therustycupboard

 Been working on getting my patio furniture finished.  It's really been fun getting all the right pieces and working them all together.  The little round table started the whole idea.  It was found at a yard sale for $5 and I loved the size.  It was rod iron and had a cool little design on it so off I was on a journey looking for the same pattern.  While working at Costco I noticed they got in some rod iron chairs that looked just like my pattern and so I purchased two of them, they were $19 a piece and so they are the most expensive part of my project but worked out great.  Plus, hubby doesn't mind sitting in them. The old and I mean old rocking chair is made out of rod iron tubes but this chair has been with me for probably 10 years.  I love the old thing and I must say I think it has been several different colors during that time.  So I purchased some rust-o-leum spray paint and worked it to fit right in. My neighbors saw my project and donated the two very old ice c

So much fun over the weekend. I went to several yard sales and had the best time. At one sell I found 13 SETS, not individual but SETS of pillowcases all folded and printed on ready to be embroideried. I was so excited. I thought that was the golden find of the day but it wasn't. On to several more sales with hubby and picked up a few small items and we were getting ready to head home because I have to promise hubby we get to go out to breakfast if he goes yarding with me first. So we were headed to the restaurant when we saw one more sale and decided to stop. By now we were running low on funds because we only take a set amount yarding that way we never come home with regrets. So we stopped and while hubby rummaged through the manly stuff, such as tools, hunting and automotive items, I found a box. It was priced $5 for all. It was a treasure....full of new folded stamped pillowcases ready to be finished, new material (yards of it all folded up as it had come from the store), knit

I love working in the yard. I also love rusty old items from my past and my folks past. This is an old rusty garden rack that was used years ago. I fell in love with it immediately and had to have it. It stands proudly next to the outside wall of my patio. Here I will my flower pots and transfer my flowers to larger pots. Also in my travels I found this really rusted old bucket..this works great for bringing my water for my flowers. Old and Rusty...just the way I like it....

I hope you can see this little rod iron rocking chair. I love this little chair. It always sit my our back fence and the neighbor lady would come over and lean on it and tell me stories about out home and the people who lived her before us. We are the second owners of this home and it was built in 1958 so we love the stories. Darlene always could explain to me about flowers, how to plant them and what they were. Her back yard was always like a little park. Lots of flowers, trees and fun things to look at. Darlene passed away and I will always miss her. The other day her son was driving by and stopped and said "Helen I put that black rod iron chair across the fence it's yours". I almost cried. It is now got a fresh coat of spray paint and is proudly sitting on my front patio. We will always think about Darlene every time we look at this chair.

We were asked if we wanted to help out the youth group at their fireworks booth this year. So we deci ded to take Sunday , we worked from 9-4. We didn't have many customers at first so we cleaned the area. Ate lunch, read books, magazines and then we played dominoes. This game was played many times in both of our childhood years. You would think we planned it the same, "well" we didn't. I swear my husband cheats. He has all these crazy ideas on how it should be played and I have all my ideas. So in the end we made up new rules and had jus t a great time...

Enjoying the fun of summer means a lot of different things to different people. My husband and I have been working a lot the last few months. So we finally had a weekend together so we loaded up the truck with camping supplies and was off to Oregon to the Wallawa state park. We go there every year on Labor Day but this was just a spontaneous weekend trip. It's hard to get a camping spot without reserving months in advance but I thought I would try and low and behold we got a spot for one night. So we drove for 1 1/2 hours down a grade they call the rattlesnake grade which is one windy steep cliffy grade. Finally arriving and the most beautiful lake and campsites. Took us about 2 hours to set up camp, eat lunch and then we were exhausted. So we set around the campfire, just relaxing and watching all the other campers and their families. We slept in a tent that we had just purchased and realized that it was 9x7 feet. Crazy we could hardly fit our air mattress in. We decide

Now that my lavender is in the process of drying I now need to get all my items together that I will need to make my soap. I just make soap the re-fashioning way. I don't like the idea of having to use the lye that is needed in homemade soap making so I just re-fashion it. Off to the nearest Wal-mart to purchase a pack of Ivory soap. I like to get the pack that has 6-8 bars in it. The reason for this is the Ivory soap has already gone through the process of the mixing of lye and fats and the right proportion. It's just a simple pleasant soap. We take the bars and shave them on an old cheese grater. Usually that is a job for the hubby. We take the lavender seeds/flowers and put about 1/4 cup of boiling water on them and let them set for about 15-20 minutes. This way they get to steep. You can also add a little lavender oil at this time. Then bring this mixer back to a boil and add this to the melted soap. Let cool a little about 15-20 minutes and pour into molds. Here I like to