In one hour I'll be 58!

Happy Birthday to me!

I know...it's been awhile.  

I'm not even going to explain.

Just pray for my Shug...

(he apparently has two hernias, diverticulitis, and we go to the surgeon tomorrow)

get ready for family party time (Saturday)....

and 

Happy Birthday to me!

I decided today, after My Shug left for work, that I was going to do what I wanted. I was giving myself ME TIME for my birthday.

 My list was 

PICK

PLANT

CORAL BELLE

BEES

WEED

I know...that's a crazy stupid list, but it is what I wanted to do.  I only got two things done.

Pick

 

berries....One year my Shug said, "you have two choices.  Since it's your birthday you decide.  Go to a movie, or pick berries?  I chose to pick berries.  So we went to some woodsy area and picked.  And it's been a birthday memory every since, and I've been picking berries every since, only now I do it on our own property.

Which would you have chosen, movie or berries?

 Coral Belle....

Isn't she sweet?

I got her ready for summer fun.  She never gets to go anywhere and she doesn't get enough company, so I'm going to remedy that.....

 

To begin with...I've given her stickers of places I've been.  She likes people to think she's still traveling.  I'm sure at one time in her life, she went to a lot of places.  And if a sticker makes her feel better...what's the harm?

And I cleaned her out today.  And hung a few decorative touches.

 

My friend Patti Beck made this for me.  It's so perfect!  I LOVE IT!  And so does Coral Belle!

I washed the sheets and got out some blankets and pillows. Ready for a sleep over. 

You see, Vickie (my cousin) and Theresa (my sister) and I have decided rather than buying gifts, we are doing something fun for our birthdays.  Unless I can think of something else,

 I'm going to choose a sleepover!

And I can dig out that nice bottle of wine I bought on Vickie's birthday fun day.

We could sit around the campfire and make memories, and drink wine with friends. 

Then the three of us can sleep over in Coral Belle!

What do you think? 

What would you do?

 I think if I have the sleep over, we'll have to dance with the fairies and talk to the moon. Why not?

 Who's gonna see us?!?!!?

Cindy Bee

Coral Belle Ta Dah!

If you want to check out old pictures of Coral Belle, you may do so

here

and here

and here

and here

 And

here

and here

and here! 

It'd be a lot to read, but just look at the pictures.  They show you the condition she was in when I got her.  It was in February of 2013 during a Winter Woolen Workshop weekend when I got her.  And it was at a Granny Bee meeting when Beth and a couple of Granny Bees kept telling me how perfect she would be for me.  A lot sure has changed since then.

And I'm not going to say it's been easy.  I even put her up for sale last year when I got so frustrated about stuff just sitting around here cluttering up the place.  But I changed my mind. And I'm so glad I did!

 Last year we moved her to her permanent location on the edge of our woods.

And this year.....

I asked my Shug to make a clearing in the spot right beside her.  There weren't any trees there...just weeds.  So when he had the tractor out, he cleared out this spot.  Then we went and got some rocks (we have a pile of them) and we made a little fire ring.  None of this stuff was ever done all at one time.  It was 20 minutes here, half hour there.

 

 

I was trying to find some outdoor chairs to purchase, when my Shug reminded me of this....

do you see it?

 See it now?

 

 and years ago we put

this on our land across the road to have a place to sit.  Only it got all rusty over there, and we don't sit on it anymore.  So my Shug brought it back on the tractor.

 We did some painting....(we like red, can you tell!)

 

 All of this stuff, including Coral Belle, in my opinion, are "Diamonds in the rough."  You have to see through the weeds, the messes, the rust.....

 

 And when you see through the rough..with A LOT of elbow grease....you get this!

 

  The baker's rack was a trash find.  I did a post on it a couple of years ago.

 The sink came out of a neighbors basement when we lived in town.  I put it in the potting shed at our house in town for years.  Then when we moved, it sat outside in the woods, like the gliders.  Of course water doesn't run from the faucet, but the sink would be perfect full of ice, and drinks.  

And we used it for a counter top Thursday night.

Yep...

Thursday night, for the first time in years I'm sure...

 CORAL BELLE HAD COMPANY THE ENTIRE NIGHT LONG!

But first, Mom and Dad came over and we all had dinner, then played poker, betting with candy!  

I know!

Actually, My Sister was teaching black jack and

Mom and Dad taught five card stud (does that sound right?  stud? I don't know)

It was fun though.

And apparently, they decided they were going to make goofy faces when I took pics.

 Fallish hats were donned...

 and we headed to the campsite.

Mom and Dad left after a little while...

 After hanging outside for awhile, we went in and played Monopoly.

Taylor decided there were too many leaves inside...

it is in a woods after all.  And I don't know about where you are from, but the leaves here are fire orange and falling down like snow!

My Shug ran an extension cord from the house to the campsite.

And don't forget about the chandelier I bought in Brown County!

We did put a bed in her.

 

and this table makes in to a bed.

 

And when Nikki (from The Vintage Farmhouse) sold the camper to me she threw in some things such as this cot my sister is sleeping on!

A good time was had by all....well, the girls complained quite a bit....But Molly (the dog) enjoyed jumping from one bed to the other the entire night long!
Lights out!

Good night everyone!!!!!

Cindy Bee

PS.  Breakfast!

I love to see Before and After projects!

You might have noticed this bakers rack in a few pictures...

 

or maybe you didn't!  It actually came from a neighbor's trash a couple of years go.  My Shug 'picked' it and I cleaned it and used it to hold fabric in my craft room.  Well, I started rearranging my craft room and was going to throw this out, when I realized it fit snuggly in a corner of Coral Belle. It ended up being a catch all for awhile, when she was being refurbished.

 Before, minus the shelves because I never took a pic of her before painting.

 AFTER! 

I got the ice bucket at a yard sale this past weekend for $1.00!
And here it is, all snuggled in her little nook.

 The next update I decided to do,

 was the legs to the table.  I know, simple,

but huge difference.

I feel like I've had a lot of irons in the fire lately.  And one thing on my list was to do something so my "bird girl", that my parents bought for my birthday, would be safe outside in our Indiana winters. One time, when I was an active Master Gardener, we had a class on antiquing cement statuary.  I decided to give it a try again.

 The first thing I did was put an etching liquid on her, then I painted her with this concrete stain.  I used two coats of Earth Brown.  And I painted a small area on her back side to make sure I was going to like it before painting the whole thing.  The first time I painted a small spot I didn't like it at all.  It was terra cotta color.  I told my Shug they mixed it wrong.  They did!  He took it back and they said Terra Cotta is one number off from Earth Brown.  So always check the color in a small area first.

We had to buy an entire gallon of this stain, and of course, I only used about a cup for the statuary.  So we are going to use the rest of it on our breezeway floor.  I think I can do it.

After I stained her, I put a concrete sealant on her.

 She will weather over time, but I really like the way she turned out.  I think it made her facial expression pop!  I like it so much I got more statuary out and stained it too!

 

Have you done any before and after projects lately?

If so, post them on your blog and tell us where to look in the comments.  I love looking at before and after projects!

Cindy Bee