Painted the back door

Last week, we painted our back door. We have a steel reinforced door that leads to the back porch. The door had never been painted. It was primered, but, we never got around to painting it. I tossed around a couple colors in my head that I thought would look good. My husband and I decided that a hunter green color would look best. We have light tan siding with hunter green shutters. We bought the painting supplies at Menards. We bought Frogtape, paint rollers, paint pans, and Rust-oleum hunter green paint. Here are pictures of the supplies we used:

First, my husband took the door off of the hinges and put the door in the garage on saw horses. Then, I cleaned the door with a mild dish soap and water. I wiped the door dry and waited a couple of minutes to allow the door to completely dry. We masked off the glass on the door with the Frogtape, and added old magazine pages to cover the glass. Then I was ready to start painting.

I was nervous. My husband had always painted things around the house. This was my first attempt painting a door. Then, I was nervous about the paint color. What if it was too green or just didn't look right.

Enough worrying, let's get painting already.

Here is a picture as I started this project.

Oh my, its a little too bright green. But I finished with the first coat. I let the paint dry about 2 hours before I started the next coat. Oil based paint takes longer to dry than latex paint. This was good for me. If I made any mistakes, I could fix them. Good thing to know, since this was my first time painting a door. After 2 hours, I put on the second coat. I was still seeing some white bleeding through in spots. So, I waited another 2 hours. I checked the paint, still tacky to the touch. So, I waited another half an hour. Then, I painted the third coat of paint. We waited another 2 hours. By this time it was getting to be 11:00 at night. As soon as my husband could touch the door without leaving finger prints, he reattached the door to the hinges.

When he first hung the door, it was a shock. I wasn't too sure about the color. We were so used to the door being white. This was different. But as the paint cured and darkened a little more, I love the finished result.

On to another project! That was fun and nothing to be nervous about.

Everyone, thank you for reading

Have a great day!

~Kathy~



Breakfast

This was the first meal of the day:

I had Glutenfreeda Wheat free-gluten free Instant Oatmeal

Todays packet was apple cinnamon with flax

I added cinnamon

honey

almond milk

raspberries

I microwaved with water per the directions on the box. Then I added my own special ingredients. Yum

Everyone, thank you for reading

Have a great day!

Kathy

Grandmother's feeder

As a young child, I remember my grandmother's bird feeder. This bird feeder was hung just outside the kitchen window.My grandmother's favorite bird was the cardinal. These birds were allowed to eat from her feeder. In fact, if there was a cardinal in the feeder, she would announce, "Cardinal." We were not allowed to move when the cardinal was eating. It was kind of like the game freeze, only with red birds. However, sparrows were not allowed to eat from the feeder. My grandfather had attached a long wire to the bird feeder that ran through to the inside of the house. The wire went under the screen to keep it in place. Whenever a sparrow landed to eat from the feeder, my grandmother pulled on the wire. This pulling on the wire would jerk on the feeder, startling the bird and he would fly away. Now mind you no sparrow was ever harmed and often enough they had plenty to eat because my grandmother could not stand on duty 24/7. This was also a very delicate bird scaring operation, because my brother and I were rarely allowed to pull on the wire, we might break it.

Carrying on my grandmothers love of watching birds, I enjoy this activity also. I have 4 bird feeders in my yard. My family and I watch the birds from the kitchen window, the bedroom window, and we watch the front feeder from our front porch. Here are pictures of my feeders:





As I view the pictures, I notice that I need to fill them. I could fill them everyday, but the birds knock more than their fair share on the ground.

 It is fun to watch them eat from the ground under the feeders, as well.

Here are a few of the birds that we have seen eating from the feeders at any given moment:

robin

blue jay

dove

chickadee

red-bellied woodpecker

white-breasted nuthatch

wren

goldfinch

red finch 

I do not have a "sparrow scaring" wire attached to any of my feeders. All birds are welcome.

I have fond memories of my grandmother and her birds.

Everyone, thank you for reading

Have a great day!

Kathy

September 14, 2013

Last weekend at 1:30 in the morning, we had a terrible storm. Usually when it storms I enjoy getting out of bed and watching it. However, this storm was very creepy sounding. It sounded as though freight trains were driving down the street and over our house. Hail was pounding on the bedroom windows. My husband got out of bed to see what was happening. He informed me the power was out and the neighbors tree had fallen in our yard. So, of course, I had to check this out.

The rain had subsided by the time I viewed the damage. A limb from the neighbors tree had fallen across both the power line and cable line. My husband immediately called the power company. We went back to bed.

The next morning my husband had to get ready for work in the dark. We still did not have power. As he and my son sat on the front porch, before my husband, left for work the power came back on in the neighborhood. I have tried to insert a photo, when I learn how to do that I will insert the photo. Power returned to our house, but only in certain rooms. Of course, not in the bathroom. Also, we had no power to the refridgerater or lights to the basement. Luckily, we did not have to wait very long for the power company. They had power restored by 8:30.

My husband read in the paper that we had experienced a microblast of wind. A microblast of wind caused power outages, roofs torn off, and trees blown down. Be careful of microblasts of wind. This microblast pulled a flood lightbulb out of the socket and it landed a few feet away. We were very lucky that we did not have any more damage.

Everyone, thank you for reading.

Have a great day!

Kathy

Let's get started...

Lets get started    September 7, 2013

Hello everyone!

Today is a cloudy and hot day. Our summer has been hot, as in needing the air conditioner and hanging out in the pool. But then, it has been beautiful, as in windows open and cool. What more could you ask for.

Today I sit and write. I want to share what directions my life has taken since my husband and I decided to shut off the television in the living room. I would like to say that this was not an easy choice, however, when we could not find anything that piqued our interest on approximately 200+ channels, we just decided to push the off button. How easy is that. While the television is still in the living room, the cable is not hooked up to the television. The television is placed not as a focal point of the living room, but placed back in a corner tucked away. When we have company visit us, they are the focal point in the room now.

Wow, you think, what can you be doing? Aren't you bored?

Let me tell you, I have never been more busy. There are not enough hours in the day! In my posts to come, I will share how I occupy my days. I have rediscovered sewing, walking, bicycling, and reading great books. Come along with me as I try my hand at cooking. Not my best talent. Along with other experiences that I want to try.

Welcome to my channel!

~Kathy~