small changes make the world of difference

I really do love the way the porch is looking these days. The potato vine I planted a couple of years ago has taken off and is threatening to swallow up the whole house, but it provides a calm spot to sit and read in dappled shade during the times when the sun normally sends you scurrying inside.

My various pots and containers with succulents and one pink geranium (I may be greek but I've never been a really big geranium fan) are all doing well.

I bought a couple of outdoor setting cushions for the adirondack chairs a friend made for us and they're way more comfy and inviting.

Of course, we have to bring them in when we finish our 'front porch sitting'.

Not cause of the dogs. Its the birds that worry us most.

We don't call it the poop deck for nothing!

My plan is that one day we'll put a roof over the back porch as well, making it more usable in all weather and a good spot for hot summer afternoons.

When that happens we'll still have this little corner where roofing will be a challenge. I'm not worried. I'm thinking more trellis, a pink climbing rose I'm growing from a tiny cutting, and we'll have an 'arbour' area at the corner of the porch.

How pretty will that be?

Or... I could go all Greek and put in a grape vine...

I have time... The rose is too little to go in the ground till spring and it'll be at least a year before its tall enough to need support above the rail. I have till then to find a way to convince Wayne we need a roof on that side of the porch.

z

PS I apologise to geraniums for my earlier comments. I had no idea they come in so many varieties and colours. Thanks to Google, I'm now re-evaluating my stance on geraniums and will most likely become a staunch supporter of them in the future.

a cute little airplane

Do you like my little wooden toy plane? I have no idea where it came from, but when cleaning out and organising the casita I found it among my toy collection.

(Doesn't everyone have a toy collection?)

I have lots of collections. I basically collect anything I like the shape of, the colour of, plus anything I think I can use when doing junk art or repurposing. Behind the little airplane you can see a collection of tea pots and creamers and a collection of clothes hangers among other things.

This is one corner of the workshop which holds timber bits and pieces on the shelf, painting bits in the cupboard and tools on the pegboard.

I like this little corner. I like lots of little corners around our place. The theory is, if I like enough corners they add up liking the whole house and yard.

I pretend not to notice the bits I dislike till I can actually do something about them. Till then I focus on the pretty/cute/interesting bits that I like.

z

what happened to the drawers?

So what happened to the drawers when I decided to make over the tallboy into a linen cupboard?

They became hat and coat racks of course!

First some destruction was called for. I got out the hammer and clobbered the drawers till they came apart.

I then removed the timber knobs and filled the holes. I gave them all a light sand and went through my paint pots to find colours that were similar but not the same. I painted them all in shades of greeny blue.

Yeah, for those who're observant, there are only four drawer fronts there. There is another one but I didn't need it for the project I was working on. It'll appear somewhere else later on no doubt.

I used different hooks - these hooks were sent to me by a good friend in the USA (we can't get them here) and they're perfect for hats.

I put the hat racks up high and the coat racks underneath. I had to stagger them in order to fit them on the mud room wall. You can see where I had to put the electrical cable over the top one. Ugh. Not pretty, but here in real life, as opposed to decorating blog-land, things like that happen.

The coat racks have mismatched hooks collected from tip shops over time.

I'd originally planned to paint the entire mudroom antique white. Now I'm not so sure. I'm starting to like the rustic timber look.

I'll paint the pine lined ceiling white and I'll probably repaint the two house walls to match the outside of the house. But I'd already started undercoating the left side wall (with the window and sink) back when I was sure I wanted it all white. I guess I'll paint that wall to match the other two. That will leave one weathered timber wall. It'll be a feature wall.

I love the way the coat and hat racks look on the old timber anyway.

I also found a home for my crystal dripping tap wall art. Its been in the casita since I made it cause it needs somewhere out of the wind. I added another hat hook to it and voila, another handy spot for a hat!

This one's on the wall I have to paint (plus you can see the terrible paint job someone did on the toilet door!) so it'll stand out more. But that also means it'll have to come off one day. I hope I never have to take the other ones off. Ever.

...Am I the only one who manages to twist the top off screws?

z

Shared at Your Funky Junk Upcycled Link Party

and

stubborn? never!

Wayne likes to read.

Wayne likes to read all the time.

Wayne has tons of books.

We don't have enough bookcases for all the books Wayne has.

I like to read.

I have some books.

I also have a Kindle which has tons of books on it.

I prefer to read on the Kindle as its light, easy to hold, easy to read and I will never run out of books while I have access to the internet.

I bought Wayne a Kindle for his birthday in January... He had told me repeatedly that he did not want a Kindle, that he would never use a Kindle and that I better not ever buy him a Kindle.

Did I listen?

No.

Obviously.

Cause I used to feel that way about Kindles. I liked the feel of a book, I liked the smell of ink on new pages, I liked turning pages. Then I bought a Kindle cause taking 15 books to Greece with me on holidays just didn't appeal to me.

I love my Kindle.

When Wayne ran out of books to read before Christmas he was grumpy. He was reduced to reading cereal boxes. He even read some of my books and that's saying something. He wanted to read Game of Thrones (I have the box set) but found the type too small to read comfortably.

So I bought him a Kindle Paperwhite (like mine, cause I love mine!) to surprise him. I got him a case for it, I even put Game of Thrones on it.

(Ulterior motive: The books are so long I figured he'd be hooked on both the Kindle and the series by the time he finished book one!)

He flat out refused to try it reminding me how often he'd warned me not to buy him one. It sat on his bedside table gathering dust for weeks. He kept finding books to read: the dregs he'd overlooked on his first pass over the bookcases, what he could scavenge from friends, whatever, as long as he didn't have to give up his principles and try the Kindle.

Then the day came... He was desperate. He asked me to show him how to read the Kindle.

He's been using it non-stop ever since. He takes it everywhere with him.

He hasn't said a thing to me, but I heard through the grapevine that he loves it.

Men.

What can I say?

z