What have I been up to?

Well, spring has sprung which means time to do all sorts of home improvement tasks. Painting the porch is the first of many this summer. Beings we had a new baby last summer, we did not do much around the house or yard. The porch really suffered not getting it's yearly paint job. So I started it last Monday.

Before I started work.

After I sanded and scraped.

After the first coat of paint.

I am using Glidden Porch and Floor Polyurethane Oil Gloss. When I do the final coat, I will be adding some sand like substance to make the steps less slippery, and maybe more durable. Unfortunately, the weather has not cooperated with more coats of paint since last Monday. Perhaps one evening this week, we can throw another coat on it.

Good times!

Introducing . . . . .

Mr. Belvedere. Oh how I love him!

Clementine named him Mr. Belvedere. I ordered him for us a few weeks ago. I thought he would be helpful for Clementine. She gets up every morning early to sweep and mop as well as do other cleaning and preparing for the children. And now she has the added work of getting Hester up and going before the other little cherubs arrive. I thought if he did an OK job mopping the floors each night, that would be good enough. We could do more of the deep cleaning on the weekends. I have been surprised at how good of a job he really does do. The floors are clean, not streaked and even the edges look good. Thanks for the help, Mr. Belvedere!

PS. We did not choose that floor. It was here when we moved in.