Like other CQers I am a packrat extraordinaire but having a barn I can do it on a grand scale... especially with lumber. I have piles of lumber most of which I purchased years ago at farm auctions from behind someone's barn. It was used lumber then and over the years I have re-purposed it over and over..
Since I recently dismantled the sheep sheds and lambing pens a lot more lumber is available. Earlier this summer my son helped me put a railing on the front porch and we dug through my lumber stash finding lovely old 2x8s to use. They even had moss already growing on them... Not only did I get to use my lumber stash, I used two pieces of old rusted iron circles which I'd used as trellises at one time...
But even though I had caps for the lower posts I needed some sort of finial for them... This morning I remembered a box of old ornate doorknobs in the barn....perfect! My heart just sings when I get to find a new use for something I've hoarded for years and to use three things on one project was a real aria. DH hates it and thinks it's really junky but, hey, it matches the peeling paint on the house.. (quoting an unsolicited complement of sorts from a friend).
Yesterday we went to a lovely birthday dinner for an even lovelier friend... (the gnocchi lady) She was born at Lake Como, Italy.. So as a gift I painted a special button for her of Lake Como. Here is a picture of the scene and the button beside it.. The birthday "girl" was wearing orange and just glowed...
Finally remember recently I posted progress on my book about Morris and pointed out the "rainbow" garden was lacking ... Well I added the orange and you can see that really did make the garden into a rainbow.... Orange is never my first choice when I'm picking colors, but it does bring a composition alive.
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4 comments:
I love orang and have a hard time NOT putting it in something! and when its put next to blue or purple it just sings!)
I love your little skunks they look like Flower, who was my favourite disney character.I understand totally how how wonderful it feels to repurpose something you've hung on to for EVER. and it's not junky It's "homey"! my granny would approve she was the packrat extrodinare of our family and never threw anything away that could be useful someday.
I love the porch railing. It is so much fun to find uses for things we've been keeping. I'm sure your friend must have loved her button. What a nice idea. As for orange, I used to hate it. I never, ever used it on anything but now I've learned that it can really bring life to things. In fact, I have one whole orange block on a project I'm working on....who'd a thunk it!
That painted button looks exactly like the picture. Fabulous! I so envy your painting talents.
Love the ingenuity of the railing and the old wood! The button is beyond awesome...what a great present. And your orange did indeed pack a punch. POW!
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