Back Porch Musings: ~Project Finished & Project Begins~

This is a view of the back of our home and gardens, from our neighbor's yard. The hook with red flowers, two trees with pink flowers around the trunk and berm, are our neighbor's. Just beyond the berm, our 1/2 acre lot begins. In the distance you can see Knockout Roses beside the steps leading to the back porch. On this side of the steps are Dwarf Spirea, Azaleas and an evergreen. Hosta and Coral Bells grow in the raised bed under the three hearth room windows. A variegated ornamental grass is on the corner as the wall curves around and under the breakfast room windows. Burning Bush and another Hosta grow there, concealing the air conditioning units. Ornamental grasses, Mums and Boxwood grow under the breakfast room side windows. We have perennials in a garden on the opposite side of the house and in a small garden near the wet weather creek/ravine. J is planning a berm for the backyard. The rain gauge, in the photo below, has been dry a few days. I believe Summer has arrived in Missouri. The berm project is on hold until Fall.

My Mother moved around a lot. We moved often when I was growing up. When we moved Mother to an assisted care apartment, we thought her moving days were over. She told us, at that time, she had moved 28 times. Our spunky Mother fooled us. She found a way to move again, even though it was just down the hall, to another apartment!

My little projects are somewhat like Mother's moving. I seem to do a lot of them! I began another little project, this weekend. I hope I'm doing little projects until I am at least the age Mother was, when she figured out how to make that move down the hall.

We looked for a secretary desk, for a few years. I looked online, we visited antique shops and consignment stores, never finding the cabinet we had in mind. We decided we aren't getting any younger, so ordered a cabinet from the local furniture store. That was in March. Our cabinet/desk arrived last Wednesday. It's beautiful and exactly the piece we looked for.
My new project involves accessorizing the desk. The pieces seen in the photo are things I've gathered from around the house. The pheasant plate was a gift to J, from his brother. We found the two square trinket plates at a consignment store, several years ago. We have a few of the plates with a Black Lab, so I may use one of those. The jar is an antique or very old tobacco jar. The top book is a German to English-English to German dictionary, J and his brother used while they were stationed in Germany during the mid 1960's. I don't remember where we found the other book. It has an 1896 copyright. I'm looking around for a few more old books and an ornate magnifying glass. I have a vision for the desk. The vision also includes a different rug for the foyer. It may take awhile to gather what I need, but it will be a fun project.

The chair, sitting beside the desk, is the project finished, today. It's the $20 chair I wrote about awhile back. I found it at the above mentioned furniture store's annual sidewalk sale. It was in perfect condition. The seat was covered in a blue and cream check, that didn't work with my scheme, so I covered it in a cream fabric. Not long ago, I ordered the Zebra print for another project. I'm reworking a vanity stool. There was enough fabric, left from that redo, to cover the seat of the sidewalk sale chair.

I used a wooden bench with upholstered seat in the foyer until recently, when I used a backless settee. The first bench is in the bonus room/studio and the backless settee now sits at the end of the bed in our back guest room.