Tampering With Family Treasures

A long time ago we had a family reunion in Medicine Hat Alberta.
Be patient, I'm getting to those tables.
The reunion coincided with Hal's and my thirtieth wedding anniversary and the kids decided to make this a double celebration.

Son Scott agreed to find just the right gift and he'd bring it with im on his drive from Vancouver to Alberta.

Now we come to the tables.

Scott owned a car smaller than the not-yet-invented minicar and the tables took up all the trunk space. He and his then-wife squished themselves, two babies and everything else in the space that was left and successfully climbed up and over the rockies to arrive triumphantly intact.

Aready the tables had a history.

Fast forward a lot of years. Some of my kids have changed partners and Hal died but the tables and I are still intact, though we display wear and tear.

I'm not a plastic surgery type of person but I don't mind altering defenceless furniture.

Last week came the "OH my god, do I dare?" moment and once I found the courage to make the change I went searching for the right shade of oriental-looking red to hide the chips and dints on my beloved pals.

I'm not quite there yet but already the carvings pop out beautifully.
I removed the glass covering from the top for the better effect.

You can see the dings in this before shot.

So, a little more tweaking here and there and these babies will continue on in the family for the next owner to do her own alterations, and the history of how they came to be will be lovingly told.

Some Rules Are meant To Be Broken.

The rule is, don't muck around the garden until the soil dries out.
But--it's a gorgeous sunny day, a no-coats-required- day, so I slipped into my gun boots and clomped outside to pull out all the debris.
that would be the same debris I wasn't in the mood to clean up last fall. It was cold and gloomy then so I lacked incentive.
I know where things are planted so I stepped carefully.
Too bad I didn't stock up in yard bags first.
I'll do that the next rainy day.

Ten Days Ago...

Ten days ago the back yard looked like this.
Okay, it looked prettier and tidy and now the debris is revealed, but this is progress.

Now the snow is gone, perhaps permanently and the grass is making a run for green.
The chandelier collapsed under the archway but it will rise to face another season.

There was a glitch with the pond heater and all six fish died. I've had them for the almost six years I'll miss them terribly.
I've made a mental note not to name any replacements.

Funny thing--Despite the pond freezing rock solid, the plants that were encased in that iceberg survive and are sending up green shoots.
Mother Nature is truly amazing.