Lady In Waiting

I am excited for this phase of the

 kitchen table and chairs

 transformation

to be over.

Tomorrow I will remove the newspaper

and start staining 

the top.

The top that was always covered with a tablecloth,

because the varnish had come off in several places,

and looked terrible.

I figured it would be easy 

to get the rest off....

but NOOOOOO!

I have sanded my fingers down to a nub

getting her ready!

1. The chairs are off together

curing and getting waxed....sounds like a girl's day out, doesn't it?

They are getting impatient.

So is my husband...

He is tired of eating his supper at the bar~

Here is my secret weapon.

It really does cover twice as much 

and gives you a very nice finish.

I was trying to show the whole can so that you could see

it's called Dark Walnut.

I didn't count how many cans I used,

but figure 1-2 per chair,

6 chairs,

2 for the table....yikes!

oh well, it's cheaper than a new set, right????

While we're watching the paint dry,

let's have a look around, shall we?

I had never planted this before,

but it went gangbusters here on the east side of the house.

It's called Autumn Sage.

It never stopped blooming \

even in the 100 degree heat and high humidity.

It quieted down for a while,

and now that we are having rains and cooler temps

it is glorious!

The hummingbirds liked it a little,

but the blooms are pretty small and 

they had to work hard for the nectar.

I love discovering something new that will

thrive in this hot prairie town!

Here it is with the Double Knock Out Roses.

They almost took over the flower bed!

These plants are definitely Kansas Tough!

That chair up there on the front porch is calling my name...

think I'll grab my book and a big old glass of tea

and admire the view!

See you tomorrow!

Labor of Love

In case you were wondering,

I have been busy.

I have put away the vacation pictures

and gotten back to work.

Children of mine:

Take a good long look

because this chair

is

going

down!

When I casually mentioned to my youngest that I had been working on these chairs, he gasped

"you mean the chairs we grew up with?"

My children have a tendency to get attached to things around the house

When I sold my tacky metal  kitchen canisters in a garage sale,
my dear Blee about had cardiac arrest,
and I was made to feel so bad
that I had to go buy some matching ones
at somebody else's garage sale!
sheesh!

I don't know what Kevin will do when I ditch the sofa,
I'm sure there will be some drama...

I did play with the idea of buying a new dinette set
 and moving these monsters downstairs
for a game area.
But these chairs are built strong and heavy,
and I have not seen any new ones out there that could hold up
to my family.

Why spend money on new ones when
you can make the old ones look great,
with a little sanding and some spray paint?
Right?

Did I say a LITTLE SANDING?

I tried the mouse sander, the sanding blocks, stripper on the first one,
and have discovered
that removing 20plus years of grime and wax and dirt
takes a little more than a little sanding!

It has boiled down to this...
hours and hours
of sanding with little bits of 100 grit paper.
Gallons of coffee.
Gallons of sweat.
Entire trash bags full of used bits of sandpaper,
and some very sore fingers, back and shoulders!

Do you see all those spindles?
Do you see all those curves?

Please be patient Grasshopper.
Three down.

And three to go.

I gave myself two days to rest my fingers and shoulders
and today I'm back at it.

Celebrate Labor Day!

Go do something you've been wanting to do
but were afraid it was too big, too hard, too messy.

Go throw yourself at something you've been putting off.

Go give something all you've got.

Don't be afraid....you can do it!