It is finished!

WhooHoo - done - May's accomplishment.  I built a swing for my hubby and I.  It's fun!

The end of May looms upon us!

I've loved this year so far.  It's ups, downs, good times and sad, have created a strong cord that will weave itself into the tap-e-story (yes, there's that word again,) of my Fabulously Ordinary life!

Someone said to me the other day that my journey this year is starting to become more about "the blog" than about what I am doing for myself.

SO...

I will post the final photos of my swing chair and I will continue to put up highlights of my story as I go along just so that I can finish what I started...

On the swing side of things...

My 14 year old, one-eyed little dog, Sebastian, sits cuddled into my arms, as my husband and I sit swinging softly on the chair, looking out over the forest and enjoying a yummy cup of freshly made coffee every morning, before he goes to work.  P.S.  Over the last 3 weeks, I have found my husband sitting on the swing often - He loves it.


TO ALL MY READERS, remember that it's NOT just me who has an incredibly Fabulously Ordinary Life - we ALL do!

YOU DO!  You have an incredible story to tell.  A life rich with adventures that you live EVERY day.  As humans, we are generally social creatures.  Reach out to people around you - those you know and those you don't - ENCOURAGE THEM.  Share the F.A.C.T.S (Focused Acts of Compassion, Time and Service) with them.

Share your stories with one another and most of all - LIVE YOUR BEST LIFE - you only get ONE chance to go around, so step out and take every chance you can, to have an adventure - even if the adventure is dancing while you sweep or skipping through the garden - take it.

The FACTS of April

As I look at people I have great admiration for in life, they all seem to have one thing in common – a serving heart - Mother Theresa, Billy Graham, our missionaries – to name a few.  Most of these folks live or lived in places we would never dream of visiting or they may travel far and wide to serve others.  So often we perceive these people to be heroes of the faith.  The truth is, being a hero of the faith, is the person who faithfully follows Christ on a daily basis, wherever they are.   It is the prayer-warrior who faithfully prays for us whether there is trouble or joy in their own life.  It is the person fighting for freedom from sin that is entangling them.  It is the one who stumbles and gets up to continue the race.      The heroes of our faith make up the Body of Christ. 

There is no ONE member in the Body of Christ who needs less attention than the other – for ALL are equal in the eyes of God.  The person who comes to church faithfully to honour God deserves as much attention at the person who is paid to come to church.  Those who serve faithfully in the church need to be blessed in all things as much as the neediest person in the church.  In other words, the level of devotion to Christ, does not make that member of the Body any more important or any less important than the other members of the Body of Christ.

Have you ever heard of Random Acts of Kindness?   Well, there is a new one out…  Focused Acts of Compassion, Time and Service.

F.A.C.T.S.   (I know it’s a new acronym, ‘cause I made it up!)

During this past month of April, I sent out a request asking if I could serve people for one hour.  Then each day, for 30 days I went to the individual person’s home and did whatever they requested of me for one hour.

My rules for this exercise were:

ONE:  The person had to want me to come to serve them.  I didn’t want to try to convince or persuade the person to want help.

TWO:  They had to have a reason for wanting me there.  In other words, I wanted them to think about the consequences of what was going to happen and have some sort of anticipation of how the hour would go.  I wanted them to put some thought into it.

The results were fascinating.  I watched some people around me, humble themselves to receive me, whilst others excitedly waited for the opportunity to have some help.

The requests were numerous. Gardening, cooking, house-work, writing recipes, visiting “shut-ins”, praying, garage-work, cake decorating classes, packing away winter goodies, playing games and teaching the iPad’s features were all a part of my service experience.

What were just some of the things I learned?  I learned that 30 days in a row is hard work.  I learned that I wasn’t the only one who needed to be humble in order for this to work.  I realised HOW MANY people were thankful for the help and time that I gave.  I realised that submitting myself to others was like oiling the cogs of a hard-working machine.  I learned that giving this much stretched me and I learned how refreshing it was to my spirit.  I learned to be faithful.  I learned to take my family less for granted.  I learned how generous my family is.  I stopped my whining…

Rules for following The F.A.C.T.S. of life.  (Focused Acts of Compassion, Time and Service).

Do not choose only those you love and find like-mindedness with – you will NOT grow and you will NOT learn.

