In the Good Ole Summertime....

We can always tell when summer rolls around, 'cause we always get a boatload of company trying to escape the heat......and we love it!  Last week was no exception either.  Hub's nephew and family were here for a couple of days.  We had not seen them in six years so it was amazing how the kids had grown (they have five: ages 8 - 16)  I also had my 4 year old granddaughter from Wyoming all week.....what a joy!  And my son and granddaughter stopped by.  If that wasn't enough, mix in a couple of doctor appointments and you have one busy week.  But now that they are all gone, it is sadly quiet here.

I did not get a lot of crafting done last week but I did make a great purchase from a friend of mine. She is moving out of state and is getting out of the craft show biz (she was a promoter and sold her show) so she sold me one of her displays for $25!  What a deal!

She also threw in some packaging and misc craft stuff (she knows I am a craft hoarder!)  She gave me about 50 of these cute little ornies.  I just repackaged them.  Aren't they cute?

I love gardening!  But up here at 9500 feet in elevation, our summers are short.  So over the years, I have found what grows and what doesn't and put out a good sized garden.  I love to sit under the aspens and cool down out by the garden with a cold beverage (sometimes adult beverage) and relax.  Enter.....ta da....the garden bench.  If you have been reading this blog for long, you know that each year I paint up an old wooden bench that I used to have in my dining area.  This is what it looked like after sitting on the deck for a year.

 Then I painted it and it lasted for a couple of years.

Then I painted it again and added paw prints.

This year, I wanted something bright and colorful.  It seemed like a fun project to do with my four year old grand, Addyson.

 Don't mind the chairs in the background....they are for another project.  If you think it is silly taking on this project with a four year old, think again.  I didn't care if it was perfect.  I just loved spending time with her.  If I was doing this to show or sell, I would rethink it.  But every time I sit here now, I will think about our fun time.

 Am I going buggy?????  I let Addyson pick out what kind of bugs to paint on.   It was fun.  We just used craft paint and round sponges.  I drew the legs on with Sharpies.

 Of course, we sprayed sealer on it to get us through the summer.

Ok, my peeps.  I am off again.  It is sprinkling here, so I have a short reprieve on mowing the back acre.  Tomorrow Hubs has yet another medical procedure and on Wednesday I am playing taxi for my grandson.  Hopefully, I will be able to get back in the studio on Thursday.  I have a couple of great tutorials for you!  Have a great week!

Garden Spot

Weekends are always busy here at the house.  I have been working frantically on getting my garden ready.  Here at 9000 feet elevation, gardening can be so trying.....but can also be very rewarding.  Finally my taters and onions, radishes and beets are poking through the soil, but now what I need is a peaceful place to sit and relax.  But on my budget, there are just no funds to go out and buy outdoor furniture.  Then  I remembered this old bench that I moved that went with a dining room set that I had years ago.

Yep, pretty ugly and dated.  So I gave it a light all over sanding and found some Ooops paint that I had.  (Ooops paint is paint that has been returned to the hardware store because of being the wrong shade, not matching, etc and is sold at a very deep discount.)

Better, yes....But it still needs a little more......

So I painted the spindles with some more oops paint that I had on hand.....but.....it kinda looked like a nursery bench, not a garden bench.  So I added some critter tracks....

I had a stencil for this, but you could do it free-handed as well.  I put a couple of coats of spray sealer over the entire bench.......now, if I just had a nice cold drink......