Last week we worked really hard to get this wood pile chopped and split. (And, if you're wondering where all of this came from, I am going to share our backyard summer adventure with you this week. This is only the beginning...).
This pile has been chopped up and piled high in our backyard from the start of our "backyard adventure".
So, all we had to do was split it for use in our fireplace. (Yep, we chop wood in the middle of the summer for cold winter days and nights). Thanks to Alice, we were able to use this handy machine. (Thanks for finding the wood splitter, Alice. We broke it in pretty well for you!).
Once we were finished, we had a pile of firewood as tall as me. (We were happy to be done!)
We are really interested to see if this will last us through the winter. I am sure you're thinking...wait, they live in South Georgia, it doesn't get very cold down there. Why are they chopping wood for the winter?
Well, it actually DOES get cold enough for a short amount of time in the winter months to make fires. Since we don't run our heat in the winter, fires are our main source of heat. Our large wood burning fireplace was one of the reasons why we chose this house. There's nothing like getting cozy by a warm fire when it's chilly outside (and inside).
We recently had our fireplace and chimney cleaned and inspected, so we are ready to welcome winter weather with open arms and a warm fire (which won't be for a pretty long time).
We only use down trees for fire wood, or in this year's case, trees that HAD to be chopped down!
After a productive start to last week, we joined our friends at the beach for some fun in the sun.
We are back home now pondering where we'll store our winter wood supply and what final projects we can finish up before the new school year starts next week.
My parents have had this old pie safe in their house forever...literally, we brought it back with us from Belgium, where we lived when I was younger. My Dad was in the military and we lived in both Germany and Belgium. My Mom found some really beautiful treasures antiquing her way across Europe and they have decorated my parent's home ever since. Lets just say, we traveled a lot while we lived overseas. I wish I could remember all of the amazing places we went (I was still pretty young). Pictures help to jog my memory a tad.
According to my Dad, when I was young, in kindergarten I believe, I spoke fluent French. He came to have lunch with me on day and was surprised when he saw me carrying on a conversation with my teacher, in French. I wish I could still impress my Dad with my French, but unfortunately, it was a foreign language again to me in high school.
Oh yea, back to the pie...
Here's the pie safe. It's upside down, but you get the point. It has glass sides and screens on the door and the back.
My Mom always had it up on a little table, displaying antique glassware. I knew I wanted to try to attach legs to it. So, I grabbed every table leg Lowe's had, and picked my favorite.
Can you guess which one I chose? What's your favorite?
Along with the table legs I also picked up some stains to see what would match the existing piece.
I tried multiple colors, I tried mixing colors, but there was no hope in getting a perfect match to the weathered over many, many years finish of the pie safe. I really hated to have to paint the beautiful old wood, but without a perfect match I knew it just wouldn't look right. So, with my Mom's blessing, and help (yep, she came to visit me for an entire week!)we got the pie safe painted and moved into my office/craft room.
I think the gray was a perfect, neutral choice for this piece. Alan did a perfect job attaching the legs for me, and I love it even more than I did before!
It's the perfect place to store my fabrics. We left the inside unpainted, so there is still plenty of the original wood remaining. I love the contrast of the old wood next to the new gray paint.
And, for me, it's really all in the details.
My Mom's favorite detail: (I think it's my favorite too) BONJOUR!
My office/craft room is coming along...slowly, but surely.
Recently, I had the urge to make something. To Craft.
Since our front door is bright red, I thought that a blue and white wreath would be perfect for the upcoming 4th of July holiday.
However, when it comes to crafting, I always try to use what I have on hand. So, instead of a patriotic wreath, I simply whipped together a summer inspired wreath.
I have this dress that I never wear.
I absolutely love the fabric, but don't care for the style or fit on me. I held onto it in hopes of refashioning it one day. Well, with the bright, summery fabric, this was the perfect chance for me to reuse it.
I grabbed one of the straw wreaths I had on hand (for projects I knew I wanted to do, like this one, but just haven't gotten around to them).
I sliced my dress into little squares, (they can be as large or as small as you'd like).
Then, grabbed my screwdriver from the shed, and got to stabbing....the fabric squares into the wreath that is.
The process goes fairly quickly, and I crossed my fingers that I would have enough fabric to cover the entire wreath. Well, unfortunately I didn't, so, when I ran out, I found some coordinating scraps from my stash and filled the rest of the wreath. I wrapped a ribbon around it and hung it on the inside of our front door since these colors don't really mesh too well with the red on the outside of our door. Also, I didn't want to expose the fabric to the elements, incase it didn't hold up well with the recent rain and thunderstorms we've been having.
I love the pop of color it brings to our space. It's cheerful and perfect for the summer months, not just one holiday.
I love how a wreath breaks up our all-white front door and will probably try to make one for every season. Since summer is by far our longest season here in South Georgia, this wreath will be hanging for much of the year.
Harley and Baxter celebrated the 4th of July in style, and were sweet enough to pose (together) for a picture.
We're so thankful and blessed for our freedom. It should be celebrated everyday!
