Hello!

Summer was really nice, not too hot but we did have a lot of rain. I'm just glad that summer is coming to an end and Fall is in the air, this is my favorite time of year. The leaves are just starting to change a bit and I have a feeling I'll be raking leaves in the next few weeks. I've been hearing rumors that we are going to have a bitterly cold winter this year, I love the cold and hoping we get some snow! My nephew has been coming over and helping us clear brush and vines around trees. We are about 1/4th of the way done and have a lot more to do. The property was heavily wooded when we bought it and have been clearing it little by little. My goal is to have trees and grass with no brush and vines but it will be a lot of upkeep every year. The less places for snakes to hide the happier I am! We are pulling up the roots but I'm sure they will try and grow back. My poor nephew who is the one with the saw cutting down small trees got into two wasp nests on two different occasions, he got stung 4-5 times. This last time he was cutting a tree down and the nest was next to the tree in the ground covered by brush. Some gas and a match took care of the wasp nest, eggs and all. It was a very large nest so I am glad we got rid of it. We had 3 rattlesnakes this year, two in the same day within minutes of each other. We had to call our friend who came and got the first one to come back because after he left I was walking over in the same area the first rattlesnake was and I saw another, yikes! I've been working on home projects over the summer, still have a lot to do and hoping to get caught up within the next few months. I've been painting inside doors, outside furniture, a hutch and now working on a fireplace front. This is what it looks like, the white parts haven't been done yet. Even the parts that aren't white still have layers of paint that does not want to come off. I wear goggles and a mask when sanding as the fireplace is so old we aren't sure what is in the paint.

I used several coats of a heavy duty stripper and it was not taking the paint off very well. We purchased an orbital sander and went through several sheets of heavy sandpaper with not a lot of progress (and very sore arms!) Terry brought home a different product this past weekend and after the first coat of stripper, the paint came off instantly, yay!! I figure it will take a few weeks to strip all the paint and sand it down to the wood. Then it will get a few wood embellishments and trim and a fresh coat of white paint. It won't be a working fireplace, only decorative but it will look real with an added hearth and back. I have always wanted a fireplace with a mantle and I can't wait to decorate it for the holidays! Will post photos when its done! I have been in and out of my craft room over the summer, here are some of the projects that I made.

We are finally getting our inside stairs done, just need the rail installed and trim. It's going to be so nice to decorate a real stair rail this year in stead of a 2 x 4 piece of wood that was the old stair rail for 3 years. It didn't matter how much garland or lights I put on it, it was still a piece of 2 x 4! Next project is new dog lots and a fenced in area attached to the new dog lots for them to play, this project I am most excited about. The dogs stay in dog lots but we let them out 3-4 times a day, they run and play around the entire property (which is fenced in but has a large wooded area in the front) With all the snakes it will make us feel so much better having a safe place for them to run and play, at least during the 6 months when the snakes are out. Thanks for stopping by! Hope you have a wonderful week! Annette :)