The Kohlmans

The deck's a done deal. And we love it. Brad just commented the other day, after it had rained, that it's a little weird to see water on the deck. Before it had soaked into the wood immediately - pretty much no matter how much rain we got. Before... (yes, it was also full of junk, mostly belonging to our dog) After..... the steps and the balusters are a slightly different color because they are new. It was totally not purposeful, but we hear that "two-tone" decks are in. :) Yes, that Cheezit box is now in the recycling. It was part of some spray painting operations a while back. Sometimes I like to just look at it. Because, when I'm admiring the work we've finished, I don't have to think about all the work that's on my to-do list - like cushions for the deck furniture so we can actually sit out on the deck and enjoy it. One thing at a time, right?

I've been checking off a few things in the past few days. I'm not sure why we've had this table in our garage for the last three years, but with our deck overhaul, I decided it was time to put it to use. I was going to just paint it white, but it wasn't covering very well, so I pulled out leftover paint from our hall bathroom. It will tie in perfectly with the fabric I picked out for the patio furniture cushions. I even got out some sandpaper and distressed it a little.   I pulled this old organ stool off the farm. I've been working on it for three summers. I had finally given up hope and decided to give it a coat of stain, paint over it, and distress it a little bit.   Once I let it dry, though, the extra dark stain looked pretty good, so I decided to leave it at that. I'm not sure what to do with a random organ stool, but it looks pretty... The feet are still a little rusty, but I'm calling this one done. We also finished the ...

Yesterday we completed the first of my 2012 goals. We made laundry detergent. I got the recipe from Jamie; it's found at this website . But, it's so simple I'll post it here, too. 1 c. Borax 1 c. washing soda (I had to go to three stores to find this... it's in the laundry aisle; there was only Arm & Hammer brand) 1 c. grated soap (I used Ivory) Stir well. Use 1 tablespoon per load. We used it on a load of towels yesterday, and, by all appearances, it works great. (I wanted to use it on something that I didn't care if it got spots or anything, just to be safe for the first load.) We have an HE machine. I didn't do a cost breakdown (maybe I will eventually), but I spend less than $10 on all the "ingredients." We made two batches and have enough of all three for at least one more. There's enough Borax and washing soda for several more. This one is a definite success... Sometime soon I want to make my own all-purpose cleaner ...