Homemade Beach Chair

You may have noticed from some previous posts that we take our camp chairs to the beach. This is not ideal because they are a little hard to get balanced on the sand, the feet get sand in them that doesn't easily brush off and if the fabric is moist when you put them in the storage bags, they can get moldy. For years I have been looking for just the right beach chair at just the right price. I have been eyeing one on Amazon that can sit up or lie flat and has a face hole so that you can lay on your back or your stomach and read. However, the cheapest I could find a chair like this is about $80 and the reviews weren't even that good.

Sooooo, I recently came across directions for making a folding sling beach chair on Ana White's blog (she designs make-it-yourself furniture plans and posts them on her blog here). When I saw the chair, I loved it and wanted to make one for myself. So I did. And here is the result:

It's not actually finished - the wood needs to be sanded and stained or painted, but it's still comfy. It is adjustable to three levels of recliney-ness, and even though it doesn't lay completely flat, I think it will be lightyears better than a camp chair for the beach.

The fabric sling is reversible which is awesome, and that also made it funner to choose out the fabric. The pillow is my own design... Jeran said it needed a pillow so voila! Goodbye leftover scraps!

Beach day!

A few weeks ago, we made our first trip to the beach in two years. Last summer, we didn't make it at all due to illness, injury, etc. so we were very excited to go. Especially because this time, we went with friends! We went with Adam and Mary to Topsail and we all had a grand time. The weather was perfect, the water was nice, it wasn't overly crowded, so we had a fabulous time.

Adam's first time in the ocean! I know, can you believe it?

Wet Baseball

We went to a Durham Bulls game last weekend with some of Jeran's co-workers. The forecast called for storms that evening, but many people were skeptical. A few hours before the game, the only thing that wasn't sold out was the lawn. However, the rain started coming down hard a little while before the game and kept going and going. There were about a million people standing in the covered concessions area that we had to wade through to get around the stadium. We were sitting under the covered portion and waiting and waiting to see if they would call off the game due to the rain. Finally after a few hours, we got tired of it and left. Later we learned that they had actually played the game, but started over 3 hours after the scheduled start time. Oh well. Who wants to be at a baseball game at midnight?!

What we really wanted was for them to let us go slip and slide all over the huge puddley tarp. That would have been awesome!

Our group is this whole row. Some lady took this picture so sorry it's blurry. On the other side of me were many sections of empty seats because we were at the far edge of the covered area.

A Fun Family Visit

My mom, aunt and sister stayed with us for a few days as part of their exciting road trip. It was perfect weather and we had lots of fun. We ate a lot, shopped a lot, walked a lot, and just enjoyed being together. I love you guys!

Jess, me and Mom at Fearrington Village

Jessica and Kara in front of a cool barn/reception area

Oreo cows at Fearrington Farm

Me and Jessica just testing out the different features of my camera. I believe this was our attempt to test the "Smile detector", but I were having a hard time not smiling.

Hanging out and resting our legs while shopping at the outlets

Giant chessboard at the NC Botanical Garden

Venus Flytrap

Giant asparagus - wish I had this in my garden.

Anna Karenina

I recently finished reading Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. I knew nothing about the book and read no descriptions, reviews, or opinions on it before reading it, but I knew it is considered a classic and that I would like to read it. It is quite a long book, at almost one thousand pages, but it is very well-written and interesting. I was amazed throughout the book at how well Tolstoy describes many various human emotions and so accurately describes the realistic feelings of the characters in so many varied situations.

Tolstoy puts forth many ideas on the characters relations to Russia, to agriculture, to religion, to morality, to society, to government, and to the purpose of life. There were many times when I thought I should copy down or underline this or that sentence, but I was too busy reading to stop and do that. In all, there is too much food for thought in Anna Karenina to read it only once. I think I will probably have to buy Anna Karenina for my collection so that I can reread it someday and take more notice of the eloquent truths that Tolstoy points out. I give it five stars.

Picnic in the Park

We had a very lovely Saturday afternoon at the park. Even though it was overcast and stormed both Friday and Saturday night, it was pleasant enough to allow us to have a cookout at the park with some friends.

After eating, we played a little Kubb. For those who don't know, Kubb is a Swedish lawn game where you throw wooden dowels, attempting to knock over wooden blocks. Wikipedia describes it as a combination of bowling and horseshoes, which I think is pretty accurate. We had a good time and it was definitely nice to be outside at a time when it isn't too hot or too cold.

I'm still getting used to my new camera. It is definitely a vast improvement over our 7 year old cameras that it replaced. These probably all would have been blurry and out of focus before, instead of just the one that Jeran took! :)

The boys team

The girls team

Adam was cold, having come straight from a basketball game without a jacket, but the blanket did not hinder his throwing.

Jeran attempts to knock down some blocks

Random Thoughts

I have the weirdest dreams. And sometimes I have the weirdest ideas while I'm sleeping. And I'm quite good at remembering both the dreams and the ideas. This morning I woke up and, still half-asleep, told Jeran that I had an idea to improve organ donation process by making a machine that you would hook the donated organ up to that would pump blood through it so it can be transplanted later, instead of immediately. I have no idea where this came from and once I woke up I realized it was a ridiculous idea disguised as a logical-sounding idea. On so many levels.

But still, the fact of the matter is that my mind is going a million miles an hour while I sleep. Sleep is amazing! How often have you gone to bed trying to figure something out and woken up with the answer, or at least a possible idea? Happens to me all the time.

On another note, I went for a good long walk today (with a little jogging for good measure). The weather was perfect (sunny but not hot). It was nice to be outside and active, and until it gets too roasting hot I will try to do it more. I like to look at all the houses and yards.

We have a few carrot sprouts coming up in our new garden. It's exciting. We also planted marigolds, corn, and green onions, but no signs of life there yet. We're also going to do some tomatoes, bell peppers and jalepeno peppers when they get the starts at the garden center.

I'm reading Anna Karenina. It is long but interesting. I'll post more on it when I finish.

Anyways, this is getting boring. Sorry.