Spring Projects Have Begun - And It's a Small World

Today, I am happy to report that with our hoisting of patio stones the other day, both of us woke up just fine with no sore or aching backs. We did pop a few ibuprofen tablets though, as a preventative measure before going to bed.

I calculated that 32 pounds per each paving stone, times 78 stones, that equals out to TWO THOUSAND FOUR HUNDRED AND NINEY SIX POUNDS!!!! 

That is over one ton!  Steve and I took turns lifting, loading and stacking them onto the trailer, as well as lifting and unloading and stacking them in the garage or placing them on the lawn.  So we each did 1,248 pounds TWICE.  Ack! 

I'm glad we did it in three trips. It gave us a chance to rest in between each episode of lifting and stacking and moving. We could sit on the seats of the Saturn and relax for the rides back and forth to the store. LOL!

During the upcoming week, we will be getting some free sand from the city municipal lot and then scavage some fine gravel from our driveway.  We will get a grandkid to skim it off and load the wheelbarrow for us.  Then we can work on leveling out the patio area in the backyard by the door to the She Shed. We will be able to build it out level and then lay the stones in a 5 1/2 by 12 foot grid. That will be a nice patio area for Steve to put the new gas grill!

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In the meantime, Steve found another wonderful bargain on Facebook Marketplace. He sure keeps an eagle eye out and finds some interesting things. This one has a really funny story to it that I will get into a little bit later.

We had been discussing a while ago about adding one more screen door to the pergola entry side of the She Shed. We have debated whether or not we wanted to have to struggle opening an additional door every time we go back and forth, versus the niceness of having the outside air blowing through from one side to the other of the She Shed.  There's a screen door on the other end to the south that could enable nice cross breezes this summer.  That door leads out to the soon-to-come patio and fenced-in dog yard.

So as we were contemplating the idea about getting another screen door for a few days, Steve happened to come across this listing for a very nice new vinyl screen door ---  at less than half of its original price. 

We contacted the sellers via Messenger and made arrangements to meet at a public space, in a local gas station parking lot three towns away.

Here is our plan:  We are going to dress it up with four more little corner bric-a-brac pieces like we did for the other screen doors last year. I really think this little added touch is adorable.  It really dressed up the cheap $29 wooden screen doors. 

Here's the front door that we did last year with the added bric-a-brac and it was just a plain wooden screen door that we screwed onto the aluminum storm door frame.

Yup, that would work for us.  Home Depot doesn't carry these cheap wooden screen doors anymore (we checked during our discussion a few days ago)  and this one being offered was solid vinyl and probably made more sturdy and longer lasting than the cheap ones. 

We loaded up our little trailer and headed on over to the gas station, about 20 miles away.  

It was exactly what we wanted and in great new shape. It had never been mounted and still had the tags on it. So we quickly handed over the money, all while we were wearing our masks. They hopped back in their truck and drove away. So we really didn't get to see each other's faces.  It was windy and cold, so we hopped back into our Saturn after strapping the door down to our trailer.

Now ---- here's the funny part of the story, showing that it really is truly a small world. As we drove away, the seller texted us. She says "We think we know you! We think you bought some other things from us in the past!"

It turns out that almost two years ago we had bought a light fixture from the wife. She was kind enough to drop it off, sight unseen, on our front porch the very same day we closed on the deal of the house. We said we didn't know if we would be here when she came through on her way to work, so we just left her a check in the mailbox. We never met face-to-face. 

But here's the beautiful light fixture we bought from her, that matches the other light fixtures that we were bringing up to install in our newly purchased old farmhouse

The parrot is in the background hanging from the window frame, 

it's not part of the light fixture LOL

Then she said, her husband remembers my husband! Well, how could that be? It turns out that we had also bought a pile of old office cabinetry fixtures from him almost two years ago. We had met him at a storage unit where it was being stored. It was left over furniture fixtures from an office. Amazing that he recognized Steve from way back then?

