"C"

"The three P's for the week."

Yes, I know this post is titled "C".

The three P's refer to my blog name:

I will post about something Pumpkin, meaning something from the farm, garden, you know, growing around here.

Next I will post something Pie, meaning kitchen related: food, kitchen, edible or decorative, etc.

Finally, I will post something Painted, or something I've created with my hands that will involve artistic materials of some type.

So there is the explaination of my subtitle,

clearly.

So today, because I wanted to join Jenny's blog fun of writing from a certain letter of the alphabet,

I will narrow this attempt even more by posting the three categories and they will start with the letter C.

Are you confused?

Confused.

 That starts with "C."

See?

1.

The letter "C" for the Pumpkin/Farming category:

Clematis.

My clematis are blooming, or at least these two are.

I love seeing these and forgot that I had decided to plant the 'Red Cardinal' clematis with the white one last summer.

I concede that it was a chipper choice to be made conscious of.

 2.

For the Pie Category today: I am talking edible in the kitchen.

Can you see it?

The kids and I have been checking them.

Others have been checking them, too.

Did you know that cows are curious.

Annoyingly.

Although they are pretty cute, too.

Yes, see.  He's checking out how far along the mulberries are, too.

We're all impatiently checking these countless candy-like clusters of suspended mulberries.

Ripen up, little creatures!

3. 

In the painting category,

I have just that to share: painting.

Ceiling panels from the barn roof that blew off in last fall's hurricane...

(okay, so they are roof panels, but I had to get the C in there somehow).

My super-duper-handy-recycling-penny-pinching-cents-smart farmer rehung the old panels on the back side of the shed that was rotting from too much water spray and lack of sunshine.

Corroding.

 I consciously chose to count this creativity-curtailed cause a commanding challenge.

To cut to the chase: 

I chunked the fun painting for chores.

Once that was done, I mixed some of the paint that was left with a bit of left-over black from another project,

added some floor texture,

and clomped on over to another chore that had been calling.

 These ummm....

uhh...

hmmm...

chippy children climbers that are cantankerous...

for their cutting creases containing chards of chips that cause crying when creeping into feet of children.

Corrected!

If your eyes happen to wander up to the crest of the porch, 

you will notice couch cushions helter-skelter.

Cushion chaos.

Cranky old cushions had seen too much weathering

and then the puppy last fall made certain I would have to recover them this season.

The fading strapping under the cushions became easy teethers for chumpy pup as well.

My clever creative man found this heavy lawn seat type strapping

and is carefully counting the measurements, cutting, creasing, and continuing his countless ways he's come up with cure-all ideas from his comprehensive collection in his many cabins 

(sheds: cabins was all I could come up with)

(maybe man-caves would have been better).

 >CLAP<>CLAP<>CLAP<>CLAP<>CLAP<

Cushion material has been purchased and curtain call will be coming soon!

(Confidentially, the cushion coverer is mentioning this to coerce herself into the sewing chair.)

And so I leave you,

with a certain sweet photo I cherish of my most current walk with child.

 Joining Jenny's blog party on the letter "C"

at: Jennymatlock.blogspot.com: Alphabe-Thursday
Firefliesandjellybeans.com

The Porch Transformation: A Place of Many Rooms

I stepped out the back door and saw this:

a little slice of heaven.

When we bought our farm almost about 8 years ago,

the scenery drew me like a ripe tomato draws fruit flies.

This view from the back porch was one of my favorites.

Great memories have been made on this porch:

lots of projects worked on,

lots of special events.

A few years ago,

my husband's parents gifted us with getting the back porch finished.

Oh to have that space all year long!

I can't tell you how exciting it was to watch it happen.

I even sneaked a photo of the Amish men working.

Shhhh. Don't tell.

Windows.

Must have windows.

After the basic work was done,

I painted the walls and ceilings,

and my husband added the woodwork.

Then it was time for the flooring.

Not being sure if we would keep the porch heated all winter,

our flooring decision was limited.

I finally decided that, for now, I would just go ahead and paint it.

We rented a drum sander but the sand paper ripped up as fast as we turned it on.

After hurrying it back, we exchanged it for a belt sander, but it did the very same thing.

(We kind of got the feeling that the sanders we rented were too old and over-used to be any good,

but who knows.

I say that because I had read on other blogs of sanding a sub-floor for painting this way.)

The point of the matter was, we were stuck with a floor that needed sanding,

and I was sick of it not getting done,

so,

I did the unthinkable.

I will never do that again
(I know..."Never say never.")

I had a mask on and ear plugs, but,

let me tell you,

I was afraid my wrist was going to break right off.

After a few days of recovery

(and after my Farmer had caulked all the cracks carefully,

so they were flat with the floor)

I got out the primer.

The whole floor got a coat of sealer,

and the marks were done another time or two,

til I could no longer see them bleeding through.

Then I painted the whole thing with two coats of floor paint in a shade of white.

As much as I tried to keep her out of the room

 I occassionally had a visitor who wanted to come sit on my lap

and discuss how important her book was.

She also found it necessary to make sure her favorite nursery rhyme CD was kept on.

Hurray.

The next step after the floor was thoroughly dried

was marking it for the diamond pattern I had decided on.

