Checking off some smaller projects

How is summer already over and I still haven't updated you on all the things we have been doing?  

We're still adjusting to life with 2 kiddos, but thankfully we are blessed with our 2 boys and are just trying to enjoy days with them before Baby2 turns into Boy2, which is happening all too fast for my liking!  

We have had a busy summer, nonetheless.  We have taken on and finished several small projects... and 75% finished many more.  

Take our garden.  We had a lucrative harvest of tomatoes -- so many that we gave away tons and still had to compost many that went bad before I could even find time to make salsas and sauces!  We enjoyed our fair share, however, with sandwiches, fresh slices, and delicious omelets... and a little salsa, guacamole, and other recipes too.  We had quite the bounty of zucchini squash, which overtook our yellow squash plant after only one measely gourd.  The leaves of the zucchini plants grew so large and sprawled out that we couldn't even see this guy hiding under them until he was clearly un-missable any longer!

 Don't worry.  He did not go to waste.  We shredded this giant up and froze him in portions that we have been baking into breads and muffins and will for a while to come.  DE.LIC.IOUS!

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Back around May, when I was till in denial that summer humidity had settled in, I took my 2 boys for a morning walk.  Our neighborhood consists of lots of looped streets, and we live on a small loop that runs inside a larger loop around us.  We were strolling along the bigger loop with my (then) 2 year old in the stroller and my (then) newborn 1 month old in the sling when I saw 2 cushioned swivel rockers by someone's trash for pick-up that day.  I immediately did a 180-with the stroller and speed-walked home, threw the boys in the truck (ok, not literally.  I did legitimately buckle them into their car seats safely) and drove around the loop to cram those chairs into my truck.  I had to drive home with the back door open, but we made it.

I immediately added the disgusting mildewy cushions to our trash and set the frames in our garage.  I noted that one of them did need some repair work and both needed some fresh spray paint, but it all looked easy as pie.  I usually can't stand these big circular-based swivel outdoor chairs at tables for al fresco dining as they look too cluttered.  But since we have nothing but fold-up camping chairs for patio furniture, I was willing to accept the freebies in exchange for updated cushioned comfortable seating to watch our boys play and for post-bedtime star gazing with the hubbs!

Now.... wait about 3.5 months later, and Hubby and I finally said, "Let's do this!" and got to work.  We bought a $1.09-ish piece of PVC pipe at Home Depot and fit it into the broken support beam for the chair.  We had planned to re-string the plastic bands to the pipe, but the pipe wasn't quite strong enough for the tension of the plastic threads.  So we used it as a parallel base to attach some ply wood supports.

 Afterward, I gave each chair a few thin coats of Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint and added some cushions we picked up for $16 each at Home Depot on clearance (see... waiting till the end of summer to finish a project has some perks when summer items go on sale!)

Aren't they shimmery? (The blue garden stool table is from Ross for $49.99 about 6 months ago)

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If you step back, you'll see 2 more projects we whipped up this summer.

See them?  Those magnificent curtains and the tot-sized picnic table?

My handy hubby knocked out that table construction in 2 days worth of naptimes from Boy1 just in time for his mid-summer 3rd birthday.  We used Ana White's plan and used treated wood that we left plain in hopes of painting it next year when the wood has dried and settled a bit.  (Even in the last 3 months it has warped a bit from drying in the southern heat, but not drastically... it just adds character)

The curtains were my mother's day gift.... that I had to sew and plan myself!  But Hubby did the work of hanging them (I rarely do step ladders, especially over concrete!) so he gets the brownie points for completion!

We bought 2 12-foot dowel rods from Home Depot that span the depth of our pergola on both sides.  We used slices of 4x4 to create 3 hanging supports on each side.  I sewed up the hems of 4 6'x9' canvas dropcloths to the length I wanted and left the extra fabric folded in the hem for weight to hold the curtains down in the wind and did several other hem lines in dark brown thread for what minimal "decoration" it adds.  Though this failed miserably, as did adding heavy washers inside the hem for additional weight, we just tie them back when not in use, and that controls most of the blowing.

 See my wittle beebee back there snoozing in his bouncy?  

He was on the mend from Hand Foot & Mouth Disease at 7 weeks old while Mama sewed nearby.

They really do help with shading our pergola more from the direct sun we get at sunrise and sunset on each side of our North-facing house.

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Our final "Summer" project was a huge relief to my organizational tendencies.  Our pantry is tiny.... as in approximately 23" wide by 22" deep!  And it came with 4 WIRE shelves.... wire shelves where things would fall between the rungs, I couldn't add tiered shelving stackers without putting strong wood underneath, etc.  There was too much wasted space above the upper shelf and too much floor space to stack bulk items and never see them again!

We removed all our paper, dry, and canned goods and those useless wire shelves!  We painted inside the pantry just because the walls were marred with scratches, marks, and drips of cooking oil from the previous owners.  Then my husband added in 6 wood shelves, including a large U-shaped shelf above the door frame to hold rarely-accessed paper goods for once-a-year parties, etc.  We hung pencil boxes along the front of each shelf on either wall to hold spices and small items like can coozies and a magazine storage box to hold our supply of foil, plastic wrap, and plastic baggies.

The photos below are in-process before we hung the pencil baskets along the sides.  We also plan to hang some "file boxes" (i.e. RATIONELL VARIERA trash baskets from IKEA) to the inside of the door to store our catalogs and magazines, papers to be filed (which have to be carried upstairs whenever we're motivated), and bills to pay.  But first I have to make the 4 hour drive to IKEA (this weekend on a girls' trip with my BFF!!!) 

I turn 30 next month (seriously?!) and am hoping to get some birthday money to treat myself to some new clothes and also to some new canisters.  Our stainless round canisters just aren't cutting it any more.  We bought them when we were newlyweds from Crate & Barrel, and they were great and simple when we had counter space to leave them out, but they do not work when organizing them in a pantry with other square objects!  So I am converting my previous 4 canister staples and some others to OXO Good Grips pop top canisters.  I know, I live large -- hoping to get canisters for my birthday!

Side by side Before & "In Progress"

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So many changes in such a short time this year, both personally and domestically!

We have some more changes on the docket for the coming fall and winter, specifically upgrading Boy1's bedroom to remove all "baby" traces that are just not suited to his personality any more and to prep it for when Boy2 moves in later next year.

Stay tuned...