course, most of the work was getting tools out, setting up, and taking the crazy things apart. They're built to last with glue, screws, and staples. I'm excited to use our new nail gun and air compressor! That will have to wait a couple of days now, though. In the meantime, I'm (with Ed's help with the big pieces) cutting all the wood pieces to be ready.

Ugly, but good bones!

A good start!

Kristen

Timothy

During all this we've been praying for Michael. So far he's responded well to the treatment, but we don't know what's ahead. We did know that we wanted to surprise him with a newly decorated room when he came home from the month hospital stay, and the plan worked out very well. We went down and got the 4 kids for a few days to relieve Mark and Jennifer from trying to be in 2 places at once and had a great time with them. I took them to Elizabeth's for a couple of those days (7 kids!), then back home again. I stayed for a couple of days and was able to paint the room, fix new curtains, and then Jennifer and I put up a border Michael liked and they had gotten.  It went from a little girl's pink nursery with rosebuds and lace to a real he-man room. None of the kids breathed a word about it and Michael was really surprised. Fun!

Katherine

Jeffrey

Reed

Ryan

Seth

We're excited about an upcoming deputation meeting and then on to Arizona to see Jagger. Jonathan and Josalyn, too, of course. I had fun making the bumper pad and bed skirt for his crib and we'll be taking that to them. I read about a new way to make the skirt - the kind of thing that makes you wonder why you never thought of it yourself - and I'm hoping it will work. Time will tell. Any recommendations for things we should see on our way out and back?

Jagger wearing Daddy's baby outfit!

Guess what. For the first time in weeks it's raining! In June it wouldn't quit, and since then it wouldn't start. It's been nearly 2 1/2 hours since the rain began, and it's still coming down. Guess those rain dances Ed performed really paid off. We're so glad that all of our east coast family are OK after Irene went through.

Well, that's about it from our neck of the woods. What's happening in yours?