Summer Projects

This summer we have done some big projects.  Wouldn't it be nice if I ever remembered to take before pictures?  I at least have some pictures during the process of doing one of our projects.  Here's what we've done:

I refinished the porch furniture.  I think Connor sprayed some polyurethane on them for me.  We've had the furniture for years, and you could really tell.

We refinished the kitchen table.  What a lot of work!  It looks good, as long as you aren't a perfectionist and don't look too closely.  It looks a lot better than it did, and that has to count for something!

All of our boys helped, and so even though you don't see Jake pictured, you can know that he did his fair share! I stained the table, and Derek, Jake, and I added the coats of polyurethane. Here's the finished table, with the not refinished chairs:

And finally, a project that has been in the works for years, and is finally about done -- the garden.  I always found our garden space a little too big and overwhelming.  A couple of years ago Derek built me garden boxes, which I love.  Last year Derek built a bike shed, with a bit of help from the boys, especially Connor. This year we reinforced the bike shed and have done a lot of rock work.  Here are the pictures for you to admire:

We still have a few things to finish on the outside of the garden, and a few things to plant on the inside and outside of the garden, but I love how it is turning out!  When I got the camera to take pictures this morning, Dan said that I should give my pictures to someone at a magazine.  He thought they would probably want to put them in their magazine with some other garden pictures.  I love Dan!  All of my boys were very good workers and moved a lot of rock from the truck to the garden.  Hooray for helpful boys and finished projects!