Spring Cleaning-OUTSIDE!

Whew!  I thought getting the inside of the house in order was hard-but it was nowhere near as hard as the outside has been this last week!  After hours of raking, picking up sticks, clearing brush and gaining a few blisters, hubby and I finally finished last night!

It's a good thing too-because these little guys were desperate for some fresh air and sunshine.  Too bad all they got today was a whole lot of rain and thunder boomers!  

Yesterday I pulled out all of our outside furniture to access what we're going to keep and what needs to be replaced.

I was so close to throwing away this old wicker loveseat.  I didn't even bother putting it out last year, because I just didn't have time to fix her up.  But, in the end, I just didn't have the heart to let her go.

This old gal was given to me by my mom years ago. (HUGE SENTIMENTAL VALUE) She's held up pretty well too-but this year-there is some definite TLC needed to brighten her up.  

I used a soft bristled brush and got rid of all the loose paint-and sanded down some of the rougher spots with  fine grit sandpaper. Once I was done with the loveseat, I realized one of our rocking chairs for the front porch-also needed some love.

I sanded it down with fine grit sandpaper too-and then removed the worn seat cover.

 I was all ready to give everyone a few coats of paint, when the skies began to get SCARY dark.  I'm hoping (weather providing) that I can paint them tomorrow. 

After further inspection on our chairs for the deck- I realized they too-needed an update!

The cushions are pretty faded from last summer-so they too will need to be replaced. Since there is no $$ in the budget for new ones-I decided I'd need to find a way to make my own!

I don't sew (don't even get me started on that) so, thankfully I found this blog, which gives a great tutorial on how to cover all these nasty cushions-WITHOUT sewing!  WOOP WOOP!

I know we need the rain so the ground can thaw and everything can green up- but it sure set hubby and I behind a bit on our outside work today.

Oh well-we kept busy- don't worry!

  The first weekend in May-our community is having a city wide garage sale- so guess what we did while it was pouring rain outside? 

After spending the entire afternoon sorting through all of our STUFF in the basement- hubby swears I'm a hoarder!  I disagree!  I simply 'collect' a lot of ....stuff.

Stuff-by the way- that I had NO problem getting rid of today!  Those lucky folks who stop by our house-are going to leave VERY, VERY happy!

Happy Saturday everyone! Hope you are all having a WONDERFUL weekend!