~Finally (!!!) Finished~

This spring I came up with the idea to refinish our sad looking park bench which we have on our front porch.

The finish was peeling off the wood, and the metal was rusted. After a search online for the best way to paint the bench, I was off to Home Depot.

And...two months later (!) this is the finished product:

Oh my goodness! I don't even want to go in to all the details, but let's just say that since this was my first spray paint/refinish project that there were a lot of things learned along the way! And now that it's done, I can sigh a big sigh of relief!

~Clothespin Dolls~

About two years ago, I pulled down a clothespin bag that was hanging in the basement, and discovered a bag full of antique clothespins. I listed them on my Etsy shop and made quite a bit of money off something that I had just discovered in my home (too bad there isn't anything else hanging about my attic or basement!).

I saved some of the clothespins, thinking they would make a fun craft sometime.

Yesterday I pulled them out and we got some paint at Hobby Lobby so we could paint them. My daughter actually did most of the painting, though I did help her with some of the painting and I was standing right over her to help direct the paintbrush. And of course, I drew the faces on.

I'm thinking these would be fun in her church bag though she couldn't "talk" for them so I don't know if that would work or not!

I have about 10 more pegs and I'm itching to do a few myself. But then, there would be the question of what to do with them afterwards. I'm not a great fan of tshotshkes so they would probably just end up as toys too!

~Random Thoughts~

:::Yesterday and today have been rainy days. We're hoping for nice weather on the 4th, as we have a family outing planned. I guess we can always improvise but when you have plans you want to execute them!

:::Yesterday I got the chance to meet up with a long-time blogging friend. We talked for about an hour. Wow! What fun. :) (She no longer blogs, otherwise I'd point you toward her blog.)

:::More sour cherries! I got 8.5 pounds and it took me 1.5 hours to pit them. Yield: two more pies-to-be-made and 3 jars of jam. Yum!

:::And more pickled asparagus! I bought more asparagus, and then I opened a jar of my pickled asparagus to see how I liked it. Oh my! So, so good! I love it! I sprung for the 24-oz. jars this time around. They really are so much more efficient for canning asparagus! Much more of the stalk fits into the jar! I got 3 24-oz. jars. Yum.

:::As soon as the weather clears we want to go sweet cherry picking. Can't wait for that. And oddly, blueberry season is starting early this year (this week!), so there are blueberries to consider. Blueberries are an absolute must for me so I'll definitely fit them in.