A Break Is A Good Thing

Sometimes, ya gotta take a break.

Do something a little different.

Walk away from the pressure.

 (Otherwise known as the growing heap of furniture in my shop.)

So yesterday, I did.  

I've been working the past few weeks on 

either the workshop, pieces to sell, or custom pieces.

I finished up the custom pieces 

and decided to walk away from the other stuff for a couple of days.

Plus, with all this gorgeous Iowa weather, I wanted to enjoy being outdoors.

Scott got me motivated 

by gently persuading me to help him mow grass first thing yesterday morning.

(Read: Staring me down through the windows every time he rode by, while I was talking on the phone.  LOL  Yes, it was a little creepy.  HA)

And once I was outside, I wanted to stay there.

Enter:  The Well House.

Dum-Dum-Daaaaaahhhhhh

(suspenseful music cue)

I like to ignore said well house, and pretend like it doesn't exist.

Kind of like I did the barn.

I really good at that, by the way.

Here's a pic of it, shortly after we bought our house back in '08.

Before we coated the foundation of the house.

Before we replaced the windows.

Before we ripped out steps, cut down trees...

Well, you get the point.

Too bad the siding is just as hideous, if not worse.  

LOL

Anyhoo...

Its been pretty much just there and the boys use it as a jungle gym.

Well, technically I ignore it, unless I need to stash something in it.

So, needless to say the interior looked as bad as the barn.

We won't revisit that picture of that unholy mess.  ;)

It was bad.

Really bad.

This morning though, it looks like this:

I love seeing all the little bits of history in it, 

like the handprint and date on the floor.

Or on the water storage tub (for lack of a better word - maybe mini-cistern???), the name of the very first owner and builder of the home, etched in the concrete.  

I didn't even know they had concrete back in 1905.  

Did you????

 Can you believe, I've never really stepped foot in here in five years???  

For real.

Well, unless I was tossing something in there to get it out of the yard.

See?  I keep telling you I'm a stasher.

So, yesterday I unstashed.

And lugged.

And sorted.

And burned.

And threw away.

Then, I pulled weeds.  

Cleaned up the beds.

Cursed the Hosta for dying in a dumb spot.

Rolled our huge pic-nic table that we won three years ago through a local radio auction 

for $245.00 from clear over on the other side of the yard.  

That was fun, let me tell ya.  

That sucker is heavy.

(Thanks for the help, Noah.)

And now we have a nice, clean, relaxing area to hang out and enjoy the summer evenings.

Its definitely not magazine worthy or HGTV-ified for that matter, 

but it looks TONS better.

Even Scott was surprised when he came home.

And now has plans for a deck/patio area.

Good Lord.

;)

We just need to pull out the ginormous concrete clothesline poles 

that he's been wanting to do for five years, but I wouldn't let him.

He was right.

They need to go.

All in all, I really like how its coming together.

I'm canoodling an idea for the pallet with some flower pots.  

And of course, I need some flowers.

So, guess where I went last night?

Yep.

Bought flowers.

Petunias and Dahlias.

Salvia and  Dwarf Celosia.

English Lavender.

Vinca Vine and Dracaena.

And because I have promised myself to provide my children with some good home cooked meals this summer, I bought...

Cilantro and Sweet Basil.

Sweet Mint and German Thyme.

So, today I'm going to be filling some empty flower pots.

And crossing my fingers that I don't kill every last one of them.

I have what I like to call a black thumb.

Unlike my Momma, who waves her hands over her yard 

and causes flower to magically burst forth in 

color and bloom.  :P

So, that's what I'll be up to.

A nice little break.

Enjoying the fresh air.

And praying my flowers don't keel over and die the minute I lay hands on them.

LOL

Until next time...

XO,