Holiday Preparations

For all you Americans out there, what have you all done to prepare for the big holiday tomorrow?  Anything?  Is everybody planning a traditional barbecue, either en famille or with friends?  As it's not a holiday over here, we'll be doing our annual thing on Sunday, so I still have a few days to get things spruced up.  And sprucing up is definitely what I've been doing the past few days!

I have deemed that this summer is the time to catch up on a number of overdue projects, rather than get involved with anything major and/or new.  We had so many high hopes of developing our property when we bought it, and we've had more setbacks than advances, especially in the past couple of years, that I've kind of given up on even mundane things, and now they are all getting out of hand.

Almost like new again

The first thing I tackled was cleaning our beautiful barbecue.  I used to get it all shined up and pretty every year at the beginning of the season; but now it's been a couple of years, and that really builds up crud.  Instead of just polishing up the exterior and brushing the grills clean, I took it all the way apart, scraped and scrubbed every inch, and now it looks beautiful!  Clean enough to eat off it!  I didn't take a before picture, dirty grills aren't very exciting, but isn't it pretty now?

Shiny, sparkling, and ready for company

Pretty, but drab

Now that the barbecue is all set for company, I tackled our terrace settee.  We've had it for years, and I've been lazy and just let it naturally weather.  But when I recently stained a friend's outdoor furniture, and saw how it all came to life, my own looked rather depressing.

In need of some brightening up

Not the funnest job in the world

As you might assume, getting all these pieces all sanded was a real major job.  I started out with my friend's electric sander, then I got into the hard places with a hand sander.  No pictures of me, as I worked in a bathing suit, which is not a pretty sight these days, and I ended up totally covered in sawdust. 

When I finished, I hosed off and jumped in the pool to cool down!  Now installing that was one of those super major projects that took all summer a few years ago, but it was definitely a worthwhile endeavor.

When I went to apply the stain I've had for years, I couldn't find it.  I thought I knew right where it was, but of course it wasn't there.  We have so many construction projects in motion, and supplies could be most anywhere, but this stain was nowhere logical.  I was really disappointed; I'd looked so forward to having this set look like new again.

If we can't find it next week, I guess we'll just have to buy some more, and figure that if I keep up like I should, it will all get used eventually.  As I recall, the dry wood soaks it up pretty quickly, so I'll probably go through a lot this time anyway.  While it won't look so pretty for this weekend, my guests have never refused to come back after being forced to sit on it all in its weathered condition, and I think it looks nicer now than it did this morning, don't you?

Transformed!

A brighter, happier look

Every time I have a party, I stress that we just keep looking so rustic, not at all with the class that is in my mind.  But some people like rustic, and many of my friends live in apartments and are just so thrilled to spend an afternoon in my garden up in the mountains.  I need to appreciate my blessings more.

So, there are two projects done (or almost) that I've needed to do for several years.  I think I'm off to a good start this summer (which is actually just now getting here after a cold wet June)!