Well...?

So...
I haven't taken the time yet to take pictures of my Art Room.
Big Surprise, right?
I'm sorry.
But i *do* have Good Intentions!
...I know, i know; "the road to Hell is *paved* with Good Intentions."

But i *have* been working on Bunny's Bunting, and i have a *bunch* of them sewn and ironed up!  (Or a "shit-ton" as Bunny would say.)  I'm so tickled about them!  And they make me happy, just looking at them!   =-)

So i'll soon take pictures of them and post about them, too.
I keep thinking about maybe doing a tutorial ("tute"), but then i just keep thinking about how there are already tutes alllll over the Internet for making Bunting Flags, so i keep talking myself out of doing a tute.  If you want to see tutes for how to make Bunting Flags, just go to YouTube and search 'bunting'.  That's how i got my courage up to do mine.   =-)

Work on the front yard has been going a little slow around here.  The weather hasn't exactly been co-operating, so.  Yeah.  It's been slow.
But it was *really* nice out yesterday, so i finally washed the truck in the driveway.  Because, MAN!, did it ever *need* it!  Boyfriend had driven it when it "snowed" here (i put it in quotes because it was really just 'snow-dust'), so my black truck was really grey.  But NOW it looks GOOD!  =-)

And i haven't taken the time to work on *any* WIPs because i've been having such a good time working on the Bunting.   =-)
And i think that's okay.

So that's my "check-in" for this week.
I hope you're having a productive week.
And if you're not, then i hope at least you're having a Good Week.   =-)

'Til next week!

=-)

Okay...

Okay, here's what i'm hoping to do in the next four weeks.
(I'm hoping that by putting it on my blog, it'll make me "obligated" to get it done!)

I've *totally* organized my Art Room (formerly the Art/Yoga room), and moved things around and made some changes in there.  It took awhile, as many worthy projects do, but i've finished getting it totally organized, and i want to share it here with you.  It's working for me.  I've already been doing stuff in there.  =-)

And speaking of "doing stuff", that leads me to another post i'm wanting to make soon.  I've been working on making bunting for Bunny's wedding.
...what?
Wait!
You mean i haven't told you about Bunny's wedding?
Oh shit!  "My bad", as they say.

Bunny (my 23-yo daughter) announced in June that she and her boyfriend, "AJ", got engaged.  Their wedding date is September 21st.  She wants to have her wedding in our backyard.  She wants a sort-of non-traditional wedding.  And she wants me to make bunting to hang from the house to the shop, and perhaps in the trees and/or on the fence.
What.  Not really sure what i'm talking about; "bunting"?

Check this out.
*That's* what i'm talking about.   =-)

So i had her go through allll my fabrics the other night and pull out the fabrics she wants me to use for her buntings.  So i've been working on that lately.  I usually don't post pics of Works In Progress.  I prefer to post about *finished* projects.  But for some reason i'm wanting to post about it.  So...

Okay.
Another post i'm wanting to make is about our front yard.
Yes, i know i *just* made a post about our back yard.
We did that work in July/August.
But now we're having our front yard re-done.
And i'm lovin' it!!!
And they're supposed to be finished fairly soon, so i want to post about it as soon as i can.
Did i mention i love it!?   =-)


I also want to make a post about all of the projects i have "in process" (Work In Progress), so *hopefully* that will get me motivated to get to work on them!  Plus, it'll help me to see just how many projects i have, and hopefully help me get motivated instead of depressed about them.   =-)


Okay.
So, to sum up, that means posts about:

1.  The Art Room
2.  Bunny's Bunting
3.  The Front Yard
4.  WIPs

Alright!
I have declared it.
Make it so.  (That one's for you, Pam.) (Who else knows what that's from?)

So.  What are you wanting to accomplish?  Craft-wise, Blog-wise, Organizing-wise, whatever subject.  Leave a comment and i'll come check out your blog too!
(Maybe one of these days, i'll figure out how to do one of those Link-y things...  Hmmm...)

I hope you have a Super Day!!!
=-)

Okay, Suzanne, this one's for you! (And About Time!)

So, this is the post about my backyard renovation.
And it's about time!  I know.  

I just don't take time to post.
I *read* lots of other people's posts, but don't take the time to make my own.

Frustrating.

Anyway, we did a major "overhaul" on our backyard this past Summer, and now it is Freakin' Awesome!  =-)  This is gonna be a picture-heavy post, so sit back and enjoy.
Here are some "Before" photos:

"Back in the Day" before we added the porch roof:

 Back before we added the porch roof, looking toward the backdoor:

 Looking from the backyard toward the Art room:

 Looking at my messy garden in front of the shop, 

in it's "full splendor":

I don't have the "just before" pictures that Boyfriend has on his computer, so these "right at the beginning of the work" pictures will have to do...

From the backyard looking at the house 

 From the back door looking toward the shop:

 From the back of the house (outside) looking toward the shop:

From the backyard looking toward the shop: 

 A different angle looking toward the house:

At this point in all of these pictures, the guys had already started hammering out the concrete that we had back there.  That was quite a job.  They used sledge hammers and beat and busted allllll day.  And they were young guys, too!  I'm just glad it wasn't me who had to bust out all that concrete.  It would have taken me a *week*!   =-)

So, now that you have an idea of what my backyard *used* to look like, here are the "After" pictures:

 Looking from the back gate toward the back door:

(and please disregard the furniture...

it's just there 'til we find something nice)

That's Italian marble on the "floor",

and Tennessee Field Stone coming up the side of the house.

Looking from the backyard toward the house:

 Looking from the back door toward the shop/gate:

 Looking from the gate down the side of the shop:

 Looking from the backyard toward the shop:

Those are Knockout Roses on the left, and

a Fragrant Tea Olive on the right.

 Sorry about this one;

the firepit (on the right) isn't quite finished in this photo

but you get the idea...

On the left is the water feature

It and the firepit are made from

Tennessee Field Stone

 Looking from the gate toward the back/side -ish:

 Looking from the back/side fence toward the Art room

(it's much neater now, and the bushes shouldn't get much taller):

The bushes are Azaleas and Hydrangeas

that bloom Spring through Fall.

 Japanese Maple and rock "wall":

 Steps into the shop, and future

bistro table area near the firepit:

And one Night Shot

It's really gorgeous out there at night too

since he put in such wonderful lighting:

We're really not finished.
We need to get some new furniture, and a nice metal sculptural art piece for that big wall space.
But we are really enjoying it.  We go out there quite frequently, especially in the evenings.  Even now, in the chilly weather.  We just turn on the natural gas firepit and enjoy its warmth while we bask in the serenity of our "new" surroundings.  
We are so glad we've done it!  We didn't really go out there much before.  
The environment just "wasn't right".  It wasn't cozy, like it is now.
We love it!!!


I hope you're loving where you are right now!
If not, maybe stop and look around and ask yourself what you can do to help the situation out...

I hope you have a Wonderful Day!

=-)


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