Here are some of the goofy cabinetry pieces, with some odd greenish stain and burgundy doors. It took three and four coats of white primer and paint to cover it up. 

The first section of 3 door cabinets were what we wanted the most.  We mounted them on the wall in the laundry room. Just a bargain at the price of $100 for all of the cabinetry. It more than paid for the amount that we wanted for some cabinets in the laundry room.

In my mind, the rest of the cabinets were an added bonus, leftover to configure for my use in my She Shed. And configure them we did!

The tall section that was used as a counter (I think to stand in front of and make appointments with the receptionist) became the back surface of my sewing desk. On the top counter surface I was able to set my rectangular large ironing board, known as a quilting "Big Board", as a perfect height ironing surface for working on my fabric projects.

The two file cabinets were spread apart and mounted underneath a recycled table top. This became my sewing desk with a leg hole opening in the middle for my office chair. Underneath we wired in an electrical outlet into the floor and put a porthole through the tabletop. Then we ran up my electrical cords and light cord to power anything on the desk.

The super strong file cabinet drawers, designed to carry a lot of weight, also double now as an ironing surface on one side and a rotary cutting board surface on the other with removable planks. One is coated with ironing board material and the other has a rotary mat permanently affixed to it. It makes a great sewing center with the U-shaped design.  I can just flip the planks off, and close the drawers up like a regular desk if I want. 

By having the tall counter in front of the sewing table, it kind of hides my clutter and mess from the rest of the room as people come and go through the She Shed. It also enables me to leave everything out, and I don't have to put things away each time in between quilting sessions.  The little stools are fun for the grandkids to sit on and work on art projects at the counter when I remove the Big Board. 

This one awkward piece of cabinetry had slanted side shelves, and it was a little more unusual. At first we considered cutting off the angled corners. Instead we decided to securely mount it high enough on the wall to hold my weaving supplies. The end shelves were just perfect for my most often used tools and accessories. They were easy to grab and reach from each side, especially now that I have two looms set down below it. 

So all in all, I messaged back to the seller, and told them that any time they're ready to sell something again, let us know first! 

  

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Our warm temperatures from yesterday were beautiful in the low 60's.  Last year we had such large puddles in the back, ponds really, that Steve was running pumps and hoses trying to clear them out. He got it to run out to the gutter in the front of the house to go down the street and off into the swamp. 

This year the water table is much lower, and the level of snow melt was much less. It's a little muddy back there but no big ponds.

It's a beautiful view out to our backyard, even without the green grass or the leaves on the trees yet. This is the view from the She Shed that we enjoy every evening from our chairs.  You can barely see the blue of the neighbor back there on the right. Come summer, when the trees leaf out, we don't see him again until late next fall.

The weather was amazingly beautiful yesterday in Wisconsin. It was almost 70°. We opened all of the windows of the house, letting in the fresh air (after turning off the furnace). We spent some time out on the front porch, with the porch swing and end tables now in place. Ahhhh this is nice. 

We also put out the pair of rocking chairs, along with the little repainted end table between them. It feels so good to have the furniture back on the porch. It's a sign of SPRING!  The long front porch is just one more of the features of the house that we really enjoy.

A lot of neighbors were going past, and we were waving and chatting with a few as they strolled on by. Everyone was remarking on the beautiful weather for March for Wisconsin. Very unusual. Of course, we can still be hit with a wallop of a snow storm yet. And that would not be unusual at all!

Selfies! 

These are the two upcycled chairs from my neighbor Sheryl.  They make great additional seating for visitors, and can be carried over to join in the group on the other part of the porch.  Much nicer than hauling out lawn chairs from the garage.  I bought them from Sheryl for $5, painted them, and recovered the seats with red upholstery vinyl. 

From the other side....   

Binney came out to enjoy the sunshine too. 

It was wonderful afternoon

to hang out and enjoy the blue sky,

with our American Flag waving in the breeze. 

Stay tuned for more projects.