Spring has arrived

I always like spring, even if it can be wet some times. All the new growth and the waking of plants after their winter's sleep, when they start to burst into life, always seems to have that affect on me, I'm not a lover of winter, the gloomy weather seems to rub off. But once you get out into the garden on a sunny day it brushes the cobwebs away.
Which is exactly what happened to the covered deck area, cobwebs were brushed away and the spring cleaning began in earnest, in excited anticipation of warm and sunnier days we decided that, like us, the place needed a bloody good clean up and de-clutter.
I haven't taken any before photos, because quite honestly no-one needs to see that kinds of mess. Joe had the Friday off making it a long weekend for him, a bloody long weekend he would no doubt say after we'd finished!
Michael and Natasha are back from their six week long honeymoon, where they spent time with family and friends in the UK and traveling around Europe, they got home on Wednesday. We let them have a rest day before Michael's help was required for some lifting. We had surplus furniture which has made it's way to their house, once that  was all gone we were able to get our home back into some kind of order.
First the family room, which is essentially a lounge, dining and kitchen space all rolled into one.

 

The new rug went down too, we'd held off because of muddy paws

 

Then is was time to tackle outside under the deck, the furniture was pulled off and the concrete washed, the dogs ad made muddy trails around the furniture, already we have more paw prints, courtesy of Dot who likes to dig.

We've had this furniture for years, it's lasted well, until now, Dot is a chewer, I have to make some sort of covers for the arms where she's chewed, little ratbag

 

If we do nothing else this year we want to at least paint the deck railings and balustrades.

 
And now I shall leave you with images from the spring garden, there are a few, enjoy

Ironing board makeover - the fun never ends does it!

I know, I know! Ironing, the chore that never gets done in this house, life's too bloody short to be stood for hours on end ironing. I iron as and when needed, I have tried to be a domestic goddess but any enthusiasm is short lived.

This doesn't mean that the iron and ironing board never get used..oh no! It gets used alright, for crafting, quilting in particular, you need an iron for those seams or the darned things just won't lie flat. 

We recently replaced the aforementioned iron, Joe used it and Webbered it (family saying, if something gets broken by a male member of the household, it's been 'Webbered') I can count on one hand the amount of irons I've owned, they live a long time here as they're hardly overworked.

The same can't be said for my ironing board.....

Pretty yuk, it had holes, sticky stuff from the iron on backing and there was no cushioning left. I'd been using some batting and backing off cut as a temporary measure but that wasn't ideal as it moved around a lot.

So using this tutorial as a guide I recovered it...

Some old blanket for cushioning

 ...the old cover..

  ...marking an edge to cut, cut the edge off BUT keep it in one piece all the way around....

...use the inner as a template...

 ....cut the new fabric, I gave it a 1/2 inch seam allowance but didn't really need it in the end..

 ..pin your cut off outer edge, which contains the drawstring, to the new fabric with right sides together, it's a bit fiddly and I nearly pinned it the wrong way! Then sew together....

 Place on the board and carefully pull the drawstring and secure.

 ta - dah!!!

...and if you've managed to get this far reading

The. Most. Boring. post. Ever!

Here is your reward....some cute critters

Michael & Natashas kitten Charmander

...a kamikaze kingfisher who flew into the window and knocked the wind out of his sails...

 he wasn't at all grateful, 

he flew off just after I took this photo.

I suppose I should go and finish the vacuuming.....