My Baby's a DIY-er! I'm So Proud!

We were driving through the neighborhood two Saturdays ago, when we saw a yard sale that was "done". As many yard salers will do, this one had placed non-selling items (read: crap) for free at the end of their driveway.

One of these items happened to be a desk. Bonnie has been begging for a desk for her room for at least a year, if not longer. More persistently in the past year, since we haven't been preparing to sell our house or move. These things make a difference, no?

So my sister, who was visiting for the wedding, helped me load said desk into the car. It didn't really fit. Since we were only a block away from home, we let it stick out of the side of the car. The kids, in particular, thought this really funny.

Once it was unloaded, it had to sit in the garage for a week while we dealt with the remains of the wedding stuff and partied for Bonnie's birthday. Then Bonnie got to sanding.

Her dad gave her a demonstration and left her to it. When she started, she was smiling:

When she finished the desk, though, she wasn't too excited about doing the drawers. She was also not excited that I wouldn't let her start painting. There was some serious splintering going on around the base of the desk, so we needed to putty it and allow it to dry. This was going much slower than Bonnie wanted to go. She did two of the four sides, then I finished it up later that day. Why not help her out? After all, it is her first major reno project.

She was pretty happy to be priming the next day - look how proud she is over her first painted drawer!

And the desk is primed. It did take her a day or two.

Then we had to decide on color. She wanted a serious purple, and gave me her favorite nail polish as a color sample. The photos here look a little more blue than this thing is in person, but you can tell it's a pretty vibrant color.

Here you can see all the drawers done, too.

Next came hardware. Bonnie really wanted a special order fish handle (not like the "I just caught a 52-pound halibut" handle - although that was an option - but more like the "Little Mermaid" fishies). I pointed out that this desk did not need us to spend $40 on hardware, and she went with a style that was more traditional, but that still had some bling to it.

She really likes how the silver complements the purple. Here she is, screwing in the drawer handles:

And the desk is now complete. Go, Bonnie!

The pose doesn't do much for me, but she thought it was funny. The desk is pretty, no? I'm soooo proud. So is she, by the way.

Doug: Slacker?

While I've been busy, you might be wondering...has Doug been doing anything?

Of course he has. Just not necessarily in the house. He did start a new job about three weeks ago, after all.

There has been some work around the house, though (if not actually in the house). He has fixed our tractor (also known as the riding lawnmower). He bought it from a neighbor in South Carolina that fixed up used John Deere tractors as a hobby. It worked great when he bought it, but with one thing or another, it hasn't worked much since then. Most of the problems have been attributed to Bonnie putting water in the gas tank - although I think that she got blamed for way more than could be traced to that one incident.

It looks nice and innocent in the garage, but I have had some major unhappy thoughts in that machine's direction over the past three years. Doug told me at one point that the tractor was only for giving kids rides, and not necessarily for mowing the lawn. Which ticked me off, since the lawn was looking abysmal. At any rate, it's working again. Sigh of relief.

So what was its problem? There was a lot of electrical problems. See? Can't be traced to water in the gas tank. You're off the hook for this one, Bonnie.

Doug has also been working on his mill. Another South Carolina purchase, it was a "steal" that has languished in one garage or another for years. It is now painted and starting to look respectable. Doug even says that soon, very soon, it will work.

So see? He has been a very busy boy. And I didn't even mention the garden.

What's Bloomin'

Not much new this week...but two varieties of my Black-Eyed Susans did pop up!

This one has more of a green eye, and is actually named Irish Eyes...

Although the green eyes do turn a murky brown later in the summer, they are kind of fun when they open. And here's the traditional Black-Eyed Susan.

I guess my garden needs a little more summer variety. Ah, well, I'll work on that in the fall. Hope you have a great week!