You know how it is… you’re sitting around one day, having
coffee with a friend (me), and you say to her: “I really like the garden bench
Jon built for you. Wish I had one.” And that friend (me) says, “Yes! You could
certainly use one!” Be careful what you wish for, my dear friend RoseAnn. J
That was on a Thursday morning about a month ago. The very
next Saturday, hubby and I leave to run a few errands. As we’re driving down
our street, 2 houses down I see my neighbor has put an old garden bench out at
the end of her driveway, a signal to all of us who live in my little city that
it’s a freebie. It’s adorable- dirty and a bit worn, but adorable!! It looks
like a little picket fence with birdhouses on either side- a bit whimsical
Victorian. I immediately text her and
say “I want it! Put it back from the street, please. I’ll pick it up when we
get back.” She tells me it’s wobbly and in bad shape, and I say please let me check
it out first.
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| yeah, it needs some work! |
A couple of hours later, hubby and I walk down and look at
it. Yes, it needs some minor repair and a lot of TLC. Hubby looks at me and
says “What are you going to do with this?” He knows me well enough to not try
talking me out of it; he just can’t figure out where it will fit since he built
one for me a few years ago. I just smile, and we carry the bench between us and
get it to our house. I take several pictures of it and send them to RoseAnn. “Look!”
I say. “I found a project for us to paint. What do you think?” She replies, “I
love it!” I smiled. She had no clue it was hers. So I text her again: “Will it
work as a garden bench for you?” And I get a response: “Yes!” and “Yea!” And I smiled again. J
On Sunday, hubby helps me tighten some areas on the bench by
putting screws in to replace nails. It takes him about 15 minutes. Then I grab
some sandpaper and a rag and start sanding and wiping. When that’s done, I
apply the first coat of primer. The bench is starting to look very cute!
Another good coat of primer, and the bench is ready for RoseAnn to lend her
artist’s touch.
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| primed, waiting for RoseAnn's touch |
RoseAnn comes over on Monday morning, paints in hand. I love
to watch RoseAnn paint. She is an artist, my friends, a real live,
honest-to-goodness artist. She can paint anything and it looks like it’s
supposed to!! That doesn’t always happen for me, plus I must have a pattern-
very little freehanding from me! She’s studying the bench, and we’re discussing
various ideas about how to paint the birdhouses. She takes a pencil and starts doing some light sketches on the
birdhouses. I grab a chair and watch her work.
She spends the day painting her bench. Once she sketches the
idea on the birdhouses, she grabs her paints and starts freehanding. The
sketching was just to get the idea cemented in her mind; the painting will be
its own process as she works. Honestly, sometimes I think it’s more fun to
watch an excellent painter paint than actually paint myself! When RoseAnn gets
in her zone, there is no stopping her. She will paint for hours until she is
done. I watch for a while, and then get up and go do a few things inside. I
check on her now and then, but mostly I leave her to it, letting her creativity
flow with no noise or interruptions from nosy little old me. I offer her food
and drink, but she’s content to just paint and paint. By midafternoon, she’s
done, and it looks absolutely beautiful.
I still need to paint a white coat or two of regular paint
(remember, it just has primer on it) and then it’s done. I do that during the next week and by the next
weekend, it’s finished. Everything is dry, and it’s ready to go to RoseAnn’s
where she can put on a good coat of varnish to protect it. On Sunday, hubby and I load it in our van and
drive it over. In one week's time, trash to treasure!
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| ta-da!!! |
Oh, and in case you're wondering, here's a picture of the bench hubby built for me several years ago. It's well-used and loaded to the hilt, lol. Inside that cabinet door on the bottom is a pullout drawer filled with potting soil. And yes, that's a black rat on the work space under the shelf... fortunately, he's not real, just a Halloween decoration that I liked so much I've kept it out all year!
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| hubby builds me the best stuff! |
This was such fun! I love the idea that the Universe was
listening to RoseAnn’s conversation with me that day, and that I was on the ball and able to answer her request
so suddenly. RoseAnn is one of those people who works so hard and does so much
for everyone else; it was the greatest pleasure to do something for her. The
bench now has a home on her front porch, and it just looks perfect!
