The Rest of My Week . . .

Here we are post-midweek for the end of June, almost the 4th of July. I've been working hard in the garden and refurbishing various outdoor furniture and decor items. Later this week, I get a day out. My two daughters promised to take me somewhere for my birthday. They took my husband/their dad out for a day back in late April. This week it's finally my turn. Yippee! I haven't had a full day off in ages. 

Our destination is the nearby farm community and small vintage town. We'll bring a picnic lunch to eat by the riverside. We've already begun to put some things together for our picnic. I roasted a whole chicken on Monday and carved then froze some of the breast meat to use in sandwiches. Since I can't have bread, I've bought a package of rice cakes that I can have. I also baked a batch of almond flour chocolate chip cookies and a batch of regular chocolate chip cookies to bring for dessert. If we have enough raspberries that are ripe, we'll bring those. And I've asked that we have some cold, cooked and marinated veggies. So, we'll cook and marinate those tomorrow. My daughters want to surprise me with a few other treats. In addition to the picnic lunch, we'll go into the antique and vintage shops, then visit a farm or two. 

Once we come home, I have a dinner in the freezer that will only need reheating. So it truly will be a day off for me.

Beyond this day out, I'm also preparing for our 4th of July celebration. My son and daughter-in-law join us every year for the 4th. We'll play some croquet, cookout over a fire, then set-off some fireworks. Our menu will be a simple one, the hot dogs, corn on the cob, watermelon, roasted baby potatoes and garlic scapes, sautéed garden greens and garlic, then s'mores for dessert.

What are your plans for the 4th of July? Have you come up with a menu yet? Will you be hosting or guesting? What's in your plans for the rest of this week?

I'll be taking the rest of this week off from blogging, but will post details about our day out Monday afternoon.

Wishing you all a wonderful rest of your week!

The most cost-effective way to improve your surroundings is to clean and repair what you already own.

This is true of the things you find to be necessities as well as the little luxuries that enrich your day-to-day living. 

the umbrella stand spent too many winters outdoors in the elements

I kept that thought in mind while I gave our patio umbrella the once over. We've had this umbrella for 15 years. The canvas covering had become dingy and stained, and the stitching had given way at stress points. The black paint finish on the stand had eroded from winter rainfalls and now revealed the concrete under that paint. The umbrella no longer looked attractive in my eyes.

I could just replace our old and worn patio umbrella. Instead, though, I chose to spend 2 afternoons bringing this one back to life. 

I sponged the cleaner on with a rag then hosed it off after 5 minutes.

Yesterday, I cleaned the canvas, laying it out flat on the brick patio and using an outdoor cleaner that is safe for many types of surfaces (30 Seconds Outdoor Cleaner). After rinsing the cleaner from the fabric, I stretched it out to dry overnight.

I used some of the Rust-Oleum spray paint
that I'm also using on the thrift store chairs.

With the canvas clean and dry, I set out to put this umbrella into order. I gave the concrete stand 3 coats of black spray paint. The concrete drank that paint right up.

In between coats of paint, I resewed the torn seams and hems of the canvas then fitted it back onto the umbrella frame.

Under the umbrella are 2 of the 4 free-pile chairs
that we picked up 2 years ago.

Once all coats of paint on the stand were dry, I plugged the umbrella back into its stand, canvas cleaned with seams repaired and the stand repainted.

I spent two partial afternoons cleaning and restoring this umbrella, perhaps about 4 hours total, with a cost of about $2 in supplies. Our umbrella may not be new, but it does have a new lease on life, with hopefully many more years of service for us.