My Parents' Patio Re-Design, Finale

My parents came home this afternoon, and we had almost finished the patio project. All we need now is lighting, mounting fixtures for the wall art, and wind chimes (must have wind chimes).

Here are the pictures of the finished project:

Dexter approves.

My Parents' Patio Re-Design, Part Three

Yesterday, my parents went out of town for a sort of family reunion. The moment they were out the door, we did this:

We cleared away the furniture and swept the concrete. We then scrubbed with our old favorite: bleach and water. 

 

We painted the couch and ladderback chair. All of this furniture my Mom bought at various garage sales over the years, with the exception of my Dad's rocking chair, which I bought with my first paycheck from Walgreen's in 1991. It's actually my Mom's rocking chair, but my Dad sits in it. I used custom-mixed Olympic exterior paint for the blue and Valspar Cherry for the red chairs. 

For the metal accessories, I decided to use spray paint. I took apart the little glass-and-metal table to repaint, only to find that the glass wouldn't come out of the metal frame. 

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Not a problem. I cut out a mat of wrapping paper, taped it over the glass, and painted the metal frame with the exterior paint. 

In the next post, I'll include the photos from the completed patio project. Click here to see them!

My Parents' Patio Redesign, Part Two

My Mom's Love Language is Acts of Service. My Dad's Love Language is Quality Time. When we decided to re-decorate my parents' patio, we realized that it was a way to show them love through both of their Love Languages.

We started by cleaning all of the wooden patio furniture. I used a bleach/water solution in a spray bottle. Fortunately, the weather had done a good job of smoothing all the edges, leaving the surfaces soft and porous enough for painting.

My Mom said she liked these cushions on a random shopping trip, so I went back and bought them:

And we used these cushions as the basis of our color scheme. We wanted something bright and lively, that would also incorporate my parents' favorite colors: red for my Mom, yellow for my Dad (and blue for me, just because).

(Painted with the blood of our enemies)

After painting these chairs, it proceeded to rain every day for three weeks. Oh yeah, welcome back to Texas, where the weather does whatever the heck it pleases.

To see the next step on our patio re-do, click here. 

2015 Poem A Day, Day Twenty Seven

Prompt for Day Twenty Seven:

For today’s prompt, write a looking back poem. Of course, some people just glance over their shoulders, and others stop and turn all the way around. Some look back in time and weigh their successes and failures, evaluate things they could do better. Some claim they never look back. Whatever your stance on looking back, capture it in a poem today.

This is for my parents, who have been married for forty years. I'm trying to reflect how their love has grown and changed over time. I hope I hit somewhere close to the mark.

A Year, A Life

our love, in barefoot splendor,

traipsing through thick viny trails

cut off shorts and halter tops

dandelion born on gales

our love in springtime formals,

reveling in orchid blooms

a rich and gauzy fabric

full of softly fragrant plumes

our love, dressed in winter's clothes,

bundled tight against the cold,

a woolly warmth protects us,

never let the chill take hold

now our love is autumn's cloak

gathered across our shoulders

at campfire's side, side by side,

while life's long ember smolders

Never start...

If anyone ever had a need for reasons why they should never start smoking, let me tell you this: withdrawal from nicotine sucks. My Aunt Ava has been irritable, nauseated, itchy, angry, and dizzy all day. Normally, this is the kindest and most gentle soul. Today, however, she told us all to "Shut up and go to hell." This is just day two.

I mean, look at her.

She's hilarious. I hate to see her going through this.

We are exhausted. We followed her around all day. Hopefully she will feel better tomorrow.

2015 Poem A Day, Day Seven

Prompt for Day Seven:

It took an entire week to get to our first “Two for Tuesday” prompt this year, so I’m going to make it the one that I run every single year:

1. Write a love poem. Yeah, I said a love poem, or, if you don’t like that option…
2. Write an anti-love poem. I know there are some haters out there; go ahead and hate on love and/or love poems if that’s your thing.

Feeling ambivalence toward today's prompt. Having just ended a devastating relationship, I am torn about my feelings toward love. My boyfriend of two years bailed on us in Seoul, but then dragged out our relationship long-distance style for two months before I finally ended it on the night of my Grandmother's funeral, when he blew off being there for me to go to karaoke with his brother.

And yet, I loved him. I was wholly devoted to him, and to our relationship. It took a long time for me to understand that he just didn't feel the same way.

All of that said, I still believe in love. I'm an All You Need Is Love kind of person, and I probably will always be. So I don't want to write an anti-love poem, nor do I want to write a love poem. I'm well aware that there are myriad forms of love, and that on the non-romantic love front I am replete with glee.

So here is my love poem, short and sweet:

Love

All you need is love
and peace, and understanding
and chocolate, too.