Dirty Panda, Dirty Chair, Dirty Me

This was the grungiest of conquests I have had in a long time. Meet my new friends:



The little green circular sticker reads $10.00. What a steal for what must be an antique rocking chair. Look at that lovely dark wood -



Oh, wait a minute, what's this?



It appears I can easily write my name in this dark wood. Why, it's not the color of the wood at all that I'm seeing but decades and decades of dirt and dust. And if it's covered in dirt and dust, then it can only mean one thing -

IT'S A TREASURE!!!!

Just like my other pal here





That little red dot means he was 25 cents. This is because he's missing an ear. But who could resist a face like this?




So, after my garage sales and what nots on Friday, I had a lot of work to do.



And after a good scrub, Panda was ready to dry in the sun, nestled in his new garden home.




The chair, however, was a different story.



Now what to do? I could paint it I guess. Or maybe paint the cushion (which is ugly). I could sand it down to a more even, natural color. Whatever I do, I now have a project. I really thought all I needed to do was hose this baby off and I'd be rockin' by dinnertime. No such luck.

Today was a perfect day to hike about in the mountains. The wonderful thing about living in Denver is that you're never but 20 minutes by car to a beautiful mountain trail with loads of interesting rock formations, sunny meadows, cool shady nooks and (my favorite) bunches of colorful native wildflowers. A couple bottles of water and a quick slathering of sunscreen and you're set for exploring nature at it's best.


Bee Balm grove


Indian Paintbrush

Does anyone know what this is?



Such a pretty hike.


And when we got home, there were projects a plenty to work on. I sanded down the chair. So now it looks like this:


One more job sanding and then comes the stain.

And for bedtime, there's always my husband's hat to work on



(yawn) And I think it's about that time now. Goodnight to all!