National Folk Farmhouse - Rainbarrel - Hose Rack and Faucets

The weather was pretty hot and miserable and steamy yesterday so we didn't get a lot done on the outside wall of the She Shed.

We did do some measuring and figuring, and started to lay out the exterior siding plans. I'm going to give each piece of siding double coats of paint before they are put up. I'm waiting for a less humid day to do that.

It's very peaceful to stand out in the yard, listening to the birds and feel the wind and enjoy the sunshine while I paint on my saw horses in the yard. With this hot humid weather it just was not comfortable at all to say the least.

Once I get all of the siding painted, then Steve will be able to start putting it up. We will try to match up the lines as well as we can to the existing siding on the north side of the house. That way it will make a smooth transition around the corner to the west wall.

We did stop at a little local nursery to check out some of their shrubs and trees. I would like to get a clump or two of white birch for the front yard. Also I'm thinking a couple nice globe arborvitaes and maybe a tall spire arborvitae around the window area of the She Shed. That way it will make that section look more like a part of a house, rather than just a converted garage.

While we were at the nursery, I found 2 clematis plants that seemed to be pretty healthy, even though it's the end of the season for planting. They were an additional 30% off which was very pleasing to me when we reached the checkout. One has the most beautiful red blooms, and the other one has the deep rich purple that we used to have at our last home in Chilton.

I planted the red one down at the South end of the porch with a cute little white trellis that had been left behind by the previous owners. Steve found the trellis in a package, brand new, in the garage.

We mounted it to the edge of the porch and hopefully we can get the clematis to climb up the trellis. Then maybe it will soon get up onto the porch railings.

I decided to put the purple one on the north wall of the She Shed. It needs a trellis that we will pick one up today or Steve will build one.

This north wall still gets sunshine in the afternoon and some bright light in the morning as well. I hope it will take off there. It looks pretty healthy.

Maybe somewhere down the line we will build an arbor across between the She Shed and the big garage. Maybe I can get the clematis trained to grow up and over the arbor. Or maybe some nice ivy. Or maybe a bit of both?

I looked up arbors and found one that I thought was really pretty. Of course this one is in plastic PVC vinyl. I think we will build our own out of wood and make it the way we want.

But before we tackle anything like that, we want to get the She Shed done. I miss weaving on my looms and sewing on my quilts, as well as spinning yarn on my spinning wheel or knitting socks on my antique circular sock knitting machine.

Steve and I took today off from building things... instead we are visiting Steve's Dad up in Door County.  It's a beautiful day for a ride. The sky is blue with puffy white clouds. Sometimes we have to relax and take a break and enjoy our summer, before things get hot and humid again.


Catching up on a few of our past projects that we have done during my blogging hiatus, here is one that I thought was kinda sweet.

At our last home in Chilton, I had ordered a beautiful metal hose rack. Since it was bolted to the house, it needed to be left behind as a "fixture" when we sold the house.

I decided I liked it so much, because it was a classy wrought iron metal design instead of a cheap plastic bracket or a chunky vinyl crank device. I ordered a new one for our new home.

Steve mounted it tight to the side of the house and I brushed over the black with a layer of red paint on the outside surface. Now it's highlighted and matches nicely to the rest of the house. It's those little things that make you smile you know?

Speaking of outside faucets, Steve was replacing the cold faucet to the exterior and at the same time he ran a hot faucet as well. These are just bolted temporarily into place until that piece of siding is replaced.

We have always liked having access to both hot and cold water on the outside of the home. It's good for washing vehicles, the motorhome,  washing dogs or filling things up like grandkids swimming pools. We bought a little Y shaped adapter that allows us to blend the hot or the cold to just the right temperature as desired.

Of course, in the winter, these hoses and the Y adapter are all removed. But the faucets themselves are frost-free and the valve is set way deep inside into the basement so we can still use water if we need to in the winter.

Another project along the north side of the house was to put one of my rain barrels there for watering my flowers.  Steve first replaced all of the cracked and missing pieces of plastic rain gutter with nice new steel rain gutters and downspouts.

I had repainted the rain barrel from its original blue and white pattern from our last home, to red and white for this home. Once he was done with the downspout and gutter I was able to set my rain barrel into place. He leveled it off to get it correctly balanced so it can fill up now during the next rainfall.  I painted my little metal watering cans as well. That's another thing that makes me smile....

Our car ride is done here, so I think it's time to post this blog.

Stay tuned for more progress tomorrow on my She Shed at our National Folk Farmhouse!