Mum's Bedside Cabinet

Greetings lovely friends & readers

Here at the bottom of the world we welcome August as our last official month of Winter ... Spring is just around the corner dear friends 💚

Image from Pinterest

Last Thursday I had hoped to start pruning my roses but the weather had other plans & it turned out a dreadful day, cold, windy & constant rain.  I decided to drag Mum's old bedside Cabinet inside & paint it.

I remember when Mum bought this bedside cabinet (that is what we call it but some may call it a chest of drawers) - she was so excited as she also purchased a matching bed headboard at the same time.  

When Mum moved to the Resthome she took this cabinet with her & it sat beside her bed for the 15 months she was in Care.  

When Mum passed away & my brother & I cleared her room out, he took this on the back of his Ute to deliver to the local Hospice Shop ... I followed him all the way & before he could drop it off I put it in the back of my vehicle.  Though I had no use for it in mind, I am so pleased I did grab it.

I'd been putting off painting it for nearly a year now.  I'm not sure why but I imagined it might be a horrid thing to paint.  I could not have been more wrong - it painted up beautifully.  I used a roller, the same as I did when I painted Mum's Glory Box *here*..  Two good coats & the coverage was amazing - the same colour chalk paint - Linen ... rapidly becoming a favorite.  

Waiting to be Waxed                                                  Waxed but not quite dry

I had some transfers left over from the Glory Box revamp so I decided to use them on the drawers.  These packs of Re-design transfers are not cheap but I save & use every single leaf, flower & offcut - nothing is wasted.

I bought 3 new handles from Mitre 10 & love the slightly antique look of these.  

I am so in love with my bedside cabinet & the drawers glide like magic - I am used to vintage drawers where you usually have to put your full body weight behind opening them (!!) 😉

I have started to cut the brown off before I photographed it - it was such a sorry sight.

Last week I had to go to the Warehouse to buy a tarp for our firewood.  As I was walking to the checkout there was a large display of half dead ferns greatly reduced.  I picked up this ladder fern & went to pay for it ($5) - when the checkout girl rang it up she said it was originally $27.00 !! 

I had this pot on my deck with a dead plant in it - the handles had some rust spots on but I was able to remove these & give it a good scrub.  The pot is metal, not plastic but I loved its unusual shape & texture.

The poor fern had so many dead leaves - I gave it such a haircut,  then repotted it into this large black plastic pot which sat perfectly in the white urn.  I applied the last of the transfers from my bedside cabinet to the urn & sat the pot inside it.  

I am really enjoying the addition of houseplants to my bedroom & they seem to do so well as the room gets wonderful afternoon sun when the weather is nice. 

I was delighted to see my white moth orchid finally flowering after its repot in * this post *.  This one has not flowered for 3 or 4 years now so it was extra exciting.

Remember in *this post* where I accidentally broke off the large stem of buds on my pink orchid?  Well the smaller stem underneath has valiantly tried to put on a bit of a floral display.  The stem snapped off where the arrow is.

A few flowers picked this morning before the rains came ... a friend told me to dip my hellebore stems in boiling water before putting them in a vase.  I am hoping this stops them wilting as I've not had great success with having them indoors before.

It's a cold rainy day here today & even though the fire is roaring Madam Pip has found the least comfy place she can to go to sleep & I think perhaps her tongue shows just what she thinks of it all 😉

Yesterday I received a wonderful surprise package in the post. I'd entered an online competition ages ago for Resene Paints whereby you had to submit photos of any things you'd painted for your garden using Resene Paints.  I can barely remember what I submitted now but I think it was all the things I paint with the Red Hot Chile colour & also the Green Paddock colour.  Whilst I didn't win they were so delighted with my entry that they sent me a $100 Resene Voucher which arrived along with this paint tin, filled to the brim with Smarties choccies!!                                          Well it was filled to the brim ... I blame that ginger girl cat 😉😲

Thank you dear friends, for your ever-welcome visits here today,

Wishing you a wonderful rest-of-the-week,

With much love & friendship to you all,