Using my husband's crosshair laser level tool,

I marked the line along the wall as straight as possible,

 afterward measuring to the opposite side and marking it so it would be evenly spaced.

Straight lines across were carefully measured,

and then meeting points where the diamonds would have their points.
It was difficult because everything needs to be precise,
although I won't allow any visitors to get down and measure all the diamonds.

(My math and precision are not worthy of perfectionism, I'm afraid.)

 

 Once that was done,

the very light greenish color was carefully painted on.

 

 Once there were two coats of the paint on the diamonds,

it was time to seal it
(I barred all children from entering when this process was started
and closed all windows and doors to the inside of the house.
The fumes were horrendous, but I have a charcoal mask or I may not have survived).

I purchased some vinyl confetti-type substance used on garage floors,

and threw pinches of it up into the air,

once the floor polyerthane had been painted on in segments.

 

 A few days and coats later
(waiting a few days in between coats),

the floor was finally completed.

I gave it a week to cure before moving everything in.

 I am really not sure where we lived life before we had this room.

It is such a relaxing place to be.

 Somebody is always on the couch;

she seems to think it's her school reading corner.

(The couch also turns into a bed,

so this serves as our guest room,

if you'd ever care to visit).

Violet's daily school books are stored in the white box by the big hutch.

We find it is easier to keep hers all in one place

in an easily accessible container.

Inside the base of the hutch,

I keep some extra-curricular work, art lessons, our CD's

and some of everybody's supplemental reading to be used during certain weeks.

 Levi's Kindergarten books and supplies are kept on the little shelf under the keyboard.

If you would care to see the transformation process on the spray-painted wall decor,

just click >HERE<.

The transformation of the sewing machine table

may be viewed >HERE<.

The bookshelf was one of my most recent changes

and can be seen >HERE<.

The ceiling light was a simple gold one

that found a new life >HERE<.

The wall shelf was also recently added >HERE<.

And the "What-is-it" Kids' book shelf came into being >HERE<.

My green metal vintage display rack

 is transformed >HERE<.

And the pieced together hutch from the barn

entered our lives >HERE<.

I talked about creating new cushions for the chairs

in this place >HERE<.

This room has become our dining room,

schoolroom,

craftroom,

guest room,

and entertainment room.

 And I still feel like it's one of my favorite places to be

on our farm.

Thank you for joining me on the lengthy journey of our porch room.

What is your favorite room of your house?

Linking up to:

Betweennapsontheporch
Funkyjunkinteriors.net
Missmustardseed.com
Gnowfglins.com 

Homesteadrevival

Kellyskornerblog.com
Titus 2sDays @ Time Warp Wife
 Far Above Rubies: Domestically Divine 
{Dot} {Dot} {Dot}: Try it Tuesday 
Hip Homeschool Moms: Hip Homeschool Hop 
The*The CSI Project

Tip Me Tuesday - Tip Junkie
Not Just a Housewife - Show Me What Ya Got
Tip Junkie

Wearethatfamily.com
Raisinghomemakers.com
Savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com

Working with Old Home Quirks and my Stucco/Stencil Cupboard Update.

 

Living in an old house has some good points,

and some,

well,

difficult points.

 Character is one of the great points.

 I love all the deep windowsills we have

and the old wooden floors.

However, "level" has a way of shifting through the years,

and exact measures in a stone building

 were, perhaps, not such an easy thing.

 How the builders got these monstrous corner stones

up to the heights that they are is pretty mind-boggling.

But I wonder if there were some newer builders in our house's work crew.

This window is why:

The window is straight.

It is the frame that is skewed.

We've had differing opinions on the floors in our house.

One builder told us he did not think they were the originals,

another told us they most likely were.

The way they sway and swoop makes me think

our floors came from Leif Erickson's ship's floor.

Regardless of our aging debate,

the floors make large furniture bend and bow.

When I decided to repaint my husband's grandfather's old tool closet,

 my husband was determined to try to get it to sit level.

Because of the badly swooping floor, 

the doors were not closing right

and large gaps were obvious above the doors.

It was a monumental task that was met with some frustrating improvement

after several hours of shimming, trimming, frowning, growling, scowling,

and a slightly angered Farmer.

Meanwhile,

I set about to work,

painting all the storage baskets for the top the same color white,

to brighten and unify.

 A few weeks back,

I showed you my progress with making some stencils

and then adding stucco to them.

 Weighing my options with how I was painting the room,

I went with the idea to ad some color to the stuccoed image...

and then waxed it with light and dark wax.

I also used a watered down wash of the same green paint I used on the 

wall on the opposite side of the living room...

 on just the inset part of the doors.

To the top stuccoed stenciled image,

I just used a touch of dark wax mixed with clear.

Here is that window that is so off.

A deceivingly placed valance has been given the task of hiding

the obvious.

Here is the closet before being touched up:

And here it is now

along with freshly painted walls.

 (I wonder if I pulled out that one shim under the left side of the door

 if it would improve it some...

(Just kidding, Farmer.

You know I couldn't end without teasing just a little.)

Have a super weekend everbody!

 Linking up to:

Funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com 

Missmustardseed.com 

Theprairiehomestead.com
Betweennapsontheporch