Chalk Paint Experiment

Chalk paint has been popular for some time now.  I've used it on a couple of wooden chairs with good results.  Recently someone asked me if I thought it would work on metal.  Research on the net says it does.

I wanted to try it myself before answering.  I looked around for something metal to experiment with.  I save metal cans to hold brushes and mix paint.  There it was, metal for my paint project.

Getting set.  Somewhere I read that chalk paint works best on metal if you thin it a bit with water.  That is what I did and I'm ready to go.

One coat and waiting overnight to dry.

Second coat - but not waxed.  

What did I learn?   Chalk paint sticks to metal.  It has the advantage of no sanding or priming.  It covered well (with 2 coats).  It didn't rub off.  I didn't really like the dull finish that much.  I may wax it later.  I'll use the can for holding pens and pencils on the art table and see how it holds up.

If you have used chalk paint on anything I'd be interested to know how you like it.  Share any tips you might have.  

Tea Stands for Tuesday - 8/22/17

Every Tuesday Elizabeth hosts "Tea Stands for Tuesday".  You can post about most anything as long as it is somehow related to a drink. Be sure to check it out.

This week I'm going to show you some thrift store decorating.  The River House is a second home that is used by our whole family.  It replaced a home we lost in a fire nearly 2 years ago.  Since I was decorating "from scratch" so to speak I decided to do it in a colorful style with hand made contents or things from thrift stores when possible.

Thrift store shopping can be weeks of nothing and then suddenly several finds at once.  Yesterday I showed you a coat hook, today there are some kitchen things.

thrift store - 99 cents

I found this sign.  I was originally going to use it as a base to paint my own sign.  When I got it home I played around with it and decided to use it as is in the kitchen.

It fit perfectly under a kitchen cabinet.  The bowl are thrift store finds as well - 49 and 69 cents.  I'm drinking water from a glass that came from the Dollar Store.  These things are quite inexpensive but somehow make me very happy.

Do you shop thrift stores?  

Solar Eclipse

How many of you are planning to watch the eclipse today?  In our area we are expected to have only 70% coverage of the sun.  Since it will happen here around 9 a.m. we may well have our usual morning marine layer as well.  I'm not sure I will see much.

large cast iron painted coat hook

approx. 8x12"

Coincidentally I recently found this heavy metal "sun" coat hook at a thrift shop a few days ago.  There is a hook there at the bottom but it is hard to see in my photo.  DH is going to hang this in our patio, that is how we plan to mark the day.  It will be a good place to hang a gardening or rain jacket in the future.

Enjoy your day and be careful if you are watching the sun and the moon do their dance.

Thoughts on Friday - 8/18.17

I was recently looking through some of my old sketch books and came across this which I'm not sure I've posted before.  I've been in a semi-arid creative desert for some time.  

Mary Oliver is one of my favorite poets. This is what she has to say about doing our creative work.

"The most regretful people on earth are those who felt the call to creative work, who felt their own creative power restive and uprising, and gave to it neither power nor time."

No doubt I need to get out the tools and give creativity some time.

Tea Stands for Tuesday cups and pots

As part of our house update, we had a cement walkway put in the back yard.  For years there was a brick walkway in that area but with weather and earthquakes and aging the bricks were not at all level.  Beautiful but not really safe and we are trying to correct some safety issues here.  We switched the walk to concrete.  

There is room at one end of the walk to place a few pots full of plants.  Hopefully that will soften the look of the concrete.  Here is a pot I purchased.  I was taken with the bird (which barely shows in the photo) and the color.  I'm drinking tea this morning and contemplating what kind of plant to put in it.  Something low maintenance for sure.

A local shop was having a sale.  This is some of their selection.  I think all the pots were $10 which seemed very reasonable to me.

As I drink my tea I will join Elizabeth and friends for Tea Tuesday.

I'm hoping Elizabeth can link me to the party.

What are you reading?

Having a stack of books around makes me happy.  A book that is waiting to be read is like an unwrapped present.  

Van Gough still life

French Novels with Rose

This painting is not as well known as many of the artists works but it makes me smile.  I want to pull up a chair and pick up a book.

My friend Laurie just sent me two books.  "The Weight of Ink" and "The Girl Who Knew Too Much".  Laurie writes a blog devoted to book reviews, you can find it here.  I'm delighted to have two new books-worlds to discover.

Tell me what you are reading or what you last read that you would recommend.  I'd be lost without a book.  How about you?

Thoughts on Friday - 8/11/17

Occasionally I have random ideas for a blog post.  Things that don't quite go with the rest of my blog.  I've decided to bunch the posts together and call them Thoughts on Friday.  Maybe it will leave you with something to think about over the weekend.

Usually I feel like I am wearing the cover before I get the whole thing put together.  One of my daughters has a method she uses that goes... something about rolling the cover up and put it on like a pair of nylons.  I wonder if she makes house calls.

Volunteer Cosmos

Planting a garden this year was not possible due to the construction work we were having done on the house.  It was pretty hard for DH to let that activity go but at least some of the yard has more or less permanent landscaping so it doesn't look too bad.

And then there are volunteers.  Cosmos shows up every year much to our delight.

Only one packet of seeds was ever planted and that was years ago.  In the beginning there was more variety in the colors that bloomed, now the majority of blossoms are this lovely fuchsia.  

Do you have volunteers in your garden?

The House by the Bay

The house by the Bay was getting a bit of an update this summer while we spent time at the river.

It's an old house (built in 1938) it is a small house (only 2 br. and one bath).  However it is on a larger than average city lot for our area and we really like the location and the neighborhood.  In years past we gutted and remodeled the kitchen and added a sun room.  

This time it was the bathroom.  We stole a little room from the second bedroom to enlarge the bath and went from there.

It is hard to photograph the space but here is part of the quite large shower.  We had grab bars installed in a couple of places while we were at it.  Neither of  us needs them at the moment but one never knows.

The sink now has a mirror over it.  I don't know why but that tiny arched faucet amuses me.

Remodeling an old house is always a gamble as you never know quite what you will uncover along the way.  Our city is known locally for its many and very strict building codes.  This time we had to replace some under house plumbing that we hadn't planned on but in the long run that is ok.

I know a couple of my blogging friends are building homes, anyone else remodeling what they have?

Tea Stands for Tuesday - 8/8/17

Sending out a big hello to all my Tuesday Tea friends.  I've been offline for awhile and was delighted (but not surprised) to find Elizabeth's Tea Party continues.

Today I brought flowers from the garden and a cup of tea.  Now it is time for me to go catch up with everyone.  Won't you join me and the others at the Altered Book Lover blog?

Knock, knock! Anybody home?

It has been a long and busy summer and much of it I have spent without internet connection.  I thought today would be a good day to return - what with the lunar eclipse and all.  

We spent much of the summer at the River House.  While the weather has been setting records for heat, the river is not nearly as low as it was this time last year.

DH has his favorite fishing spot on our property.  That little white bucket is for holding the fish he catches.  

I'll be posting bits and pieces about our adventures later this week.  

Meanwhile I'm off to say hello to my blogging friends.  I hope they haven't forgotten who I am.