Painting Day! Crafts & Vintage Display, Independence Days, Anya

Painting Day!
I had planned on doing a lot of sewing yesterday, but when I heard on the weather forecast that it was going to be 70, I thought nope- time to paint! I touched up the back of the house, the coop, garden fencing and the garden gate. It was great painting when it was so mild, instead of 100 degrees like last year, whew! It all looks so much better. Here's the coop, post-painting, with my newly installed egg sign Dave found for a couple of bucks at a yard sale-

Crafts and Vintage Display-

I stumbled on this blog when I was researching ways to use up scrap 2 x 4s-
 Flags and More Flags  I'm going to make the chunky flag since I have all the paint and burlap-   

       

She has great other crafting ideas, like using chalk paint on thrift store finds-
Chalk Paint Thrift Store Furniture Re-Do  I don't know if she sells her stuff, but she does a beautiful job! I may need to break down and buy some Annie Sloan chalk paint and wax. Spendy, but it sounds like a little can go a long way, and I have a couple of tables to re-hab. My finished flag wall hanging. I may still sand it down a bit-

My vintage cookie cutters I attached to an unfinished pine board ($2.00) and mounted above my cupboards over my oven. Nice small display in my small kitchen :) Just a little Liquid Nails (I LOVE that stuff!) on the inside of the cutters, then let sit overnight. I sealed the board first with some clear poly spray.

Great Idea! Now if I only had a vintage shredder!

 Independence Days-

1. Plant Something- Two new kinds of green beans, one Italian, by the side of the house. Hopefully no chicken damage! Also Calendula and California Poppies in my hot, sunny patch in the front yard. Calendula can make a good tincture for sore muscles! And they re-seed every year.

2. Harvest Something- Eggs, chives, Raspberries and Western Serviceberries (I need to post a photo). They're native to Idaho and are similar to blueberries. Yummy! Tomatoes soon and blackberries. The greens in the raised bed are almost ready, lettuce in the cold frame is so

s-l-o-w...

3. Preserve Something- Froze several lbs. of rhubarb from my neighbor. Yeah, that's awesome!

 4. Store Something- More bread in freezer, cheeses from the grocery outlet (what a deal!), staying on top of the pantry.

5. Manage Reserves- Get A Good Deal/Barter/Stock Up/Prep- More grocery outlet stuff, crafting supplies. I got a few birthday items for someone soon:)

6. Eat the Food- Try New Foods/Recipes- Using our berries in desserts. Going thru my cookbooks again. Doing more scratch cooking/baking now that I'm home.

7. Build Community Food Systems- Harvested more rhubarb.

8. Recycle/Re-Use- Composting, Dave's bringing more free scrap lumber home. Will use some for crafts or building projects. Got out old craft paints and using up what's leftover. Touching up with spackle and paint inside the house, mostly worn areas. Next summer I'll paint the whole kitchen!

9. Skill Up- Getting better at crafts, will get into more needlework and crocheting soon.

10. Regenerate What is Lost/Salvage Something- Repainted exterior parts of house, coop and fencing to preserve wood. Tomorrow is sewing day, since I have a big pile to alter. The bedroom's a mess and I want to get it all put away!

Anya napping on her kitty blankie that Simply Cats gave us to go with her :)

She loves it! What's she dreaming about???

                                 Making pies for soldiers, WW1 Europe