Personalizing space

On the day we moved in, daughter Jenn made the comment that our old furniture and stuff made our new house feel old. LOL I like old furniture and stuff! ~I especially like things that have been passed down in the family. It makes a house feel like home, and gives it personality.

One space in need of  personality, was the blank wall above my desk.  It needed to be something that I could enjoy looking at from day to day,~ something that would bring a smile to my face,~ and all the better if  I could use what I already had.  After months of living with a blank wall, and discarding one idea after another...

an idea started to take shape. An idea using left over light fixture chain, eye hooks, binder clips, (after all, it is an office), old family photos, and a scanner and printer connected to my computer.
                    
                                                               The one purchase...

...vinyl lettering.   I have seen vinyl sayings displayed on walls, and thought.."that would be fun to try"...some day. 

I located this saying, 'Family..a journey to forever' at Michael's. Perfect for my 4 generations of family photo display!   Being in possession of one of their 40% off coupons, that some day to try was now. However, I will say that before trying, I read the directions carefully, and  watched video tutorials on how to do it. Then I proceeded very slowly, ---measuring,positioning, and  leveling,~ and remeasuring, positioning, and leveling. I found it to be easier than I thought it would be, but I'm glad I watched the video tutorials and proceeded slowly. 

I thought the chain ends needed a little something, and this is what I had...

For now it will do.  I can always change the photos and play around with it without much effort.   Most importantly it personalizes my space, transforming a blah blank wall into a cheerful display.

Vegetable garden

One of my projects this spring has been the planting of a vegetable garden... that is a mini vegetable garden!  The soil here on the hill is so poor , that Daryl first had to haul in topsoil. Which I tilled ---and tilled---and tilled---in with the existing dirt.
                                            
Unearthing....

...and more to be unearthed!

Yet, in spite of poor soil that needed to be mended, and rocks...

My mini vegetable garden so far is doing OK.  For weed control, I put down plastic and straw up around the plants. The question is ... will the straw stay in place, or will the wind blow it away? Big question! Always before it stayed in place, but then, I have not experienced winds like we have here on the hill. If it is still there come fall, I plan to remove the plastic, and till in the straw.

Anchoring the plastic...

Rabbits!   I like rabbits, living and otherwise,...but concrete rabbits are the only kind  I want in my garden.  I made these fifteen stepping stone rabbits  an number of years ago when I was in a crafty mood.

Railing gets painted

The railing, that was installed in March, came with a primer coat of paint only. If only I could have spray painted it before it was installed!  Unfortunately, the cold weather, and wind did not allow for that. Even after it was warm enough to paint, there was still the wind!  The only time the wind was calm enough to allow for painting  was in the mornings.

First there was the time consuming prep work!

But finally.....

Doing a few sections, morning after morning, as the weather permitted, the job is done!