A Project

I bought an antique dresser today...it's in pretty good shape except for the top, which definitely needs to be refinished: 

I'll probably switch out the knobs, too (especially because some are missing!), but I might leave the rest of it as is - I like patina.  :P  

I'll be sure to add an "after" picture once it's touched up.  :)

The Taming of the Shrubs

Made some progress on another yard project today...many thanks to my coworker Kathy who came over to give me guidance, help, and moral support!  I've pruned the shrubs along the front of our house for years, but with little knowledge of the treatment of individual shrubs.  Kathy has years of expertise in landscaping, and was able to guide me and help me learn to assess what to cut and what to leave.

Here's the before photo:

You can see how the bushes were quite overgrown and didn't really have appealing shapes.  Kathy and I worked for an hour and a half, making selective cuts and removing a lot of dead branches.  We stepped back often to see how we were coming along - it's definitely helpful to see the big picture.

And...here's the end result:

I'm very pleased with how the bushes turned out.  I'll probably gradually lower their height; you're just not supposed to take too much off at once.  I want them to keep a nice shape but not block the view from the windows too much.

Next week I'll tackle the monstrosity at the right side of the porch:

Oh, hi, Thane!!  :D

Anyway, thanks again, Kathy!!  The bushes and I are greatly appreciative!  :)

Gettin' 'Er Done!

Whew!!  It's been a busy summer so far - and it's been hot!  You might not think of NH as a particularly warm place, but we've had a lot of days this summer in the 90's, with high humidity - NOT the greatest weather to be out working in the yard.

But over the past couple days, we've had some truly glorious weather, and today I took advantage of it to accomplish one of the many projects on my to-do list.

It involves this sad little plot of garden:

It was fairly promising when I started working on it last year, but I never quite finished, and the weeds eagerly moved in over the spring and summer, leaving it looking quite neglected - which was less than ideal, since this is right by the sidewalk at the front of our lawn.  

It was a pretty easy fix, though - just a few minutes of weeding, and several bags of mulch (on clearance, no less - woohoo!!), and now it looks like this:

Amazing what a difference a bit of mulch makes, huh?

I found a couple treasures in the sand.  Please ignore how ridiculously filthy my hand is...for some reason, I chose not to wear gloves.  

The penny will go in my battered coins collection, and the button will go in one of my button jars.  Yeah, I know...I'm weird.  :P

Happy Monday!!!