Why I Shouldn't Be Allowed To Use Spray Paint

THIS is why:

Believe it or not, it actually looked worse once I tried to clean up.  I had silver spray paint under my fingernails, and it looked like dirt! 

As I am not a crafty girl, I don't usually use spray paint, so you may be wondering why in the world I would have silver spray paint all over my hand. 

I found a free dresser on Freecycle and picked it up.  Here are some before pics and pictures of me cleaning it up:

My friend, Brooke, once told me that silver spray paint can make anything look great, so I decided to paint this dresser silver.  (Also, if I paint it silver, it's less likely one of my children will want to take it with them when they move out.)  Here are pics of each step.

Primer coat:

First spray paint coat:

Finished product:

Not perfect, but it's a HUGE improvement!

Gardening

It's been over a decade since I last gardened.  I decided now was the time to take the plunge, so, after I was released as Relief Society President, I planted some vegetables in our backyard (and side yard).  Here are some pictures.  (Hopefully, I will have a wonderful crop, so I can can my bounty!)

An overview of the backyard garden.

An overview of the side yard garden.

Detailed Pictures.

See this huge tomato plant (which is taking over my planting bed)?  (Including the other tomato plant and red pepper plant next to it.)

This is the only tomato on it!  I've been trying a few things I read on the Internet to increase the number of tomatoes, but I guess this plant (an heirloom variety) really doesn't like the hot weather we've been having. 

This much smaller tomato plant (a roma) has over 20 tomatoes on it already.  

I guess the hybrid plants really do produce more in our hot climate.

 Zucchini plant

Spaghetti Squash and another tomato plant.

Pumpkin plant.  (You may be asking, "What's the white stuff on the ground around it?"  Well, pill bugs (roly polys) were eating it.  This "white stuff" is corn meal which they do not like.  So, my plant will hopefully start thriving!)

Another heirloom tomato plant (Mr. Stripey - a cool looking yellow and red striped tomato).

Green beans.  

I have a tomato cage and green "mesh" around it to stop the rabbits from eating it (they love it).  

So far, so good.

Another tomato plant.  

The pill bugs liked this one too, hence the cornmeal on the ground around the plant.

Broccoli (from seed).  

I need to thin it out, but haven't yet.  

Hopefully, I will have some lovely broccoli relatively soon.

 A sweet pepper plant.

A sweet, red pepper plant.

Spinach (from seed).  

A friend of mine said it grows great here in southern California.  

It's doing wonderfully so far!

Another tomato plant. 

Eggplant.

Japanese Eggplant.

I'm having a lot of fun so far tending to my garden.  It's good exercise and hopefully will allow me to have tons of canned tomatoes.  My goal is to have enough tomatoes that I don't need to buy any canned tomatoes at all for the next year (until my crop next year begins to ripen).

Wish me luck!

Mostly Done!

Except for a few minor things, the house is done! Our house was in disarray for almost a month, but now it looks lovely with all new flooring and baseboards. Here are a few pictures.

Dry Rot

Two words homeowners do not want to hear: Dry Rot.

Our contractor found dry rot under the toilet in the kids' bathroom. The wax ring on the toilet failed. Not a fun thing, but we are very grateful that our contractor pointed it out and fixed it for a very reasonable price.

Progress

Here are my floors today. Soon the tile work will be done, then onto new baseboards and carpet!


(And, yes, I know my toilet is in the hall. It will go back where it belongs soon enough.)

It Feels Like We're Almost Done, But We're Not

Here's how the house looks today. A lot of the tile is set, but what's not set will take longer. There are a lot of little cuts and odd angles. But our contractor promised he would be done before Christmas.

We'll see.

Slowly But Surely Sanity Returns

Thursday night.

It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better...

Here's how the house looked on Wednesday...

Let the Destruction Commence!

Yes, I feel like pulling my hair out right now...

We are having all the flooring on the ground floor replaced. Here's what it looked like Tuesday after demo started.