Serve those that you DO love and find like-mindedness with, so that your heart and soul will be fed.

Serve your children – and discover who they are.

Serve your spouse – it’s humbling.

When serving, do not question what they want YOU to do for them – you do not know what portion of their soul needs to be fed – God does.

Pray that God changes your heart as you serve the person and that HE changes the hearts of those you serve as his will desires, so that you both may know the unending power of God’s love, mercy, forgiveness, grace, compassion and faithfulness.

I wanted to have each person KNOW that THEY were important and that THEY are incredibly valuable to me and to the cross of Christ.   The truth is we all have the ability to serve in some capacity.  Serving, although it is a GIFT to some, it is also a choice we make.

 

 

 

 

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Had to laugh at myself yesterday...

Still ferociously going at it!  Changing things up as I go along...

 

Had to laugh at myself yesterday...

 

Baked a cake, built a chair, did the chores, taught the kids predicates, pronoun contractions....  Huh!  I guess I'm one of those homeschooling weirdo Mums!

 

 

 

Oil Based Gel

Wow, I used this gel to paint up the wood and seal it.  It's all in one gel and even though it is a SMALL tin, I have barely used any.  It is FANTASTIC!  Wow!  You literally use a quarter of what you would use, if you used liquid.  I really am impressed.  It did take 24 hours to dry though, considering it is oil based.

The wheels are coming along nicely.  Thank you!  :)

Now I just need to try and assemble it. 

Working on the base

 

 

 

Painting

Am starting to paint this morning.

I started on the wheels last night.  Oh boy!  LOL - First pattern/wheel didn't work - but I am happy as I am going to use it to learn to make the pattern for the next one.

It's going to look great!  I am SOOOOO excited!

Final Frame

Oi!   The frame has finally come together.  I decided to keep the short seat and lengthen it by adding length to the base.  Also, I have changed the seating planks to be on the back and visa versa.

Now to start designing the wheels I want for the arms!

Oh Boy...

My camera battery has gone flat...
I've lost the precious battery recharger!!!
The base of my chair is too short - I mean, if we sit on it at this stage, we won't tip off - but we sure will be balancing on the edge.  Mmmmm, maybe I should leave it that way...

Live life to the full - sit on the edge?  LOL!  What a great way to wake up every morning - Balancing on the edge of a chair with hot coffee! 

Nah - maybe, I'll just undo it and fix the bottom.

SO - with the camera thing - a bag full of sorries to everyone out there - but I shall continue to look for this "dern thang" so that I can get the pictures downloaded. 

Endless sanding...

Sanding down the frame base.

 

 

I really am having a bit of fun with this...  Just wish I could stop the regular life and homeschooling for one day, so that I could just finish my project...

 

Mmmm, but then I would want to stop for the next project,

 

and the next,

 

and the next....

 

Getting an outline

There's a general idea of features that I would like at the end and bevelling that I would like to try.

 

I don't really see anything in my head at the moment about the completed and final product.  I did draw an outline of a thought at one stage, but then threw it out and decided to just change things up as I go along.

 

 

 

Red Cedar

I chose red cedar for my project.

 

 

And am starting to cut my base...

 

 

 

So today I start!

I have for years wandered past those garden swings and thought about how it would look out in our garden.  Sometimes, I've gotten close to considering a purchase and actually sat in them, tested them out and raised the issue with the old man.  But to date, there has been no luck on actually getting one.

Now the old man and I love to sit outside every morning with our hot something to drink and look out into the forest, listen to the birds and hear the hum of life around us, so don't you think it would be nice, to in fact sit a little nearer to each other whilst doing this?  Well, yeah - me too!

So, I have 20 days left - and I am going to build us a garden swing!

A bit of an ambitious project I know - but here goes...

I'll post everyday how far I have gotten with the project.  Hold thumbs for me that I can complete this project in time.

Celebration again!

My treasured youngest has celebrated her birthday this week.  She makes me shine.  I am so proud of her.

Three days

Three crazy days ahead and then some pictures coming.


PS
Any questions? Email me at :  info@eyeattitude.com

So, What's new for MAY?

Well, I have been asked a few times already, "What is new for May?"

I'm thinking that I might actually take on a carpentry project?  What do you think?