Memorial Day and After

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Make Hay While the Sun Shines

The patriotic holidays are upon us and so is whatever version of summer this is.  This past Memorial Day was unusually cool but warmed up enough during the day to get some outside projects done! One of those escapades involved hunting through the fields gathering rocks.  Yes, gathering rocks, which we have a funny obsession with.  Whether it's rock, stone, or just little pebbles, we are picking them up and using them! Not for nothing, I plan to use them for rain-scaping and installing dry creeks - that is, whenever this rain lets up.  Pennsylvania has become Pennsyl-rain-ia! I'm surprised we haven't had to use a canoe to get everywhere!

We take advantage of every good, sunny day we have to get things done, especially outdoors.


The Loot


For about half the afternoon, mom and I ventured out to the fields to get those rocks! There were all shapes and sizes we found, including some that looked incredibly chiseled.  I figured the original house had to be right in the area we were scouring, due to the amount of pottery and glass fragments that had been turned up from plowing.  Some stones appeared to be suited for a foundation as they contained pretty smooth edges - others were triangular shaped.  It had me wondering and questioning, that's for sure! They could have also been from the barn foundation after a tornado in the 70's knocked it down, so who knows? 

Now, the rocks make for an interesting time when planting.  Every square inch of the ground is littered with all sizes of rock, adding an extra bit of a challenge when tilling and digging.  Needless to say, we did manage to get the potatoes planted, so big win!

I can't wait to see how the crop does!

My body hurt so much by the end of the day, I couldn't wait to sit just sit down and rest!

Meanwhile inside, my dad was messing around with the dining room ceiling.


Patching and Painting


This ceiling had been in need of repairs since moving in.  Part of the horsehair plaster was cracked and falling apart.  The best Pop could do at the time was patch it with some small sheets of plywood until he could acquire the right materials.  He was finally able to do that last week, and here's how it's looking:

Hard at work spackling

The first swatch of green paint

The tone of green at first was a bit concerning.  When first applied, the color was darker and looked kind of like an olive shade, not the light hue in the paint can.  

Despite the expectation of possibly needing to buy a new color, Pop kept going: 


Before it dried...

And after!

The ceiling now looks clean and fresh, tying all the other green tones in quite nicely! No new color needed! I don't think the photo does the color palette the justice it deserves, nor can it accurately capture how pleasing and relaxing this palette is.  I tried my best to edit it to adequately represent the lighter tone, but seeing the room in person is far better! The plan after this is to get new curtains similar to the one hanging above the kitchen door.  We have a fondness for plaid in our house as we're all about that country theme! 


In Closing
More pops of color are showing up around the house, including this lovely blue in the guest room:

The brown swatch on the trim is going to be a darker shade


The rustic patriotic theme is coming together slowly but surely.  I kind of had to take over the guest room to work on my writing desk, which is looking much nicer now! Gone with the old polyurethane finish, in with a fresh stain and coat of paint: 


Found this nice contact paper while grocery shopping! It was the best one out of the options available, and since my room needs more in terms of the color scheme, I went with a floral design.

Measure twice, cut once!


I legit worked until after midnight last night on this project! There's still more I have to do and may reapply the contact paper in those little cubbies.  Some little patch of unfinished wood needs to be retouched before I continue with it.  This desk is going into a corner of my room that will serve as my own little office of sorts - and author corner, if you will.  Can't wait until it's done!

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See you in the next post!

~Gigi

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