Painting tips

I have been working on repainting my daughters room and will be unveiling it slowly over the next few weeks.  But right now I wanted to talk about a great brush I found.

You know that as a single mom I have to do my projects as cheaply as possible.  I get the cheap rollers but there are a few place you can't skimp like with the paint and a good cut-in brush.

I have tried every possible trick to get a nice clean edge around the trim but nothing can beat going slow and cutting in with a good brush.  I have been so lucky that with this project I have my mother-in-law helping me and she introduced me to this brush.  It is great because the handle is soft and flexible and since I tend to tense up when concentrating this brush saves my hand. They also clean up so easily.  Of course I spent way to much at Home Depot.  I am going to buy some extras on Amazon.com to keep on hand you should too.  It will save you time and help me buy paint so I can start the boys room.

The kids and I rock it out!

My morning started with a simple task....bring the dog outside. That lead to me seeing the wood behind the garage which the neighbor had asked for. After I pulled out his wood I decided to dig out the compost that was beginning to rot the garage.  That in turn lead to needing somewhere to put the dirt I had dug out.  After I filled a few holes in the backyard I decided to make some more holes by digging up the rock path on the side of the house that was pretty useless.

 This created a pile of stones that were much larger than I thought they would be. At this time I enlisted the kids to fill in the holes and decided to make a rock wall for the front flower beds which were plain......

BEFORE

AFTER

Of course all of this work has only made the steps look more shabby.....but that story is for another day.

Garden Guilt

My neighbor cut me head or lettuce out of his garden today.  It was great but it does give me some garden guilt. It is not enough pressure that my yard has to look good but it has to be fruitful too. Well I did plant a tomato plant.  I also had three strawberries on our 1 strawberry plant but they sat on the ground and got moldy.  I inherited a rhubarb plant with the house but I had to cut it back because it was limp. I also bought a blueberry bush but I am told that it won't produce because I only have one.  The neighbor told me he has some bushes so I wonder if mine is close enough to pollinate with his???  So alright I don't  have lettuce but I am not doing too bad for myself considering this is my first year with a yard.

Lawnmower 2 - Single Mom 1

To catch you up... I finally got a lawnmower for my birthday (thanks mom!) I took the time read (almost) all the instructions...got it set up...mowed the first row of foot high grass and promptly hit a huge rock and broke it.

No, I didn't just dent it or scratch the blade...The lawnmower was spitting sparks like an angry dragon!

I thought about bringing it back and saying that it came that way.  But didn't. Not because my morals got the best of me... as usual it was impatience that did.

I still don't know if I did the most damage to the shaft or the blade but either way I couldn't bend or hammer or wrench it back into place.   The blade was scraping on the housing pretty bad, so I did the most logical thing and bent the housing out of the way.  I am not sure what purpose that bent edge on the housing has but I hope it is not too important because mine is pretty much straight now. I am a little concerned that it seems to be shaking more then it should... but what should I expect from an off balanced mower??? :)  It got the job done and maybe shook a few extra calories out of me.... hey a girl can dream.

I would call it a victory of brain over brawn but even I can acknowledge that it was a pretty dumb fix... As usual Do Not Try This in Your Home!



The lawnmower put up quite a fight and took its share of blood, sweat and tears from me (literally) It may have gotten me twice but I still won in the end.

Repairing Your Outdoor Power Equipment (Trade)
Handbook of Lawnmower Repair
Repair Maintain and Store Lawnmowers and Garden Equipment
The Complete Handbook Of Lawnmower Repair
Final product: Its not glamorous... but it is neat