Outdoor Living

I am happy to once again be joining a fun group of bloggers for a Pinterest Challenge.

Thanks Cindy of County Road 407 for hosting each Pinterest Challenge.

If you are visiting in order, then you were just at the home of my friend Julie who is full of inspiration.

Th inspiration photo for the month of May is from Brie Hammel Interiors.

Our porch is tiny with no room for sitting so I wasn't sure about joining the challenge this month,

but we do have a strip of flat concrete where our old garden bench sits.

 I decided to focus on 3 elements in the photo - the tree, the bench and the table.

The only thing I bought for the challenge was a plant because a tree would become too heavy to lift - the bucket is sitting on top of the can I use to hide our hose.

 We made a coffee table out of an orange crate (from my childhood when I lived on an orange grove property), but it was too low so it's been sitting in the shed.

We have had the bench for years - free from a neighbor.

I know it's time for patriotic colors, but I wanted to use these pillows I recently made out of an old tablecloth.

The other thing I wanted to use was my Colorku game board - I love color and balls so of course I love the look, but it's also relaxing and will be nice to play outside.

The window above the bench got a bucket full of blooms and faux greenery - yes faux because climbing on the bench to change out the greenery every other day is a pain.

I wasn't sure what Steve's reaction would be to the change, but we both are enjoying having a table.

I really love all the blue and yellow in the garden right now,

but Memorial Day arrived and I needed to see red, white and blue.

It was a quiet day here on Memorial Day.

We sat on the bench after a walk on the beach 

and the table was great for drinks while we read in the garden.

Our outdoor space is the biggest "room" in our house -

can you tell that we like to spend our days outside?

I love the yellow and blue pillows, but they shout spring and Memorial Day always feels like Opening Day for summer.

So, red, white and blue will be hanging around for quite awhile.

And now I send you off to the home of my friend Lora who is always up to something fun.

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Bucket Brigade

It has been over a month since I posted so I am happy to be joining a fun group of bloggers for the April Pinterest Challenge.

Thanks Cindy of County Road 407 for hosting the Pinterest Challenge.

The inspiration photo is from Cottage at the Crossroads.

I've got a bench and lots of buckets and I knew this would be a really fun challenge.

As I gathered buckets, I was a bit surprised to see how many I have - this isn't all of them.

I cleaned off the garden bench we paid $1 for years ago - definitely not for sitting.

I usually go for reds and yellows, but this visit to the nursery was "take what you can get".

I made the mistake of taking a break and reading on the chaise - nothing else got done that day.

The next morning I began hanging buckets on the bench, but I wanted the foxglove to be the tallest plant.

I scattered buckets around the bench and filled them with plants.

My focus is more on buckets than topsy turvy, but this definition is fitting.

 I was given the idea for doing something and created something my own.

I kept the bucket theme going on the porch.

I have a lovely view from the window seat, 

but this view of my garden from the living room windows is my favorite.

You've seen my take on the pic from Cottages at the Crossroads - I hope you check out all the other posts.

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a goose . . . a pig . . . and a bit of blue

The goose 

and the pig 

have nothing to do with the bit of blue 

other than the fact that they arrived on the same day I was painting my bench blue.

The goose and pig are an example of being caught in the World Wide Web where our preferences are known and advertisements pop up on my side bar luring me to specific websites.

I found the Christmas goose and Advent pig on the Maileg USA website for half off with free shipping - they sure know how to get to me!

I know he's an Advent pig, but he is just too cute and some Instagram friends have tagged me recently to show off a little "farmhouse" decor.

The entry is still in the development stage after moving the red cart to the living room - it took up too much space in our little entry.

 I think Mr. Pig looks cute sitting on the cabinet.

The little green step stool fits beneath the window and it doesn't take up nearly the space of the cart.

And now to that bit of blue.

In my last post, I showed you my major fail when repainting my old bench from a bright yellow to what I thought would be a light yellow - yuck!

Yesterday I painted the bench with an undercoat of mint green mixed with Saltwash.

For the top coat I used remnants of the paint used for our house trim

and I love how the mint green peeks through after sanding.

A lot of people suggested that I paint the bench the original yellow, but I am loving this blue bench on the porch.

Miss Goose looks quite cute sitting on the bench, but she is hiding in a cupboard and won't come out again until December.

Have a great weekend!

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Sharing with

Shabby Art Boutique for Shabbilicious Friday Link Party

Poofing the Pillows for Thoughts of Home Thursday