Visitors to Coal Creek Farm

A couple weeks after we moved to Coal Creek Farm two of my dearest friends drove from St. Louis to make sure I was going to be okay living in Kansas again. They also thought they were going to help me unpack my house and get me organized. But, what they didn't quite understand was that my mom and dad were so incredibly happy to have us back in Kansas that in a matter of two days they had all my boxes unpacked, my kitchen set up and the beds made. I think they wanted us to feel like we never left and for GOD'S SAKE DON'T MOVE AGAIN!!!!

So, when my girlfriends showed up they were ready to work on something and they chose to re-do my porch furniture since I had this great new porch.

I sure wasn't gonna tell them that was a bad idea. Who am I to turn down free labor?

It was really bothering all of us that I had this pretty porch and none of the furniture matched. It was a bit sad.


We decided to spray paint all the wicker black, much to Clay's discouragement. No matter how many times I said, "Black is the new white!" he did not want us to paint that furniture.

We painted it anyway.



And we painted.......


and we painted. I think we went through ten or twelve cans of paint and our hands were crippled by the end.


Still having fun with the project we headed off to the fabric store to pick out what we wanted for the cushions. Two of us had some trouble staying focused.


One of us was getting a bit tired of being in the fabric store and was questioning her decision of coming to Kansas in the first place. We spent at least two hours picking out just the right fabric. When we got back home I found a bunch of old fabric that I loved and we used it instead. Uh..whooooops.



We stayed up until the wee hours of the morning a couple nights in a row to get the cushions done. With the aid of some wine, coffee, internet access and maybe a bit of Southern Comfort we kept ourselves on task.


And then I turned into a ninety-four year old man with stringy blond hair.

We wondered if we'd ever get those stupid cushions done and we decided visiting April in Kansas is exhausting.

We did get the cushions finished and they looked great for about two months. Then my kids and animals took over and well....yeah.

I sure wish my girlfriends would come back and sew me up some new covers, but that might be pushing my luck.


One of these girls has decided to brave the trip again. I can't wait to see her. Can you guess which one is dumb enough to come back? I won't make her sew, but I am going to make her do some gardening.