Bench revisited

Have you all caught on to my trick of talking about doing a project, then months down the road when I finally get tired of looking at it and actually finish it I blog about it again?  It's kind of like the practice of recycling term papers.  Not that I would ever do that or anything…

Anyway.  The bench.  I decided on the green using a faux robin's egg in a faux nest as my inspiration.  The eggs aren't robin's egg BLUE – they are more of a green with just a hint of turquoise to it.  Ever so subtle.  I wanted the color to pop out a bit when you drive up to our house. 

At first I had every intention of painting the entire thing – the cast iron sides, as well as the wooden slats.  Then I got a look at how crusty the cast iron was and decided, quite sensibly, that I like the peely, rusty black just fine.

I'm not a great painter.  I'm not even a good painter.  I think we all know that by now but paint is pretty forgiving especially in this particular application.   I try hard, I really do, but my efforts pretty much suck. 

FIrst I did my prep work.  I put on my painting yoga pants and an old radio promo t-shirt.  I pulled my hair back into a pony tail and tied a scarf around my head.  You know how some people look really fetching with a scarf tied in their hair?  I don't.  I look like I'm off to scrub toilets in a sanitorium or something.

As I started primering the slats of the bench I managed to slop primer all over the cast iron part so I went back to my original plan to paint the entire thing.  And honestly after seeing just the slats primered I didn't like the high contrast. 

Painting the whole thing makes it a little more whimsical looking.  The cast iron wasn't as hard to paint as I thought.  I just used a really nappy little paint roller and it got most of the crevices.  What it skipped over I just touched up with a sponge paint brush.

Please visit next week when I actually get out and weed the flower beds….

Edited to add:  I meant to add this funny little story.  After I finished painting it and Rick helped me move it back into its spot, we stood back about 20 feet to admire it.  Belle, the wonder cat, strolled on over to us and started rubbing up against Rick's legs.  I looked down at her and said "Now Belle, don't go hopping up on the bench just yet – I just painted it and it's not completely dry."  She just looked at me and then marched right up to it and hopped up on the seat!  Wicked cat.  I know she was just being defiant.

2nd edited to add:  I forgot I was tagged by Elizabeth of Gossamer Wings.  I'll play along but I never tag people – of course if you WANT to be tagged by all means, knock yourself out.

1.  What I was doing 10 years ago:  Hmmm – I was living in a cute little cottage of a house in Los Altos, California.  Interestingly enough that little house was almost exactly the color of the bench above.  We kept meaning to paint it a more conventional color but only got around to it when we were about to move.  I think the color grew on me.

2.  What are five things on your to do list for today?  I'm going to list tomorrow's to do list since today is almost over.  1. Buy my nephew a birthday present.  2.  Wrap Father's day and said birthday gifts.  3.  Come up with either an appetizer or a salad for dinner.  4.  Drive down to my Dad's house.  5.  Drink lots of wine (what rule says a to do list has to be productive??)

3.  Snacks I enjoy:  Edamame, raw almonds, hummus, cheetos and hot tamales (whoops – the truth kind of came out there towards the end, didn't it?)

4.  Places I've lived:  Oh this is a good one.  I've lived in some interesting places.  Ankara, Turkey.  Bariloche, Argentina.  Chevy Chase, MD (people always look at me like I just made the name up when I tell them that).  And the best of all – California.

5.  Things I would do if I were a billionaire.  I would buy Carmel, CA.