Summer Projects So Far

Well, the busy school year slipped into a busy summer. With a summer class and a lot of weekend trips in the last few weeks, I did not get back to blogging about my summer projects as soon as I wanted to. The other reason I have not made time to blog about the projects is that, well, I've been out working on them so much! But, I wanted to at least share some pictures of what I've worked on so far this summer, in case they inspire you to do some summer projects of your own!

(As I went through pictures, there were also some from our trips that I wanted to share. I love Matt's new camera. It can make anything look lovely, including me, and especially our handsome kitty!)

This is a greenhouse made of windows and with only cat-safe plants (catnip, cat grass, basil, mint, etc). It has plants growing now, but Llyr still prefers yard grass to the cat grass, unfortunately.

I put together the blocks of this quilt earlier this year and I just got it back from being quilted. I'm not exactly sure who did the blocks, because they are hand stitched. I think my grandmother or her mother. My mom recognized some of the fabric but was not sure who made them. I plan to give it to my grandmother and ask her then.

These glass doors came from Matt's great-grandparents' house. They were hung in the kitchen in front of an in-wall shelf. We rescued them last year before the land and house were sold. I wanted to make a standing bookshelf/cabinet out of them and it is now finished! That's right, Matt and I are the masters of making more furniture fit in our overfull house. The picture wall had to change up a bit, but we got it to work. The blue decorative things on top of the bookshelf also came from the house - they'd been in the corners of the porch. It is really cool to give new life to these neat old things from Matt's family.

Learned last year that polyurethane is not meant for outdoor furniture. Oops. It all peeled off our pew. Finally got around to fixing it. Matt sanded off most of the peeling poly. I jig-sawed off the yucky leg and the other to match (which means it is kind of short now, but I could build something for it to sit on later). Then, I used Thompson Water Seal and a couple of layers of Besty Ross House Blue outdoor paint after that had dried. Hopefully now it is protected against the elements! I don't mind a bit of wear, I mean, we saved it from a brush pile .... but I want it to stay in the condition it is, not get any more worn down.

Here is the pew and the chairs I am painting to match. Again, another failed attempt with the polyurethane that had to be fixed. Oh well, bright blue is nice, too. 

Big Events !

Llyr has made a friend! Actually, he has made three new friends, but this guy brought them over to our house to meet him after Llyr had cozied up to him (and after we put out some food for this friend ... he was starving!). We just call this guy Friend for now. Llyr loves to go out and visit him. Llyr has gotten a little more bitey and rowdy with him in the last couple of days. I hope it is play fighting and they will stay buddies, because Llyr needs some kitty friends to play with. This picture captures Llyr's awe during the early stages of making friends. He's like, "It's another cat, like me, and he's not running away from me or being mean! Joy!"

We went to Harry Potter Trivia Night with friends and got 15th out of 25 teams. Some of the questions were tough! I was proud of us for our first year. It was a blast. I loved dressing up and making snacks.

We took a trip to see a Cardinals game and to visit the Arch with my family. Matt had never been in the Arch before (I had).

 Just Some Final Pretty Pictures I Wanted to Share