Monday, June 22, 2015

New Life for Old Plastic Patio Table

Here are some photos of our sad old used to be white patio table which is now splotched with grey, and the special spray paint that will make it all pretty, like the chair behind it. The chair was old and white streaked with grey that couldn't be removed. So I bought this paint in Blue Hyacinth color which to me is rather purple/blue. I painted an old white chair two years ago and it still looks brand new and colorful. A blogger told me about this Krylon Fusion For Plastic spray paint. No sanding or priming. Works on metal and wood too, and it says wicker too.
Now here is the table all pretty and blue/lavender, which matched the chair.
The china bunny is adopted from Goodwill and sits in the flowers on our patio.
I hate to throw away an ugly old item of plastic furniture; imagine it in the city dump, lasting forever and a day. So now it has a new life and isn't wasted.


Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Nature walk near our house

This sign is at the beginning of the nature walk I took this week. Are these signs everywhere, or just here, I wonder.
This is the new bridge that is for walkers and bicyclists and it is a great short cut to two areas of town separated by a steep gulch.
I love oak trees, especially old ones with their dramatic curved limbs.
And here is an interpretive sign about the nature you can see on the walk.


That is a nice place to spend time and I plan to return often.

Sunday, June 7, 2015

Fun books from library book sale

Oh happy day. Saturday, May 16, I happened to go to the downtown library and they were having a huge sale of books in a large parking lot. It was the end of the sale and they said I could fill a bag with books for five dollars. I put ten books in the bag, so that is fifty cents each friends.
The top of the pile book is Passionate Nomad: The Life of Freya Stark by Jane Fletcher Geniesse. Stark was a daring adventurer especially in wild areas of the Middle East.
One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson.
Straight Man by Richard Russo.
Village School by Miss Read. I read two in this wonderful series about life long ago.
Mollie Peer by Van Reid. The first in the series is humorous. This is the second.
Sight Hound by Pam Houston.
Half Broke Horses: A True Life Novel by Jeannette Walls. Author of The Glass Castle which I read.
The Racketeer by John Grisham.
The Lady in the Palazzo: An Umbrian Love Story by Marlena de Blassi. A memoir of a husband and wife buying a home in Italy. My husband and I read many ex-pat memoirs by people who move from one country to another. We like humorous ones especially, like Victoria Twead's.
Telex From Cuba by Rachel Kushner. "The first novel to tell the story of the Americans who were forced out of Cuba in 1958." When I grabbed this at the sale I assumed it was a memoir; it does sound good even as a novel.
To enhance my mood even more, the beloved Greek Festival was across the street and I bought my husband and I each a baklava dessert. The festival is held on the grounds of the Greek church, and those Greek ladies and the men too sure know how to cook delicious food.
In the past two weeks my husband and I gave about 20 books we already read to our favorite neighborhood Little Free Libraries. We aim to give away as many as we buy to keep our book collection within limits.
I am a retired librarian and I have written two books, and we both love reading. It is almost an addiction; I think we are biblioholics.
   ADDED NOTE: As of October 6, 2015 I have not read even one of these 10 books. My TBR stacks are large, as you can imagine.