June 10, 2018

I was determined to have a Japanese lantern by the frog pond near our gardens, but would not spend the hundreds of dollars it would cost, so with a lot of sweat equity and about $8, I have my lantern. I have a rock pillar for it to go on that was dug out from the basement project. I used the book Creating with Concrete by Sherri Warner Hunter (you can find it here), then watched some videos, used some leftover pots, and a bowl and platter I bought from the thrift store, and a $6 bag of mortar mix with some leftover fence parts (for inside strength) and some leftover foam insulation.I am having too much fun!  I finished it up with a rasp to smooth out the edges.  This one was from John's grandfather.

My idea of a "hybrid" lunch. One night we ate out at a seafood restaurant (as chief cook, I need a break sometimes), so the next day, my husband's lunch was a fish sandwich made with homemade bread and homemade thousand island dressing, and some butterfly cookies I had made for the children's sermon on Sunday. He took some homemade pumpkin muffins for his "on the go" breakfast (made with pumpkins we canned from the garden), and some coffee in his cup. Do you start your daily meal planning with leftovers? Before My big jobs lately have been maintenance, finish sanding and painting porch furniture and lanterns in preparation for an annual gathering at our house. I worked on a mini project l to make hair combs that match my jewelry so I can wear them to church. While I was doing that, I used some leftover crystals to "save" some of my favorite shoes. All the metal decorations were falling off, so I figured if I randomly placed some crystals, the random metal decorations that were still left would look more like they were designed that way. Before After I redid the front kitchen garden, getting rid of excess volunteer plants, rearranging some, and got some additions to add some well placed color to look nice.  I did some "shopping" around the yard with my shovel, moving up some Stella D'oro daylillies, and some Stokesia from another bed. Now you see it Now you don't I needed place to put my phone book (near the phone), the church directory, and various seed catalogs that come in the mail that someone hates to part with and they don't really look good stacked on my end table. This is a magazine rack for a bathroom that was a little over $17. I wanted it to look good in case it showed. In case you are wondering, that is the surround sound speaker above it. Today is my day to provide flowers for the church. The Lord and my yard provided. . .