Working On The Little House In The Ozarks -- May 12

 This is the (now) repaired and painted wall above the washer / dryer.

Getting some new lighting reconfigured,

and a shelf above that, will eventually complete this area.

 West side of the porch (which is the north side of the house,

but go-figure, is almost always in the sun.)

Done landscaping the front (for this summer).

 

Then to the irksome sweet gum trees in the front.

When we moved in, they were surrounded with stones.

And a nice selection of weeds and small trees on the inside

because you could not mow there.

We are almost at the mowing stage after today.

Working On The Little House In The Ozarks -- May 11

 We were watching the sun go down together.

Other wildlife news:  I saw a very long black snake today,

but had just read about them and knew they were harmless.

Our neighbor had a white hummingbird last year

(very rare) so I told her to let me know if he shows up this year.

 I went to a (busy) rural garden center that was alot of fun.

 The colors of the annuals were so tempting...

 but I only picked up a few perennials.

And my son and daughter in law stopped by to

help me plant a couple of redbud trees off the deck.

(This soil is crazy rocky!)

Working On The Little House In The Ozarks -- May 10

 This whole week was supposed to be hot --

humid and high 80s.  So when today turned out a little overcast,

I really went to to town.  (Well, I didn't actually go to town.)

There are flowerbeds on the left and right sides of the front porch.

I thought that this one was finished, until a hummingbird about

attacked me because I was wearing pink.

It made me think I needed to insert a few bright annual flowers.

And I mowed!

I know the novelty will wear off,

but first time out I wore a silly grin while sitting on my rider.

Working On The Little House In The Ozarks -- May 9

 The day began with a handyman giving a once-over

to the big ugly window-shelf in the living room.

It was nice just to have someone interested

and confident that they could do something about it.

 Box turtle central today.

Hanging out by the "gray water" drain.

Which is actually white water because of paint brush cleaning.

So I put a shallow bowl of clean water out for them.

 These two didn't care if the water was dirty or not.

There may be baby box turtles in my future.

 Then I worked on baseboard.

I installed it in two closets, there were big

ugly gaps that needed to be covered up.

Still working on living room baseboard.

Finally the poison ivy has leafed out.

When you can identify the enemy,

you can destroy the enemy.

Working On The Little House In The Ozarks -- May 8

 Today I am back at our Ozark estate.

And I started working on baseboard.

Measuring, cutting (eek!) and painting.

Parts of the living room needs baseboard,

and a couple of closets.

 This is a portion of the plants / trees

that I need to get planted.

Our clay soil is 50% rock,

not easy to get them in the ground.

I did get most of the day lilies planted on the south side of the deck.

Wildlife highlights today:

A deer running through our property,

and several sightings of indigo buntings.

Saturday's Vintage Auction Finds

I went to a local auction yesterday.

The weather was perfect.

They sold all of the "yard" stuff first,

which was exactly what I was looking for.

 All of these pics are from my "outdoor store",

the only area that I am selling from currently.

I purchased tons of birdhouses...

 yard decor...

Paid $2 for the gnome, sold for $8. 

 a windmill...

Bought for $15, sold for $53

 a wishing well...

Bought for $5.

 this birdhouse bench and stoneware jugs...

Bought bench for $5.

and four concrete yard ornaments.

Paid $5 for each, sold between $14-$28.

It should keep my booth stocked for awhile,

while I am "down south".

Junking Marathon Thursday

 I travelled to Nebraska with a friend of mine 

(didn't get her picture at all!)

We stayed with my dad and his wife,

and my sister showed up Thursday to visit.

I love this photo, my dad is telling the dog to look at the camera!

 So, early Thursday morning we rolled out 

to hit my dad's bi-annual neighborhood garage sales.

Major threat of rain, so not as many open as usual.

 Remember, I am supposed to looking for outdoor stuff.

Because that is the only "junk" i am selling now.

So why did I get three stacks of plates?

Everybody knows dishes are not selling now.

But I got a set of six Audubon by Meakin.

To keep.  To use.

 And four old ironstone "flowy" blue.

Not to keep, but so gorgeous.

And actually 6 longaberger plates (not shown)

but gold, which I would like to use at our new house.

 An hour after arriving back home,

and getting unloaded from Nebraska ....

we had to do a pick up of  local on-line auction stuff I had won.

Like this giant carved morel mushroom. -- paid $13 for it.

I actually got some pretty awesome vintage outdoorsy

stuff from that auction, but we are keeping most of it.

So it stayed in (or on top of) the van,

which left with my husband this morning for our new southern property.

 Metal pot scrubber came from on-line auction, paid $6 for it.

Stack of quilt blocks came from Nebraska garage sale.

Bought for $10, sold for $29.

 In Nebraska I picked up this 

Danish? Flemish? Swedish?

vintage bonnet.  I was trying to show how it looked....

but there is only one way to show off the "wings".

Going on ebay sometime after we only have

one house to worry about.

Purchased for $1, sold for $10 on ebay.

Finally, Junking Weather

It has been a long winter here in the midwest.

People are desperate for some junking --

yard sales, auctions, flea markets.

This was the first good yard sale weekend,

the nicer days have seem to elude weekends up until now.

So my husband and I spent Saturday morning at a small

town city=wide sale. I am a sucker for old bottles,

and we found a sale that had plenty of them.

I got these four concrete beauties.

They are really the genre I am supposed to be looking for.

Outdoor stuff.

But I get sidetracked so easily!

This was my best purchase.

I got three of these oak drafting stools for $20.

They need a little cleaning,

but they are my rain makers.

And as my husband says:

"You have to make some money!"

(Later sold set for $400 on Facebook Marketplace!)

Working On The Little House In The Ozarks Day 34

 We are getting there.

My husband worked on the wall around the washer and dryer

last weekend.

That only leaves a couple more areas that need plastering.

And some areas need baseboard...

Then the above areas will need to be painted...

And have somebody hang the lights ...

This weekend we officially got all of the curtains up.

(These were knotted because I painted the windowsills with oil paint today.)

And we got our Magnolia Homes rug laid out in the dining room.  Woohoo!

Today was gorgeous, so I mostly "piddled" outside.

This is the view from the back porch,

which looks so much better since my brother dropped off the mower.

And the bird sounds are out of this world.

Free No-Sew Curtains For The Ozark House Day 33

 I keep whining about the amount of money we are spending.

An inexpensive curtain rod runs about $25,

each inexpensive curtain panel costs about the same.  Ouch.

I found some old fashioned cheapo metal roads in the "attic" and an

idea formed for the upstairs curtains.

When I owned an antique store I used these vintage sheers for the windows.

They have a tiny little pattern, and when they have the sun shining thru

them and are blowing in the wind....

well, there is nothing more romantic.

So I kept them for 15 years waiting for such a time as this.

 I used some shorter ones in the bathroom.

First I wrapped the ugly curtain rod with a longer sheer.

 Then I draped the sheer sections over the rod and tied the ends together.

It took 9 of them + the one wrapped over the rod. 

I wasn't about to hand hem all of those to length.

I kind of love the casual,

irregular look of them.

(And just image those blowing in the breeze!)

Working On Little House In The Ozarks Day 32

 The day started with my sister-in-law and I going to

a Spring Open House at a local antique store.  

She picked up something to put a few plants in,

and I purchased this great 

(and extremely heavy)

vintage birdbath.

 Then a quick visit to our local Lowe's,

to pick up some snacks for nocturnal visitors.

I also did some impulse buying while there.

These were only $1 per pot,

because they had been nipped by frost.

I hope to nurse them back to health.