Instant Gratification

If you're looking for a little instant gratification, get out your pressure washer and go to town. Our patio at the farm was looking pretty shabby after the winter, so I got out there and got this done. Kit got me all set up, because I was feeling pretty much like standing there with the hose was about all I could manage. Luckily it's a pretty straight forward point and shoot operation, so........ here are some quick before, during and afters...

Looks good now - just need a little sunshine and to get the rest of the patio furniture set up, and we're ready for summer.

Before - see how dirty and streaky - bleck.

Another before shot

At the halfway point - look at the difference. Ahhhh- gratification!

And after it's done. Beautiful!

And sew on, and sew on, and sew on....

I finally got back to my sewing project at the farm. Before Thanksgiving I was working on curtains for the living room, and got all the sheers done, but ran out of time to finish the rest. Well, now I'm done and it's checked off the list. Woop woop!  While it was crashing down rain, and Kit was off getting his new farm tool (the "Rancher" by Honda!), I got busy getting 4 curtain panels finished! Here's a visual show and tell:

If you sew, you have to have a great iron. Sewing requires a LOT of pressing and pinning.
Four panels, finishing two sides each, top and bottoms each, adding grommets to all panels -
tedious but once it's done - it feels great!

Have a reliable machine! I've told you about this one before - never lets me down!

I used a fairly heavy linen fabric - it hangs really well with just the right amount of wrinkling.
It's also easy to sew.

This is the grommet portion of the show. I think each panel has 10 grommets -
that got old, but turned out really well.

Here is the first finished panel. I was going to hem to the floor but l liked the
way it puddled at the bottom so I hemmed them all extra long, and it looks quite cozy.

Two down, two to go!

Totally finished. Note: this is our old house where furniture goes to die, so
if you're judging me about the saggy couch - I can hear you and I say Shut Up!

And, at the end, I had extra linen, so I made a new cover for one of the pillows that I
think maybe came from Ikea. I just took the old cover apart and used it as a pattern
for the new one.

Here's the back. I even reused the exact same buttons. Pretty cute, but I'll have a little
surprise next week. I'm putting a little extra something on the pillow, but I'm not done yet.
It's going to be good though!

Hope you had a good weekend and that it was productive. More about Kit's new toy next week. It was just way too rainy to go outside and take pics of the thing that will make our lives easier this summer! 

Me vs. Birds - I win!

We have a huge old black walnut tree at the farm. It's awesome, in fact so awesome that we got married under it one time. 

Here's what it does that is also awesome - it makes WALNUTS!!! But, after a number of years I've come to learn a couple of things about what goes on at the farm and around the walnut tree when I'm not looking. 

When the walnuts get ripe (or ready, or whatever) in September, I have a really really little window of opportunity to get outside and get the walnuts before the blue jays (Stellar's Jays) get ALL OF THEM. I don't like these birds very much, and it's mostly because they are super greedy little fuckers and every year take all the walnuts off the tree and off the ground and away to some undisclosed location AND THEY DON'T EVEN EAT THEM! From what I can tell, they only care about the little worms that in the outside husk of the walnut and they don't even eat the walnut. ( I also don't like them because the bully all the other birds at the bird feeder! They suck in so many ways!)

In past years, they have cleaned me out completely! So, now, I watch the tree - looking for action. As soon as the blue jays start getting all peck peck pecky at the walnuts as they start to brown up on the outside - I have to get out there in a hurry and get my share. On Saturday I saw them - three of them - out there starting to get excited. So, on Sunday, while the skies opened up and rained all over me, I spent the morning with the fruit picker reaching for walnuts. I got a bunch - I thought it was nice of me to take all the ground, low hanging and medium high walnuts - and I left the high up ones for the freaking birds. That seems nice - not that the birds would do that for me. I'm just nicer than they are. Assholes!

Oh, and I'm not clear that the fruit picker is the best answer for picking walnuts, but it's all I had. Yay! Walnuts for us!

Last thought: I keep wondering if some day I'll be walking around on the property and stumble upon seven million walnuts - whole - with a sign written in blue jay that says "Suzy - EAT ME!"