Feeling "neglectful"

Due to my working 58 hrs. a week over the summer, our outdoor living space has been sorely neglected. I had high hopes in my heart to create "the perfect place to be" here on our deck during the spring. I so looked forward to the time we would spend here during the summer months, cooking out, having a few summer dinner parties, time spent with friends, being surrounded by pots of flowers, the sounds of nature, and the smell of lavender filling the evening air! Unfortunately, very few of those hopes and dreams came to fruitation but that doesn't prevent me from saying, "Maybe next year!" That is if God's willing, of course.

Anyways, here are some of the changes that we did manage to make. The covering over the jacuzzi has been removed; in its place, I long for a screened arbor to protect this area of our deck from the debries of the neighboring tree. We replaced our old jacuzzi with a new one and this one is fantastic! Perhaps, the bronze interior isn't what I would have choosen but when you get a great money saving deal on a new on because of a minor defect in the outer covering that won't be seen anyways due to being sunken within the deck, you really cannot complain. I've done somethings to attempt to make it all work together, although it isn't as much as I had originally intended.

I purchased this unfinished wood shelf from our local Hobby Lobby. Desiring to mimic the bronze interior of the jacuzzi, I painted and stipple brushed the shelf prior to adding a green/teal pantina glaze to it in areas. The figurines were discovered in one of my favorite stores to visit in Galion, Ohio, The Evergreen Company and at 50% off they quickly became a few of my favorite accents to the space. I am desiring to one day create an eclectic mix of a Zen-like atmosphere to our deck... somewhere tranquil that we will enjoy and desire to be. Not that we don't enjoy the outdoor living space as it is, just that it isn't quite yet what I envision it to be... does that make sense? Anyways, lets just say it is still a work in progress. I used a lot of items that we had laying around our home to re-repurpose them and provide them with a new life.

This chair is an example of that and provides us a wonderful place to sit and dry off when it isn't being used for decorative purposes. One day, I'm hopeful to actually hang the patina glazed pot and have some greenery overflowing from it to take away from the bareness of the privacy fencing walls surrounding the space.

As the long days of summer quietly fade away, so do a lot of my hopes and dreams. I quietly realize that I will continue working on some of those as days become shorter and the nights a little longer, before the cold winter winds begin to blow. I've already cut and started creating a tablecloth for our patio table from some of the fabric I discovered for my bookbinding tables within the studio. The colors and texture lended themselves wonderfully to the vision I hold within my heart. In the meantime, I've the peony plant to get planted with our backyard, and to determing a place for the lavender that never did fair too well in that beautiful garden urn. As I looked around today while taking these pictures, I thought as bleak as all this may seem to be to me, its still an enjoyable place to be.