Yesterday was mow-the-grass-day at my house. I was afraid we would lose our Beanie in it if I didn’t take care of it soon. And because my life is crazy, I had the time right then and wasn’t sure when I would next be able to take the time, I struck while the iron was hot.

I know, I know. Mowing the grass is “man’s work”. But my man hates to mow the grass and left to his own  devices I’m not sure when it would get done. Not just because he doesn’t like to mow, but because he doesn’t have time to mow.

I love to mow the grass. I’m outside in the glorious sunshine. I have my music blaring in my ears, (blaring so I can hear it over the noise of the mower) I have peace for the time it takes. An added bonus is making my man feel loved. His “love language” is acts of service, so I know when I mow for him I’m speaking his language.

It’s funny how we change as we age. Which is pretty much exactly what I was thinking yesterday as I was mowing. I don’t remember being a lover of the great outdoors when I was a child. I remember loving to ride my bike, but play outside? Not a bit. I much preferred to be inside.

I also loved winter. What was I thinking? The older I get the more I love summer. I hate, loathe, and despise being cold. (Yes, I know those words are a bit redundant, but it gets the emphasis of my distaste across without shouting.)  I am happy to live in a part of the world with changing seasons. I like to watch the progression of winter into spring, spring into summer, and summer into fall. But fall to winter…just doesn’t thrill my soul.

While I was mowing, I decided I was going to have to do something about the tree branches that were hanging down far enough now I was having to duck under them. (I’m not at all what anyone would consider tall, so you know they were hanging down if I had to duck.) I had never used a saw before in my life, but there is no time like the present to do it, right? So I did.

The above picture does not show how low the branches actually were, but they are gone.

Please pay no attention to my neighbor’s falling down fence. I trimmed all those branches. All. By. Myself. The girls sat on the deck in safety and cheered me on.

This is a fraction of the pile of branches I cut down. I stuffed our “yard waste” container full. This is what wouldn’t fit in there. Of course, I chose to do it on trash pick up day, after the trash had been picked up. These will have to wait for next week. And hopefully they are still picking up yard waste.

I’ve lately not only taken over mowing the yard, cutting branches, I’ve also started re-doing furniture. It all started last year when I purchased a lovely bistro table and two chairs for my front porch. I redid the table top, and repainted the chairs. One chair seat is in dire need of repair. I knew when I sat on it and it broke I really should begin again in earnest watching what I eat.  I’ve had plans to paint Beanie’s bunk beds for about a year. It won’t be hard, picking the paint will be the hardest part. But I’ve yet to start.

Generally I prefer to stain, rather than paint but sometimes staining just won’t cut it.  I purchased a dresser for $5 on facebook (yes, facebook!) this week. Yesterday afternoon Mr. FullCup and I hauled it home.

The handles need replaced. The drawers don’t slide open or closed easy. As you can tell the whole thing just looked sad. I’ve not yet decided what I’m going to do with it.

I could:

• Paint it white, paint the drawers a green color and put it in Beanie’s room. Then redo her dresser to put downstairs with all our yarn notions.
• Paint it a creamy, dreamy yellow, or a Fallish red. Remove the top drawers, and use it as an entertainment center of sorts.
• Strip it, put some weather-all treatment on it (my aunt has done something similar with a rocking chair), and since I just looked through her blog to find the post to link, I know it’s wood preservative. If I did this I would most likely leave it on the porch.

Decisions. Decisions. Of course Beanie is voting for putting it in her room.

I had planned to start today, but I’m smack out of paint brushes and sand paper. And it’s a moisty, misty, drizzly morning. And the dresser weighs a ton with the drawers in. And they don’t slide in or  out easy. Sigh. So I’ll wait. It’s on the porch now, safe from the rain, as long as the wind doesn’t start and it doesn’t start pouring rain. When I start it, I’ll want it warm and sunny, which those days are soon to be few and far between, so I can haul it to the garage to work on.

I also have designs for these:

This bookcase was my grandmother’s.

This little gem of a nightstand was also my grandmother’s. I am going to be repainting my bedroom a soothing blue color and this could really use a little fix-up.

So I have some projects in the making. What are you working on?