From trash to treasure

When we moved from Wisconsin, one of the hardest decisions Skott had to make was deciding what wood to bring with him.  Between our neighbor (who was a contractor and always had wood leftovers to give away), the pallets, barn wood from Dad and also from Carrie, and freebies found on the curb, Skott had quite a collection of nice wood.  I'm so glad he brought this along:

the frame work for rusty metal drawers.  Got it for $10 on craigslist in Wisconsin

No before pictures of the next pieces, but they were part of a solid oak table he found on the curb, waiting for trash pickup.  He brought it home and disassembled it.  The original piece was constructed in a tongue and groove type style so Skott evened up all the pieces, clamped and glued them together, then sanded them.  Here they are after several sandings:

Sanding the framework and basic assembly:

I am IN LOVE with the finished product! Unfortunately, it is a wedding gift for some friends/co-workers.  I am seriously sad to give this piece away.  I have been begging to keep it and "can't we just get them something else for their wedding?"  

Love, love love the tiger striping in the old wood

Camping at Hebo Lake

Took a quick camping trip to Hebo Lake with our friends, Jen and Paul.  It was absolutely beautiful!
We took a walk around the lake and went to pay our camping fee.  There are only 12 campsites at this lake so it was very secluded and "quiet" (minus annoying country music and children screaming).

the top of the post near the fee station.  I thought it looked like hair

Fucie got to ride in the sling carrier

the trees were covered in moss

"Ginge" (Paul) was in charge of the evening fire

Jen takes over

FIRE!

ahhhhh, there we go!

the rum is kicking in

the life of a pug

Oh look, a picture where my eyes are still open :)

Im grateful we have a small lap dog

Bella and Jen

Bella posing as a French Bulldog, with help from Paul

We attempted to play games but Bella kept moving our darts

Fucie supervised the game playing

Paul losing "man points" in the canopy chair

Unfortunately, our phones died that night, so no morning after photos.  Good thing :)

Good times

Summer Beaches

Overall, the summer has been a cool one.  Temps hover in the 60's-70's.  Don't get me wrong, I'm NOT complaining AT ALL.  I love it!  We try and take advantage of any and all sunny days to take a walk on the beach.

Low tide coincided with one of our days off a few weeks ago.  We got up "early", prepared our mugs of coffee, and headed out.

The sun was just starting to break through the mist

exposed rock beds

I love the light shining on the seaweed

looking south towards the bay

patterns left in the sand by the departing tide

Another day, on our exercise walk, we saw this neat log that had been tumbled to an upright position:

you can barely see it through the mist

It was on the beach for almost a week, and then one day it was gone.

We had to run to Newport so we took time to do some beachcombing:

silly

along a trail we were exploring through the woods

beach flowers

south of Newport

this once was a piece of wood.  I thought it was fascinating how it disintegrated

this was a huge fossil

more flowering

 My hibiscus is going nuts again.  Here's the latest bloom (yes, I'm very proud haha):

Skott has an artistic vision for out our back door.  This is his start.  I could probably dig up some really hideous "before" pictures.... but take my word for it, this is a HUGE improvement.  He's going to continue the pattern and blend it to a paver patio on the right.  One of the squares has sea shells, agates, slag beach glass, and other treasures.  The other square is full of agates.  Then a shrub in one and native flowers in another.

Fucie's idea of helping me exercise